July 12, 2024 • 9 mins
Following the rough start at the beginning of the season til now, the Astros have switched the gears. With injuries galore since opening week, Joe Espada has managed to do the impossible, rallying the roster back to just two games from division leaders. Could Joe be considered manager of the year?
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Live The Sean Salisbury Show continued,I'm tired of being Houston strong. You
know, can we just be Hey? Things are good, Yeah, we're
just moving along. Yeah. Powerson being put put to the test when
it comes to human now, mothernature, human nature too. There you
got the people there you go.Brother, Yeah, it's it's it's it's
(00:23):
a bummer, there's no doubt aboutit. Perhaps more people could learn from
Joe a spot it And Robert broughtthis up, and this is something the
narrative shifted on Joe's spot in amonth. President one thousand percent, I've
set one thousand percent, one hundredpercent, all of those percentages. Hey,
look, you know you put astrong number to it. That's that's
what I believe it. But alot of times I think that people look
(00:45):
at baseball through the prism of thesame way we kind of look at football.
But the funny thing is, though, and I brought this up a
couple of weeks ago when I wason with You, is our reaction to
the Texans lose to Occults in Weekfour? What's our reaction? That wasn't
our day? What are you gonnado? We'll come back next week,
We'll get the Arizona card nights orwhoever, and we'll take care of business
then. But the funny thing isis it's like such a finite amount of
(01:07):
time that I would probably say theway that you react to a tough Astros
loss is the way that you shouldreact to that, because guess what,
two or three of those could bea reason you don't make the playoffs.
And saw it numerous times. Iremember years ago asking Gary Kubiak when they
just missed out on the playoffs,you know how much of a stress is
that to the guys of the teamthat you lost to in week one of
(01:30):
the season was the team who beatyou out to make the playoffs. So
you win that game in week one, you're the one going on to the
playoffs, not them, right,And that's that's just how tight that a
football season is why I hate whenpeople say, oh, September doesn't matter,
your ASSID doesn't. If I winin September in football, I get
a little more leadway in December.Sure it's Oh, it's not how you
(01:51):
start, it's how you finish.Or if I start four and oh,
then I can finish two and two. Sure I find as long as in
between they all matter, and that'smy favorite. I do believe if we
keep score in September, do wenot? Well, I mean, yeah,
those games are counting towards the wouldthat you play. Would you rather
be owing four and chasing or threeand one and in a position that if
you did have a hiccup like theTexans did against Carolina coming out of a
(02:15):
bye week, that you can overcomeit still get to the playoffs. And
they started what owing to this year? If I know it was taking so
I'm losing that game to the ColtsBaltimore at the beginning, right, So
it to me it is I alwaysthat's now got to finish strong. But
I got news for if the Astroswere still fifteen games, if they were
twelve fifteen games out of first place, the finish ain't gonna matter. Dude,
(02:37):
Well, it's because that's a thirtygame swing, right and not going
to happen. And that's the partof it too, is with Jospota.
You know, just where I'm gettingat with this is I got to give
him massive credit of all the thingsthat have happened this season. We can
talk about decisions made, We cansay, oh, you know, how
would you go with that guy asa pinch hitter, or why would you
use that guy on the board?Absolutely, and that's going to happen because
(03:00):
the truth of the matter is,as I've talked about before with Triple Lee,
I do the job behind the scenesas well. One of our new
guys, Trey. The truth ofthe matter is you don't know until you
know, and the way that youknow is getting those reps and actually doing
the job and finding it out.You can tell me so many times,
use the football example right there.You can give me every single schematic advantage
(03:23):
you can coach me up. Thetruth of the matter is I've got to
make that play, and the waythat I make that play is going through
it. And if I don't makeit right there, we'll stay in the
fight we were talking about, youknow, prize fighters earlier. All right,
you missed that one, but don'tmiss the next one, and don't
miss the one after that. Baseball, it's the same deal. Hey,
this guy's zero for three, allright, Well, you know some people
(03:46):
might say he's do comes through.That might be the game winner, and
some people might say, oh,he's one for his last ten. That
one was pretty huge, and withthe spata. That's the thing that you
have to do in baseball. Youhave to play the long game. The
onueiest thing is is some of themanagers that I've ever been around, they're
almost irritable after losses or after wins. Excuse me after wins and you're kind
(04:06):
of like, what gives you beatthose guys ten to two? But we
didn't do this, We didn't dothat. You know. That's that's the
time when because they know if youkeep it so, you can't keep winning
ten to two and making mistakes,so you make along the way right,
No, And that's and that's whatgoes into that. And you know with
the spata as well, I mean, you know talking about staying the course,
(04:28):
being positive. Hey, these guysfight. These guys fight. Well,
when they were seven to nineteen,people didn't want to hear that.
