End of an Era?

Hi, I'm Susan, your blogger. But you all know me as Astros Fan in Exile. The blog, the website, the custom jerseys. Starting back in the early 2000’s,  the miracle of the Internet meant that an out-of-town fan could get more than two sentences and a box score in the next day’s newspaper. First it was full game writeups, with pictures. Then pitch-by-pitch, with more and more stats every year. Then, in 2004, I got my first subscription to mlb.tv, with live video coverage of virtually every game. In 2005, I went to Spring Training for the first time, and sitting behind the bullpen, I had my epiphany — a vision of the Astros in the World Series. And then it turned out to be true, despite the naysayers. Astros Fan in Exile went online the following spring, and being an Astros fan-atic has eaten up a good deal of my waking hours, 7 to 8 months of every year since. It takes a lot of time to watch and write up nearly every game of the season. Despite the Astros' tumble into the major league gutter (a cellar is way too nice to describe their most recent season), I’ve tried to find reasons to stay the course — we’re rebuilding for the future, it’s fun to watch the young kids play, we get first pick next season…

And now, going into their 50th anniversary year, the Astros have been sold and banished to the American League.

And I’m thinking of becoming a Nationals fan.

I’m not jumping ship without thinking it through. I feel a bit like Tevya in Fiddler on the Roof: On the one hand… on the other hand…

Reasons for moving on: (1) I don’t like the designated hitter version of major league baseball. It ruins the strategy. Pitchers are professional atheletes — let them bat and run! (2) With the Astros in the AL West, a large proportion of their games will start so late at night (after 10:30 my time) that I won’t be able to watch live games and still get up in the morning for work. (3) I don’t know any of the players. The era of my beloved Bagwell and Biggio is long gone, and most of my more recent favorite players have already been traded. If I’m going to jump, this is the perfect time for it. (4) If I become a Nats fan, I can actually go to real live baseball games all summer long.

Reasons for staying: (1) All those great fans I’ve met in Kissimmee at Spring Training, who stay in touch in email and Facebook in the off season. (2) Fifty years of cheering for the Astros, from back when I went to my first baseball games in Colt Stadium as a little kid! It’s really hard to abandon a tradition like that.

I need to decide in the next couple of months. If I’m going to learn to cheer for the Nats this year, I really ought to go to Viera (near Cocoa Beach), not Kissimmee, for Spring Training, to get to know the team. Should I just do it? Or maybe, with the AL move still a year away, I should just give it one more season to decide? 

Help me out! What should I do?

What to do in the Astros Off Season - Part 1

The Astros were eliminated in August. Now the team I was cheering for in the playoffs (Phillies, for Pence and Roy O) are out. I don't really care about the outcome of the playoffs. And, given the remaining teams, the TV advertisers are probably less than celebratory also. The Yankees are so great for business.

So what to do, now that Astros baseball is over but the hot stove hasn't started heating up? Well, there's Real Life to attend to. Now that Yom Kippur has passed, it's time to build our sukkah! If you don't know what that is - it's a little temporary branch-covered dwelling we build to live in (or at least eat our meal in) for the weeklong Jewish holiday Sukkot. (If you really want to know more, check out Wikipedia.) Here's your Fan in Exile in the sukkah - walls are up, but no schach (branches on top) yet. The holiday starts Wednesday evening.

Another, less joyous thing to do in the off-season: Read about the trouble that the Astros' youngsters get into when they aren't busy playing baseball. Two in the past week, one tragic and one just stupid, and both probably avoidable: The Astros' 34th pick prospect, 18 year old Dustin Kellogg, was killed in a late night traffic accident, after cutting across 4 lanes to hit an 18-wheeler head on. The reports didn't give a reason for why the accident occurred, but it's hard to keep from wondering what might be behind this driver error. Very sad anyway, whether it was vehicle malfunction or impaired judgement. The second incident was definitely impaired judgement: Our young center fielder, Jordan Schafer got arrested for felony possession of marijuana, while puffing away and driving his car. He's lucky that it was an arrest and not an accident that resulted. It's also idiotic -- with the field wide open for young players on a team that's rebuilding, this doesn't exactly help his chances.

I'll figure out some more things to do in the Astros Off Season and post them in future blogs. Meanwhile, reply to this blog to give me YOUR ideas for how to pass the time until Spring Training!

There's Always Next Year (with Photos)

I have a confession to make: I bet against the Astros this year. I bet my sister Elizabeth (the one who came with me to Spring Training) $18 that the Astros wouldn't win 60 games this year. She was willing to make the bet at 64 games, but I was pretty certain that 60 would be unattainable. As it turned out, there was plenty of room to spare, as the Astros finished the season with only 56 wins and a whopping 106 losses. One for the record books -- time to start thinking about what to do with that first pick in next year's draft! I'm saving the $18 to take Elizabeth out for a vegetarian Indian dinner at Woodlands in Orlando, when we go to Spring Training to check out the upcoming crop of baby Astros. We'll be rebuilding for a while...

Meanwhile, here are a few pictures that I took at the Astros vs Nationals game here in Washington on the tenth anniversary of 9/11. The Nats fans went home happy, having seen Strasburg pitch, and the Nats win 8-2. I went home happy, just having seen the Astros for the first and only time this season. Given the outcome of the standings, it really didn't matter whether we won the game. It was just a great day to celebrate our national pasttime!

Fan in Exile happy to see the Astros for the first time this season

Me with my friend (normally a Twins Fan) Ann 

Altuve takes batting practice, but (alas!) had the day off

Schafer and Bogusevic miss the catch

Martinez makes a good throw from the outfield 

Downs blows bubbles - got the start at second

Schafer waiting for a can of corn to drop into his glove

Corporan behind the plate 

Sosa in trouble after giving up 3 homers in a row 

Not an Astro - but who could pass up wanting to take pictures of Stephen Strasburg?

Wallace and Bogusevic during BP

Martinez batting, Lee on deck

Can you find the BALL?

No Caption required...

The Nat in the Hat?

Unfortunate end to Lance Pendleton's Astro's debut:
He struck out 2, then hit 2, then gave up a RBI hit

Melancon throws - NOT a save situation

Goodbye and good riddance, Astros Season 2011! I don't have a real favorite for the playoffs so don't look for much blogging on that subject. I guess I'll cheer for the Phillies, for Oswalt and Pence. (After all, Pence was the Astros' MVP this year! How sad is that?) I'll be back in the off-season to talk about trades, rebuilding, and plans for going to Kissimmee. There's always next year, you know!

