Baseball is Back.. tonight

Very excited about the new baseball season. Can't wait to see my Astros take on the Cubs tomorrow night. Every home game this season and most of the road games are in HD on the Astros TV network. That is going to be great. I am so glad to have DirecTV to be able to catch it all.

I am optimistic about this team. We have some of the best players in baseball:
starting pitcher Roy Oswalt
first baseman Lance Berkman
left fielder Carlos Lee, El Caballo (The Horse)
and
closer Jose Valverde (led baseball in saves the past 2 seasons)

It should be a cool season. Brand new stadiums in New York. The new MLB Network to tune into. And lots of great young players.

Spring!

How do I know it's spring? 4 words: "Pitchers and Catchers Report."

Astros Report to Kissimmee, Florida.

KISSIMMEE, FLA. — For most of the winter, manager Cecil Cooper envisioned countless scenarios as he pondered the pitching and catching questions the Astros face this spring.

Those two areas are littered with unresolved issues, and the club likely will need all seven weeks of spring training and some of the season to figure them out.

Cooper starts the quest for answers today when the Astros open their 25th camp at Osceola County Stadium with workouts for pitchers and catchers.

“You hope this and you hope that, but you got to see them,” Cooper said. “That gets you feeling good when you see them (and) when you hear the mitt popping and all that stuff. I can’t wait.”

So it begins again. Baseball. :)

A Fun Time at the Game

Last night was a "Suite" night indeed. A fun time at the game. The Astros did not win, they lost 8-4 to the hated Cardinals. But, sitting in the suite level was an experience all to itself. I doubt I'll ever have the chance to do that again.

The suite level is sweet. Wide and carpeted. Catered and comfortable. What a way to watch a game. I felt for a night what it must be like to be one of those "big cat" business owners.

The teachers who got to go were smiling ear to ear. There were only 4 pairs of people there. I spent a lot of time talking to the woman who organized the night. She is the person in charge of grant writing in our district. She helped to organize a fund raiser for AVID this spring that raised $6,000. We discussed the future of AVID and how I would be glad to do anything to help raise money for the program. That was a nice hidden advantage of going last night.

It was also great to be out with just Norma. As much as we love Aidan and taking him out and experiencing things, it is wonderful when we get a date night. They are few and far between. It reminded me off all those games we used to go to together in the old Astrodome and all the fun we've had together at the new stadium.

But, I also thought a lot about taking Aidan to his next game. He has gone to two games and enjoyed it. This year he should REALLY enjoy it. The Astros have a lot of great things for kids to enjoy and keep entertained. It really is a wonderful family experience.

We are thinking about getting him down there during an afternoon or evening in the month of July.

Astros Pick - Jason Castro

The Astros selected a catcher in the first round today: Jason Castro, Catcher, Stanford U.

6'3" 215 lbs. Good bat from the left side and a very quality throwing arm. I am excited by this pick because it certainly is an area of weakness on the major league club. But, with any catchers, they take time to develop. College coaches call all the pitches, so a young catcher has to come in and learn to work with pitchers and call a good game. But, he went to Stanford... so dude is probably working pretty well between the ears!

According to the Stanford baseball website, it says that Castro's "Favorite Stanford Baseball Road Trip: Texas." So he'll get to see Texas again real soon. :)

BIG-GI-O! BIG-GI-O! BIG-GI-O! BIG-GI-O …

Goodbye Craig. You had a hall-of-fame career. He will always be Mr. Astro in Houston. Biggio Goes Out in Sytle as Astros Win Finale

Great Time at the Game

We had a great time at the Astros game last night. Thanks to Uncle Bill and Aunt Aimee for the tickets! :)

It was so funny, we were getting out of the car downtown and I said to Aidan, "Check out all those big buildings!" He looked up and then said, "SpiderMAN!" We were cracking up. He really had fun. We bought him a new Astros hat and he looks super cute in it.

We only go to about a game a year right now. It's not easy to take him down there in traffic and fight the crowds. Last night's game was a sell out. Unfortunately the Astros dropped a heart breaker to the Brewers. It is just not our year.

Aidan was great though. I can't even imagine how much better he will be next year at this time.

The Kind of Move the Astros Have to Make

Wheeler Shipped to Rays for 3B Wigginton

Although I hate to see Dan Wheeler go - he is a tremendous competitor and I will always have great memories of our World Series season with him - this is the kind of move my Astros have to make. They trade a setup guy for a starting third baseman. They have to gamble and make some moves like this to set things up for next year. But, Wigginton has to turn out to be an everyday starter for this deal to be a winner for the Astros. At this point that is a big "IF".

Astros Rollin

I am really enjoying these 2007 Astros. They got off to a slow start, but they are now rolling. Swept the Reds tonight after being down 6-0. 8-6 win! Sweet.



Carlos Lee is the real deal! El Caballo (The Horse) rides again!

On to Milwaukee!
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#42 - 60 Years Later

A lot of discussion in the sports world and the world in general has focused on Jackie Robinson Day. It was 60 years ago today that Mr. Robinson broke the color barrier and changed baseball and America forever. But, many are saying we still have so much more to do for equal opportunities for blacks in baseball. I don't believe that I agree 100%. Sure I wish there were more African Americans in the game. But do young black players today see the barriers that were in front of Jackie? No way.

