Wait'll next year and hope

The baseball season is over. All 162 games are in the books. My Houston Astros won't be going to the playoffs. Again. But at least this year they didn't end up in last place in their division.

In fact, the team made considerable improvement. Last year they won only 51 games. This year they won 70. Still not .500 but getting closer.

More importantly, all of their (very) young players got another year under their belts and they form the nucleus of what could be a very good team in the future and for years to come. The core of that nucleus is their talented second baseman, Jose Altuve.

Altuve played 158 games out of 162 this year, including the last one. For that last game with the Mets, the brain trust of the team debated keeping him out of the lineup. He was leading in the batting title race by a few points over Victor Martinez of Detroit. If he didn't play, there was a good chance that he would back into the championship. If he did play and had a bad day and Martinez had a good day, there was always the chance he could lose the batting title on the very last day of the season. In the end, he played which was the way he wanted it. He got two hits. Martinez played, too, and didn't get a hit. Altuve won the batting crown with a .341 average, the best not only in the American League but in the major leagues.

That .341 average was earned with 225 hits, also the best in the majors. He had 660 official at-bats with 36 bases-on-balls. Of all those times that he walked to the plate, he struck out only 53 times. That means that his bat made contact with the ball 607 times! In other words, he almost always hits the ball.

In addition to all those hits and walks, when he got on base, he stole base 56 times, and when in the field, he rarely made an error. He is the sparkplug of the team, the main reason for their nineteen game improvement this year and if he doesn't get the Silver Slugger award for second base this year, it will be a travesty.

He really should also get strong consideration for the Most Valuable Player award. True, that award usually goes to one of the players on one of the winning teams, but if one judges MVPs by where their team would be without them, it is hard to see how any player could be more valuable than Altuve.

So, now, all we Astros fans get to wait'll next year and hope. I think 2015 may be much better still than 2014 or any recent year. It would be even better if the team could resolve its television coverage issues so that most of us fans could actually follow the team on television once again. (Oh, for the days of Brownie and J.D.!)

Meanwhile, the playoffs are about to begin and Astros fans do have some skin in those games. Our old favorite, Brad Ausmus, the long-time Astros catcher and all-round good guy, in his first season as a manager, took the Detroit Tigers to the title in their division. Now, they get to play the Baltimore Orioles in the first round of playoffs. I know who I'll be pulling for to go all the way.

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no...

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try. ...

Poetry Sunday: Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney

My mother was a farm wife and a prodigious canner. She canned fruit and vegetables from the garden, even occasionally meat. But the best thing that she canned, in my opinion, was blackberry jam. Even as I type those words my mouth waters! Of course, before she could make that jam, somebody had to pick the blackberries. And that somebody was quite often named Dorothy. I think Seamus Heaney might have spent some time among the briars plucking those delicious black fruits as well, so he would have known that "Once off the bush the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour." They don't keep; you have to get that jam made in a hurry! Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney Late August, given heavy rain and sun For a full week, the blackberries would ripen. At first, just one, a glossy purple clot Among others, red, green, hard as a knot. You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust ...

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