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Post by astrosdoug on Dec 8, 2018 12:09:14 GMT -6
What a horrible story to read today. Got consumed with work around late August and once the playoffs ended, I didn't really check in on the Astros much.
Valbuena might have only been a .200 hitter last year but he always seemed to up his game when he faced the Astros. He hit .286 against Houston in 2017.
Sure he had some annoying quirks but it was all part of the game. And he had some great moments in an Astros uniform.
This is just awful. MLB needs to rethink the wisdom of letting players play in Venezuela, or any lawless country for that matter. Once in a while somebody will suggest putting an MLB franchise in Mexico City. The cartels and kidnapping gangs are a big reason it won't be happening any time soon.
One at least hopes that death came swiftly for the two players. I can't imagine there would have been a decent emergency room nearby to help them had they 'merely' been injured.
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Post by astrosdoug on Dec 8, 2018 12:10:14 GMT -6
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Post by unionstation82 on Dec 8, 2018 18:03:11 GMT -6
It’s easy to forget Valbuena hitting 25 bombs in the team’s return to significance. Rest in peace.
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Post by Saint on Dec 8, 2018 18:06:36 GMT -6
It’s easy to forget Valbuena hitting 25 bombs in the team’s return to significance. Rest in peace. He gave us two very solid seasons. |
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Post by unionstation82 on Dec 8, 2018 18:58:50 GMT -6
It’s easy to forget Valbuena hitting 25 bombs in the team’s return to significance. Rest in peace. He gave us two very solid seasons. Underrated glove too. Very steady. |
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Post by paastrosfan on Dec 8, 2018 19:30:37 GMT -6
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Post by churchill on Dec 8, 2018 20:02:35 GMT -6
I just looked at the list of Astros minor leaguers playing winter league ball in Venezuela this offseason. There are 5. Two of them are Venezuelan. One is a kid from South Carolina, one from California and the other is from Edinburg, Texas. Venezuela is a dangerous country. I’m surprised any of them was willing to go there to play ball. Young players are taking a big chance playing in that socialist country, especially being lawless and the country in turmoil. Just playing winter ball in the DR or PR can be a challenge, not for the game, but your life. Socialism had nothing to do with it. Sweden, Denmark, and Norway are socialist with a higher standard of living than the U.S.
Venezuela has been run a corrupt dictator for far too long is all. They are so poor now they have to import their oil while having the largest oil reserve on the planet. It's cheaper too import it than it is drill for it.
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Post by ɮօʀȶǟʐ on Dec 8, 2018 20:16:03 GMT -6
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talshill
Arbitration Eligible
Vini, vici, pavori.
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Post by talshill on Dec 8, 2018 20:51:29 GMT -6
Young players are taking a big chance playing in that socialist country, especially being lawless and the country in turmoil. Just playing winter ball in the DR or PR can be a challenge, not for the game, but your life. Socialism had nothing to do with it. Sweden, Denmark, and Norway are socialist with a higher standard of living than the U.S.
Venezuela has been run a corrupt dictator for far too long is all. They are so poor now they have to import their oil while having the largest oil reserve on the planet. It's cheaper too import it than it is drill for it.
The Nordic countries you mentioned and Venezuala have about as much in common as a basketball does with a walnut. Also, their (unsustainable) standard of living makes the taxes they pay astronomical. The thing about producers (those who, you know, work hard to earn money) is that they're usually a fairly intelligent lot and eventually tire of having to pull an ever-increasing wagon load of takers (those receive money without contributing much, or anything at all) and they either move somewhere else or find other means to avoid governmental robbery. I realize one of the standard tomes of the left is to defend socialism and point to those Norsemen as examples to follow, but the argument doesn't hold water at all for anyone with an IQ over 100. I certainly agree that Maduro is corrupt, but so are 90% of politicians worldwide. I think socialism, particularly the Venezuelan variety, probably had a lot to do with it. No jobs, no prospects, runaway inflation, crumbling infrastructure, powerless government, starvation, idle minds = banditos abound. "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." - Winston Churchill Welcome to the board. |
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Post by paastrosfan on Dec 8, 2018 21:45:48 GMT -6
Young players are taking a big chance playing in that socialist country, especially being lawless and the country in turmoil. Just playing winter ball in the DR or PR can be a challenge, not for the game, but your life. Socialism had nothing to do with it. Sweden, Denmark, and Norway are socialist with a higher standard of living than the U.S.
Venezuela has been run a corrupt dictator for far too long is all. They are so poor now they have to import their oil while having the largest oil reserve on the planet. It's cheaper too import it than it is drill for it.
Take a better look at those countries, they are letting the immigrants from the Middle East into those nations and are now facing the wrath at their door.
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/overwhelmed-refugee-flows-scandinavia-tempers-its-warm-welcome
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Post by unionstation82 on Dec 9, 2018 9:16:50 GMT -6
I’ve pulled a hamstring before. It’s not fun. |
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Post by paastrosfan on Dec 9, 2018 10:36:09 GMT -6
I’ve pulled a hamstring before. It’s not fun. No doubt, they take long to heal. |
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Post by olpapa on Dec 9, 2018 13:59:25 GMT -6
I’ve pulled a hamstring before. It’s not fun. I tore a hamstring when I was around 40 years old. If you think a pulled hamstring is no fun, try tearing one. |
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Post by unionstation82 on Dec 9, 2018 14:29:10 GMT -6
I’ve pulled a hamstring before. It’s not fun. I tore a hamstring when I was around 40 years old. If you think a pulled hamstring is no fun, try tearing one. Did you get your leg swollen purple and hard? |
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Post by olpapa on Dec 9, 2018 19:20:59 GMT -6
I tore a hamstring when I was around 40 years old. If you think a pulled hamstring is no fun, try tearing one. Did you get your leg swollen purple and hard? The tear was at the upper end of the hamstring. Blood drained beneath the skin down the back of my leg from the tear to the area behind my knee and collected. Looked like a huge bruise. Long after the tear healed when I would jog on a cold day I would sometimes start feeling a knot/cramping-like feeling in the place where the tear had been. When I felt that I would immediately downshift from a jog to a walk. |
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Post by unionstation82 on Dec 9, 2018 20:34:49 GMT -6
Did you get your leg swollen purple and hard? The tear was at the upper end of the hamstring. Blood drained beneath the skin down the back of my leg from the tear to the area behind my knee and collected. Looked like a huge bruise. Long after the tear healed when I would jog on a cold day I would sometimes start feeling a knot/cramping-like feeling in the place where the tear had been. When I felt that I would immediately downshift from a jog to a walk. Same, when I try to sprint it still cramps. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2018 4:31:11 GMT -6
Socialism had nothing to do with it. Sweden, Denmark, and Norway are socialist with a higher standard of living than the U.S. .
While you are cherry picking, why didn't you add the birthplace (Russia), Eastern Bloc, and others? And as far as the Nordic countries, give it another 10 years, and with more influx of Muslims. |
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