What kids today see is a game that doesn't interest them as much. Baseball is a pastoral game. African Americans don't seem to be as interested in the nation's past time. Instead, the hip hop culture of today appeals to them much more. Is that a real problem of integration? I think not.

Instead we should be proud of the entire country and how far we have come. Would Jackie Robinson be pleased that 8% of the game is comprised of African Americans today? Surely not. Would he be pleased that Barrack Obama is running for President? Of course. There are many great strides we have taken as a nation. Don't look down on Jackie's accomplishments because baseball is not 'black' enough. Rather look at society and see that opportunities for blacks are everywhere today.

Is there still more work to do? Certainly. I am so happy that the news media has focused on Jackie this weekend. And I will be very happy to spend 10-15 minutes tomorrow talking about one of my heroes - Jackie. He was a great, great man. And today his wife Rachel continues his great work.

It was totally cool that many teams wore #42 on EVERY jersey in the park on Sunday. It was totally uncool that my Astros were rained out in Philly and couldn't celebrate with the rest of baseball on this great day. You inspire me still Jackie...

A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives. -- Jackie Robinson

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A Blast From My Past!

Ever google yourself? I do from time to time. Mostly to determine what my students could find out about me if they searched. I want to be sure that I am not leaving an embarrassing trail of stupid comments on someone's blog... or anything worse. I came across this tonight and was very excited:

Under the Clouds in Kissimmee
LINK
added 03/18 by David D.

I had checked the spring schedules and considered driving south to see if I could at least catch some baseball on my final full day in Florida. Surely the Astros-Phillies game on Sunday would be rained out. The skies were already blackening on Saturday and the forecasters were happily calling for rain to douse the drought stricken Central Florida landscape. But, nothing compelling jumped off the Spring schedule at me and 80% chance of rain also means that there is a 20% chance that it won't rain, right?

Well, Sunday was cloudy, cold and dreary but there was no rain in Kissimmee. My wife and I took in the final game on our spring training trip's schedule and it was another win. The Astros beat the Phils 2-1 in a boring game that was highlighted by solid pitching and a Lance Berkman first-inning dinger deep over the right field fence. Kent Bottenfield pitched very well. As I watched Bottenfield toss his warmup pitches, 3 words came to mind: "Beer League Softball." Bottenfield is a big man. But, he hit his spots with a lively fastball and kept hitters (if that's what you want to call the Phillie lineup) off balance. The only blemish was a couple of hits in the second inning and a run scored by Phillie playboy Pat Burrell.

Scott Linebrink, Doug Brocail and Billy Wagner pitched an inning a piece to finish off the game. Wagner looked impressive and K'd one. He ended the game by getting Pat Burrell to bounce sharply to short.

There was a crowd of just below 3,000 at Osceola County Stadium and it was dreary and cold. There was a good solid Phillie contingent and they were their normal rude and rowdie selves. These pasty fans were booing the umpire and hissing at called third strikes. I could hardly call it "being in mid-season form" because there is no real form to being a Phillie fan. They were born to boo. In fact, when the doctor smacks a Phillie baby's behind as it is born the baby doesn't begin to cry; it says, "What'da'ya talkin' bout? Youze callin' that a strike ump? C'mon."

It was our first visit to the facility and it was easily the worst spot we visited during our trip. The hotdogs were crummy, the lemonade was actually water that maybe someone twisted a lemon into. The only good thing about the stadium that I could see was the playing surface. It looked to be in great shape. There are only a few seatback chairs that line the first few rows of the stadium. The rest is of the metal bleacher variety. On a scale of 5 grapefruits, it gets 1 and a ½.

I'm very surprised that the Astros have re-upped their deal with Kissimmee. But, it's a good spot geographically with plenty of teams to play in the area. Overall, our trip was a great one and we really had a super time. The traffic on 192 in Kissimmee was terrible. The hotel we stayed in was below average. But, the baseball was good and we totally enjoyed Universal Studio's Islands of Adventure on Saturday afternoon. It was a great day to be outdoors and anyone that's a roller coaster fan should ride the Incredible Hulk! Great coaster. Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell, and Berkman each had a home run a piece in the three games we saw. And we also witnessed very solid pitching by Jose Lima, Wade Miller, and Bottenfield. And we saw Wagner pitch 2 innings and look like his old self. The positives far out weigh the negatives at this point of the spring.

Can't wait for opening day!

I wrote it when Norma and I went to spring training. I watched the games, jotted down some notes and then emailed them to the Astro's Daily website. Back then I had a website called: "Mission Control" that was one of the first Astros websites on the Internet. It was a fun pasttime (although Norma knows it took up WAY too much time) while I was teaching.

I had no idea that these archives were out there. Very cool. Brings back memories of some of my early Internet posting days. It's true what they say, "You leave a trail on the Internet and nothing ever really gets deleted!" How true!

Here's another posting from Kissimmee that year: View from Kissimmee

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Baseball Fever: Will Ensberg Hit?

