This will be very short...

I've been a horrible blogger. I have several partially written game write-ups that I haven't posted. I'm a couple of series behind. I can't help it - it's THAT time of year: Proposals. When you work for a federal contractor, you know the drill. At the end of the fiscal year, the government wants to spend all its moola. Use it or lose it. So they issue requests for proposals and we write proposals. Last summer was just after another. This summer looks the same. I'm not really complaining: That's how we get business. But why can't they just issue RFPs in the OFF SEASON?

I have been watching most of the ballgames. Last night after the Sabbath ended, I watched both Friday and Saturday's winning games, back to back. But I have to admit, after getting home at 10 PM tonight, knowing that the Astros lost their chance for a sweep in a blown save, I don't really feel like watching the game.

The Astros are headed out West to play a series against the Padres. Usually I hate the West Coast games - they're on so late for me, here on the East Coast, I end up staying up way too late for a work night. But since this proposal started, I've been routinely getting home halfway though the night games. At least with the Astros in San Diego, I might get to see more of the games live.

A few team notes... Blum is back from the DL. Unfortunately that pushes Maysonet back to Round Rock. Too bad - I like Maysonet. And, to make room for Paulino to come back from the DL, the Astros designated Backe for assignment. I like Paulino - he had a triumphant welcome-home party against the Tigers last night. But it's bittersweet for Backe, who's a local guy (Galveston) and who had some great times for the Astros in the past.

I'll probably have to do one big bang catch-up posting for all the games I've missed writing up, like I did when I returned from Israel. Or I guess I could just stop writing up the season... but that would be too much like admitting that they aren't going to win the pennant this year. I won't do that until they're actually mathematically eliminated.

Meanwhile, tomorrow is another day... in the proposal tank. See you on Twitter when I get home.

GAMES 63-65: Not at Home, on the Rangers Turf

June 16: Rangers 6, Astros 1

June 17: Rangers 5, Astros 3 [10 innings]

June 18: Astros 5, Rangers 3

The Astros had a disappointing conclusion to their annual Lone Star duke-it-out with the Rangers, coming within a game of being swept in the 6-game series. In Game 1, Wandy reverted to being beaten up (is he tipping pitches or not?), allowing 6 runs (including 3 homers and 6 walks) in the first 4 innings. At the same time, the Astros couldn't figure out the Rangers' Millwood, who held them to only 4 hits over 7 innings. I had hoped that the Astros would get their big chance when he was replaced by Jason Jennings, who was a complete loser when he pitched for the Astros. Unfortunately he's pitching just fine, thank you, for the panhandlers - he threw 2 scoreless innings.

There were actually several bright spots in this miserable game. The first related to Pudge Rodriguez - his solo homer in the fifth accounted for the Astros' only run. That earned him a standing O from the hometown crowd, who were feeling charitable due to a big lead and Pudge's special circumstances - he tied Carleton Fisk for the record for the most games caught. The other bright spots were the Astros' two relief pitchers who took over when Wandy was pulled after 4 innings. Arias threw 3 full scoreless innings, allowing 2 hits, no walks, and striking out 3. Byrdak finished it off with a a scoreless eighth.

Game 2 was a milestone game: Pudge broke the record for most games caught, in the town where he played for 12 years at the start of his career. But Game 2 was also annoying - the Astros really should have won it, but they didn't. They got plenty of hits (13, including 5 for extra bases), but left hundreds of runners on base (okay, an exaggeration), had runners erased by double plays, and just played sloppy baseball. (I heard that Coop raked them over the coals after the game - and forgot to congratulate Pudge on his milestone.) The most annoying thing to me was in the tenth inning, when El Caballo led off with a routine ground ball; the shortstop mishandled the ball, but since Lee didn't try to run it out, there was time for the fielder to recover and make the play. That could have cost the Astros a run, since two players later, Pence hit a long drive into deep right, which may have scored Lee - if he hadn't been sitting in the dugout.