Coming Up: Two Losing Teams, Strasburg, and the Ten Year Anniversary of 9/11

The long awaited Astros trip to Washington to play the Nats is almost here! Unfortunately, it's a weekend series, so (due to Sabbath observance) I'll only be able to make it to the Sunday game. Thanks to my friend Chuck, who will be off on a fabulous vacation, I have most excellent tickets to this game. I'm expecting it to be quite a notable event, considering that it's a late season game between two losing teams. But with Stephen Strasburg expected to pitch for the Nats, and the momentous date (tenth anniversary of 9/11), it's likely to be a full stadium with quite a bit of pomp and ceremony.

After watching Strasburg pitch yesterday for the first time this season, I'm really looking forward to seeing him on Sunday. He's great and it's hard not to cheer for him. So here's the deal -- I will hope that he throws a perfect game for 6 innings, and then after they take him out, I hope the Astros go on a binge and win the game. The Nats left Strasburg in for 5 innings yesterday, and I doubt that they'll take a chance with letting him pitch much more than that in what remains of the year.

On Sunday I'll be sitting in the sixth row, ground level, behind first base. You can look for me during the televised game, wearing my Sunday red jersey with FAN IN EXILE on the back! But since Fox Sports Houston (which sometimes shows Astros fans in the stands between plays) isn't broadcasting, I'm not likely to appear.

Suddenly September...

After six long grueling months of Astros Spring Training, suddenly it's September. Can anyone really say that the games this season have seemed like anything but months and months of training camp? When our team is eliminated by the beginning of September, the outcomes of the games are not really important. When most of the players have spent more time in Corpus and OKC than in Houston, there's more of a sense of "Spring is in the air..." than anything else.

You might have noticed that my blog postings this year have been remarkably free of my Spring Training photos. The Astros are playing a team full of youngsters, most of whom don't appear in the thousands of Astros pictures I've taken. Three reasons:
1. I didn't make it to Florida for Spring Training this year to see the latest crop of minor leaguers get their cup of coffee -- first time I missed since 2004.
2. Some of these kids were still low minor leaguers when I was at Spring Training last year, and not all of them were considered top prospects. Who was really watching J.D. Martinez a year ago? Jose Altuve started the year playing A ball - has he ever appeared in a Spring Training game?
3. Many of these guys came to us in trades during the season, so I wouldn't have seen them in Kissimmee anyway. At least not in Astros jerseys; some of them might have been there playing for the other teams. More likely they were in the other teams' minor league camps.

Seriously: Who would have guessed that our lineup would have changed this much since opening day?
1. Schafer (Braves) or Bourgeois (AAA), CF  (Bourn to the Braves)
2. Altuve (A/AA), 2B (Bill Hall to the Giants)
3. JD Martinez (AA), LF (Lee to 1B)
4. El Caballo, 1B (Wallace to the minors) 
5. Paredes, 3B (CJ to the minors)
6. Bogusevic (AAA), RF (Pence to the Phillies) 
7. Barmes, SS (Sanchez to the minors)
8. Quintero or Corporan (AAA), C (Towles to the minors)

And the starting rotation? We started the season with Wandy, Myers, Happ, Norris, and Figueroa. All but Figueroa (now Pirates) still pitch for the Astros, but don't expect to see Wandy or Myers back next year. They're likely post-season trades. By next year, Norris may be our "ace," along with some combination of Happ, Lyles, Clemens (Paul), Cosart, Sosa, Harrell, Wright...?

I hope this is not coming across as negative -- that's certainly not my intent. I'm really glad that the Astros have finally faced the truth and have embraced "rebuilding" as a team theme. I'd rather watch the young players go through growing pains than to see random combinations of veterans year after year. How great is it to see Martinez (no prospect buzz) with RBIs in nearly every game? Who doesn't love Mighty Mouse Altuve? I hope the Astros will continue to collect prospects (including our 2012 first pick!) for a brighter future.

On a related note, among the rare surviving veterans on the team, Carlos Lee has gone on a late season hitting spree -- going 15 for 27 over the past week. Too bad he didn't have a solid power year, so that there might have been any chance of dumping him and his mega-expensive contract on some AL team that wouldn't expect him to field.

All season the Astros.com headlines have read like today's "Wandy Aims to Get  Astros on Track in Finale," in some strange fantasy that our starting pitcher can somehow rescue them. Enjoy watching Wandy -- the last member of the pennant winning 2005 team still around -- in what may be one of his final starts for the Astros.

The Danger of Watching Baseball in Bed...

Everyone knows that smoking cigarettes in bed is dangerous. Well, here's a lesser known danger: Watching baseball games on an iPad in bed. So you may wonder, why is that so dangerous? Look at what happened to me last night and learn...

With the Astros playing just over .300 ball (that's wins, not batting average), on a 7-game losing streak, and trailing since the first inning, who could blame me for deciding to turn off the iMac before Take Me Out to the Ball Game? Instead, I went to bed with my iPad, planning to watch the rest of the game on the At Bat 11 app. But then, because it was late and the bed was comfy and the game was dragging... I fell asleep. That's how I came to be dreaming of next year's Spring Training when Bogusevic hit his walk-off grand slam in the ninth.

First thing in the morning, I grabbed the iPad to check on the ending of the game. I was brushing my teeth when Bogus' swing was anything but bogus, the ball was flying out over the center field wall, JD and Brownie were hyperventilating, and what was left of the crowd was going crazy. Then the Astros players jumped out on the field for Bogusevic's ritual head bashing. He may have lost a standard deviation's worth of IQ points from that, but, hey, it was worth it! I watched the ninth inning twice while I was getting dressed for work, then came downstairs and watched the Cubs broadcast of it while I was fixing my breakfast, so I could gloat.

It's kind of fun watching a surprise win when you already know the ending. It gives an extra depth to all of the broadcaster's comments -- that Dempster, the Cubs' starter, was probably in the clubhouse, icing his arm, with one eye on the game. Or that Bogusevic really does have it in him to hit one out of there, even though they didn't sound very convinced that this would be anything other than another routine loss. As JD and Brownie noted, it's a "bleak" season, to say the least.

