Kleeman's Last Word

Houston Astros Need to Retire the Mediocre Baseball

When the Houston Astros retired second basemen Craig Biggio's no. 7 jersey this afternoon at Minute Maid Park, one thing caught my eye.

No, it wasn't Biggio's signature smile, his grand humility or the parade of Astros A-listers on hand to tell him thanks.

No, it wasn't the tear-jerking, memory-evoking sight of Biggio's number hanging in the rafters.

The stadium was not close to full and the fans delivered half-hearted cheers.

Owner Drayton McClane should remember this day, but not because of the franchise star who meant so much to Houston sports fans, even if the teams he co-led with Jeff Bagwell never won a World Series.

If it felt like this ceremony had already happened, it did.

The Astros completed an eyebrow-raising eight game winning streak, sweeping series against the underwhelming Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants, before the Arizona Diamondbacks pounded them for two nights in a row.

The Astros allowed a combined 23 runs Friday and Saturday. There was Brandon Webb looking like a Cy Young award winner and there was Brandon Backe falling apart.

There was the predictable comatose Houston offense sputtering like a Jet Blue airplane on an unfinished road way.

The Astros look finished. When nothing else makes sense, that seems certain.

Something else familiar happened Sunday. The Astros recovered from two lashings to shutout the D-Backs 3-0, behind another gem from long-time ace Roy Oswalt.

The Astros know how to win after Bagwell and Biggio goodbye ceremonies.

When Biggio secured the 27th spot in baseball's 3,000 hit club, becoming only the ninth to do it with one franchise, the Astros erased a three-run deficit and won when Carlos Lee smacked a grand slam.

Two years ago, the Astros opened the season with a Bagwell appreciation night. The St. Louis Cardinals would leave that game wondering how a mediocre team had clubbed them so badly.

The retirements of Biggio and Bagwell have become a multi-year process. McClane made sure it would happen that way. When an owner cannot fill the seats with good baseball, he must find a way to spark passion and pride with ticket sales.

McClane found his way out with two franchise stars and has milked their laborious exit as long as a team boss can.

Somewhere, J.R. Richard was clutching his heart, wondering what could have been in 1980. Today's Astros are rarely projected to do squat, a contrast to that season in which Richard seemed a sure-fire Cy Young winner before a stroke ended his transient career.

The Astros rolled out a lineup of All-Star caliber hitters Lance Berkman, Miguel Tejada, Kaz Matsui (who was injured), Carlos Lee and Hunter Pence and still didn't earn a single national television appearance in the season's first two months. ESPN and Fox know better.

As Sunday proved, Astros fans know it, too. The eight-game streak was a pleasent surprise, even if it happened against non playoff teams.

The Milwaukee Brewers and New York Mets will continue what the D-Backs began this weekend. Recent history says these Astros will not pass the tests.

Astros manager Cecil Cooper predicts a sweep in Milwaukee.

"You heard it here first," he told reporters after Sunday's win.

Fittingly, the Astros hosted a faith-themed day on Saturday. The fans enjoyed the jovial pregame spiritual uplift, complete with Berkman explaining his cherised religious beliefs, but left dejected after a 5-11 ass whipping.

Supporting the Astros is a daily test of faith. They're rarely horrible enough to be joke butts on Baseball Tonight and not good enough to be discussed on that show as contenders.

The next week will test how much the fans, both die-hard and fairweather, trust Cooper's assessments.

The Astros chief problem is difficult to pinpoint.

McClane's best fixes have included firing the only manager to accompany the Astros to a world series and letting a great GM in Gerry Hunsicker walk with no 'please return' overture when it was obvious one was needed.

He allowed Tim Purpura to sign off on the most boneheaded trade in franchise history. Renting Jason Jennings for one year, and two, yes two wins, for a lightning fast center fielder on a 30 game hitting streak? The Astros missed the playoffs while Willy Taveras helped the Colorado Rockies win 21 of 22 games en route to a World Series berth.

Phil Garner was a flawed, overly lenient general manager. Cooper isn't perfect either. But, dragging the feet of these two men across lava coals won't fix the Astros anymore than another retirement ceremony will.

When Biggio first announced in July 2007 that he would retire after the 2007 season, his bat launched the game-winning grand slam. If the Astros do fall out of playoff contention, which the team could do this month, McClane might consider hosting another Biggio and Bagwell ceremony, just to make sure the jerseys are still up there safely.

It never hurts to check and history says the Astros would win that game.

McClane and GM Ed Wade face a paramount problem with no clear solution. There are so many questions.

How does a batting lineup of Pence, Berkman, Matsui, Lee, Ty Wigginton and Michael Bourn not lead the league in runs and how does said team not challenge for the top spot in the MLB?

What has befallen Oswalt, the once sturdy pitching ace whose curve ball now seems to question itself, and why can't Backe stay healthy and build from his stunning seven inning shutout performance in game four of the 2005 World Series?

Why was Shawn Chacon, the lousy pitcher once handed a spot in the Astros starting rotation, choking Ed Wade when it should have been the other way around?

That eight-game streak lifted the Astros above .500 for the first time in three months. Just when the fans started buzzing, the D-Backs showed up and ruined the party.

If there were easy answers to the above questions, columns like this one would be unnecessary. No one would need to question this clubs grit, its relevance or its motivations.

McClane should also know the answer to another damming question. When was the last time Minute Maid Park was buzzing with people excited about the Astros play?

He answered that question with Sunday's ceremony.

The Astros encounter high points every season. Consider that Berkman sported a .400 plus batting average at Minute Maid Park in May and June. Consider that Carlos Lee led the majors in RBIs and hits in the month of July and early August, before a pinky injury forced him into season-ending surgery.

Consider that Berkman ended a more than month-long slump without a home run with a rocking grand slam.

Then, consider that all of this means nothing when the Astros fall back to the franchise's square one. The Astros mounted magical, inspiring runs in 2004 and 2005. Since those two years, in which baseball analysts not from Houston grudgingly talked about them, mediocrity has mounted the Astros.

Where would McClane be without $5 tickets? He answered that question with Sunday's ceremony.

The Astros sell tickets because they are affordable and the games offer a family-friendly environment. In 2004 and 2005, the fans started paying attention. The season ticket holders who normally auction off parts of their packages stopped giving them away.

The fans cared then and cheered like it. The atmosphere this season has bordered on disinterested and fed up.

Sure, three-fourths of the chatting crowd will stand and yell for a few seconds after a spectacular play, say, a throw to home plate from Pence to tag out the potential tying run and seal the win, but you will never confuse Minute Maid and Fenway Park.

You would if the Astros were playing great baseball.

Yes, McClane should remember Sunday for every reason that has nothing to do with Biggio and the way he honorably represented Houston. The Astros owner has run out of goodbyes.

He knows he cannot dupe the fans into selling out another game to listen to rehashed "you meant so much" speeches. There are not enough Bagwell and Biggio farewells to carry the Astros to the postseason.

The remedy? Play great, not mediocre baseball and do it consistently. That kind of baseball enthralls fans. No living-in-the-past retirement galas needed.

posted by Robert Kleeman @ 10:44 PM