While Pudge was celebrating his milestone, he wasn't celebrating his performance in this game. He went 1 for 5, no runs, no RBIs, and was tagged with 2 errors, both of which led to runs. (One of them looked to me like Matsui's fault.) Pence, on the other hand, had a major performance - he went 4 for 5, with two doubles, a single, and a homer. The bullpen logged a good performance, although Jeff Fulchino lost the game in the ninth. Sampson, Hawkins, and Valverde combined for no runs on 2 hits in their 3 innings.

Although the series (and the larger cross-state rivalry series) was already lost, the Astros made a good comeback in Game 3. The Rangers took an early lead off starter Brandon Backe. When I got home from work (late, I'm on a proposal), the Astros were already losing 3-1. But they picked up a run in the fifth when Quintero's RBI single plated Erstad from second. Then, in the sixth, Carlos Lee's RBI single made it a little closer. Then With the bases loaded and 1 out, the Rangers' catcher mishandled a bad pitch, allowing Tejada to score the tying run on the passed ball. Although the Astros went on to load the bases again, they failed to score any more runs in the inning. They bought a little insurance in the 8th, when Pence led off with a solo homer. Quintero singled with 2 outs, then scored on Bourn's triple. (Man, that guy is fast!)

The bullpen was excellent again in Game 3 0. Wright did the heavy lifting this time, pitching 2 2/3 hitless innings. Arias came in to finish off the seventh, retiring his one batter with a strikeout. But he was in the right place at the right time: Since the Astros went ahead on his watch in the eighth, he got the win for his troubles. Hawkins gave up a couple of hits and a walk in the ninth, but did not give up any runs in his inning. Then Valverde threw a very strong ninth to earn his 3rd save of the season - the first since his return from the DL.

Unfortunatly, the pair of losses pushed the Astros back a bit in the standings - from a recent hgh-water mark of 4 games down in the NL Central, they are now back to 6 under. It's a long season, and we're by no means mathematically eliminated, so it's still "interesting," no matter how much the pundits (and many fans) moan and grown about how it's just not our year.

Bad stat of the series: Berkman, who had been doing so much better in June, was hitless in the whole series.

Next stop: Weekend series in Minnesota.

GAME 62: Tastes Just Like Chicken

June 14: Houston 8, D-backs 3

Knowing that a big proposal effort would be starting at work on Monday, I was soooo in the mood for a nice relaxing baseball game. The rubber match of the D-backs series was made to order. The Astros rushed to get on the scoreboard, with Berkman's 2-run homer capping a trio of runs in the first inning. Starter Moehler gave back a pair on a home run in the bottom of the inning, generating a few moments of uncertaintly. But Pence added a long ball of his own in the third, to give the Astros a 4-2 lead. Moehler allowed a solo homer to lead off the fourth; after that he kept the snakes rattling harmlessly through the sixth.

Meanwhile, the Astros hitters played add on: They loaded up the bases with no outs in the sixth as Tejada doubled, followed by back-to-back walks by Pence and Berkman. Pudge hit a sac fly to score Tejada, then Michaels singled to score Pence. Astros lead 6-3. In the seventh, the Astros put together another pair of runs out of odds and ends. Maysonet led off with a bunt single, then advanced to second on a wild pitch, and scored on Bourn's RBI single. Then Bourn manufactured a run of his own, stealing second, then third, and finally all but stole home on Tejada's ground ball to third.

Excellent work from the bullpen to back up Moehler. Fulchino threw two scoreless innings, and then Valverde took his rightful place on the mound in the ninth, for the first time in weeks. Although it was a nonsave situation, Valverde played it out in the style we all love to see: He struck out the side.

Pence is just so easy to love - the guy does it all. In addition to his 2 hits (including the homer), he walked, stole a base, and had an outfield assist.

On the D-back side, it was nice to see Qualls pitching well in a perfect ninth (easy to be magnanimous since we were well ahead when he came in).

All in all, just what I was hoping for the day before starting on a new proposal. The win gives the Astros their fifth consecutive series win. Keep it up!!!

