After playing a few series with Houston against my brother, I have altered quite a few things with my Houston synopsis. Feel free to discuss:
http://dee-nee.com/rbi/houston.shtml
Ah, a thread devoted to my favorite RBI team, the mighty aStros...
That's a solid lineup Gantry and some good stuff!
Here's one alternate Houston lineup I use, with the changes in bold:
1 Billy Hatcher: I will not argue with those who yank The Hatchet in inning 1. As a hitter, he is one tick above the mendoza line. But in this alternate lineup I am leaving him in for his speed and because it allows me some other moves, including pinch hitting for him later in the game.
2 Jose Cruz
3 Davie Lopes: Lopes' skill set makes him a great 3 hitter.
4 Glenn Davis
5 Kevin Bass
6 Billy Doran
7 Craig Reynolds
8 Phil Garner: To have success with the Astros, you will need contributions from Bass, Doran, and/or Reynolds. When one of them gets on, Garner is a solid RBI man at the bottom of the lineup.
This lineup leaves you with a bench of Terry Puhl and Dick Thong, a nice bonus considering just about every other version of the Astros is going to use three subs in the first inning, leaving just one bench player. Puhl and Thon are not bombers, but they're a decent L/R combo with surprising pop. Anytime Hatcher comes up in an RBI situation, you should consider the pinch hit.
I play extremely aggressive on the basepaths with Houston, always testing the defense.
Ryan is a beast, and if you're playing 2sp, he and Mike Scuff can eat some innings. Dave Smith is only safe for 1-2 batters. Use him in middle relief or as a setup man. Kerfeld is my closer, and I am not afraid to bring him in in the 8th. He can go two innings under ideal circumstances. His sidearm motion will throw some off.
I never pull hatcher. That offense is shit and all you have is speed. utilize it with the top 3 and hope to score a couple runs on account of it. I think i use garner after bass though...to try and utilize a little pop incase someone does get on base early.
Kerfeld is a nice starter if your opponent struggles against sidearmers...or a lefty heavy line-up. STL is a great start for Kerfeld.
Doran is a better hitter than Assby, Walling, or Hatcher IMHO.
And he's got above average speed.
They all suck. The entire team. That's it and that's all.
Their P is pretty stellar, though.
Davey Lopes' mustache doesn't suck.
Davey Lopes' mustache just hit a gapper to left center off you.
The mustache is taking the turn at second, going for a triple!
The disembodied mustache is safe.
Quote from: JoeDirt on 11/19/09, 03:31:22 PM
Their P is pretty stellar, though.
Joe likes their p
tastes good :(
Houston's batting is the worst.
Anemic hitting, no power and awful swings.
Kevin Bass is easily the most frustrating hitter/player in RBI. Period.
Denny Walling is DP material to the max explosion. Simply awful.
Houston's pitching is the second best in the game behind Boston.
Ryan is a solid starter, Kerfeld is nasty as hell and Mike Scott is a decent 2nd starter. I never use Dave Smith so I don't know.
The scales are heavily tipped in favor of defensive pitching, but other than that, Houston is terrible.
Quote from: JoeDirt on 11/19/09, 03:31:22 PM
They all suck. The entire team. That's it and that's all.
Their P is pretty stellar, though.
Uniforms are the best too.
Quote from: bigbrothermuscle on 01/28/10, 12:59:22 PM
Houston's batting is the worst.
Anemic hitting, no power and awful swings.
Kevin Bass is easily the most frustrating hitter/player in RBI. Period.
Denny Walling is DP material to the max explosion. Simply awful.
Houston's pitching is the second best in the game behind Boston.
Ryan is a solid starter, Kerfeld is nasty as hell and Mike Scott is a decent 2nd starter. I never use Dave Smith so I don't know.
The scales are heavily tipped in favor of defensive pitching, but other than that, Houston is terrible.
Why would you leave Walling in the game? He is the weakest hitter on the team as far as power goes.
Quote from: Stock on 01/28/10, 02:02:07 PM
Quote from: bigbrothermuscle on 01/28/10, 12:59:22 PM
Houston's batting is the worst.
Anemic hitting, no power and awful swings.
Kevin Bass is easily the most frustrating hitter/player in RBI. Period.
Denny Walling is DP material to the max explosion. Simply awful.
Houston's pitching is the second best in the game behind Boston.
Ryan is a solid starter, Kerfeld is nasty as hell and Mike Scott is a decent 2nd starter. I never use Dave Smith so I don't know.
The scales are heavily tipped in favor of defensive pitching, but other than that, Houston is terrible.
Why would you leave Walling in the game? He is the weakest hitter on the team as far as power goes.
I lost a game to Stock for solely this reason
Quote from: defen on 01/28/10, 03:23:55 PM
Quote from: Stock on 01/28/10, 02:02:07 PM
Quote from: bigbrothermuscle on 01/28/10, 12:59:22 PM
Houston's batting is the worst.
Anemic hitting, no power and awful swings.
Kevin Bass is easily the most frustrating hitter/player in RBI. Period.
Denny Walling is DP material to the max explosion. Simply awful.
Houston's pitching is the second best in the game behind Boston.
Ryan is a solid starter, Kerfeld is nasty as hell and Mike Scott is a decent 2nd starter. I never use Dave Smith so I don't know.
The scales are heavily tipped in favor of defensive pitching, but other than that, Houston is terrible.
Why would you leave Walling in the game? He is the weakest hitter on the team as far as power goes.
