Grandparent Camp

GAME 97: White Sox 3, Astros 2
GAME 98: White Sox 4, Astros 3
GAME 99: Astros 11, White Sox 7

GAME 100: Astros 3, Athletics 2
GAME 101: Athletics 9, Astros 7
GAME 102: Athletics 13, Astros 1

I barely had time to catch any baseball games this past week, as my husband and I were in New Jersey running Grandparent Camp -- spending long summer days doing activities of interest to 3-year old boys while their parents were busy with work and school.

We had a great time taking short hikes, going to the zoo, making picnics, riding trains, watching construction sites, reading books, going out for ice cream, and spraying shaving cream at each other. (Not to mention chasing crazed wet escapees from the shower.)

It's not that we were too busy babysitting to watch ball games. The kids go to bed by about 7. The grandparents stay up later, but after a day of playing with active twin boys, we were pretty zonked too! I did manage to catch an inning here and there, but this wasn't a week for baseball-watching immersion. (Especially those super late night games out on the West Coast!)

But I did manage to catch an inning here and there. Unfortunately, the day game on the day after I returned home from NY -- which I was looking forward to watching without interruption -- was arguably the worst game that the Astros have played all season. Wrong side of a 13-1 blowout against the division leading Athletics. Another poor start for Feldman (6 ER in less than 6 innings). At least it wasn't a shutout; Carter hit a solo homer for the Astros' single run.  And at least Altuve got his 2 hits.

On the good news side of the Astros' series losses to the White Sox and Athletics... yesterday's game was the only really lopsided loss. The two losses in Chicago were close games, and then the Astros scored double-digit runs in the game they won. They then won a close game for the Oakland opener. They had a big 5-run inning in the middle game against the Athletics, although their total of 7 runs was not enough to catch up. When you go into the 8th inning down 9-2, it's a pretty big hole to dig your way out of. That mess belonged to Brad Peacock, who gave up 7 runs in his 3 2/3 innings. (At least he got out of the first inning, unlike his previous start.) And then yesterday's crash and burn... Bottom line: We won one game in each series, right on schedule.

In other Astros news, mostly not good... Springer has joined Fowler on the DL, cutting into his opportunities to smack a few more homers in his rookie year. Maybe when he comes back he will be able to shake loose of his propensity for strikeouts. That 4 K game that we saw in Baltimore on Mothers' Day was, alas, part of an ongoing pattern -- his strikeout rate is around 40%! Fowler's traveling with the team, but isn't working out yet. Don't look for him in the lineup any time soon. With Fowler, Springer, and Presley all on the DL, there's a bit of a hole in center field. It's been nicely filled with an unexpectedly happy newbie story -- Kike (I wish he'd spell his nickname differently!) Hernandez is doing just fine at the plate and in the field.

More bad news: The Astros not only failed to sign Brady Aiken, their #1 draft pick; they managed to piss off the family, the agent, and the players' union. As far as I can tell, they did not actually do anything illegal by lowering their offer dollars in response to an issue discovered in the physical exam. But they gave the team a bit of a black eye. Worse, when the Aiken deal fell through, a couple of other signings fell through as well, for financial reasons. It's not 2007, but it's not too good either.

Our twin grandsons (and their parents) are coming to visit us in Maryland for a few days next month, and I'm already thinking about our plans. Definitely another shaving cream battle out in the back yard. And maybe I'll go buy one of those fat bat and ball sets to get them started on their baseball training!

DUST EATERS COUNT: 3! 

The Astros record is now 42-60 (.412). Not too much dust trailing that record; most of the dust is right in our face! There's one AL team that's worse -- the Rangers (.392). And over in the NL there are 2 bigger losers -- the Cubs (.410) and the Rockies (.406).