GAMES 60-61: Dueling with Snakes

June 12: D-backs 8, Houston 1

June 13: Houston 6, D-backs 4

Coming off a nice 7-3 homestand, the Astros were off for a 9-game road trip. First stop in the Snake Pit to play the Diamondbacks...

I missed the Friday night game, due to Sabbath observance. Saturday night, after I saw the result - an 8-1 loss - even my new HD experience did not entice me to watch the game. For completeness, a quick recap: The Astros continue to be stingy with runs in support of their pitchers (it's not possible that every pitcher they face is a CYA candidate) - this time they only managed 2 hits in Dan Haren's complete game. Happily one of the hits was El Caballo's solo homer in the fourth inning, so it wasn't a shutout as well. Houston's starter did not have the same luck: Hampton threw 99 pitches over 5 innings, giving up 3 runs on 8 hits and 5 walks. Backe finished up the game in relief, making another poor case for his place on the roster: In 3 innings, he gave up 5 runs - all scored on a trio of home runs. On the bright side, he struck out 5. (There's always something to like in a game, if you look hard enough.)

Saturday's game was chock full of things to like. I fell asleep reading after our Shabbat lunch guests went home, and overslept until almost 10 PM. By the time I turned on the computer, it was the top of the eighth inning. Oswalt was already out after 7 solid innings, and the Astros were protecting a 3-1 lead for him. It was good timing - I got to watch the Astros put 3 more runs on the board. After Tejada opened the innig with a ground out, Michaels knocked the first pitch deep for a double. Berkman, of course, was intentionally walked. (That has been leading to good things lately.) Pudge followed with a single, scoring Michaels; Puma went to third and Pudge advanced to second on the throw. Matt Kata reached on an infield single, scoring Berkman and moving Pudge to third, a good position for scoring on Maysonet's sac fly. Russ Ortiz, pinch hitting for Oswalt, struck out to end the fun.

With a 6-1 lead going into the bottom of the eighth and Sampson coming to the mound, Oswalt should have been feeling pretty good about his chances for getting that third W. Sampson has been the Astros most reliable reliever, with a long stretch of 0 ERs going. But this was not his night: He walked the first batter, then gave up a single and 2-run double. That was enough for Cooper - he brought in Byrdak (who whiffed his lefty batter) and then Arias, who allowed a double, scoring Sampson's third runner. With the lead back down to 2 runs and a runner in scoring position, Coop did what he hadn't planned to do: He brought in Valverde in a stressful situation. Fresh from more than a month on the DL, Valverde was supposed to get a nice easy inning to pitch his first time out, to work his way back to closing. But no worry - the big guy likes pressure. He took care of his batter to end the inning.

The Astros didn't do anything in the 9th against the D-Backs' Scott Schoeneweis, who was back from an unfortunate break of his own - the sudden death of his wife last month. Hawkins, enjoying his last opportunities to close, got off to a scary start in the bottom of the ninth, allowing a single and a walk. But he then induced a double play (his first of the season - good timing!) and struck out the last batter for the save. Good work all around to keep Oswalt's nice start intact and to earn him a third win.

After watching the hugging and back slapping for a few moments, I went straight to the sixth inning to watch the game's record-book moments: Bourn led off with what would be a double for anyone else, but was a triple for him. After Erstad's fly ball was too short to score Bourn, Tejada took care of matters with an RBI single - his 2000th career hit. Michaels hit a ground ball to third for the second out. Then the Puma knocked the ball out - his 300th career home run. These two big number events had been anticipated for a couple of weeks, with hopes that they would occur in front of a friendly crowd in Houston's homestand. But no luck, and with a nine-game road trip, they were bound to happen on the road. That they happened in the same inning resulted in a nice celebration in the dugout, if not the stands. And once the game was in the books, with a nice W for the Wiz, the Astros had even more reason to party.

At the office, we're expecting an RFP to drop any moment, so I brought home about 500 pages of documents to peruse this weekend. But I'll be done by 4, in time for the rubber match of the series...

