R.I.P-Willy
(An Astro no more)

Somewhere Gina's Italian eyes are crying.


-Jason Jennings for Willy Taveras in 5-player swap
http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=158386

Sung by JG in his best Manilow:

"When will our eyes meet?"


"When can I touch you?"


"When will this strong yearning end?"


"And when..."


"... will I hold you... again?"


Sorry to hear about your Willy, Gina.

Words that no man ever hopes to hear.

Oh, NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Looks like we're allowed only a Woody or a Willy - one dirty name per team, perhaps. I would've taken my Willy over a Woody any day.

Thank you for the support here - y'all are too sweet.

Honestly, I'm more angry than sad right now. I think it truly hasn't hit me yet because I've hardly been upset about it. It must be this wretched offseason feeling, where I can't even remember what it was like to flip on the TV and see my boys playing that heavenly game. Then again..."my boys"? No Andy. No Willy. Possibly no Roger. Carlos Lee? Woody Williams? Jason Jennings? Not literally speaking, of course...but who the heck are they?

Then I realized, this is baseball. Now it is. I haven't been a fan long enough to know what it used to be like, but I can see well enough that baseball is losing some of the magic it had. Money has always been a part of it, but I think it's only about the money now. The Boston pitcher deal, that devil Scott Boras, millions and millions for people to play a game, these stupid bidding wars and holding out for more cash. Does anyone play just because they love to play? Craig Biggio is one of the very few that come to mind. He's spent almost twenty years with the same club - he plays consistently, never assumes "superstar status," does stuff for the community, and has always been loyal to Houston. Top notch player in my book.

I didn't even mean to go off on that in this rant. Losing Willy made me upset simply about the business of baseball, and that, I should've expected and learned to deal with by now. Just in three years of following baseball, we've gained and lost so many players, and it's getting more and more difficult to see them go. No, it truly isn't personal, but I'm always going to make it personal for as long as I'm a fan. Contract stuff like with Andy - that's tough, too, but not as much as a trade where Willy was torn from us with no real decision on his part. People kept saying he was taking too long to come around. He's had some trouble on offense, but he was promoted straight from AA - regardless, he's a hero on defense and speed. Roadrunner, King of the Hill (in CF)...he was the little engine that could. And I HOPE he keeps up all that he's done so well at, and that he keeps getting better and better. I want them to regret it. Those insensitive jerks.

Again, I'm not sure why I'm not more sad, but I think I'm just focusing more on the anger and disgust right now. It's not "real" for me when I'm not seeing any of them anyway. The sadness will come Opening Day when Willy's not out there with the rest of the boys.

I'm changing my avatar to Colbert (my offseason obsession), and I'm making a special spot for Willy in my signature, so he will always be remembered.

Retired Number:
Willy Taveras - #1

#1 in the game and #1 in our hearts.

SB,

Have you seen this?

This....is the sport..... you've chosen.....u didn't ask....who gave the order(Drayton McLane).....b/c it had nothing..... to do.... w/ baseball!

Probaby not a baseball type decison since Willy has mad skills, but more of a $$$ decision. Don't fret though, Drayton has shown that he's willing to spend it too. That's rare to find in a baseball owner.

Plus,
Roy O is in his prime, and since he's also greatly undersized(his fastball might lack long term career endurance) and since a pitcher's best years can end on a dime (look at Prior and Wood) I think it's safe to say that Drayton will be trying to win THIS yr while Roy is still at his peak. Atleast you can take solice in the fact that the stros' will continue to compete.

Sorry about Willy though kiddo, losing your favorite players is just part of the game now days. Don't take it too hard on the chin though, put some ice(<-- ) on that eye and you'll be ok champ!

[Ice goes to give the ol' ballplayer a patt on her butt.....Gina blocks it with her glove ]


EDIT.....(Sorry ladies, I'm leaving your thread, but ya'll need the business anyway!!! )

Thanks, Ice. That cheered me up!

You're right - it's still a good club, and this is the sport I've chosen. It's just those offseason blues.

I can't imagine me having a glove in my hand to begin with, unless I was waiting for an autograph. I sure wouldn't know what to do with it! I can't play baseball for anything - that must be why I watch.

You're not the only one, Gina. I truly stink at sports and dreaded PE as a kid. I have a severe hand/eye coordination problem.

Oh it's all about proper motivation ladies.

With Jeter teaching you SB I'm sure you would turn into Ozzie Smith at short(he was really good ) and with her Willy as coach Gina would be making Willie Mays-style basket catches over her shoulder in center. Either that or baseball would be the LAST thing on your mind with your boys around.

As Yogi Berra used to say baseball is 90% mental and 20% physical.

Well, this sounds like an offer we can't refuse...right, SB?

Actually, even if I did finally learn something, I might continue to have "trouble" just to keep the teachers around.

I'm with you, Gina. Ice, could you contact them and set it up for us? I think that after being mocked all through high school, I deserve a little help from the greatest!!

[Hagen]Sorry SB, no chance. [/Hagen]

I'm a lousy, jealous bastard. Besides, Gina needs to 'date around' a bit before she even thinks about a long distance relationship with the now Colorado resident William Tavaras. And if I do talk to Jeter, JG already has dibs on the [JG]'prince.'[/JG]

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Well since I'm treading in the ladies thread I'm going to take full advantage. These song lyrics should have been posted here long ago. Read ALL of the lyrics first, then you can listen. This song is great but it makes my blue eyes cry.

