I Love Kissimmee

After the long months without baseball, I'm finally here in Kissimmee. I'm sitting by the pool after the game (yet another loss - I didn't bring the Astros any magic to change that apparently), watching my sister swim laps, and reviewing the pictures I took at today's game. Right now I'm just enjoying the sense of relaxation that comes from being in a warm place where baseball exists. I left my office Blackberry in Maryland, with the Away message on.

But you didn't come to this blog to hear about my alpha waves... So now at long last, having seen actual players on the field, it's time to write about baseball.

After growing up with the Astros in the early years, when they didn't make a regular practice of winning games, I've learned to always try to find something to like in a game. Even in this game - yet another non-win in an almost awe-inspiring series this spring - there were some good signs. The best thing in this game: Mike Hampton's five solid shutout innings. He gave up only four scattered hits, didn't walk anyone, and struck out two. An effective and healthy Hampton would be a huge boost to a team that doesn't have a whole lot of dependable starting firepower that doesn't start with "O." He was followed by Valverde, who also looked good in his hitless inning.

Brocail and Geary did not fare as well. Brocail ran into trouble in the seventh, giving up a pair of hits and a walk. He wasn't helped by two Yankee steals on his watch. End result: Two earned runs and the loss of the Astros' precarious 1-0 lead. Geary was just unlucky - he threw a scoreless eighth, but got in trouble in the ninth. He might have escaped unscathed, but a couple of sloppy plays (one of which was marked an error) resulted in two more Yankee runs. However, that was just insult; the game was lost in the seventh, since the Astros failed to score again.

There's not much to talk about offensively. Jason Smith continued his spring spree with a triple in the first inning, the first of his two hits in the game. Carlos Lee hit him in for the Astros' only run. No hits today for Brian Bogusevic (he walked and stole second), but he did make a nice defensive play with an outfield assist from right. The Astros ran through several catchers, none of whom did a whit at the plate. With so many catchers to choose from, one might have guessed that someone would rise above at Spring Training. Not so, apparently; I hear that the Astros are acquiring Pudge Rodriguez, despite all of the recent denials. Hopefully, Puerto Rico will be eliminated from the WBC, so I'll get a glimpse of him while I'm in Kissimmee.

A few more observations from the game: The Yankees are good for filling the house. It was standing room only, with what seemed like more blue shirts than red ones in the crowd. (And - annoyingly - a whole table full of Yankees hats in the Astros gift store.) Whenever the game is against the Yankees, I always end up with seats in the upper deck, even though I buy my Spring Training tickets at the start of the presale. This time I was behind home plate in the first row of the upper deck - a great spot for watching the game, but less ideal for photographing it because of the safety netting. I've sat behind home plate before - you either have to creep down to the first row and stick the end of the lens through the netting or you have to manually focus. Not in the mood for either today, I just let my new camera try to focus and hoped for the best. About half of my pitcher photos were focused on pitchers; the rest were focused on the net. I took a preponderance of photos of Berkman fielding, since first base was beyond the netting - these were the only game pictures I took today that weren't scored by black netting.

This was the first of three games I'm attending with my younger sister Elizabeth, this year's sucker - I mean guest - at Spring Training. She's here to celebrate her 32nd birthday (in some numerical base better left undisclosed) and hang out with me. I didn't think that it was nice to abandon her the very first day to take pictures from my favorite shooting spots. So I took relatively few pictures at today's game. I've posted a few here, and a few more in the Photo Album on my website.

But I'm itching to give my new camera a real workout. So E and I will spend Friday afternoon's game roaming around the stadium, taking pictures from different spots, and trying to duck the old guys who keep telling you to go sit down. (I am sure that most of these old guys are retired businessmen, who used to terrorize their secretaries, and now lack anyone but their wives to boss around. So they fill this need by becoming petty tyrants in stadium staff shirts.)

Tomorrow's an Away game. Elizabeth and I are going to see if we can get into the practice field in the morning; if so, I'll have a lot more photos to post. Then we'll do a few of my other favorite things down here - make a pilgrimage to the Kissimmee Monument, buy produce and artisan dog biscuits at the Farmers Market, and then go to Cocoa Beach for some waves. But we'll be back for more baseball on Friday against the Reds.

Special Hi to SB and RR15! Wish you were here!

Hope all goes really well for a speedy recovery for Aaron Boone.