On June 12, I wrote an article called "Ten Reasons the Astros Aren't Historically Awful." At the time, the Astros were 26-35. Since then, they've gone 10-39, and 6-31 since June 27th. It's probably time to revise that article.*
*The Astros have already revised their team. Three of the 10 reasons I wrote about now play for the White Sox, Pirates, and Marlins, respectively.
Houston's latest loss came against the Nationals on Monday night. The Astros rallied in the ninth to tie the game against Tyler Clippard but lost 5-4 in extras after the Nats scored the go-ahead run in the top of the 11th. On a Kurt Suzuki bunt. With a runner on first. You know, the way teams typically lose.
If you wanted to be charitable about it, you could say that the greatest legacy of this terrible team will be the young, cost-controlled talent that takes its place. But Astros fans who have actually watched the Astros over the last several weeks probably aren't inclined to be charitable. If an Astros fan were to make a 2012 Astros time capsule, they would probably put J.D. Martinez and his -2.0 WARP in it, because if J.D. Martinez were in a time capsule, he couldn't play for the Astros. If I were making a 2012 time capsule, I'd just preserve this play:
On the bright side, no one was there to see it!
Astros attendance: 13,843. Lowest announced crowd in Minute Maid Park history.
— Zachary Levine (@zacharylevine) August 7, 2012
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"...and one of the worst plays you'll ever see... ...I mean you got guys hurt because they ran into each other..."
last 20 years.