Brown eyed handsome man-by:Chuck Berry
Arrested on charges of unemployment,
he was sitting in the witness stand
The judge's wife called up the district attorney
Said you free that brown eyed man
You want your job you better free that brown eyed handsome man

Flying across the desert in a TWA,
I saw a woman walking across the sand
She been a-walkin' thirty miles en route to Bombay(later changed to L.A for ZZZZiaaaaa!!)
To get a brown eyed handsome man
Her destination was a brown eyed handsome man

[chorus]
Way back in history three thousand years
Back every since the world began
There's been a whole lot of good women shed a tear
For a brown eyed handsome man
That's what the trouble was brown eyed handsome man


Beautiful daughter couldn't make up her mind
Between a doctor and a lawyer man
Her mother told her daughter go out and find yourself
A brown eyed handsome man
That's what your daddy is a brown eyed handsome man

Milo Venus was a beautiful lass
She had the world in the palm of her hand
But she lost both her arms in a wrestling match
To get brown eyed handsome man
She fought and won herself a brown eyed handsome man

Two, three count with nobody on
He hit a high fly into the stand (JETER??LOL)
Rounding third he was headed for home
It was a brown eyed handsome man
That won the game; it was a brown eyed handsome man

Listen to Waylon's version here!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q22t7fNf3S0 (very rare cut by Waylon Jennings, he busts into another song after 54 seconds so you turn it off after 54 seconds)

Do you have to word it that way?

He's just away on business. He'll be back. Whenever the Rockies play Houston.

Thanks for posting that song - it got me interested in the song itself, as well as Waylon Jennings, neither of which I've heard before - at least, from what I can remember. I listened to the Chuck Berry version and looked up some other songs by Waylon Jennings on YouTube...that place could keep me entertained all day!

Colorado?? He's just on vacation....trying out the skiing. Yeah, that's it.

How many days until spring training?? I can't stand the off-season!!

That's what we all say when we lose our first loves. 'They're not gone, they'll be back.' But the Nile is NOT just a river in Egypt.

If it's meant to be Willie will let you go off to college and soil a few roots, and if its meant to be you'll be signing a prenuptial in no time at all.

Just want to wish all the Ladies a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! May all our teams be champs!!!

Thank you, SB!

Hope all of you had a terrific Christmas, and I wish you the best in the coming New Year!

Be sure to watch a little Twilight Zone, and don't get too tipsy.

I don't have a team to root for, so I'll just root for my man.

Oh wait...my man doesn't play anymore either. I guess I need to stay the heck out of this thread then.

Belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all my girls, and the occassional voyuer with cooties too.

Beth, Like DS, I think you need to adopt a team. Since your daughter is such a Jeter fan, any way that the Yankees can lure you over to the dark side??

Only if they hire Vinny as the 3rd base coach.

Gina did you watch Jon last night? I'm watching his 8:00 show tonight, iI believe is a repeat of the previous night's show. How nice was it to have a Godfather remark in the show. His segment with the author of the book "Imperial life in the Emerald City" was spot on.

Jon: "In all fairness everyone likes ice cream".

Beth!! How've you been?? I was just thinking about resurrecting this thread today, but honestly couldn't think of anything to post. So glad that you did it!!

I'm good. I just got back from New York. Thankfully the rain decided to wait until I left to start coming down. The 60 degree weather was kind of odd though.

In NY and not even a phone call???

I thought of it, but figured everyone would be pooped out from the holidays so, like Sonny and his temper, I figured I'd wait. :). They'll be another time soon. Nicole's already bugging me about her going. Maybe in March or May. My feet need to recover from all the walking. Plus, with me living in the county and only hearing birds and crickets waking me up sleeping for 2 culture shock. I stayed at The Hotel Edison. Luckily, no one named Bruno offered me a drink.

No prewar scotch????

I did have the week off between Christmas and New Year's, so I just got back to work this past Tuesday. Glad you enjoyed it. Weather-wise, this week was fantastic.

Hey girls! How are things this week? Man, it's been so long since I've posted here. I haven't wanted to bore you guys with basketball talk.

But I thought I should let you guys know, since I've been hurting Sasha's rep around here lately... last week he beat his career high by scoring 16 in a game (in 19 minutes of playing!), and then the very next game, he scored 18. But then the next game after that he only played 7 minutes and scored nothing. But still... he's finally playing like a Laker! Haven't I always said he had the potential? Now if only he can get more minutes and keep doing this well. I hope it did enough for his confidence.

If not, this should:
There ya go, Sasha. What more could you need?


In other news, do you guys watch "Prison Break"? I've just gotten hooked on it. Talk about some major eye candy, both Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell. I recommend. Definitely.

Hey, Zia.

I actually never watched Prison break until like the last 2 episodes. My daughter has watched it from the get go, so I watched it with her those episodes. She agrees....those brothers are HOTTTT. I haven't watched much, so don't know the characters names. Is Sarah the prison doc, and did she help them escape. I also got confused when the next to last episode the black woman, (again, don't know names..haha), who got caught getting her prescription and her husband were never shown in the final episode. So don't know what happened there. But that ending was definately something that made you go, WOW!

I keep meaning to watch Prison Break, but for some reason, I can never remember when it's on. Funny that you should mention it, though, because I just heard an interview on the radio this morning with one of the stars, who is appearing in a new movie about some killer who has claimed over 300 lives ( turns out it's a crocodile or something).

I was actually thinking of you the other night, Zia. World's Most Amazing Videos, which is my 12 year old's favorite show, aired some footage of the riot outside Staples Center. OMG!! I never realized that things got that bad!!

Glad to hear that Sasha's back on track. I knew that you would get him moving in the right direction. Good to have you back here! I miss all the Ladies. We've been very neglectful of this thread lately.