Twelve and twenty four, people didn'ttwist. It was eye rolling. That's
how people was. Absolutely it wasbecause it's kind of one of those all
right, are you bsking yourself ordo you truly believe this? I think
we can now pretty definitively say well, he believes it, and he continues
to say it as well. Danhas used the word grind. We got
(04:49):
to keep grinding, got to keepgrinding. It's a long season. And
in truth, he said they weregoing to go through this and that they
were gonna have a streak, andthey have won sixteen at twenty. I
will tell you this, and I'vementioned this before, but it bears a
peting. Is it's a good thingthat players and coaches do not approach it
like media and fans like we do, because if they have the ebbs and
(05:13):
flows of the up and down,win three in a row, lose one,
and now the and the and hatergives up a home run, the
guy sucks, right, and weall have that he doesn't. But you
get my point right, the recencypart of it, and one hundred and
sixty two Think about anything you doone hundred and sixty two times, think
about it. Oh, just giveme some failure in there. Yes,
think about anything you do if yougot if you're trying to sell and you're
(05:35):
on your one hundred and sixty secondhouse, you're thirty in to your I'm
just going, you know, I'mtrying to compare it to other careers.
Think about the difference and experience,how you go along and if somebody came
to you and said you're ten,you're you're you're one and nine In closing
closing sales on a home, you'reclosing, what's going on? Are you
supposed to as the player or isthe salesperson the real estate and just say,
(05:58):
yeah, you're right, I guessbetter quit. You're gonna say,
I'm just gonna keep grinding. Eventuallytwo or three are gonna come and it's
gonna change my month, and it'sgonna change my year, and then I'll
feel good about it and momentum howeverthat is, And I know it sounds
cheesy, but it is true becausewhile we are as media and fans,
and it's true not everybody, butwe all get into the we'd back removed
from it, and we see theoptics like, oh, the guys walking
(06:20):
the plate, his shoulders are alittle shrugged. He struck out swing out
to that one time they called itand said, oh Verlanders giving high fives,
and like the hell's he supposed todo? Right? So but we
get we're right. We're all entitledthe opinion. But it's a good things
that our opinion, our emotions asplayers. I can tell you this as
a broadcaster and as a fan,my emotions are far different than they were
(06:42):
as a player when it comes tothe day to day. Now, don't
kid yourself. The the loss ishung around a lot longer than feeling good
about a win. I got overthe wins so much quicker the loss.
But you have to get over bothequally as quick. You just do so
you can focus on the next task. And then you want the last part
of the season to be in awin, so you can not let the
offseason fester. But it sucks,so for me be grateful that even though
(07:06):
we don't like to hear some ofthe comments like oh we're grind and oh
just one at a time. Oh, it's a long season, right,
But in truth it is. Andif you apply it to your job,
about how long if somebody came upto you and said, three weeks,
three months into your job, yourvery first time, they said you're not
producer right now, it's like pickup the temple. Yeah, but they're
going to give you a chance tomake mistakes along the way. This team's
(07:28):
just spoiled us with all all theirsuccess, so we expect the same thing
all the time. And I getit so we as fans and media.
