Old Home Team vs New Home Team

I don't wish the Nationals ill. Really. I live in the Washington DC suburbs, and I hope that the Nats do a lot better this year than last year. I love to cheer for the underdog. Lord knows I did it long enough when I grew up in Houston! So sure, I'll cheer for the Nationals...except, of course, when they are playing the Astros.

It's hard to completely gloat over the Astros' 11-2 victory over the hapless Nationals, given how badly my new hometeam has played so far this spring. Washington lost the game in the first inning, thanks to a dreadful performance by their big off-season acquisition, Jason Marquis. The Astros batted around and ended the inning 5 runs up on the Nats. Marquis didn't make it through the fourth, giving up 8 earned runs on 8 hits and 4 walks, before he reached either his pitch count or the limit of his manager's endurance.

On the other side, Wandy had a nice start - much better than his last one. He pitched a full 4 innings, giving up 2 runs (both solo homers) on 4 hits, no walks, and 7 strikeouts. All in all a solid performance from Wandy. We really need him to take up where he left off last year.

The bullpen was stellar, with Byrdak, Chacin, Corcoran, and Lopez combining for 5 shutout innings.That's 10 straight no-run innings from the relievers in the two games I've attended. (I can't make any claims for the two away games the Astros have played since I arrived, both of which they lost.) Here's Byrdak:

The offensive power was spread pretty much accross the team, with the Astros scoring 11 runs on 13 hits and 1 error. One star of the day was Michael Bourn, who has not had a great Spring so far. In Wednesday's game, he went 3 for 3, stole a base and scored 3 times. I think this picture, of Bourn sliding into second on a steal, may turn out to be one of the best ones I will take in Spring Training this year:

Hunter Pence continued to do his thing, going 2 for 3, with 2 RBI, resulting in a nice round .500 BA. It's wonderful to watch the enthusiasm Pence brings to the game, even though he's now a veteran player who doesn't need to compete for his job in Spring Training. He doesn't clap his hands in glee when he gets a hit any more, like he did in 2007, but you can tell that he's really into what he's doing - even if it's "just" Spring Training.

Another player who had a good game Wednesday was Chris Johnson. He has a lot more to prove in Spring Training than Pence does, and he came through, going 2 for 4, with a double, a single, a walk, and 3 RBIs. Here he is playing third base - the ball came in too late to spoil Guzman's triple, but it's a good actiion shot.

Another player with a good game Wednesday was Quintero. In addition to his usual nice job behind the plate, he also did well on the upside of the plate, going 2 for 3, with a double and 2 RBIs. Quintero supposedly has a lock on the backup  catcher role, with Towles and Castro duking it out for the main spot. Here's a shot of him catching Wandy in the bullpen during pre-game warmups.

Nice work by Jason Michaels, with the Astros only long ball in this runfest, as well as a real nice catch in right field at the warning track. I had to include at least one KISS-MEE picture in this blog!

With 11 Astro runs and great pitching, there are a lot of kudos to go around for this game. I've posted some of the highlights here, and uploaded a lot more of the photos to the Astros Fan in Exile website's Photo Album, the Astros Fans in Exile Facebook group, and my AFIX Daily Booth.

Now off to see the Astros play the Blue Jays. More news and photos later... 

You are Not Alone...

Being a Fan in Exile generally means that I'm the odd one out in a baseball crowd, one of the few cheering for the Astros when they come to play in my current place of residence, the Washington DC area. That's one of the joys of Spring Training - the opportunity to join in with a crowd that's cheering for my team, blending in within a sea of Astros hats and jerseys. I've never put too high a value on being a conformist, but now and then it's nice to be part of the in-crowd.