Bogusevic didn't do it all himself, of course. After Paredes lined out to start the ninth, Shuck hit a single just past the first baseman. Barmes managed to knock a not very promising pitch into left field, to put runners on the corners with one out. Then Downs pinch hit for Q. Gotta like your chances with Downs off the bench, and he did his best to hit it into the seats. But he was patient, didn't go for Marmol's slider, and walked to load the bases. Then Bogusevic came up, got down in the count with two quick strikes, before whacking a 2-2 fast ball over the center field fence, way over the 404' sign. A thing of beauty. It brought tears to my eyes, even the fourth time I watched it.

Today's an afternoon game - I should be able to stay awake till it's over!

Special shoutout to my Spring Training pal Carole, who was there for the game -- guess you got your money's worth!!!

Cheering for the Twins!

Every so often, I have to take a quick detour from baseball to remind you all that in my Real Life I'm a secret Twins fan. Not the ones from Minnesota, dontcha know -- the ones from Brooklyn. Just had a two hour (much-too-short!) visit with my grandsons Oscar and Oren, who are passing through Maryland on their way to the beach. Now going on 9 months old, they are full of tricks - walking around the furniture, escaping when you're trying to change their pants, waving bye bye (alas!). So cute. We were too busy playing to take many pictures when they were here this afternoon, but here's one of Robert (AKA "Saba") making the airplane full of baby food fly into Oren's mouth, as Oscar looks on.

With Oscar in his helmet (for reshaping a flat spot on the back of his head), they kind of remind me of Doonsbury and BD. Here's a picture with the helmet off, so you can see how cute they are. That's Oscar in blue, Oren in brown.

So if that's not enough of a case for being a Twins fan, there's always this: their 3 1/2 month old girl cousins Lyla and Sylvie. 

Okay, this is a baseball blog, so I should say something about the game. Having cleaned house, and sent Pence and Bourn packing, the Astros are mostly playing their new baby players -- just a little bit older than my grandkids. (They're all closer to the babies' age than mine!) I'm just learning to recognize the new players, since I missed Spring Training this year, and some of them were acquired since then in trades. It's kind of refreshing to see young players running hard, trying their best, knowing that this is their chance to get a spot on a big league team. Lots of hits, lots of diving plays, lots of running. We may not win many games, but the kids are fun to watch. Almost as fun as the Twins.

Strangers in a Strange Land...

Some years ago, my IBM colleague Sam and I went down in Texas to teach an "Object Oriented Design" class at the Clear Lakes office. Like most of the guys in our group, Sam preferred to stay in a Marriott. He was collecting frequent-sleeper points in hopes of someday going on vacation to somewhere exotic -- where he would reside in a hotel that was just like the ones he stayed in on our business trips. Back then, Clear Lakes (home of the Space Center) didn't have a Marriott, and the closest one was in Houston. I didn't care about collecting Marriott points, and would have preferred to stay close by the IBM office, so I could get a little more sleep and a little less commute. But this time, I didn't argue -- the closest Marriott just happened to be in the vicinity of the Astrodome.

So the deal was, I'd agree to stay in the Marriott near the Astrodome if Sam would agree to go to a ball game in the evening, after we got back from Clear Lake. Deal. We went to the Astrodome -- a huge thrill for me! I hadn't been back there since I'd moved away from Texas some years earlier. I picked the seats -- out in the bleachers, where I'd always sat as a kid growing up in Houston. The game started...

...and the Astros stunk. And worse, although I could rattle off the names of every starter on the team back in the day, I didn't recognize any of these guys. The year was 1991. 

[Side note: Remember what it was like before the Internet? Although I've always been an Astros fan, there were a number of years after I moved away from Houston when it was very difficult to be a very engaged fan-in-exile. Until the Internet came along - game stories, then pitch-by-pitch, the online radio, and finally streaming live video - my daily source of Astros news was generally limited to a sentence or two and a box score in the Washington Post. I became a fanatic in exile with my first subscription to mlb.tv in 2004.]

So back to 1991... Who were these guys? A quick review of the roster in my program explained why the players were so foreign to me. Many of them were in their first year in the big leagues -- like Jeff Bagwell, who went on that year to be the MLB Rookie of the Year. Other rookies: Darryl Kile, Luiz Gonzales, Kenny Lofton. There were some other young guys I'd never heard of, who were in their first (or only) year with the Astros: Curt Schilling, Steve Finley, Pete Harnisch, Mark McLemore. And a few others, whose names I'd know better in later years: Craig Biggio, Ken Caminiti, Casey Candaele, Jim Deshaies...and coach Phil Garner. I don't remember who I saw on the field that night -- not even who pitched. Mike Scott, one of the better known Astros players, was in his last injury-plagued season, and didn't pitch that night -- I would have remembered that!

The night I went to the Astrodome, the Astros lost -- badly. It was one of many bad losses that year, as they went on to finish with a 65-97 record, one of the worst seasons in franchise history, tied for the most losses in a season. As we are all well aware, the 2011 Astros stand to demolish that record.

I'm telling this story for two reasons: First of all to celebrate how the Internet has made it possible for fans to really stay in the game for their home teams, even if they are exiled far away. Second, and more importantly, to remind us all that a team full of young nobodies one season may be a team full of winners later. The Astros had a .500 season in 1992, and did not have another losing season until 2000. In the meantime, they were first or second in the division 6 times in those 8 years.

So 2011 is a throwaway season - one to groan about or laugh about, depending on your outlook. Maybe both. One long Spring Training, without the nice Florida-in-March weather.  But in losing Oswalt and Berkman and Pence and Bourn (and Wandy today?), we've picked up some young quality players. We've signed a lot of our draft picks, and who doubts that we're due to get the first pick in next summer's draft? By stocking up on prospects and rebuilding our miserable farm teams,  the Astros just might have some fun years ahead.

Now back to our regularly scheduled loss...

Midway Through the Season from Hell

With the All Star Game now in our rear view mirror, the second half of the 2011 season looks like an interminable drudge to the finish -- one where the only thing that the Astros will be competing with is themselves: Will they or won't they be the worst Astros team EVER?

Please do not call think of me as a traitor, but I actually have money on this question: An $18 bet with my sister Elizabeth (the one who has braved Kissimmee with me twice) that the Astros won't win 65 games this year. I actually offered to go lower than that. I was willing to put down money that they wouldn't hit 60. I'm not being negative or unfaithful, just honest: That's how bad this team seems to be. At 94 games, they have a 31-63 record. So unless something happens to drastically improve the team, they are on pace to win about 53 games. Record book stuff indeed.