I get we're entitled the opinion,but can you imagine if the players were
in the day to day emotional highsand lows like we are, well,
I mean, they never get throughit. The football example is players care
less about one game, care farless than I don't mean care less about
(07:50):
losing or winning. Sure they will, they will compartmentalize it far better,
and they care out far less thanthe fans. They're not burying their season
unless it's the last game of theseason that eliminated them. They're not burying
their season over a loss or two. Well, and that's a good thing.
It's the Jim Mora line. Youdon't know right like you think you
(08:11):
know, but you don't know.And that's the huge part of it as
well, is you know, ohman, you know you guys have lost
five of your last six. Youknow, how does it not bother you?
Guys? More like, how areyou not showing it that it bothers
rushing you? It bothered, itdrives it. You're nobody wants to embarrass
himself, but you don't go toseven straight alcs's and just fall off the
(08:33):
map. But also too, it'snot like you know, they looked at
it and said, well, we'vebeen to seventh straight alcs is, we've
won two World Series during that time. We're good, We're fine. There's
not a single guy in that clubhouse, I think, right, And it
doesn't alleviate that there still makes somemistakes here along the way. Even in
sixteen to twenty wins straight. There'sstill thinks they can do better, right,
Like, we're not going to beour best every single show, and
(08:54):
if they win five straight in arow, we're not crowning the World Series
champs. The point is is theemotion part of it. It's important that
players and coaches are far better thanwe are at it's the cheesiests. So
will stay in the course, Well, I mean just got to stay the
course, and you got to thinkoutside the box at times when the course
has gone a little off the pavedroad. And baseball is one of those
(09:16):
sports too. You can't run hotall the time. You've got to know
when is the time to be ableto do that. But then also too,
I've said it before, you gotto find that middle. I mean,
wins or losses, you got tofind that middle because that's what sustains
you. Over one sixteen. Youlook what they've done in this middle sixteen
to twenty. In the middle wasn'tthe beginning and in the end, but
in the middle, they've given themselvesnow a chance to be relevant in the
(09:37):
run in the end for sure,for sure. Well continue that conversation as
well as get into some Texans talkand other NFL stuff as training camps set
to fire up next week, aswell as we continue to roll along here
on the Sean Salisbury Show here onat your home of the Astros and the
Rockets, Sports Talk seven ninety
Live The Sean Salisbury Show continued,I'm tired of being Houston strong. You
know, can we just be Hey? Things are good, Yeah, we're
just moving along. Yeah. Powerson being put put to the test when
it comes to human now, mothernature, human nature too. There you
got the people there you go.Brother, Yeah, it's it's it's it's
(00:23):
a bummer, there's no doubt aboutit. Perhaps more people could learn from
Joe a spot it And Robert broughtthis up, and this is something the
narrative shifted on Joe's spot in amonth. President one thousand percent, I've
set one thousand percent, one hundredpercent, all of those percentages. Hey,
look, you know you put astrong number to it. That's that's
what I believe it. But alot of times I think that people look
(00:45):
at baseball through the prism of thesame way we kind of look at football.
But the funny thing is, though, and I brought this up a
couple of weeks ago when I wason with You, is our reaction to
the Texans lose to Occults in Weekfour? What's our reaction? That wasn't
our day? What are you gonnado? We'll come back next week,
We'll get the Arizona card nights orwhoever, and we'll take care of business
then. But the funny thing isis it's like such a finite amount of
(01:07):
time that I would probably say theway that you react to a tough Astros
loss is the way that you shouldreact to that, because guess what,
two or three of those could bea reason you don't make the playoffs.
