NERDS AROUND TOWN
Nerds Around Town: Being sick, Red Cross and a dream come true
Jul 17, 2019, 12:43 pm
COVER ART OF ANOTHER DAY AT THE OFFICE
Born 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 and Sports. Check out the podcast replay of the FM radio show at www.nerdthugradio.com!
Hey Nerds!
It's Wednesday, I've been sick and I have great news, it's been a crazy week!!
GOOD DEED OF THE DAY
In honor of being sick the past few days, donate to the American Red Cross.
MAN DOWN
Being sick is the worst. Like I got real sick, like fever and shaking cold sick Sunday night/Monday morning. It was absolutely the worst, because if you don't get up and get yourself moving you're going to keep feeling worse but you feel so bad you don't want to do anything. Like you're cold from the inside out and you just want to try and get warm and you can't. Also, if you're alone like I was, I was housesitting by myself at the time, it gets way worse. There's literally no one to bring you a glass of water or anything and you have to get up and go all the way to the kitchen, it's the worst of the worst. Being sick is a no go, and really only by mid day Tuesday did I finally feel a little bit better and that was only because I got some great news and I felt a second wind from that.
DREAMS DO COME TRUE!
So my comic book has been finalized and approved at the printers so starting yesterday afternoon and through today I'm taking orders for my first print run. I'm super pumped about this, this is something that I've been working on for a really long time. Essentially in some form or another, my whole life has been building up to this moment right here. I've been a comic book geek forever and this isn't the first time opportunity has come a calling but it's the first time I made it all the way. I've signed two different contracts in my youth for small publishing companies and both of those opportunities while great didn't work out. One of them their launch was a little too ambitious and they never even got to my project in the span of like two years and the other one after a dozen or so rewrites just never really worked out and the project never made it to print. No harm, no foul, just both parties walk away and leave it at that.
ANOTHER DAY AT THE OFFICE
So all of that happened and life goes on and I started to feel like, well maybe this is never going to happen and then time moves on and suddenly it's twelve years later, holy crap, twelve years later and you go… No. I want to get back to this. So here we are, working our way back to this and our first project is Another Day at the Office. It's a humorous one shot about a cop in a city full of super heroes. It's a fun story, meant to be light hearted and well meaning and isn't designed to be mean or take shots at people or say something about the universe. It's just a fun story. Check it out please, if you're interested in a copy, today it's really easy to get one, simply e-mail me at corydlg@gmail.com and I'll get you on the list that I'm building right now for the print run that I'm ordering tonight.
NOT THAT YOU ASKED
This has been a rough week and a bit of an up and down one from bad health to great personal moment and one of the people that I would very much like to celebrate and share this moment with I can't. My Father was an awesome fan of everything I did and anything I wanted to do, he would do the standard "how does it work" questions but once he knew I was locked in on something he just got behind it and cheered me on. I really appreciated that and it's something I regret not showing him more for, almost like he never got to see the rest of this journey I'm on and it stings a little bit, it's added a bittersweet note to today. Call your loved ones and tell them hey.
Feel free to check out my brand new comic book Another Day at the Office email me for details or buy a shirt from Side Hustle Ts where some proceeds help people struggling with cancer or listen to Nerd Thug Radio. Thoughts, complaints, events and comments can be sent to corydlg@gmail.com.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.