One could point out that the Astros have often been a late bloomer, with a big bang finish to the season. But there's really no reason to think that's going to happen this year. If anything, it's possible that the Astros' in-flux owners will sell off any of the "stars" who can command some value, reducing the winning rate even further.

Given that I had expected this to be a losing season, I'm actually more cheerful than I sound in this blog. I'm pepping myself up with phrases like:

First Pick
Fresh Blood
Rebuilding
Hope for the Future...

It's what it takes to get through a season that looks like Spring Training for six months. But there are some ominous things floating around that worry me and threaten my longer-term loyalty.

First and foremost is the rumor about moving to the American League. My dad has been advocating this move for years -- he's a retired engineer and likes things to be well designed and balanced, so the lopsided leagues annoy him. But I'm one of those people who think that the Designated Hitter ruins the beauty of the game. Moving the Astros to the AL could be ammunition for moving me from mlb.tv to the Nationals Ballpark. I'm not kidding.

The other ominous thing is the possibility that some of my team favorites may be traded. Yes, I know that change is the nature of the game. Players come, players go. Players are stars, then they aren't. Players retire, players are traded. For a Fan in Exile, even more than a home town fan, continuity is important. When you only get to see the team at Spring Training, and maybe for a few games when they're playing an away game where you live now, you need some continuity of players to keep up your connection and loyalty. For years, Bagwell and Biggio were the poster boys for that continuity. (Literally -- I have a Bagwell/Biggio poster giveaway from 2004 in my office.) Then they retired. The pennant winning Astros players from 2005 started to disappear. Then fan faves Oswalt and Berkman were traded last year.

Now rumor has it that the management is looking to see what they can get for Hunter Pence. Underpants! He's the face of the team, the nice guy everyone loves! The only All Star on the team! Well, duh -- that's why he has value to the other teams who would presumably trade away their prospects to get his bat and his outfield assists to bolster their race to the pennant.

Who else may be on the trading block? Michael Bourn? Wandy?

Now if we could unload El Caballo, I wouldn't quibble.

Change is good. I keep reminding myself that. I keep telling myself that even the worst team in the Major Leagues won't lose all the rest of the games of the season. So I'll keep watching the games, hoping to catch a win once or twice a week. And I'll keep popping up on Twitter, hoping to catch some other Astros fans to commiserate with. But recently, it's mostly been the people who are paid to watch games and talk about the Astros.  If you're reading this, please post a reply. Being an Astros Fan in Exile has gotten to be a very lonely pasttime.

2011 GAMES 67-162: No Comment

I have gotten hopelessly behind in game write-ups for a good reason -- between work, life, and the Astros schedule, I haven't had much time for watching live games. With the Astros losing the vast majority of their games, there is really not much incentive to watch the games that I already know were losses after the fact. Some years, I've made a point of trying to watch at least part of each game, staying up late on Saturday nights to watch the Sabbath games I missed, checking out even the losses to find something to like. This season just isn't like that.

I listen to the broadcasters make excuses, how the team is trying hard, bad luck, if only... But the truth is, we're playing a really bad team, which does not appear to be particularly well managed. Having missed going to Spring Training this year, for the first time since 2004, I never developed the kind of connection to the players that you get from seeing the players in person. And being a fan in exile, I won't see the team play a season game until September, when they come to Washington. Two of the three games against the Nationals will be on the Sabbath - so at most I will get to see the Astros just once the whole season.

I don't really have a problem with cheering for the underdog -- that was most of my childhood growing up in Houston. But it is hard to keep up the connection without other fans to commiserate with -- at the ballgame or online through blogs, Twitter, Facebook and other social media. Earlier this season, I used to find plenty of people to tweet with during the games, and we could keep each other company while watching the Astros lose. But recently, when I tweet "Hey #ASTROS FANS..." at the start of a game, no one tweets back. I don't think it's anything personal, of course; I just don't think that many of the other fans are bothering to tweet. Maybe they aren't even bothering to watch the games? Hard to tell.

Last night I turned on the computer after the Sabbath, just in time to watch the Astros lose. Today, I got home from work (proposal season doesn't stop for weekends) just in time to watch the bottom of the 9th, with the Astros down 14-10. With 10 runs scored today, there are probably some fun innings to watch, and maybe I'll do that when they post the game to the archive later this evening. On the other hand, with 14 runs allowed, that's some painfully stinky Astros pitching -- from Happless to Melanconly. Maybe it's a night for a glass of wine and Angry Birds instead.

For the record, I am officially giving up my game write-ups for the year. I'll post to the blog when there's something interesting to comment on (like changes of management or swapping out the entire roster and bringing up the whole Oklahoma City team). I'll keep checking for other fans to tweet with during games -- I'm AstrosFanInXile, in case you're not following me yet. Tweet back! It gets lonely out here in exile.

Meanwhile, I'm going to keep considering whether I should just TRY to cheer for the Nats next year. There's something to be said for actually getting to see your team play now and then!

2011 GAMES 61-66: How to Get the First Draft Pick

GAME 61 - June 7: Cardinals 7, Astros 4
GAME 62 - June 8: Astros 4, Cardinals 1
GAME 63 - June 9: Cardinals 9, Astros 2


GAME 64 - June 10: Braves 11, Astros 4
GAME 65 - June 11: Braves 6, Astros 3
GAME 66 - June 12: Braves 4, Astros 1

In a week that started mid-way through a 4-game losing streak, and ended with a 4-game losing streak, with just 1 win in the middle, it's hard to find a lot to get excited about. Even going through each game and finding just one thing to like starts to seem a bit hysterical. Happily for the Astros, with Pence on a 22-game hitting streak, finding something to like is a cheap thrill. Unhappily for the Astros, Pence sat out Sunday's game due to the lower back spasms that have been hurting him recently, putting the streak on hold and worrying a management team that doesn't have a lot to brag on at the moment.

Looking at the standings -- when I bother to do so -- I see that the Astros are still in the cellar of the combined Major Leagues, accompanied by only one team (the poor Cubs) in the Under .400 category. At 24-42, the Astros are on target to win barely 59 games this season -- by far the worst season in club history.  It is true that the Astros tend to be a stronger end-of-season team, and it's possible that the win-loss ratio may improve as we head towards fall. But, really, can anyone out there think of a good reason for that to happen?

My sister Elizabeth (the one who goes to Spring Training with me) does not believe that this year's Astros could possibly worse than the 1962 Colt 45s. She bet me $18 that the Astros will win at least 65 games this season. She's on.

