Nowadays, it’s de rigueur to dog on Drayton McLane. The long-time Astros owner is cheap and an overspender, too concerned with marketing and driving fans away with losing teams, leaves impact prospects to rot on the vine in the minors and won’t draft good players. I’m pretty sure he’s responsible for seasonal flooding and mosquitoes, too. But let’s hop in the Houstonist DeLorean and take a second look at the erstwhile Uncle Drayton.
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Or at least some new horses. On the heels of a horrible road trip last week, and a choke-job at home against the Rangers this weekend, the Astros moved decisively yesterday, calling up almost every promising player they had at Round Rock. The new guys probably won’t be the catalyst for a drive to the World Series, but they will provide a taste of what the 2012 Astros could look like. Let’s take a look at who's coming to Houston.
Now that all the appropriate (or inappropriate) public and private gestures have been made, it's clear that the Astros and Roy Oswalt have decided to start seeing other people. An ace pitcher of Oswalt's caliber doesn't often make it to the trade market, so what should Ed Wade be looking for, and who has something to offer?
Or, How To Pick The Right Basket In Which To Put Your Eggs
Drive by a billboard advertising the 2010 Astros season, and you're likely to see one of four players: Carlos Lee, Lance Berkman, Michael Bourn, or Hunter Pence. Even poorly-performing teams have to have marketing campaigns, and the Astros have built theirs around these players. Two are slugging veterans, and two are hot young outfielders; one assumes that the pitchers were too inconsistent in 2009, or too awkward looking (coughOswaltcough) to plaster on a billboard.
Pop quiz, hot shot! It's the fourth inning, there's a runner on second base and no outs. You're at bat. What do you do? If you said, "get a hit", then you don't know the half of it, according to former Astros third baseman Morgan Ensberg. But not to worry, he's here to help.
The Good Ship Astros isn't exactly winning the America's Cup, but it isn't sinking like it was two weeks ago. The Astros are winners of 5 of their last 7 going into this weekend's series against the predictibly horrid Pirates, who roll into town having been beaten by the Brewers by a couple of touchdowns. It would still be a stretch to expect great things from the hometowners this year, but the main reason that they won't be an embarassment is because of the return of the Puma.
Okay, so the Astros suck. They are not good, they're bad. Why are they bad? Wandy has inherited Jose Lima Syndrome, Carlos Lee has aged more quickly than the bad guy at the end of Last Crusade, and Hunter Pence is hitting worse than supposedly Adam Everett, Jr. (Tommy Manzella). Ouch. Now what?
The Houston Dynamo traveled to Frisco, TX to face FC Dallas in their season opener on Saturday. The trip North on Interstate 45 resulted in a 1-1 tie.
The Dynamo will play their first home game of 2010 on Thursday, April 1st (no fooling!) hosting defending MLS Cup champion Real Salt Lake at Robertson Stadium at 8 p.m.
As the Astros continue to prepare for the 2010 major league season, two local municipalities are making their own preparations for baseball. Sugar Land and Montgomery County are both in the process of exploring the idea of bringing minor league baseball to the greater Houston area. So what would this look like, and what would it mean for fans?
In light of the very un-spring-like weather we’ve enjoyed recently, it might come as a surprise that baseball is just around the corner. But in a similarly brisk part of central Florida, the 2010 Astros are taking shape. After a disappointing and often muddle-headed 2009, the team is looking to rebuild and remain respectable at the same time. Let’s take a look at the primary storylines to follow as the team awakens from its winter slumber in Kissimmee.
Like the scene at the end of any "raised it from a baby" animal movie, the time came for the Astros to put Pudge Rodriguez back where he belongs: in a Texas Rangers uniform. With the Rangers leading the AL Wild Card race, and the Astros floundering, plus the Rangers' loss of catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia to the disabled list with an excess of letters, the stars were aligned for a trade sending Pudge back to the city where he made his name.
Let's face it: the Astros' late season mojo isn't probably isn't going to come through. The team has been flirting with .500 like a nervous guy at last call, and will probably watch either the Cards or Cubs go home with their date to the playoffs. But that doesn't mean that you should stop watching and wait for football season to start.