As always, I'm meeting some great fans at Spring Training this year. So before I get around to writing about the game (an easy 11-2 bashing of the poor Nationals), I want to tell you about my Fans of the Day from today's game:

My sister Elizabeth and I got lucky today - the folks sitting around us were wonderful Astros fans. Elizabeth sat next to Carmen, who was here from Houston with her family. She's a longtime fan and it was great swapping Astros stories with her. She knows a lot about the players, past and present, and seems to really appreciate them - we even cheered together when Willy Taveras (now in a Nats uniform) hit a homer, just because he used to be one of our guys. (Happily the Astros enjoyed a pretty sizable lead so we could afford to be generous with our cheers.) Carmen's son is a high school freshman, who plays baseball for his varsity team, which recently had the "honor" of losing to the team that Craig Biggio coaches.

The folks behind us were having a blast, dancing in their seats and cheering for the Astros today, so I asked them if they'd also be in today's group of Fans of the Day. Here they are: Doug, Jeanne, and sister Karen.

Sitting a few seats down from us was Marie "Red" Mahoney, another veteran of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, who was inducted into the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.  A native Houstonian  (and like my mom, a San Jacinto HS grad), Red was an outfielder for the South Bend Blue Sox and later for the Fort Wayne Daisies. To my knowledge, I've never met a female pro baseball player before coming to Spring Training this year - now I've met two in two days!

After the game, we went to the Astros store, so I could buy a Spring Training 2010 hat. There I met a woman named Kim in an Astros' Ensberg jersey. I told her that if she's an Ensberg fan, she should really check out his terrific new baseball blog, Morgan Ensberg's Baseball IQ. She said she would and agreed to have her picture taken for my blog. Here she is (modeling the Ensberg shirt), with her son Caleb. From his hat, I'd say he's a budding Astros fan too.

 Rounding out today's group of Fans of the Day is my sister Elizabeth, who took off work and came down here from Denver to keep me company at Spring Training. She was a big Astros fan as a kid, but moved away from Houston at age 15. She's still a baseball fan, but now cheers for the Rockies. As I'm writing this blog, it's just past midnight, and it's now March 18th - Elizabeth's birthday. We're going to the beach to celebrate (something she doesn't get much chance to do in Denver), then we'll be back for 4 more Astros games from Friday through Monday. So if you see Elizabeth at the stadium at Friday's game, wish her a Happy Birthday!

We sat with all these fine fans behind first base today, and I have a whole lot of good pictures from the game. (Much better than the ones taken through the net yesterday!) I'll post some pictures and a few game comments about our 11-2 trouncing of the Nats in my next blog. Meanwhile, check out my Astros Fan in Exile Daily Booth for ongoing photo updates. And if you're on Facebook, join the Astros Fans in Exile group!

We are most definitely NOT ALONE!

Not a Snowflake in Sight

Fan of the Day: Dolly Niemiec Konwinski. If you don't know who that is yet, read on!

Welcome to Kissimmee, Florida. Some may think of it as Disney's motel-infested backyard, the armpit of Orlando. But to me it's Osceola County Stadium, spring home of the Houston Astros, a world where success is a perfect pitch, a sliding steal, a flat-on-your-face in the grass catch. And I am here with my trusty Canon  there to catch it all for you, my faithful readers. I arrived in Orlando Tuesday morning, got in my rental car, and went to my home for the week, an apartment place about a mile from the stadium, where for 80-some bucks a night, I got a 2 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath unit, with kitchen, living room, and washing machines. Not fancy, but clean and super-convenient for anyone whose main purpose in being here is access to the ball park. My traveling partner for the week, my youngest sister Elizabeth, wouldn't be arriving until late afternoon from Denver, so my cousin Jon came over from Tampa to see the 1 PM game against the Redsox.

