Thursday, April 30, 2015

Should the Houston Astros activate the Death Star they've been building?

Grantland:
Every action movie involving a huge, sinister piece of machinery has an activation scene. It usually takes several minutes and includes orders being repeated in triplicate and about a dozen levers and switches being pulled by different men in different rooms, all while stirring music — courtesy of Hans Zimmer or John Williams — thunders in the background. Huge, mechanical arms click into place, gears turn, and computer screens blink ominously....

Since Jeff Luhnow took over the Astros in December 2011, he’s been building the kind of machine I just described. After surveying the terrain in Houston, Luhnow & Co. decided there was nothing of value to build upon and started from scratch. The construction process has been much discussed and debated, and it hasn’t been without the kind of setbacks that play into Luhnow’s supervillain reputation. Most notably, there was an embarrassing theft of Death Star plans and the equally embarrassing Brady Aiken affair. A young hero losing the use of his arm after refusing to join a supervillain’s cause does, after all, fit a certain theme.

But the building stage is almost over....