I lost a game to Stock for solely this reason
I think you lost because you picked Houston.
Quote from: Stock on 01/28/10, 03:53:49 PM
Quote from: defen on 01/28/10, 03:23:55 PM
Quote from: Stock on 01/28/10, 02:02:07 PM
Quote from: bigbrothermuscle on 01/28/10, 12:59:22 PM
Houston's batting is the worst.
Anemic hitting, no power and awful swings.
Kevin Bass is easily the most frustrating hitter/player in RBI. Period.
Denny Walling is DP material to the max explosion. Simply awful.
Houston's pitching is the second best in the game behind Boston.
Ryan is a solid starter, Kerfeld is nasty as hell and Mike Scott is a decent 2nd starter. I never use Dave Smith so I don't know.
The scales are heavily tipped in favor of defensive pitching, but other than that, Houston is terrible.
Why would you leave Walling in the game? He is the weakest hitter on the team as far as power goes.
I lost a game to Stock for solely this reason
I think you lost because you picked Houston.
Wasn't it the old don't look at the controller and pick a team? I forget, I was wasted. We should do that again at some point.
Quote from: defen on 01/28/10, 04:40:14 PM
Quote from: Stock on 01/28/10, 03:53:49 PM
Quote from: defen on 01/28/10, 03:23:55 PM
Quote from: Stock on 01/28/10, 02:02:07 PM
Quote from: bigbrothermuscle on 01/28/10, 12:59:22 PM
Houston's batting is the worst.
Anemic hitting, no power and awful swings.
Kevin Bass is easily the most frustrating hitter/player in RBI. Period.
Denny Walling is DP material to the max explosion. Simply awful.
Houston's pitching is the second best in the game behind Boston.
Ryan is a solid starter, Kerfeld is nasty as hell and Mike Scott is a decent 2nd starter. I never use Dave Smith so I don't know.
The scales are heavily tipped in favor of defensive pitching, but other than that, Houston is terrible.
Why would you leave Walling in the game? He is the weakest hitter on the team as far as power goes.
I lost a game to Stock for solely this reason
I think you lost because you picked Houston.
Wasn't it the old don't look at the controller and pick a team? I forget, I was wasted. We should do that again at some point.
You're right, and we do need to do that again some time. I also remember the game being much closer than it should have been, especially since we were playing str8 pitch.
Walling is the worst. Kevin Bass is the worst. It's really a raw deal because their pitching is pretty top notch, but their offense flat out blows.
Houston is
TERRIBLE!
I think this is their best lineup.
Lopes
J.Cruz
Garner
GDavis
K.Bass
D.Thon
Rynlds
Ashby
That's actually not that much worse than NY or SL. At least you have some decent speed and 4 lefty bats in the lineup.
Sometimes they are sneaky enough to win some games especially with two top starters, and decent relief pitching.
I think it's fun to take people on with Houston as it is a no-win situation for the opponent, and if you win, you get to rub it in forever.
I've had a lot of luck with the New York Mets lately. Lee Mazzilli came in and hit a pinch grand slam off of Bert Blyleven last time I played. I'm also a really big sucker for using Tim Teufel. That guy is awesome.
Lenny Dykstra is awesome and this is where I disagree with the Dee Nee guys. He and Mookie work well if used right. Gary Carter either hits the shit out of it or he whiffs wicked bad. Strawberry clobbers it and thats about it.
Pitching isn't the greatest aside from Gooden & Orosco. Offense is key here.
I'm a Red Sox fan, so is it weird to really like this Mets team? If possible, I'll get out of the Houston review tab and start a whole new thing on why the Mets are one of the best teams.
Since Gantry & Co. play straight pitch, I think they put more emphasis on homers, so speed guys aren't as valuable - that's probably why they don't care for Dykstra as much.
My problem with Dykstra/Wilson is that they are pretty much the same person, and I feel that one has to come out. They both have very weak power (to put in perspective.. about 20 less power points than shitty buckner).
Dykstra is very fast, but is the weaker of the two. Wilson is still pretty fast but gives up a few power points and has worse contact.
L 15 768 142
L 18 771 138
I will normally keep Dykstra in and put in HoJo #2. You keep the left bat in the line-up and add about 45 points of power (over 100 in the first AB). Then Heep for Backman and Mazzli for Santana.
I like to keep teuffel for that one needed AB late in the game. He can be the 3rd most powerful hitter on the team late in the game.
Lopes.
I've used Timmy Two-Step late into the 7th-8th inning and he's good for getting a decent clutch single or two. Lately however, I've noticed that Keith Hernandez is just like Kevin Mitchell on the Giants...it's his week. It must be that 'stache making all the decisions because he'll either ding the shit out of it, whiff uncontrollably bad or line out to the 1st baseman. There are no other ways for him to hit.
Mookie is pretty good, but yeah, HoJo's not a bad bench player either. I still stand with Mazzilli though for the pure reason that I hit a grand slam off of Bert Blyleven. My friend Kyle called me out on using Mazzilli to pinch hit with "Oh yeah, like Mazzilli's gonna do anything...garbage!" Next pitch I pulled it for a Natural and got the slammie. I stilll lost to Minnesota 15-11, but that specific move put my faith in the former Orioles manager to hit off the bench.
My Houston strategy is to avoid getting stuck with Houston, and then throw a tantrum if I do.
QuoteMy Houston strategy is to avoid getting stuck with Houston, and then throw a tantrum if I do.
So does that happen on a daily basis? :)