The Tower Burns Orange

Texas pulled out an impressive undefeated run through the College Baseball World Series. Bouyed by stellar pitching, impressive and fundamental defensive play, and the offensive heroics of Chance Wheeless and David Maroul, the Lorghorns out scored their opponents 24-8 and won 7 consecutive games dating back to the Super Regional in Oxford, Miss.

David Maroul (.500 ave for the CWS) hit two huge (in timing, not distance) homers in the 2 of 3 series with the Gators, and made several sensational defensive plays. I had mentioned in an earlier post that Maroul's hit or miss batting stats masked his true potential, this couldn't have been more obvious during the trip to Omaha. Defensively this kid is a human web-gem. After showing his power, the Giants have to be giddy about using their 23 round draft pick on him.

Also of note was the gritty (for lack of a better cliche) performance of sophomore Chance Wheeless. After falling to the ground in pain after an at-bat in the 6th inning of Wednesday's game against Baylor, Wheeless knocked a 9th inning, 0-1 pitch into the rightfield bleachers, giving the Longhorns a 4-3 walk-off victory. Wheeless followed up his Robert Redford-like performance on Wednesday with a decent 3-8 (including a homer Sunday) show against Florida. What made his performance most remarkable had to have been the 15 tape jobs he received for his injured shoulder while switching from offense to defense.

Also, the Astros have begun to take on the personality of their Skipper, Phil "Scrap Iron" Gardner. After falling 15 games under .500 a month ago, the Astros have fought their way to a 33-40 record, reeling off 7 of their last 10. Clear Thinker notes that there is statistically little reason to be excited; however, I contend that this team has found their identity. Still, even with the Astros emergence from their Mariah Carey like identity crisis they will have to increase their offensive production from the likes of Lance Berkman, Adam Everett, and Jason Lane. At the same time, the offensive production of Morgan Ensberg and the superb performance of the pitching staff must remain consistent if the Astros have a snowball's chance in Hell to make the Wildcard (the Division crown is farther out of reach than Conservative logic).

Aside from the longshot chance at making the post season, the Astros scrappy play has made them watchable. In their 6-5 loss to the Rangers on Saturday the 'Stros battled back in the late innings to make things interesting with back to back homers by Berkman and Ensberg and a 2-run homer by Biggio. Had the momentum shifted one inning earlier, it seems like they might have actually pulled off the comeback. In Sunday's game, the Astros fought back after falling into a 2-run hole in the early innings with a double by Berkman which plated Biggio in the 6th, and a suicide squeeze by Brad Ausmus in the 7th which scored Orlando Palmeiro to tie the game. Hometown lefty Andy Pettitte pitched 9 strong innings, turning the ball over to Chad Qualls who pitched a perfect 10th. Finally, after two walks to Biggio and Berkman, Ensberg knock the game winning single through to left field. These two games illustrate the fight that the Astros offense lacked in the first 45 games of the season. They will need an measurable offensive surge over the next two months to be competitive in September; however, assuming that the pitching staff can remain as dominant as they have been thus far, their needed increase in offensive production doesn't need to be as dramatic as some would think.

This amorphous "fight" might be the catalyst that propells the younger bats in the lineup to consistent if not timely production. At the very least, the experience gained by these youngsters bodes well for the Astros future; especially if this scrappy chemistry remains with the team through spring training and into next April.