GAMES 57-59:Finishing the Homestand in Fine Form and High Definition

June 9: Cubs 7, Astros 1

June 10: Astros 2, Cubs 1

June 11: Astros 2, Cubs 1 [13 innings]

After a grueling first day back in the office, I rushed to be home in time to catch a live (!) ballgame. However, my not-cousin Ted Lilly apparently wasn't in on the playbook - he didn't read the part where it said that the Astros were going to win a big blowout to celebrate my return. Instead he shut Houston out into the seventh inning, allowing only 3 measly hits and a pair of walks. The Astros didn't manage to get on the board until the ninth inning, when Berkman's solo homer scored their lone run.

Meanwhile, Astros starter Brian Moehler was a lot more generous with the Cubs. He started off on the wrong foot, giving up 3 runs on 2 doubles and 4 singles in the first inning. It didn't get much better after that - he allowed runs in both the second and third innings before he got the hook. Reliever Brandon Backe (welcome back, I guess) struck out the first two batters he faced, and then was in constant trouble after that. He squeaked out of it in the fourth and fifth before succumbing in the sixth, allowing another pair of runs to score. Arias pitched two scoreless innings and Byrdak finished up the ninth with the bases loaded, but no runs scored.

Cubs pitchers continued to stymy the Astros batters throughout the series, but Houston hurlers outmatched them in Games 2 and 3. Both of these 2-1 walkoffs had the same ending: Runner in scoring position, Berkman intentionally walked, brining Geoff Blum to the plate. One might remember Blum's place in Astros history in a negative way - as a spoiler in one of the World Series games back when he played for the White Sox. I won't say his part in these two games makes up for that, but every little bit helps. In both games, Blum singled to score the winning run, resulting in the usual head-pounding by his joyful teammates. Blum ended up in the interview box two games in a row, minus a couple of IQ points, looking a bit like a tall blond porcupine. I suspect that his friends on the White Sox rejoiced in his success - anything to stick it to their cross-town Cubbie rivals.

Game 2 seemed like a continuation of Game 1, from the Astros hitting perspective: With Zambrano on the mound, Houston was held to 3 hits for the first 8 innings. This time, however, he was matched by Wandy for 7 innings, and Sampson right behind him to hold down the fort. After several miserable outings (causing the pitching team to scour the tapes for evidence of tipping), Wandy was back in his earlier form. He gave up only 1 run on 5 hits, striking out 6. However, with no help from his batting comrades, he left the mound after 7 with his team behind 1-0. The Astros scored in the bottom of the inning to tie it up, taking Wandy out of contention for the decision, on Blum's RBI groundout to score Pence. That left Sampson, who pitched the last 2 innings, in place to garner the win. It was another nice performance for him, in a string of scoreless outings - he shut out the Cubs on 2 hits, ending with a 1-2-3 ninth.

Game 3 - more of the same... Cubs starter Ryan Dempster allowed one run in the first inning (Bourn scored from third on Lee's sac fly). He then held Houston scoreless for 6 more innings, Meanwhile, the Astros pitchers - Ortiz, Byrdak, Arias, and Sampson - shut out the Cubs to preserve that 1-0 lead all the way into the ninth inning, when Hawkins gave up a solo homer to Derrek Lee to tie it up. Fulchino was nearly perfect in extra innings to earn the win, allowing only one baserunner (a single) in three innings. Let's jump directly to the good part: Pence got a 1 out walk, then stole second on Michael's strikeout. Berkman was intentionally walked to get to Blum, who once again singled to score Pence and win the game.

I watched this day game Thursday night when I got home from work. Besides the win - of the game and the series - I had another reason to enjoy watching this game: There has been a major upgrade in my baseball watching ability. On returning from Israel, where I had used my daughter's Mac for 2 weeks, I was no longer satisfied watching and writing about ballgames on my 12" Dell with the broken "?" key. A 30 minute trip to the mall resulted in a 24" iMac, dwarfing my puny laptop. With this giant screen (larger than the TV set we have somewhere in the house), baseball-watching should have been awesome. But it wasn't - our DSL service was "starter" level, too slow to even keep up with basic MLB.TV streaming. A call to Verizon fixed that - FIOS is 100 times faster. Then $20 to MLB.com for my upgrade, and presto! I am having a fine time watching ballgames now! If only the Astros can keep winning - I don't need HDTV to watch them lose!