I have to say that the seats that were made available in the Spring Training pre-sale this year were not so good. (Who in the Astros franchise should I complain to about that?) Although I went online to get my tickets the moment the pre-sale started, the "Best Available" for this game (a higher-cost "premium" one) was either all the way down the line in the lower level, or up against the press boxes in the upper level,  right behind home plate. I opted for the latter. The view of the field was great (same as the broadcasters'), but it's a pain to take pictures when you're under the protective netting - at least half the time my camera's automatic setting opted to focus on the net, not the players.Yes, of course, I could just manually focus, but it's annoying and anti-social. So I decided to limit my picture-taking for this game, and just enjoy watching the game and visiting with my cuz. I'll have a lot better pictures from the other games this week, when I'll be sitting down near the field, but I do have a few pictures to share with you. (See my Astros Fan in Exile website and my Daily Booth for additional pictures this week!)

Tuesday's 3-0 Astros shutout over the Redsox was all about pitching, with Roy O kicking off the game with more great stuff. The Wiz threw four shutout innings in his classic fast-paced fashion. Oswalt gave up only a pair of hits and a walk, and suddenly the game was half over, just an hour or so after the first pitch. Things are looking really good for the Astros ace - he has not yet given up a run in Spring Training. It was a special treat to see Osewalt pitch, since last year he was away at the WBC when I was here. Let's hope that Tuesday's performance is a  harbinger of what't to come with him this season, after last year's disappointing results.

Oswalt was followed by a string of relievers - uneventful single inning appearances by Lindstrom, Fulchino, Gervacio, and Majewski. Wesley Wright closed, earning a save, after pitching out of the Redsox's best chance of the day to catch up. I had not seen Lindstrom, an off-season acquisition, so this is my first Spring Training picture of him - sorry it's not much of an action shot. I will get better ones in a later game when I'm sitting closer to the action without the net.

After Oswalt, who's always the highlight of a game, my next biggest interest in the bullpen was to see Sammy Gervacio, who has adopted a very strange pitching ritual. I saw his odd delivery in a televised game against the Mets last week; it had the NY broadcasters in stitches.And I have to agree that it's very odd and somewhat amusing. Gervacio momentarily faces third base, holding the ball up to his right, then very abruptly turns towards the plate, before throwing in his sidearm pitch. I don't know when he adopted this - I did find it in some late-season videos on the mlb.tv archive, but he definitely was not doing it in Spring Training last year.  At least, I never saw it, and it's not the kind of thing that you wouldn't notice. I tweeted Alyson Footer (the source of all arcane Astros player trivia) to ask her why he's adopted this weird pitching ritual, and she said "no idea." I will post a video of Gervacio's delivery on the Astros Fans in Exile Facebook group, but meanwhile, here's a snapshot of that sidearm:

This game was largely about pitching, but to win you have to score at least once. The Astros managed to eke out a handful of runs in a mostly small-ball type of way with the better half of a split squad. (Pence, Blum, and Feliz were among the players who went to Tampa for the evening loss to the Yankees.) Carlos Lee scored from third base on a wild pitch in the fourth inning; in the sixth, he hit into a double play, allowing Matsui to score from third. Brian Esposito, a late inning catcher, hit an RBI double in the eighth for the Astros' third and final run. Towles continued to make his case for a slot on the major league lineup with a pair of singles, bumping his BA to .550 in his first 20  at-bats. (That's a whole lot better case than last year's .190.)

You can read the box  score to see the rest of the game numbers. Although this blog is about the Astros, it's also about the nature of fandom, especially for fans who cheer for teams that they rarely see in person. So last but not least, for today's blog - the Fans of the Day. First FotD is Dolly Niemiec Konwinski, who I met as I was leaving the ballpark. That's me with her in the picture up at the top of the blog. In case you didn't recognize the name, let me introduce you: In the early 50's, she was an infielder in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (the league of women players that was featured in the movie, A League of their Own). Dolly's not actually an Astros fan - she admitted to me that the cheers for her hometown White Sox - but she's a great fan and advocate of the game, so she gets top billing among my Fans of the Day.