Hard as it is to admit, it's getting hard to work up much excitement for coming home from a long day at the office to watch a ball game.

Having said that, here's what I hope the Astros will do: STAY THE COURSE. Stick with the rebuilding, don't try to sign players who could help win this year, play the kids. Keep around a few veterans to act as player coaches to the youngsters and lose a lot of games.

Meanwhile, I'll stick with the little pleasures, like watching Jordan Lyles try for his first big league win. They're keeping him on, now that Wandy's back from the DL, sending down Fulchino and bumping Aneury-Rod to the pen. And when we just keep losing and losing... just think of what a low draft pick we're going to get next year. 

2011 GAMES 54-60: Win a Few, Lose a Few

GAME 54 - May 30: Astros 12, Cubs 7
GAME 55 - May 31: Astros 7, Cubs 3
GAME 56 - June 1: Astros 3, Cubs 1


GAME 57 - June 2: Astros 7, Padres 4
GAME 58 - June 3: Padres 3, Astros 1
GAME 59 - June 4: Padres 6, Astros 3
GAME 60 - June 5: Padres 7, Astros 2


So here's how a team like the Astros can SWEEP a series: Play a team whose combined ERA is even worse than ours. That would be the Cubs, whose sloppy play and pitching woes combined to give the Astros their first (and possibly only) 3-game sweep of the season. And the start to a FOUR GAME WINNING STREAK! Almost unimaginable.

It was all down hill from there over the weekend, as the Astros went on to lost the rest of the series in San Diego. The usual good news in bad times: They didn't get shut out. But just barely -- the Astros only scored a total of 6 runs all weekend. After scoring 29 runs in the previous 4 games, that's a painful indictment of Cubs pitching.

The big news of the week had relatively little to do with game outcomes, and much more to do with the future hopes of the team. With Wandy still on the DL, Jordan Lyles came up to the Bigs for his much anticipated debut. Tuesday night, in his first game, he was just about everything that fans had hoped for -- economical with his pitches (lasting into the 8th inning), calm (even with runners on third base), and relatively nasty. He even got his first major league hit. The worst thing he did all evening was a poor fielding play that cost him a couple of runs. The worst thing the Astros did was to fail to score runs for him, leaving him vulnerable for the loss. However, in a nearly miraculous turnaround, once Lyles was out, the Astros came back for a huge 9th inning comeback, putting 6 runs on the board against the Cubs closer Marmol. So Lyles got a no-D, and gained the affection of those of us who are hoping for a brighter future. As it turned out, a different Astros player got his first big league win that night -- reliever Fernando Rodriguez (one of the 3 Rodriguez pitchers on the team).

Just in case anyone was inclined to believe that Lyles would be the Savior of the Universe  (as SB Nation facetiously claimed), his second big league start on Sunday night was a lot less exciting: He gave up 3 runs in the first inning, and only made it through 4 innings on 96 pitches, earning the loss. A bit of a reminder that the kid is just 20 years old, and that he could be heading back down to Triple A when Wandy gets back in a week or so. But still nice to see some energy from the fans and sportscasters.

In other youngster news, the Astros have named an outfielder (not a big arm!) for their first-round pick in the First-Year Player Draft tonight. The player is UConn's George Springer, considered a five-tool prospect. Maybe another future Pence-type player? Only time will tell...

Meanwhile we have to slog our way through this season for a few more months.

2011 GAMES 48-53: Good Ol' Astros, Skewered and Grilled

GAME 48 - May 23: Astros 4, Dodgers 3
GAME 49 - May 24: Dodgers 5, Astros 4
GAME 50 - May 25: Astros 2, Dodgers 1


GAME 51 - May 27: Diamondbacks 7, Astros 6
GAME 52 - May 28: Diamondbacks 11, Astros 3
GAME 53 - May 29: Diamondbacks 4, Astros 2

With the Astros so solidly positioned in the cellar of the National League, it's not really worth spending a lot of time writing up all the individual game details. This past week there were a lot of close games -- five one-run scores in a row -- so the Astros were actually playing with a chance to win in most games. There were even a pair of walk-off wins against the Dodgers, for a rare series win. Be still my heart!

The close-game trend ended on Saturday night with a blowout loss to the Diamondbacks. When I turned on the computer after the Sabbath and saw the Astros down 9-0, I didn't even bother to start the live video. The good news is that the Astros, down 11-0 in the ninth, did manage to pull off a few runs, avoiding a shutout. (Just say NO TO SHUTOUTS!) I have to be thankful for the little things; it's hard to keep the excitement flowing. Sunday the bullpen blew another save situation to complete a weekend sweep by the Snakes. The good news: JA Happ (after walking 3 in the first inning) not only kept a shutout going on his watch, he also hit his first major league home run. That solo homer and a balked-in run accounted for Houston's whole score.

The Houston sports press also struggles to generate some excitement around a team that doesn't do many exciting things. Take, for instance, Wednesday's headline on mlb.com:

   Good Ol' J.R.: Towles' Walk-off BBQs Dodgers

I'm not saying that J.R. Towles isn't a nice young man, but "good ol' J.R." kind of hints at consistency and dependability. He's been really dependable, all right -- but just not the right kind. Up until that game, he'd been in a 0-for-32 slump, with only 1 hit the whole month of May. And what's with the barbeque metaphor? To me, "BBQ" indicates some fire. The Astros eked out a 2-1 win on a walk-off single. Here's a more accurate headline for the game:

   Astros Slowcook Dodgers on Rare Towles' Hit

I'm being a bit facetious here, but it's really that kind of a season, and it doesn't look like it's going to get much better for a while. The press has made much of the fact that the team is on pace to win just shy of 60 games this season, which would be the worst record ever -- even worse than the original 1962 Colt 45's. The Astros have never before lost 100 games, but they have a chance to break that record this year. On the other hand, the 2005 Astros also had the worst record brewing at the start of the season, and we all know where that ended up.

In the World Series.

No, I'm not expecting a 2005-style turnaround this year. It's going to be like Spring Training, all season long. Astros are leading the league in fielding flubs and blown saves.  That kind of season. The good news: We've only been shutout once! The bad news: We stink.

