Congratulations to Kaz Matsui, who, upon reaching his 2000th hit, was presented with a blue blazer signifying his admittance to the Meikyukai. Unlike the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, admittance to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame is contingent on a player getting 2000 hits, 200 wins, or 250 saves.
Justice is quick to point out that only 191 of those hits have come in an Astros uniform, and that he was probably the worst signing of Ed Wade's tenure. I'll disagree, and put Oscar Villareal in there. At least Wade hasn't paid Matsui not to play for him. That said, Matsui's $16.5 million deal has been good for 191 hits, an equal number of DL stints, and a .182 average in August. And his deal is just over halfway done. Maybe Matsui does get the nod.
After the loss, Cooper fell into a transient state, muttering to himself about the same ol' topic:
“We need something to shake us pretty quickly. Time is beginning to run out on us. We need to get a streak going.”
Well, it's not going to happen with everyone suddenly losing the ability to hit. A look at some slumps (courtesy, Justice):
Lee: 1x10
Berkman: 1x11
Pudge: 0x10
Tejada: 0x13
Moehler was upset about coming out of the game in the fifth, but saith Coop:
“He was a little upset that he had to come out, and I understand that. But we’re struggling to get runs.”
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
