The binge continued this off-season with the acquisition of the big-ticket pitcher Zack Greinke.
General Manager Jerry Hunsicker says the Astros will not try to replace Johnson with a big-ticket pitcher, relying on the pre-Johnson unit of Shane Reynolds, Mike Hampton and Jose Lima.
But as we all found out in the postseason, one person does not make the difference between winning and losing". Not everyone in Houston, however, is shutting their mind to the addition of a big-ticket pitcher.
Expect franchises hoping for a quick improvement on the field to make a play for big-ticket stars like ace pitcher Barry Zito or slugger Alfonso Soriano.
Tickets to see a top pitcher work are as good as any in sports.
And in 2004 it was disclosed that a member of the Bonanno crime family told federal investigators that Mets pitcher John Franco gave free tickets to him and other crime family members in the early 1990s.
"I think it's cool, absolutely," pitcher David Price said of the ticket giveaway.
His baseball books include "The Summer Game," "Five Seasons," "Late Innings," "Season Ticket," "Once More Around the Park," "A Pitcher's Story," and "Game Time".
These Angels, with the best player in baseball and October aspirations, should not have to resort to a pitcher that is the equivalent of lottery ticket.
Ticket prices were raised as the supply of effective pitchers dwindled.
The previous season, they were swept out by three pitchers who can go to Cooperstown only with a ticket, the Cincinnati Reds' Pete Schourek, John Smiley and David Wells.