The real news is about which of the youngsters in Oklahoma are getting the call, as various roster players are injured. The latest team members to make the DL are Wandy (fluid in his pitching arm elbow) and Q (sprained ankle on collision at home plate).  Q's replacement (journeyman Robinson Cancel, playing for his seventh Triple A team in a 17-year professional career) isn't going to bring fans to the stadium. But Wandy's replacement should generate considerable interest: Twenty-year-old Jordan Lyles will get his big league debut in Chicago this week. Isn't that something -- a player born in 1990 on the mound for Houston? A top pitching prospect!!!

Here's the headline that the press (SB Nation) managed to generate for this event:

   Astros Sunday Roundup: Jordan Lyles - Savior of the Universe

Anything for attention.

2011 GAMES 45-47: Astros Win a Series Once in a Blue Jay...

GAME 45 - May 20: Astros 5, Blue Jays 2
GAME 46 - May 21: Blue Jays 7, Astros 5
GAME 47 - May 22: Astros 3, Blue Jays 2

Poised Friday night to recap their 15-30 start to the 2005 season, the Astros did something wild and crazy: They won a game. After 5 straight losses, the Astros looked like they were on their way to add to the streak, going into the eighth inning down 2-0 (good start with poor run support for Aneury R). But surprise: They celebrated their first trip to Toronto with a late inning surge: A 2-run double for Hunter Pence in the eighth; then in the ninth, a 2-run homer for CJ, capped with a Bourn RBI single. Good work by the bullpen (Escalon, Del Rosario, Lopez, and Melancon for the save).

Saturday Brett Myers was going strong, holding a shutout through 5 innings, while his teammates put 4 runs on the board for him. Then in the sixth, the wheels started coming off. With a runner on first, Barmes misplayed what should have been a double-play ball. Next batter lined out, which should have ended the inning without the error. Instead it brought up Jose Bautista, who hit a 3 run homer. Myers gave up another 3 runs in the seventh before Mills pulled him. Bautista hit another homer in the eighth just to rub it in. Astros got another run in the top of the ninth, but it was too little, too late. The Astros' 5 runs were a big score for them -- they have been extremely frugal with runs recently -- but not enough for the win.

Pence also figured in all the runs of Houston's 3-2 win on Sunday, scoring in the third, and then hitting a 2-run homer in the fifth. Luckily, it was a good day for both Wandy and the bullpen. Wandy held the Blue Jays to 2 runs on 6 hits over 6 innings; then Lopez and Melancon handled the rest of the game without giving up a run.  It was Melancon's third save; hopefully he'll have a bit more opportunity to try for more of those this season.

Nice to win a series. Nice to even win a game. But I'm resigned to a whole season of Spring Training for the Astros. At 17-30, we are still very securely in last place in the league. Now home to Houston to play the Dodgers, who have lost 7 of their last 9 games. Maybe we'll get lucky.

2011 GAMES 41-44: This Team's a Bargain...

GAME 41 - May 16: Braves 3, Astros 2
GAME 42 - May 17: Braves 3, Astros 1
GAME 43 - May 18: Cardinals 5, Astros 1
GAME 44 - May 19: Cardinals 4, Astros 2

How can a team that's in the cellar sell for $680 million and still be considered a bargain? Well, if you think of a bargain as in bargain basement, the Astros sure fit the bill! Here's what I figure: Jim Crane is probably not a fool. And if he thinks it's worth putting down the big bucks for one of the worst teams in the Major Leagues, with a farm system that's improving but still rated in the bottom third, he must know something special.

To celebrate the sale of their team, the Astros promptly lost all their games this week -- swept in a pair of back-to-back two-game road series in Atlanta and St Louis. The good news, if there is such a thing when you get swept, is that the games were generally close with nice work by the Astros rotation:

Myers on Monday: 6 innings, 2 ER on 8 hits, 3 BB, 6 Ks. Loss went to Abad, who pitched 1/3 inning in the seventh.

Wandy on Tuesday: 8 shutout innings, 5 hits, 2 BB, 6 Ks. Melancon blew the save, and Fulchino lost it in extra innings.

Bud Lite on Wednesday: A rare flub against the Cards, who he usually dominates, due to a 4-run third. Aside from that he only gave up 1 more run in his 5 innings. Bullpen was clean.

Happ on Thursday: 6 innings, 3 ER on 4 hits, 3 BB, 8 Ks. Not a bad start and the bullpen didn't do any damage, just crummy run support.

So that's the good news: It wasn't really terrible pitching that did them in this time.

The bad news: It was only scoring 6 runs in 4 games that led to the double sweep. The only good thing I can really say about that is: NO SHUTOUTS.

The Astros are in Toronto this weekend for the first time ever. They do play the Blue Jays in Spring Training, but they've never been to Canada for inter-league play. Given that the Astros are so bad this year, I barely watch the NL standings, let alone the AL. I had to look up the AL Central to find out what we're up against. Toronto is a little over .500, and won 7 of their last 10 games. So, we're likely to lose. Of course, at this point, we'd be likely to lose against the Pirates (who actually flirted with a winning record for 5 minutes this season).

O, to be at .500! Actually... O, to be at .400!!! By the way, if the Astros lose tonight, they will have the same 15-30 record as the 2005 team that went on to win the NL Pennant. Perhaps that's Jim Crane's big insight -- with this record, we're bound for glory!?

Just maybe not this year.

2011 GAMES 35-40: Would You Pay Almost $800M for This Ballclub?

GAME 35 - May 9: Reds 6, Astros 1
GAME 36 - May 10: Reds 7, Astros 3
GAME 37 - May 11: Astros 4, Reds 3


GAME 38 - May 13: Mets 6, Astros 4
GAME 39 - May 14: Astros 7, Mets 3
GAME 40 - May 15: Mets 7, Astros 4

The Astros have been up for sale for a while, with Uncle Drayton reportedly looking for around $800M for the team. Given the state of the franchise -- in the cellar this season with a farm that's widely ridiculed -- that didn't really seem likely. But wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles -- it seems that McLane will realize nearly what he was looking for, between the sale price of the team and his take on the regional sports network. Sources are reporting that the team will go for $680M, with over $90M for the communications deal. That's a whole lot more than recent predictions for the franchise value, which were more in the $500M range. Looks like a nice return on McLane's $117M investment when he bought the team in 1992, not to mention all the fun he's had over the past 19 years.