GAMES 41-56: Baseball - It's Not Just for Breakfast Anymore

Back from Israel - and back to live baseball games that don't start at 3 AM! The Astros considerately did not have a game scheduled the day I got back, so I'd have time to recover from my jet lag. I watched the previous day's game (a win!) just to get back in the mood... Here's what I missed while I was gone:

May 22: Rangers 6, Astros 5
May 23: Rangers 6, Astros 3
May 24: Rangers 5, Astros 0
May 25: Reds 8, Astros 5
May 26: Reds 6, Astros 4
May 27: Reds 6, Astros 1
May 29: Astros 6, Pirates 1
May 30: Pirates 7, Astros 4
May 31: Astros 2, Pirates 1

June 1: Astros 4, Rockies 1

June 2: Astros 3, Rockies 2

June 3: Astros 6, Rockies 4
June 4: Rockies 10, Astros 3
June 5: Astros 9, Pirates 1

June 6: Pirates 6, Astros 4
June 7: Astros 6, Pirates 4

Total: Astros won 7, lost 9.

But (ever the optimist), let's make that sound better: After the initial losing streak (two sweeps in the wrong direction), the Astros won 7 and lost 3. Over the course of this 2+ week period, I didn't actually watch one complete game live - just bits and pieces, live and archived. Looking forward to a continuation of their recent winning ways now that I'm back!

Miss Me?

It's my last day in Israel. 

Later I'll wander over to the Carmel shuk to buy a mind-boggling assortment of gummy worms for my kids (they are never too old for gummy worms), a couple of "Israeli" scarves (imported from India), and a few last-minute things for my daughter's apartment here in Tel Aviv. 

But first I'll catch up on the baseball game from Shabbat, the Friday night one that they won. I tried to watch Saturday's evening game live, since Roy O was on the mound, but the 2 AM start time did me in. I managed to stay awake until the middle of the top of the third inning - long enough to see a less than magical start by the Wizard. This morning I woke in a series of mini-dreams where I checked the final score over and over, and kept half waking to remind myself that I didn't actually know yet whether they really lost - or whether they came back to win the game for Oswalt despite the bad start. I wasn't very shocked when I finally got out of bed and saw that they lost.

I'll miss today's game - it's a day game, so it will start in prime time in Tel Aviv. But I'll be at the airport, waiting to get on my plane to come home. 

It's really hard to leave. I'll miss so many things here, starting of course with my daughter Miry. She is so perfectly at home here it's hard to imagine her living anywhere else. It will be a bummer not seeing her smiling face every day, and hearing "Hey Miry!" from everyone as we walk down the street. 

I'll also miss: 

The incredible - and cheap - produce in the shuk (a two-minute walk): 2 shekels for a kilo of delicious cucumbers (who knew cukes actually had a flavor?) - that's about 25 cents a pound, 3 shekels a kilo for gorgeous tomatoes, a shekel and a half for a huge bunch of fresh herbs.

The Mediterranean beach (a five minute walk to the closest, 15 to stroll down to the beach near Jaffa).  Spent hours yesterday afternoon building a huge "drip castle" on the beach, with the help of a flock of local kids, both Jewish and Arab. They asked me "Is this how they make them in America?" I think I started a new sand castle fad here.

The restaurants - I've heard that Tel Aviv has more sushi restaurants per capita than any city except Tokyo. Even in Tel Aviv (a much more secular city than Jerusalem, which is kind of Holy Disneyland) there are kosher restaurants everywhere. Fancy restaurants, kiosks, street food, people here seem to be eating all the time. If they didn't walk everywhere, they'd be as fat as Americans.