My second Fan of the Day is my cousin Jon, who was kind enough to drive in from Tampa to watch a ballgame with  me:

And I have to give a special callout to my Spring Training friends, who I met last year and kept in touch with on Facebook in the off season. They all have Spring Training season tickets and they've been keeping tabs on the team before I could get here.  Here's Mitch and Kevin from NY:

And here's Carole, who actually does live in Houston, but she's an great Astros booster and an honorary "Fan in Exile" anyway:

Off to the stadium to see Wandy Rodriguez and the rest of the Astros take on the mighty Washington Nationals. My old home town vs my new one. May the best team win - and I sure hope that's the Astros! More new and PICTURES to come!!!

Flashback to Spring Training 2005 - Where are they NOW?

As the Astros headed into their first Spring Training game today, I was reminiscing about my first trip to Kissimmee back in 2005 - quite an auspicious year for the team! After a miserable start to the season, they ended up winning the pennant for the first time in team history. Could this year be a rerun (preferably without the miserable start)? Time will tell. I'll be down in Florida to check out the 2010 Astros in one week and 5 days. But meanwhile, thinking about those 2005 pennant winners -- do you wonder WHERE ARE THEY NOW? I took a few minutes to check up on the players, with the results (and a few pix from Spring Training 2005) below.

PITCHERS:

Roy Oswalt - The Wiz is still our ace (even after a disappointing season last year) and a budding restauranteur.

Wandy Rodriguez - Still an Astro starter and hoping to top his 2009 best-ever season.

Roger Clemens - Retired (did he ever OFFICIALLY retire?) and hanging around at Astros Spring Training to watch his son Koby.

Andy Pettitte - Still pitching for the Yankees (and we didn't think he'd last 2 more years and let him go)

Brandon Backe - Since the Astros released him in 2009, the only news I've seen has been his arrest in a drunken scuffle with police. (However the player we traded to the then-Devil Rays to get Backe is now back in Astros uni -- Geoff Blum)

Brad Lidge: On-again, off-again, not-quite-lights-out Lidge is the closer for the Phillies.

Dan Wheeler: Relief pitcher for the Rays.

Chad Qualls: Closer for the Diamondbacks.

Russ Springer: Pitched for the Rays in 2009, currently an unsigned free agent.

Ezequiel Astacio: Pitched in 2009 for the Des Moines Iowa Cubs (Cubs AAA).

Mike Gallo: Bumped around the minors, not currently pitching anywhere I can see.

Chad Harville: Put on waivers and picked up by Boston before the end of the 2005 season, now retired.

John Franco: Released during the 2005 season, ending his record-setting career (most games pitched in NL)


CATCHERS: 

Brad Ausmus: Signed up for another year as the Dodgers backup catcher, with an option for 2011. (Remember that high kick he tried out in 2005, hoping to improve his batting?)          

Raul Chavez: Signed minor league contract with Blue Jays, invited to Spring Training as non-roster invitee.

Humberto Quintero: Still the backup backstop for the Astros.          

INFIELD:

Jeff Bagwell: Retired after unsuccessful attempt to come back in 2006, but still working for the franchise - it's great to see him coaching the minor leaguers at Spring Training.

Craig Biggio: Retired after his 3000-hit season in 2007; now coaching his kids' high school team and doing tons of charitable work in Houston.

Lance Berkman: First baseman for the Astros. (No pix from Spring Training '05 - he wasn't playing, due to his offseason football injury.)

Morgan Ensberg: Unfortunately, he never achieved the super-star potential he showed in 2005; didn't sign with a team in 2009, he's now retired. UPDATE: But you can still follow him - on his baseball blog: http://morganensberg.wordpress.com/.

Adam Everett: Shortstop for the Tigers.

Eric Bruntlett: Minor league contract with the Nationals, in Spring Training camp as non-roster invitee. Moment of fame in 2009: Playing for the Phillies, made a game ending unassisted triple play. (I always loved that guy's defense!)

Mike Lamb: Signed a minor league deal with the Marlins; in Spring Training camp as a non-roster invitee.

Jose Vizcaino: Retired, works for the Dodger's front office.