The new owner will be Houston businessman Jim Crane, who will reportedly make George Postolos the CEO after the sale goes through (despite some wistful suggestions from fans to bring Hunsicker back to Houston). It will be interesting to see what kind of changes these gentlemen make. The Astros are having the horrible season that was expected, although it's been more entertaining to watch than last year's team. Perhaps that's just an issue of expectations: With the "rebuilding" label on this year, we expected to lose a lot of games. Kind of like my fantasy (and players' nightmare) of Spring Training Heaven, where March's meaningless games just go on forever. Will the new owner get rid of Ed Wade right away or wait till the end of the season? Will he keep Mills? Will he trade our more lucrative players (Wandy, Myers)  for prospects? Can he unload Carlos Lee?

Ah, El Caballo. His 2000th career hit in yesterday's game was cause for a rare standing ovation for the player who has lost his popularity in Houston. Poor season last year, bad start in April... Lee has picked up a bit in May. I've been hoping that he'll go on a power streak long enough for some AL team to get suckered into picking him up as a DH, so we can be done with this albatross of a long-term contract.

This week the Astros were pretty much the same as usual. Bad news: Two series losses. Sucky pitching. Good news: No shutouts. (That will be my measure of hopelessness for the year.) Near miss, rescued by a timely late-inning solo homer. Nice lead squandered by the bullpen. Walk-off double by Pence for a win. The usual. Not a lot going on that warrants a real game write-up, unfortunately.

As we are around the six-week mark, I'll drag out my usual barometer of badness: How does this year compare to the 2005 Astros -- the team that lost 30 of their first 45 games, earned a RIP tombstone from the Houston newspaper, and then went on to win the Pennant? The 2011 Astros record is marginally better -- 15-25, percent-wise.  But, for a change, this year you won't hear me using that as a reason to believe in a miraculous happy ending. The 2005 team had an inexplicably bad start by a power house roster; the 2011 Astros are... well, rebuilding. Let's hope that Mr Crane understands that not every renovation problem is solved with a hammer.

But a whole lot of baseball problems can be solved with pitching.

2011 GAMES 26- 34: The End of the Streak and Other Mothers Day Musings

GAME 26 - April 29: Brewers 5, Astros 0
GAME 27 - April 30: Astros 2, Brewers 1
GAME 28 - May 1: Astros 5, Brewers 0


GAME 29 - May 3: Astros 10, Reds 4
GAME 30 - May 4: Reds 3, Astros 2
GAME 31 - May 5: Reds 10, Astros 4


GAME 32 - May 6: Astros 3, Pirates 2
GAME 33 - May 7: Pirates 6, Astros 1
GAME 34 - May 8: Pirates 5, Astros 4

The Astros managed to take their No Shutout Streak almost 2 months into the season, but it finally came to an end in the first game of the Brewers series last week. But don't tell the Astros that they are supposed to be losers -- they went on to win THREE GAMES IN A ROW for the first time this season. (This is definitely a year in which we will have celebrate every little excuse of a success!)

This has not been a good week for watching ball games. Between Sabbath games (the Sabbath ends LATE now), last Sunday's trip to NY to meet our new twin granddaughters, and a pair of day games while I was at work, I've only managed to watch a few innings live. So if you haven't seen me tweeting in a week, that's why. And I've had little time to write up games after the fact, so this post covers 3 whole series. If you want to see my excuse for not writing up ball games last weekend, here's what I was up to instead. This is the "Twins" Fan in Exile with Oscar and Oren, age 5 1/2 months:

And here are my brand new twin granddaughters Sylvie and Lyla: 

I finally got to watch a whole game live today -- on Mothers Day! After spending several hours doing back-trashing work in the garden, I treated myself to a ballgame. (Telling myself that I'd go back out after the game, but now all I want is to shower off the sunscreen, mulch residue, and bug spray!) Watched the game on my new toy -- the iPad 2 that finally arrived this week, with "Astros Fan in Exile" etched on the back. I've only bought one app so far -- MLB At Bat 11, of course. (I can see why I have to pay for my MLB.TV subscription every year, but I don't really understand why I have to buy MLB At Bat each season. Why don't I just get a free update like most other apps?)

Meanwhile, in the game, things didn't look too good for the first 6 innings, as the Astros could not get anything going against the Pirates' starter. But as soon as he was replaced in the 7th, the fun began: CJ hit a leadoff solo homer to get things started. Hall singled, then scored on Quintero's double, then Q scored from second on Sanchez's pinch hit bunt to put the Astros ahead 3-2. (Q scored from second on a bunt!?!?! That's what kind of year this is.) In the 8th inning, Lee got a double off what really looked like a caught fly ball (ump mistake), advanced to third on a bad pickoff throw, and trotted home on a humongous sac fly by Wallace. That extended the Astros lead to 4-2, and Happ's chance for a win was still alive. But in the bottom of the inning, Abad gave up a single, a walk, and a 3-run homer, and the Pirates took away our Mother's Day win. This is not a good year for the bullpen. The Astros lead the league in blown saves.

There's not really a whole lot of astounding news from the past week: The Astros are working hard to keep up their position as the Worst NL Team, with a 13-21 record. I generally don't pay that much attention to the standings when the Astros are below .500, let alone under .400. If we're not going to the playoffs, I don't actually have much preference who does. I just count games under .500, because that's how many days of a winning streak it would take to stop being LOSERS. We are on pace to lose 100 this year.

The Astros bullpen has been pretty iffy lately, as today's loss illustrates. Biggest other bullpen disappointment this week: Aneury Rodriguez (replacing Figueroa in the rotation) pitched 5 scoreless in his first ML start, helping the Astros take a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the ninth. But Lyons lost the  game on 4 hits and a walk, allowing 3 runs to score without getting an out -- his 4th blown save in 8 tries this season. After the game, Lyon went back to Houston to get checked out, and ended up on the DL with biceps tendinitis, and a partial rotator cuff tear. Melancon, the Astros end of the Berkman trade last year, is due to take over the closer job. Speaking of Berkman, he's got the #2 batting average in the NL at .388, with 10 homers, and leads the league in RBIs. Good for the Puma! (Except when he does it against us!)

In other injury news this past week, Carlos Lee was out for a few days after bruising his ribs in a fielding crash with Angel Sanchez. It was hard to miss him, when he's having another ho-hum season, and Bourgeois, his replacement in left field, was tearing the cover off the ball. In his 7 starts, Bourgeois went 14 for 27, with 7 stolen bases. With Lee back from his injury, the Astros didn't want to take Bourgeois out of the lineup, so they tried out him out at second base Saturday night -- and he was hurt in the game.  Now he's on the DL with a strained left oblique, and Inglett's back up from OKC.

