NERDS AROUND TOWN
Adios AAF, bad judges, rock and roll and so much more
Apr 3, 2019, 6:50 am
ART BY JESUS RODRIGUEZ
Fawcett comicsBorn with a comic book in one hand and a remote control in the other, Cory DLG is the talent of Conroe's very own Nerd Thug Radio, Sports and Wrestling. Check out the podcast replay of the FM radio show at www.nerdthugradio.com!
Hey Nerds!
It's Wednesday and for all you guys working for the weekend, you're almost there.
GOOD DEED OF THE DAY
So we've all been there, work is killing you, the phones are ringing, someone's out sick on a Monday (like anyone ever believes that) you got that big meeting later and that's why you tried to get in early today to prep for it, but there was traffic on 45 so you actually got in the office a few minutes late and your boss made a motion to his watch as you passed him in the break room and you just want to scream! But you take 20 minutes for lunch and you head out to the Memorial Park, you walk around a few minutes you sit and listen to the sounds of people being happy, and suddenly you're calm again. That's what Memorial Park does for you, so what do you do for it? The 2019 Brunch Run presented by Green Mountain Energy benefitting The Memorial Park Conservancy is April 6th at 8am and proceeds go towards the parks conservatorship in order to help keep the park looking nice and lovely. I'm not saying you owe it, but… well you kind of owe it.
WHO NEEDS TO ROCK OUT
This weekend is a quiet weekend in live music, so to speak. Citizen Cope is playing Friday night at the House of Blues, and if that doesn't ring a bell then you didn't watch a movie in the early 2000s. They had the song "let the drummer kick" in the movie Accepted. Basically, if there was a scene where the main character was thinking about something important in a key moment then Citizen Cope was likely playing in the background. So go listen to them on Friday night and reconsider all your life choices. On Saturday the music choice gets a little more interesting, at White Oak Music Hall the Bouncing Souls stop by to celebrate their 30 year musical journey.
IS THIS A REMAKE
So this Friday Shazam comes out. Honestly if you're a comics guru like myself, this is the kind of thing that is so crazy. Shazam was originally Captain Marvel of Fawcett comics, Fawcett eventually gets bought by DC comics, during that time while Fawcett wasn't publishing though, Marvel makes their own Captain Marvel comic. Now DC owns a Captain Marvel but the trademark belongs to Marvel so DC comics can publish their own Captain Marvel character but they can't put the name of their hero on the cover of their book, so for literally the last 50 plus years DC would call the book anything but Captain Marvel eventually landing on Shazam!, the magic word Billy Batson yells to become Captain Marvel. When DC comics relaunched with the new 52 a few years back, someone FINALLY convinced DC to abandon the name of Captain Marvel since they couldn't put that name on the cover of the books. They now called him Shazam, and his movie comes out less than a month after Marvel's Captain Marvel came out in theatres. Always the second fiddle…
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN THIS BAD
So have you ever been so bad at your job that you accidentally quit? This is a legit question, like how bad are you at your job that you break an automatic termination rule in your first three months? We've all had bad jobs before and we've all had jobs that maybe we weren't perfectly suited for but the idea that you screw up so bad that you are now done in the first three months is pretty crazy. Well a Judge in Harris County just did that. So for some reasons Judges are elected by the people, not sure how that makes any sense, in theory judge should be like a rank that prosecutors earn eventually by serving the interests of the people long enough, but now even district attorneys are political figures so who knows. I bring all of that up because the judge in question released online his plans for running for a higher position later on in his career, however in the Texas Constitution it says once you are a candidate for another office you automatically resign your current position, which he has had for all of three months. Not so smart.
WHAT THE HECK
So that's it for the AAF? What the heck just happened? It seems that Tom Dundon the new chief of the league after investing $250 million into the league about a month ago has no interest in continuing the league under its present conditions. The NFL seemed super gung ho to have this league in a minor league position which the AAF seemed to be courting by asking the NFLPA to let the practice squad players play in this league, with the increased exposure giving players more chances to make an active roster in the NFL. Honestly there's a lot of things going in different directions in this story, the NFLPA doesn't really want to give practice squad players more chances because they want more active roster spots to create more wealth for players and a minor league actually threatens the push to expand NFL rosters. The AAF had been developing some interesting technology with big sports implications and Dundon having access to that might be worth more than the idea of growing a minor league NFL that has a long fight with the NFLPA ahead of it. On top of all that, there were some first year issues including the Florida team practicing in Georgia, and not having signed the contract to hold their championship in Vegas even though the stadium in question was selling tickets for it, the thing that makes me think this is a permanent closure is how they handled the players, they literally just left them all where they were and the players had to arrange their own way home. Not cool.
EVEN THOUGH NOBODY ASKED ME
Another refinery fire? It's interesting now to hear so many people complaining about regulation and enforcement of the rules considering that we as a state have long been in favor of deregulation including recently an odd push to drop the licensing requirements for cosmetologists. This new plant fire at KMCO is apparently not a big surprise as it seems KMCO has numerous violations in its past, this lax attitude towards rules and regulations leads to issues like this, so maybe it's time for a cultural shift on regulations.