OUTFIELD:

Luke Scott:  He’ll be at Orioles Spring Training trying to figure out where he fits in their roster -- and how he's going to protect himself now that MLB has outlawed guns in the locker room. 

Willy Taveras: Just signed a minor league deal with the Nationals, and is in Spring Training as a non-roster invitee. (He went 0 for 2 in today's game.)

Jason Lane: Bopped around the minors for the past few seasons, currently somewhere in the Marlins system.

Chris Burke: Spent most of 2009 in the minor league affiliates for the Padres and the Braves. He currently has a minor league contract with the Reds.

Orlando Palmiero: Retired after 2007 season.

COACHES

Phil Garner (manager): Two years after the Astros fired him towards the end of the 2007 season, Garner interviewed for (but didn't get) the Astros Manager job last fall... I don't know what he's doing now.

Jose Cruz (1B Coach): Removed from his long-time gig as first base coach after 2009 season, he's now working for the front office. (But look for him in uni at Spring Training.)

Cecil Cooper (Bench Coach): After his stint as the Astros manager ended with the dismal 2009 season, Coop moved back to Katy, TX.

Doug Mansolino (3B Coach): Ousted from the Astros around the same time as Garner (who he eerily resembles)...I don't know where he is now.

Jim Hickey (Pitching Coach): Pitching Coach for Tampa.

Gary Gaetti (Hitting Coach): Working as a hitting instructor for Baseball USA in Houston.

AND MOST IMPORTANT (to me)...

David Whitehill (my oldest child, who was brave enough to go to Spring Training with his Astros-crazy mom): Moved to NY with his wife Marissa, where he works as an architect and cheers for the Yankees. Where did I go wrong?

Just Counting the Days...

The trailer full of hats and jockstraps, bats, balls, and Bazooka arrived safely at Astros Spring Training camp. The pitchers and catchers have reported to Kissimmee and new manager Brad Mills is putting them through their paces. Alyson Footer's already posting pictures of our favorites hurlers and backstops, along with a bunch of new guys and farm hands who are hoping to earn that distinction over the next few weeks. The rest of the team arrives later this week. Astros Spring Training is underway in Kissimmee, Florida.

And I'm still looking out the window at a yard full of snow. 

And I'm watching the Winter Olympics. I like the figure skating (Johnny Weir is a hoot), but frankly, coming from Houston, I just don't really GET sports that involve hunks of ice and snow.

But that's about to change. As of today, all of my basic preparations are complete. First and foremost: Six pairs of tickets (great seats bought in the first 10 minutes of the pre-sale).

Weeklong rental of my 2 BR/2 BA plus kitchen apartment. Flights in and out of MCO (that's airline-speak for Orlando airport). Economy rental car. Two Astros jerseys and two teeshirts, personalized with FAN IN EXILE and lucky number 18 on the back. (You will definitely be able to recognize me at the stadium and practice field.)

A whole week marked VACATION on my Outlook calendar at the office. Plenty of SPF 75 (I really fry in the sun). Camera. Extra batteries. 

Most importantly, I've got my Spring Training partner - my sister Elizabeth who will be joining me again for the second consecutive year. My husband is completely off the hook, for the first time since 2006; he's staying home with Shana the dog. My sons can stop making excuses about how busy they are with their new jobs. My daughters can stop telling me how much they hate baseball. Elizabeth and I are going to have a blast - again! 

Sorry about posting so many pictures of myself. I don't post photos taken by others on my blog without permission, and I don't have any new ones of my own for this year yet. But very soon (three weeks and two days from now), I'll be posting what you really want to see: Astros in action. If you can't wait until then, you can go to my Astros Fan in Exile website and look at my photos from previous years.