And saw it numerous times. Iremember years ago asking Gary Kubiak when they
just missed out on the playoffs,you know how much of a stress is
that to the guys of the teamthat you lost to in week one of
(01:30):
the season was the team who beatyou out to make the playoffs. So
you win that game in week one, you're the one going on to the
playoffs, not them, right,And that's that's just how tight that a
football season is why I hate whenpeople say, oh, September doesn't matter,
your ASSID doesn't. If I winin September in football, I get
a little more leadway in December.Sure it's Oh, it's not how you
(01:51):
start, it's how you finish.Or if I start four and oh,
then I can finish two and two. Sure I find as long as in
between they all matter, and that'smy favorite. I do believe if we
keep score in September, do wenot? Well, I mean, yeah,
those games are counting towards the wouldthat you play. Would you rather
be owing four and chasing or threeand one and in a position that if
you did have a hiccup like theTexans did against Carolina coming out of a
(02:15):
bye week, that you can overcomeit still get to the playoffs. And
they started what owing to this year? If I know it was taking so
I'm losing that game to the ColtsBaltimore at the beginning, right, So
it to me it is I alwaysthat's now got to finish strong. But
I got news for if the Astroswere still fifteen games, if they were
twelve fifteen games out of first place, the finish ain't gonna matter. Dude,
(02:37):
Well, it's because that's a thirtygame swing, right and not going
to happen. And that's the partof it too, is with Jospota.
You know, just where I'm gettingat with this is I got to give
him massive credit of all the thingsthat have happened this season. We can
talk about decisions made, We cansay, oh, you know, how
would you go with that guy asa pinch hitter, or why would you
use that guy on the board?Absolutely, and that's going to happen because
(03:00):
the truth of the matter is,as I've talked about before with Triple Lee,
I do the job behind the scenesas well. One of our new
guys, Trey. The truth ofthe matter is you don't know until you
know, and the way that youknow is getting those reps and actually doing
the job and finding it out.You can tell me so many times,
use the football example right there.You can give me every single schematic advantage
(03:23):
you can coach me up. Thetruth of the matter is I've got to
make that play, and the waythat I make that play is going through
it. And if I don't makeit right there, we'll stay in the
fight we were talking about, youknow, prize fighters earlier. All right,
you missed that one, but don'tmiss the next one, and don't
miss the one after that. Baseball, it's the same deal. Hey,
this guy's zero for three, allright, Well, you know some people
(03:46):
might say he's do comes through.That might be the game winner, and
some people might say, oh,he's one for his last ten. That
one was pretty huge, and withthe spata. That's the thing that you
have to do in baseball. Youhave to play the long game. The
onueiest thing is is some of themanagers that I've ever been around, they're
almost irritable after losses or after wins. Excuse me after wins and you're kind
(04:06):
of like, what gives you beatthose guys ten to two? But we
didn't do this, We didn't dothat. You know. That's that's the
time when because they know if youkeep it so, you can't keep winning
ten to two and making mistakes,so you make along the way right,
No, And that's and that's whatgoes into that. And you know with
the spata as well, I mean, you know talking about staying the course,
(04:28):
being positive. Hey, these guysfight. These guys fight. Well,
when they were seven to nineteen,people didn't want to hear that.
Twelve and twenty four, people didn'ttwist. It was eye rolling. That's
how people was. Absolutely it wasbecause it's kind of one of those all
right, are you bsking yourself ordo you truly believe this? I think
we can now pretty definitively say well, he believes it, and he continues
to say it as well. Danhas used the word grind. We got
(04:49):
to keep grinding, got to keepgrinding. It's a long season. And
in truth, he said they weregoing to go through this and that they
were gonna have a streak, andthey have won sixteen at twenty. I
will tell you this, and I'vementioned this before, but it bears a
peting. Is it's a good thingthat players and coaches do not approach it
like media and fans like we do, because if they have the ebbs and
(05:13):
flows of the up and down,win three in a row, lose one,
and now the and the and hatergives up a home run, the
guy sucks, right, and weall have that he doesn't. But you
get my point right, the recencypart of it, and one hundred and
sixty two Think about anything you doone hundred and sixty two times, think
about it. Oh, just giveme some failure in there. Yes,
think about anything you do if yougot if you're trying to sell and you're
(05:35):
on your one hundred and sixty secondhouse, you're thirty in to your I'm
just going, you know, I'mtrying to compare it to other careers.