Fortunately for the long-term future of the team, several talented minor league pitchers are ready for a shot at the big leagues. So read on, so that when your friends are just as confused as Milo Hamilton about who's pitching this week, you'll be in the know.
Another thing to add to the Houston diversity list: a futsal facility. What exactly is futsal? Well, we’re glad you asked.
Think soccer, but abbreviated. According to Wikipedia, futsal is soccer with 5 people on each side, one being the goaltender. It’s played on a hard court with a smaller ball with less bounce. It is also usually played indoors. That is, except the facility recently opened in Houston…
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Yahoo! Sports is reporting that there's a strong possibility that Yao Ming could be out for the year and maybe even longer.
Astros first baseman Lance Berkman belted his13th home run of the season today in the second inning against Kansas City Royals pitcher Brian Bannister to give him 1,001 career RBI.
After a brutal 0-2-2 start, the Houston Dynamo (7-2-3) won their fourth consecutive game and have run their unbeaten to streak to nine as they beat Chivas USA (8-3-3) 1-0 at Robertson Stadium on Wednesday night.
The Major League Baseball draft is easily the most anticlimactic of all the major sport drafts. The players drafted will take years to develop into major league talent, if they ever make the big club in the first place. You're not going to go out an buy the jersey of your team's draft pick the next day. However, for a club like the Astros, who are in the process of restocking their minor league system, the draft is the first step toward rebuilding a young, healthy team.
San Francisco Giants pitcher Randy Johnson added one more milestone to his future Hall of Fame career by becoming the 24th member of the elite 300 win club.
:: Hoot Hoot! Rice Owls battle it out with KSU ::
Houston Dynamo players Stuart Holden and Danny Cruz will be meeting and greeting with fans today at the Adidas Sports Performance store at the Galleria Sunday afternoon from 1:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m.
We just ran across this synergistic video that features Houston Dynamo midfielder Stuart Holden and Rockets point guard Kyle Lowry goofing off on the basketball court for an Adidas shoot. Holden shows Lowry a kick basket combo, as Lowry jokes about lowering the net for Holden.
That playoff run was swell and everything, but if you think that that Rockets are going to stand pat and take another bronze medal next year (and the year after...), then you don't know the manic machinations of GM Daryl Morey. Since Morey can't say anything about his shopping list, let's put on our amateur executive hat and see what pieces the Rockets can add this season and beyond.
Former Houston Rockets star Robert Horry presented Alief Elsik High a $1,000 check last week as part of the NBA's "Got Milk" Get Fit by the Finals Challenge.
Every time the Lakers, the national media, and even Houstonians like yours truly count the Rockets out, they find a way to change all our minds. After a forty-point drubbing in LA in game 5, the Rockets faced elimination last night at Toyota Center. In true Clutch City fashion, they hitched their wagon to Luis Scola and Aaron Brooks for a scrappy, emphatic win, sending the series back to Los Angeles.
As we've all seen, the Rockets v. Lakers series has had its ups and downs. One thing's for sure, though: It's good basketball, which is all the more reason to head over to Discovery Green tomorrow night (that's Thursday, 5/14) to cheer the Rockets on. The game will be shown on Disco Green's big inflatable screen right in front of the Anheuser-Busch stage; tipoff is at 8:30 p.m., but if you want to show up earlier, you can spend some quality time with The Hollisters (performing as part of the park's Thursdays Rock concert series). Seriously: Texas rock, sweet potato fries from the Lake House and basketball on a giant inflatable TV — what's not to love?
After staying mum for months because of pending litigation surrounding allegations that he used performance enhancing drugs during his Major League Baseball career, Roger Clemens got back to trying to set the record straight Tuesday with an appearance on ESPN Radio's Mike and Mike in the Morning. We told you about it. Clemens read it. And, he responded.
Roger Clemens broke his months-long silence this morning on ESPN Radio's Mike & Mike in the Morning national broadcast to reiterate his innocence as a new book about him hits the stores.