Happily, real life is going much better than the Astros baseball season, with those four grandbabies and other good family stuff. It's a long season, and no doubt the Astros will find a way to win at least one or two more games before it ends. Meanwhile, Happy Mothers Day!!!!

2011 GAMES 23-25: Losing and Having a Blast

GAME 23 - April 26: Astros 6, Cardinals 5
GAME 24 - April 27: Cardinals 6, Astros 5
GAME 25 - April 28: Cardinals 11, Astros 7

After all these years, Astros fans still boo Carlos Beltran when the Mets come to town. So I was wondering what would happen when the long-time favorite, Lance Berkman, would make his Houston debut in a Cardinals jersey. Just would have been so sad to see the Puma booed. No worry. As Berkman came up for his first at bat in Tuesday night's game, the Houston fans rose to give him a standing O. Classy.

By Thursday night, however, the Puma had worn out our sentimentality. His two homers, a double, and a single combined for 5 RBIs -- that's the exact 5 run difference between the Astros winning and losing the game. Over his visit to Houston, he went 8 for 14, raising his batting average from .377 to .410, second among Major Leaguers. So borrowing a line from Fiddler on the Roof: May the Lord bless him and keep him -- far away from us!

Though the Astros lost this series, I have to give them credit for playing scrappy, exciting games. As a team, they are batting .275, fourth in the NL. They're fifth in the league for runs scored, second in doubles, first in triples. And dead last for homers. But offensively, this is a fun team to watch. The kids hit and they hustle, both on the base paths and out in the field. They lead the league in SB%, and are sixth in total steals. They're third in double plays turned with 25 -- including FIVE in Tuesday night's win!  They also lead the league in errors - not a surprise for such a young team. This is not the old Astros team (with the emphasis on OLD) that got shut out all the time -- we've got a NO SHUTOUT streak going this season!

But for all those runs, we're still the worst team in the league for The pitching staff has the worst ERA in the league (5.24), with an opponents batting average over .300. On the other hand, our pitching staff is doing great at the plate -- they lead the league in batting by pitchers.

So, yep, win or lose, this is a really fun team to watch. The games in this series, even the losses, were exciting, with lots of action right to the end. On Wednesday night, the Astros went into the eighth inning down 6-0, and I was worrying about that shutout streak. But they came back for 3 runs in the eighth and another pair in the ninth, with a runner in scoring position when Pence struck out to end the game. The game went down to the very last pitch. Even Thursday night's game, despite the lopsided score, was exciting. The Cards had a huge 9-run sixth as Figeuroa, Abad, and Fulchino engaged in a total meltdown. But other than that, they only scored singleton runs in 2 innings. The Astros were battling to the end, stranding loaded bases in the eighth and another pair of runners in the ninth. So, okay, we lost -- we're going to lose a lot of games this year. We're REBUILDING. But at least we've got a bunch of kids with something to prove. We're losing - ain't it fun???

Why I've Become a TWINS Fan (Again!)

Back in November, I confessed that I had defected, moving my allegiance to a new group of guys. You might say I started being a real Twins fan.

It's happening again. I'm really, really leaning towards the Twins... No, not the ones in Minnesota -- the ones in Brooklyn. This time it's Lyla and Sylvie, my new twin granddaughters.

Oscar and Oren, my five-month-old twin grandsons, have cousins, just born on Wednesday. So you can see why the TWINS are all that I'm thinking about these days!!!

Is this crazy or what -- two sets of twins in five months? These are the children of our two sons and their wives -- it's just coincidental. But when people ask us whether twins run in the family, we've started saying, "They do now!"

2011 GAMES 20-22: Wackiest Game of the Season

GAME 20 - April 22: Brewers 14, Astros 7
GAME 21 - April 23: Astros 9, Brewers 6
GAME 22 - April 24: Brewers 4, Astros 1

Weird. Wonderful. Wacky.

I'm talking about the middle game of the series in Milwaukee. I could go back and watch this one again, just to see how crazy it was. A goofball play (fielders colliding in a tangle of limbs on the mound) followed by what was almost a triple play. First extra inning game of the season, and the Astros pull off a win in the end. Q's first steal ever.

It was another Saturday  night game, so I joined in midstream after the Sabbath ended, with the Astros leading 4-3. The Astros added a pair of runs in the top of the seventh, then starter Brett Myers gave up a 2-run homer after the stretch, leaving the bullpen with a slim 6-5 lead to protect.

Speaking of Myers.... Exchange on Twitter during the game:

zacharylevine Zachary Levine  Just out of curiosity, does anyone own a Brett Myers Astros jersey? I can't remember ever seeing one. -Z

AGAME_ River Austin @zacharylevine you mean a "wife beater?"

AstrosFanInXile Susan Lilly @AGAME_ @zacharylevine Serious ouch!

Anywhere, that's where things stood when things got kind of wild in the bottom of the eighth. Melancon gave up a leadoff single. Then a little bunt dribbled to the mound caused Wallace to become entangled with Melancon; both of them fell down, and Wallace's throw to first went astray. That put runners on the corners with no outs. Uh oh. The next batter hit a grounder to CJ, who worked with Quintero to catch the runner on third in a rundown. That runner was unwisely waving the runner from first around second, and he too got caught in a rundown between second and third. Once he was tagged, Quintero quickly threw to first base and nearly caught the batter straying off base for what would have been the third out of the play. Instead it was an extremely entertaining double play, which erased the scoring threat.

Lyon came in for the save situation, with that 6-5 lead still intact. But a Braun single, followed by a Fielder double, blew the save. Lyons walked a pair of batters to load the bases before wiggling out of the inning with the score tied 6-6. In the tenth, with Wallace on second (double) and Hall on first (walk), Q hit a big fly ball to right center for a two-out ground rule double, scoring both runners. Now with a two-run lead, Mills left in Lyon to bat, so he could pitch the bottom of the inning. Well, why not? Astros hurlers lead the lead in batting average for pitchers. Let 'em bat! Lyon doubled to score Q, bumping the lead to 9-6. Oh, did I mention that Quintero stole third base -- the first steal in his whole career? I told you that this was a wild and crazy game! Lyon pitched a perfect tenth, to add a W to his BS.

I could definitely watch this game again!

On the other hand, I didn't bother to watch Friday night's 14-7 rout at all. And the only thing I can say I liked about Sunday's loss was that JR Towles' eighth inning homer kept the Astros from being shut out. The Astros lost another series, but the Streak Goes On!!!!