Between now and then, I'm going to be posting some guidance for going to Astros Spring Training in my next few blogs. Alyson Footer is really good for basics, of course. She can tell you when the practice field is open, and where to stand to get autographs. She can give you much better advice on restaurants than I can, since I keep kosher and tend to acquire most of my nourishment in the local PUBLIX grocery store. But let's face it - Alyson's there on the job, not as a fan. It's just different. She doesn't have to dodge the old retired guys who are ushering when she wants to take a picture - she gets to wander around on the field. So look for a blog from me in the next few days, talking about where and how to take pictures at Astros Spring Training. And one on what to wear (including many pictures of fans in great hats from last year). Or... write a comment on my blog and tell me: What do you want to know about going to Spring Training, from a fan's point of view? After 5 years of faithful attendance, I've got opinions (and photos) of most everything - except restaurants.

Disappointing news: The Shuttle launch fell through - again. I keep hoping to see a Shuttle launch before the program ends, and have managed to arrange my trips to Kissimmee to match the launch schedule several times. But each time, the launch gets postponed. This time was especially disappointing, since the launch was scheduled for the Astros one off-day during my stay and it was also Elizabeth's birthday. We had an extra-special birthday plan for the day, but the launch is now a month later, and I'll be long gone. We're thinking of hitting the beach instead.

Digging Out... in Time for Spring Training!

The Washington DC area (my local version of "Exile") is digging out, after breaking its record for the snowiest winter in memory - over 55" of snow, thanks to a few major events including yesterday's BLIZZARD! This is a very bizarre experience for a girl who grew up in Houston - where we went nuts if we got a half-inch of snow. We've seen some snow over the years since I moved into Exile, but nothing like this. The schools and federal government have been closed all week, and just getting out of the driveway is a major production. Today it took a couple of hours of hard digging to clear a path to the street.   That's me... digging in a field of snow, and dreaming of a field of green - a ball field, that is.

While I'm clearing my driveway and sidewalks from tons of snow, the Astros equipment folks are packing up the truck for the haul to Kissimmee. Pitchers and catchers report soon, then the rest of the players, and then... well, ME! I've got my game tickets - six games in seven days, right in the middle of the month, when there's a nice fat homestand. I talked my sister Elizabeth into coming with me (that's fodder for a whole blog!), and I'm perusing airline fares and schedules. 

Two special events to look forward to this year, besides the practices and games, of course. First, I'm finally going to meet Austin - the author of The Bottom Line blog. We've exchanged dozens of emails and tweets over the past year, but we've never actually met in person. Also, assuming that it doesn't get cancelled or postponed, my sister and I are planning to go to Cape Canaveral for the shuttle launch on March 18. (That's not a very safe assumption - I've tried to catch a launch during Spring Training before, and it was postponed due to hail damage.) 

So lots to look forward to! Meanwhile, I'll be a bit more attentive to writing in my blog and to posting pictures on my Astros Fan in Exile Daily Booth. Now that we're getting into the homestretch, it's time to figure out who are all those strangers that Ed Wade picked up this winter, and to review which of the farm guys I want to check out. After watching nearly every game of the season, and recognizing every player at a glance, it's weird to go to Spring Training and to see a bunch of strange faces. But after a couple of days (and a few hundred photos), they start to look more familiar.  By the time that the season starts, they'll all just look like ASTROS!

I hear it might snow again on Monday. Go ahead, snow! In a month I'll be sitting in the sun in Florida, and that gives me plenty of warm thoughts. Maybe not quite warm enough to offset a multi-day power outage during a blizzard. But pretty fine, pretty damn fine.

Happy New Year!

Another year. Another season. Another chance. You never know what the new year will bring.

Just a few weeks until it's time to buy tickets for Spring Training. Just a few more weeks until pitchers and catchers report to Kissimmee. And just a few weeks after that, it will be time for ME to report too! There's still a bit of snow on the ground here in Maryland, but I can picture that field of green. It never fails to bring a smile.

I'm not making any predictions about what 2010 will be like for the Astros, or even for myself, my family, my friends, my company, the country or the world. Who knows!? But I hope that it's a good one for you all. And maybe I'll see you at Spring Training? HAPPY 2010!