Think about the difference and experience,how you go along and if somebody came
to you and said you're ten,you're you're you're one and nine In closing
closing sales on a home, you'reclosing, what's going on? Are you
supposed to as the player or isthe salesperson the real estate and just say,
(05:58):
yeah, you're right, I guessbetter quit. You're gonna say,
I'm just gonna keep grinding. Eventuallytwo or three are gonna come and it's
gonna change my month, and it'sgonna change my year, and then I'll
feel good about it and momentum howeverthat is, And I know it sounds
cheesy, but it is true becausewhile we are as media and fans,
and it's true not everybody, butwe all get into the we'd back removed
from it, and we see theoptics like, oh, the guys walking
(06:20):
the plate, his shoulders are alittle shrugged. He struck out swing out
to that one time they called itand said, oh Verlanders giving high fives,
and like the hell's he supposed todo? Right? So but we
get we're right. We're all entitledthe opinion. But it's a good things
that our opinion, our emotions asplayers. I can tell you this as
a broadcaster and as a fan,my emotions are far different than they were
(06:42):
as a player when it comes tothe day to day. Now, don't
kid yourself. The the loss ishung around a lot longer than feeling good
about a win. I got overthe wins so much quicker the loss.
But you have to get over bothequally as quick. You just do so
you can focus on the next task. And then you want the last part
of the season to be in awin, so you can not let the
offseason fester. But it sucks,so for me be grateful that even though
(07:06):
we don't like to hear some ofthe comments like oh we're grind and oh
just one at a time. Oh, it's a long season, right,
But in truth it is. Andif you apply it to your job,
about how long if somebody came upto you and said, three weeks,
three months into your job, yourvery first time, they said you're not
producer right now, it's like pickup the temple. Yeah, but they're
going to give you a chance tomake mistakes along the way. This team's
(07:28):
just spoiled us with all all theirsuccess, so we expect the same thing
all the time. And I getit so we as fans and media.
I get we're entitled the opinion,but can you imagine if the players were
in the day to day emotional highsand lows like we are, well,
I mean, they never get throughit. The football example is players care
less about one game, care farless than I don't mean care less about
(07:50):
losing or winning. Sure they will, they will compartmentalize it far better,
and they care out far less thanthe fans. They're not burying their season
unless it's the last game of theseason that eliminated them. They're not burying
their season over a loss or two. Well, and that's a good thing.
It's the Jim Mora line. Youdon't know right like you think you
(08:11):
know, but you don't know.And that's the huge part of it as
well, is you know, ohman, you know you guys have lost
five of your last six. Youknow, how does it not bother you?
Guys? More like, how areyou not showing it that it bothers
rushing you? It bothered, itdrives it. You're nobody wants to embarrass
himself, but you don't go toseven straight alcs's and just fall off the
(08:33):
map. But also too, it'snot like you know, they looked at
it and said, well, we'vebeen to seventh straight alcs is, we've
won two World Series during that time. We're good, We're fine. There's
not a single guy in that clubhouse, I think, right, And it
doesn't alleviate that there still makes somemistakes here along the way. Even in
sixteen to twenty wins straight. There'sstill thinks they can do better, right,
Like, we're not going to beour best every single show, and
(08:54):
if they win five straight in arow, we're not crowning the World Series
champs. The point is is theemotion part of it. It's important that
players and coaches are far better thanwe are at it's the cheesiests. So
will stay in the course, Well, I mean just got to stay the
course, and you got to thinkoutside the box at times when the course
has gone a little off the pavedroad. And baseball is one of those
(09:16):
sports too. You can't run hotall the time. You've got to know
when is the time to be ableto do that. But then also too,
I've said it before, you gotto find that middle. I mean,
wins or losses, you got tofind that middle because that's what sustains
you. Over one sixteen. Youlook what they've done in this middle sixteen
to twenty. In the middle wasn'tthe beginning and in the end, but
in the middle, they've given themselvesnow a chance to be relevant in the
(09:37):
run in the end for sure,for sure. Well continue that conversation as
well as get into some Texans talkand other NFL stuff as training camps set
to fire up next week, aswell as we continue to roll along here
on the Sean Salisbury Show here onat your home of the Astros and the
Rockets, Sports Talk seven ninety
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