NERD AROUND TOWN
Nerds Around Town: Super heroes on TV, Sonic chicken clubs and Chris Rock
May 15, 2019, 6:39 am
ART BY JESUS RODRIGUEZ
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, Sports and Wrestling. Check out the podcast replay of the FM radio show at www.nerdthugradio.com!
Hey Nerds!
Here comes Wednesday, which means the weekend is right over the horizon. You got this!
GOOD DEED OF THE DAY
Here's the long and short of it. Exit 73, this Sunday at noon. My buddy has cancer and it's a benefit to help him and his family deal with all the costs. It's a sad state of affairs when being sick can ruin you if you survive. He has a wife and three daughters, they're great people, they could use some help. #NerdsUnite
HAVE YOU TRIED THESE?
Sonic just debuted a new King's Hawaiian Chicken Club Sandwich and it's awesome. I'm big on chicken sandwiches in general anyway and this is one of the better ones. Obviously the bread is awesome that's sort of the point of this one right, using King's Hawaiian bread. Well it works, it's delicious and I recommend more people eat it. The other part of this one is the sauce, it's got one of the better sauces that a fast food has put on a sandwich in awhile, it's a Sonic Signature Sauce so I have no idea what it is but it's a tastier rip off of the big mac sauce meets honey mustard I think. Either way, it's awesome.
THE RETURN OF FARGO
So I might be the only one who still loves this show, but I freaking love this show. I thought every season of it has been great and I can't wait to see what's to come next. The new season is said to have Chris Rock as the head of one of two families that trade sons to keep the peace between two crime families, then enters the mob. Every season has kind of been about these smaller criminal organizations that rule their world like a king but then a real organization comes in and changes everything. How long can you hold power in the face of real power? I think that's what it all comes down to.
THE LANDSCAPE OF COMIC BOOK TV
The world of television is changing, a few years back there were tons of comic book television shows building up on the horizon and little by little they came and went and now on the horizon there are maybe only about a third as many comic book shows. I think that's ok, actually that may be great because it means we've passed the "fad" phase of programming, there were probably a few shows that got picked up and made simply because they were comic book shows. Not that they were great and would help a television line up but just because "everyone loves comic books." That's now no longer the case it looks like and I think it's great.
NOT THAT YOU ASKED
Yesterday they announced they're lining up a major relaunch of the X-Men line of comics. The comparisons and the conversations are this is the next big chapter in the history of X-Men. Jonathan Hickman is coming back to Marvel to write it and it seems like he's going to be the lead architect behind all of it. He was the shaper of the whole massive Fantastic Four story that ended in Secret Wars, with Dr Doom realizing Reed Richards is truly the better man, it was a great run. Brian Michael Bendis seems to have started this trend by jumping to DC and basically being given a whole line of youth oriented comics to relaunch Young Justice with and it seems like Hickman has the same control over the X Men stable for the near future. I'm excited for the X-Men having an organization wide plan with one cohesive story and plot built into it with one guy leading the world of the mutants, I think it's what's been missing here lately from a lot of the lines at the big companies, cohesion without events, I hope it works.
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 Thursday 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 some proceeds help fight cancer 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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Counting up "should win" and "should lose" results is routinely a fool's errand. That said, the Astros enter a stretch which features a bunch of "should win" games. On one hand, beginning this weekend at Daikin Park, the Astros run a gauntlet of 10 games in 10 days, then after an off day, they play another 13 days in a row. On the other hand, over the first 17 games of the 23 in 24 days, the Astros play 14 of them against losing teams: seven vs. the American League East cellar-dwelling Baltimore Orioles, three vs. the utter joke Colorado Rockies, and four vs. the not awful but below .500 Los Angeles Angels. Additionally, the Astros get 10 of those 14 games at home.
The only good team they face until after Labor Day is Detroit, with three games at the Tigers next week. That series looms large. If the Astros are successful in fending off Seattle and yet again winning the American League West, they have a real shot of finishing even with or ahead of Toronto and Detroit. Finishing with the best record in the AL is the ideal, but having the second -best record among the division winners means a bye past the high peril best-of-three first round series. The Astros' 2024 postseason was over in an eyeblink because they had the third-best record of the AL division champs, and then had the Tigers dismiss them in two games.
If the Astros can take two of three in Motown next week, they not only gain ground on the Tigers, but clinch the season series (Astros beat the Tigers two of three in Houston back in April) and with it the tiebreaker should that come into play for playoff seeding. The Astros swept the Blue Jays three straight earlier this year, so winning just one of three games in Canada next month would secure that tiebreaker.
Growing pains
Big picture, it's been a fine rookie season for Cam Smith. Nothing special, but plenty acceptable for a guy with just 32 games of minor league experience before earning/being handed the primary right field job coming out of spring training. Smith's tools and athleticism are clear, so are a couple of holes in his game that need patching if he is to develop into a star. The standards are different for a rookie making the minimum MLB salary of 760-thousand dollars versus a big ticket free agent signing making 20 million dollars, but a higher percentage of Smith's official at bats have ended with strikeouts this season than have Christian Walker's.
Along with improving his rate of contact, Smith needs to tweak his swing path to hit the ball in the air more. With his strength Cam can hit it hard. But hard grounders aren't the objective. Cam has a pair of two-home run games this season. In late June he homered in back-to-back games. In the other 100 games Smith has played, he has just one other homer. One in 100 games. His last dinger was June 28. 138 at bats later he's still sitting on seven for the season. Mauricio Dubon and Taylor Trammell have higher slugging percentages, as did Zack Short in his limited time with the team.
Smith has been feeble since just before the All-Star break, posting a paltry 13 hits in his last 90 at bats for a .144 batting average. He figures to play less down the stretch, a lot less should Yordan Alvarez actually return to the lineup. If ever back, Alvarez figures to slot only as the designated hitter, reducing Jose Altuve's DH opportunities. When Altuve plays left field, Jesus Sanchez is the clear better option to play right against righthanded pitching.
Jose Altuve at his best
Credit to manager Joe Espada for realizing that Altuve at 35 years old needed his load lightened. Should have happened last year, but live and learn. Altuve has been the DH 35 times this season (just five times last year). It is highly likely not a coincidence that after a hot start last year, Altuve was mediocre the last three-quarters of 2024 with a .740 OPS over his final 119 games. This season Altuve started atrociously. He was a straight up lousy player into late-May, waking May 22 with his batting average .238 and his OPS a woeful .629 over 47 games played. In 70 games since: .316/.947. In his 2017 AL Most Valuable Player season Altuve finished with a .957 OPS.
Astros HOF weekend
The Astros retire Hall of Famer Billy Wagner's number 13 Saturday. 12 players wore 13 after Wagner's time in Houston ended. They do not exactly comprise a Who's Who of Astros lore. Tyler White may have been the best of the dozen. Hey, I said the pickings were slim! Cooper Hummel goes down as the last to wear 13 as an Astro in an official game. Hummel wore 13 last season, before being assigned number 16 when he rejoined the team this season.
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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