I'm going to jump out and wish you guys a great Wednesday and remind everyone to be kind to each other and try a little harder to have a great day! I'm coming back tomorrow and we'll be bringing more good times your way. Feel free to check out my digital short story The Wilson House, or buy a shirt from Side Hustle Ts where every shirt is now under $20 or listen to Nerd Thug Radio or support our Patreon Page. Thoughts, complaints, events and comments can be sent to corydlg@gmail.com.
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How Astros advanced metrics tell puzzling story about Houston's start
Apr 17, 2025, 5:21 pm
Major League Baseball’s regular season is 162 games long. You can think of 18 games as the first inning of the season, 18 times nine equaling 162. While the Astros 8-10 record is not good, it’s far from disastrous. Think of it as them being behind 1-0 after the first inning. It is pretty remarkable that they have yet to win consecutive games. Even during last year’s 7-19 stink bomb of a start the Astros twice managed to win two in a row.
The Astros’ offensive woes are plentiful. Oddly enough as impotent as they’ve been, the Astros have yet to be shutout. But in half their games they have scored exactly one or two runs. Basically, most of them stink thus far. Exemptions go to Jose Altuve and Isaac Paredes, but it’s not like either of them has been outstanding. It’s still early enough that one big series can dramatically alter the numbers, but the Astros badly need Yordan Alvarez to pick up his production. Yordan enters the weekend batting just .224 with a .695 OPS and just four extra base hits. Yainer rhymes with minor. As in minor leagues, where Diaz belongs at his current level of performance. That is not saying Diaz should be sent down, just that any random AAA catcher called up couldn’t have done much worse to this point. Diaz isn’t hitting Altuve’s weight, a woeful .130 with seven hits in 57 at bats. Diaz simply remains too undisciplined at the plate swinging at too many balls. He’s drawn three walks. And now to Christian Walker, who thus far has delivered return on investment for his three year 60 million dollar contract about as strong as the stock market’s performance in Tariff Time. Walker’s .154 batting average and .482 OPS are very Astro Jose Abreu-like. Walker’s23 strikeouts in 65 at bats jump off the page. He has often looked befuddled in the batter's box. Walker is definitely pressing and frustrated, wanting to perform better for his new team. Jeremy Pena goes into the weekend batting .215 and has one hit in 13 at bats with runners in scoring position. Brendan Rodgers, Jake Meyers, and Chas McCormick all have weak stat lines, with little reason to expect quality offensive output from any of them. Cam Smith is at .200 with a yucky .591 OPS but he’s obviously a young stud work in progress thrown into the deep end of the pool.
All batting orders are top-heavy, the Astros’ on paper more so than many. As I set forth on one of our Stone Cold ‘Stros podcasts this week, the first inning should be a team’s best offensive inning. It’s the only frame in which a team gets to dictate who comes up from the start with the batters lined up just as the manager slots them. Add to that, the first inning is a good time to get to a starting pitcher before he settles in. The Astros have scored a pitiful three first inning runs in 18 games, and in two of the games they pushed one across in the first, it turned out to be the only Astro run of the game. Improvement needs to come internally from the big league roster. It’s not as if the Astros have a meaningful prospect at AAA Sugar Land who looks ready to help. Entering play Thursday the Space Cowboys’ team average was .186. Second base hopeful Brice Matthews is nowhere close, batting .180 and striking out left and right. Outfielder Jacob Melton opened three for 17 following the back injury-delayed start to his season.
As exasperating and boring as the offense has been for so many, grading needs to occur on a curve. So, while the Astros’ team batting average is a joke at .216, know that at close of business Wednesday the entire American League was batting just .232. The American League West-leading Texas Rangers scored eight fewer runs over their first 18 games than did the Astros, though that is skewed by the Astros’ one 14-run outburst against the Angels.
Familiar faces return
This weekend the Astros play host to the San Diego Padres at Daikin Park. The Friars are off to a fabulous start at 15-4. The Padres being here creates a mini reunion as both Martin Maldonado and Yuli Gurriel are on their roster. In a telling fact, Maldonado would have the third-highest batting average on the Astros if on the team with his current numbers. Maldonado is hitting .250 with seven hits in 28 at bats. The last season he finished above .200 was 2020. The only season in his career Maldonado topped .234 was his rookie season with a .266 mark in 2012.
Gurriel was last good in 2021 when he won the American League batting title at .319. He fell off a cliff from there, though perked up to have a fine postseason in the Astros’ 2022 run to World Series title number two. “La Pina” is batting .115 with just three hits in 26 at bats. Gurriel may be released soon, and approaching his 41st birthday June 9, that would probably be the end of the line. Short-timer Astro Jason Heyward is also on the Padres, and batting .190.
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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