1981-85: The Chinese Water Torture Offense and Tough Times
After the heartbreaking loss to the Phillies in the 1980 NLCS, the Astros were back for revenge in the free agent market. They signed longtime Dodgers pitcher Don Sutton and traded Jeffrey Leonard to the San Francisco Giants for Bob Knepper. The Astros had a rough start before the strike halted play for two months. Just days before the strike, the Astros traded pitcher Joaquín Andújar to St. Louis, where he would help the Cardinals to the World Series Championship the following season, for outfielder Tony Scott. Once the strike ended, baseball decided to add an extra layer to the playoffs by having the first-half division winner face the second-half winner. While the Dodgers won the first half, it would be Houston winning the second half. However, it wouldn't be easy since the Astros did not score too many runs. This was known as the "Chinese Water Torture" offense. They would have frequent 1-0 or 2-0 victories. The Astros would have a milestone on September 26 when Nolan Ryan pitched his fifth no-hitter against the Dodgers. A few weeks later, they were in the playoffs against the Dodgers in the 1981 National League Division Series. After the Astros won the first two games in dramatic fashion, the Dodgers won the next three in Dodger Stadium to earn the full NL West Title.
Afterward, the Astros would have three tough seasons. They would trade César Cedeño to Cincinnati for Ray Knight and Danny Heep to the Mets for Mike Scott. In the process, Bill Virdon was fired in favor of Bob Lillis. During this time, Dickie Thon was emerging as a premier shortstop, hitting 20 homers in 1983. But in April 1984, he was beaned by Mike Torrez. That would remove any chances for Thon of becoming a big-time shortstop.
Read more about this topic: History Of The Houston Astros
Famous quotes containing the words water, torture, offense, tough and/or times:
“The history of persecution is a history of endeavors to cheat nature, to make water run up hill, to twist a rope of sand.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“I assess the power of a will by how much resistance, pain, torture it endures and knows how to turn to its advantage.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“O, my offense is rank, it smells to heaven;
It hath the primal eldest curse upon ‘t,
A brother’s murder. Pray can I not,
Though inclination be as sharp as will;
My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent,
And like a man to double business bound
I stand in pause where I shall first begin,
And both neglect. What if this cursed hand
Were thicker than itself with brother’s blood,
Is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens
To wash it white as snow?”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Once in a while, God sends a good white person my way, even to this day. I think it’s God’s way of keeping me from becoming too mean. And when he sends a nice one to me, then I have to eat crow. And honey, crow is a tough old bird to eat, let me tell you.”
—Annie Elizabeth Delany (b. 1891)
“But parents can be understanding and accept the more difficult stages as necessary times of growth for the child. Parents can appreciate the fact that these phases are not easy for the child to live through either; rapid growth times are hard on a child. Perhaps it’s a small comfort to know that the harder-to-live-with stages do alternate with the calmer times,so parents can count on getting periodic breaks.”
—Saf Lerman (20th century)