The amazing diversity of people here - whoever thinks that Israelis are a homogeneous population because most of them are Jewish has obviously never been here. It boggles the mind that anyone would use the term "racist" to describe a country that has people of so many different colors and national backgrounds. Hanging around the shuk area, I've seen a lot of Sephardim (Jews from North African and Eastern/Middle Eastern countries), Arabs, and also "Filipinos" (who could be from the Philippines or from any of a dozen other South Asian countries).

The culture - literature, performing arts, and visual arts. We spent half a day wandering around the Tel Aviv art museum, an evening at a Ehud Banai rock concert, a poetry night at the Writers' House (featuring my husband's Hebrew poetry), the arts & crafts fair down the street every Tuesday and Friday...

And of course, I will miss the newfound family members I met on this trip - the family I never knew that I had in Israel until my son's genealogy research discovered new branches of our family tree: The cousin in El Rom, a kibbutz all the way at the top of the Golan Heights, my grandmother's cousins Clara and Chava who came here from Argentina 50+ years ago, and the chassidic branch in the Old City in Jerusalem. 

It's a bummer to leave. Our two week trip went by so fast and I can't wait until I can come back again. When I get on the plane to come home, I will console myself with reminders of what I have to look forward to when I get back:

My job - just kidding. It's going to be crazy catching up.

My other daughter Leah, who stayed home (with various friends) to babysit my house and dog. She told me on the phone this morning that she has a surprise for us - I think she turned her bedroom into an art studio.

My dog Shana. Miry's dog Leroy Brown Jr is a sweetheart, but I miss my pup.

Speaking English - or more specifically, speaking intelligently. I am so embarrassingly bad at speaking Hebrew that I sound like an idiot whenever I open my mouth. Resolution for my next trip: Improve my Hebrew language skills. I'm bringing home dozens of menus from restaurants for practicing with, since food is one of the things that I like to talk about the most (how to cook it, grow it, match it with wine). Of course I like to talk about baseball - and the Astros - most of all, but there is really no one to talk baseball with here. 

And, of course, I am looking forward to watching live Astros games in the evenings, not in the middle of the night or reruns in the morning. I was hoping for a bit better outcome of the 2 weeks that I was gone. I wanted to come back to a team that was at least one game over .500; instead they are 6 games under. There are some bright spots, especially in the hitting - Tejada and Pence are in the top 5 for the NL, Lee and Bourn continue to do well at the plate, Maysonet has been a terrific addition. Berkman is slowly creeping up to where he should be, although I hoped to see him on the good side of .250 by my return. The pitching has been sporadic - Wandy an All Star Wannabee vs Wandy ("Is He Tipping His Pitches") the Loser, Classic Wizard vs last night's Roy ("Which Way is the Plate") O, Backe is Back - but should he be? Half the bullpen seems to be injured. Matsui is on the DL (what a surprise - NOT), but I'd rather see Maysonet playing anyway. 

Let's just net it out to say that I'm coming back to a team with some challenges. (Did I mention that they are in last place in the division?) And, wow, I can't wait to see them! 

Now for that Friday night win on the archive...

Baseball for Breakfast

Morning in Tel Aviv: The macchinetta is bubbling on the hotplate in my daughter's kitchen. A cup of home-made espresso is just moments away; I can already smell it.  My husband has wandered down to the little grocery on the corner to get some milk and maybe a fresh baked egg and cheese boreka. I watered the plants on the front step and shooed out the neighbor's cat. Just a typical Middle Eastern morning...

And I'm watching last night's Astros game against the Rockies on my daughters Mac. Ian Stewart just hit a 3-run bomb to tie the game - that guy has been a total pest against the Astros this year - what's that, 10 RBIs off homers already, including the grandslam in that blowout in Denver? Of course, I already know that there is a happy ending. The Astros are going to come from behind and win it. 

After last week's losing streak, I decided that I needed to add some positive fan vibes to help out the Astros, so I've been watching the games from Israel. What can I say? Anecdotal evidence has shown that they win more when I'm watching. Being a good luck charm is hard work - vacation is just not an excuse. 

The Astros are going to come from behind in the next inning but I'll have to watch that later in the afternoon. Right now I'm going for a stroll in Old Jaffa. 

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