thependulumswings

On Sunday the first second baseman that the Houston Astros organization ever had passed away.  Lil Joe Morgan, as he was known, broke in with the then Colt 45’s, now Astros in 1963.

With old school spikes on Morgan may have been all of five feet seven inches tall.  But he played big.  Traded to Cincinnati in 1971, and as part of the Big Red Machine, Morgan made eight consecutive All-Star Game appearances (1972–79) to go along with his 1966 and 1970 appearances with Houston. Morgan, along with teammates Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, and Tony Pérez led the Reds to consecutive championships in the 1975 and 1976 World Series.

Morgan was also the National League MVP in 1975 and 1976.  He was the first second baseman in the history of the National League to win the MVP back to back.  He also won four gold gloves in consecutive seasons from 1973-1977.  His demeanor on the field was as unflappable as his left elbow was flappable while batting.

Is he the best second baseman to ever play for the Astros?  Well, Craig Biggio never played a major league game in anything other than an Astros uniform in his 20-year career, so his accumulated Houston stats are better.  But, Morgan’s overall accomplishments in the game, especially on the biggest stages (playoffs and World Series) are much better.

Then along came another five-foot seven-inch second baseman.  Jose Altuve broke into the big show in 2011 and is in the middle of a career, making his case.  He’s been with the Astros a quick ten years and sports a gold glove and a league MVP to his credit while also winning a World Series.  The six-time all-star has won the league batting title three times and sports a fine .311 career average.  He has amassed over 1600 hits and did so by getting to the first 1000 of them faster than any other player in the history of the game.  Three thousand is very doable.

But Lil Jose has one big problem.  He cheated the game.  Even if you believe he only cheated in one year (2017), it’s of course one year too many.   If you’ve read this far you already know all about the circumstances surrounding that.

And, suddenly, Jose has another problem.  Is it another big problem?  We’ll find out.  From nowhere, Altuve cannot throw the baseball from second to first base.  Yips?  Maybe.  He’s committed three throwing errors in the last two ALCS games v the Rays.  The hitch in the throwing motion is there for all of the baseball world to see.

When the elite physical ability is consumed by a mental block the long-term results can be disastrous.  Don’t believe that?  Ask Chuck Knobloch or Steve Sax, both fine second basemen in their day.  A light switch burned out and their accuracy went (and stayed) kaput.  Rick Ankiel could throw 95 miles per hour fastballs pitching for the St. Louis Cardinals a decade ago when 95mph was elite.  Well, he could until he couldn’t.  Suddenly the backstop was more effective than his catcher at slowing down his errant attempts.

Some folks are laughing at Altuve’s struggles this AM.  He’s the poster child for Astros haters.  Karma, they say, is a witch or something like that.

Still, bad acting on big stages is cringeworthy.

The Rays will likely dispose of the Astros tonight to complete the four-game sweep.   They were the better team coming into the series and have shown out.

The series will soon enough be forgotten.  But, the question for Altuve is “has he forgotten how to throw a baseball?”