Sports
 

All-Star spotlight illuminates Houston's darkened season

By Barrett Goldsmith
The Daily Cougar

For this week at least, baseball fever has come to Houston. Fans, players, coaches, owners, writers, TV pundits and second-tier celebrities have descended on our city for the Midsummer Classic, the 2004 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. 

A hometown hero will start the game on the mound, a former president will be sitting behind home plate, and Mattress Mac will probably have a sale of some kind. But when the party dies out and the visitors pack up and leave town, baseball fans in Houston will once again be left alone with their sorrow. When Astros fans wake up Wednesday, they will remember that the last week was all a dream. They will open up the paper and realize that the coffee tasted a lot better when they were reading about the homerun derby, instead of perusing the N.L. Central standings and doing mental arithmetic to calculate how screwed the Astros really are. 

Being an Astros fan has always been an exercise in futility, but this season was supposed to be different.

And for the first few months of the season, they didn't disappoint. Roger Clemens was even better than fans could have hoped, Craig Biggio found new life at the plate and the rest of the team responded to the challenge. 

But since jumping out of the gates with a 20-11 start, the Astros have pulled up lame. After dropping the final series before the All-Star break to the Dodgers, the Astros find themselves with a .500 record at 44-44, and 10.5 games behind the first place St. Louis Cardinals in the division. 

Sure, they are only 4.5 games behind the San Francisco Giants for the N.L. Wild Card, but that is a small consolation for a team that was supposed to be hosting more than one "Classic." 

Fans are quick to offer criticism, and the Astros are quick to earn it. It's hard to find the major problem with the Astros, simply because the team has so many problems that qualify as major. Perhaps it's strange that there are so many factors contributing to the Astros' failure, when in fact the starting lineup includes so many non-factors. 

For the past few weeks, the Astros haven't been hitting anything. But that can be written off as a simple slump, even though it has plagued the entire team. What cannot be ignored is the Astros' fundamental inability to score runs even when they are hitting.

In fact, their ability to not score runs is quite impressive. No team in the league is as adept at producing a popup, a double play or a strikeout just when they need it the least. 

The starting pitching has not been spectacular, with the notable exception of Clemens, but it has not been a disaster. Roy Oswalt is pitching well, Andy Pettite has been solid when healthy, and Wade Miller has been effective at times. 

But it's difficult to earn wins when your team is producing one or two runs every game. Houston's starting rotation can't keep pitching with the mindset that they have to be perfect every time they step on the mound. 

And in the unlikely event that the Astros do bring a lead into the late innings, Houston's depleted bullpen is stretched too thin to hold onto it. Brad Lidge may eventually be the answer in the closer role, but that he and his overworked pen-pals can't keep protecting one-run leads. 

All these complaints have prompted many to wonder if change might be needed at the top. Jimmy Williams hasn't inspired anyone with his energy, his lineup choices or his handling of pitchers, and patience seems to be running thin even in the clubhouse. 

Whether the Astros decide to bring in another manager, a new hitting coach or another player, something has to change. The Astros have a roster with as much talent as any team outside the Bronx, but something is missing. Call it a lack of heart, call it a lack of "want-to" or call it a lack of chemistry.

Call it whatever you want, but if the Astros don't do something fast, you can call it another lost season.
 

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