Hope springs eternal for Bernardo Fallas, and really, this time of year, hope springs eternal for everyone - even for the Pirates, who are pumped about Brendan Donnelly. That said, Bernardo Fallas has some hope for us:
Ed Wade:
"I think we’re going to be solid...We’re going to have to pick up the slack from an offensive standpoint, what we’re missing with Tejada, by having everybody step up and do a little bit more. From a leadership standpoint, it’s sort of the same thing."
See, this is what I find interesting. And maddening. Back on November 27 I ripped Berkman a new one for not being in the mix as far as leadership was going, and it amazes me that the Astros lost LaTroy Hawkins, Jose Valverde, and Miguel Tejada, and Ed Wade still needs someone to step up and pick up the slack with clubhouse leadership. The Astros still have a core of Berkman, Oswalt, and Lee, and need leadership? This is unbelievable. So maybe I jumped the gun on the "hope" aspect of this article.
Brad Mills:
"You look at this ballclub, and there’s a lot of talent in this ballclub. And that breeds excitement...When you’re able to stay in games with pitching and defense, we may be able to put something together and score enough runs."
It's fairly well known that the Mariners scored fewer runs in 2009 than they did in 2008, and won 21 more games. That's what it seems like the Astros will be looking for - can't create runs? Prevent them. And I'm okay with that...
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