It is really interesting how newspaper guys are now using the power of the internet to post video articles and discussions. Pretty neat. In this houston chronicle video piece, Richard Justice leads the baseball writers in Houston about a discussion about the every-other-year Ensberg.

Morgan has hit one year and had an off year the next. Luckily for us this year, last year was a down year. Maybe this is the year he bounces back?

With Carlos Lee and Lance Berkman... if Morgan hits this lineup could be potent!

Check out the videos on the Chronicle Astros Page
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Christmas Comes Early for Astros

Talk about BLACK Friday! The Astros got two big pieces to their 2007 puzzle today. Carlos Lee and Woody Williams are now Astros. Pretty sweet.

Left field in Minute Maid will now have a new name. Lee's nickname is "El Caballo," which means "The Horse." He was given his nickname by White Sox television announcer Hawk Harrelson. When he played for the Brewers, there was a sign in the left field corner that read "El Caballo's Corner." I can see the left field corner of the Crawford Boxes becoming The Big Horse's corner.

It will be fun to watch him work. The guy is a super slugger. But, he does not strike out a lot. He will provide a lot of protection in the order for Lance Berkman. I can see a lineup that looks like this:

1. Taveras, CF
2. Scott, RF
3. Berkman, 1B
4. Lee, LF
5. Ensberg/Lamb, 3B
6. Biggio/Burke, 2B
7. Everett, SS
8. Ausmus, C

It's a MUCH better lineup with El Caballo in there. It helps the weak bottom portion of the order. Everett/Ausums suck at the plate, but provide great D.

The starting rotation may look like this now:
1. Oswalt
2. Williams
3, 4, 5. Buchholz/Albers/Hirsh/Sampson

The 3, 4, 5 starters would be a battle in spring. Each of these young guys has shown some promise. Of course, Clemens and Pettitte could be back, but I am not counting on it.

Looking forward to Baseball starting in just a few months. I have something to look forward to now, The Big Horse is now the stable.

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Buck O'Neil Passes

This really made me sad today: Former Negro Leaguer O'Neil Dies

Norma and I met him when we went to spring training a few years ago. He was walking onsome of the back ballfields behind the Royals spring complex. I walked up to him and said, "Hey, you are Buck O'Neil." He just smiled and said, "Sure am, hope you folks are doing good today."

He was a great old guy and it is a horrible shame he was only 1 vote shy of the Hall of Fame this past year. He sure deserved to get in before he passed. In my mind, he was a hall of famer for his contributions to the game and his good will.

"What a fabulous human being," Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson said. "He was a blessing for all of us. I believe that people like Buck and Rachel Robinson and Martin Luther King and Mother Teresa are angels that walk on earth to give us all a greater understanding of what it means to be human. I'm not sad for him. He had a long, full life and I hope I'm as lucky, but I'm sad for us."

A celebration of his 95th birthday was to be held on November 11th with a guest list of 750 of the games greats. Maybe they can all get together that day and remember Buck... an all time great person, player, coach and ambassador of the game.

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Stayin' Alive

The Astros will live to fight another day. Astros 5, Braves 4. Tomorrow it's do or die... and hope the Cardinals lose. The Cards need 1 more win or an Astros loss on the final day of the season to go to the playoffs.

I am proud of this team that they have come back and fought so hard to make the playoffs. It was a pretty dreary season, but they polished it up down the stretch. At least they made things interesting. It might just be VERY interesting. The Cardinals are no great shakes right now. They barely were able to win late in the game on Saturday. The Astros win will force them to pitch their best pitcher against the Brew crew tomorrow.

It's must win Sunday. The Astros always seem to be coming down to the final day of the regular season to win. Keeping my fingers crossed for some good luck.


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Astros Making History

ESPN.com Astors Win 9 Straight!

This is just a remarkable story.

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The clock hasn't stopped ticking on the Houston Astros, who keep staging one of the greatest stretch-drive comebacks in major-league history. No matter how long it takes.

Roy Oswalt picked up a weary bullpen with seven shutout innings and the Astros ran their improbable late-September winning streak to nine games, enduring an afternoon-long rain delay before beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-0 on Thursday.

They needed nearly five hours to win the night before. This time, they waited for 3½ hours just to play. Time is running out on the Astros, but it's not stopping them from winning.

A three-game sweep in Pittsburgh highlighted by a 7-6, 15-inning marathon win Wednesday night at least temporarily cut Houston's deficit in the NL Central to one game behind St. Louis, which had lost seven of eight going into its night game against Milwaukee. The Astros were 8½ games out on Sept. 20.

I hardly want to post about it... because I am so afraid of jinxing it... but I can't hold it anymore. I am so pumped!

I am taking my Stros jersey to school tomorrow. It is "Camo" day since we play the Bears in football on Friday, but I might have to wear my jersey over top of my camo. Amazing.

They have sucked all year... but these guys never quit. They didn't last year when they had their greatest season ever after a HORRIBLE start. Now they are writing history. With St. Louis losing big tonight... they could be a FREAKING 1/2 game out tomorrow morning! Wow.

GO STROS!