Results tagged “astros”

When the going gets tough, you get a new manager. That's not quite the way the saying goes, but it's the way things are playing out in the Astros clubhouse. Last night the ball club named the Boston Red Sox bench coach Brad Mills the manager for the 2010 season. This posting will be Mills first chance to run his own team in the bigs after a running the show at three clubs in the minors and apprenticing around the majors for 11 years.

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.

Yesterday, as mentioned in our last H-Town Rock post, there was supposed to be a Ben Kweller concert at House of Blues. Prior to the show Ben was also going to play an in-store at Houston's beloved Cactus Music and sign some autographs.

Each team plays 162 games during the regular season. The Astros have 83 home games on their docket. And, of those, only five are day games during the week, i.e. "a businessman's special."

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.

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.

The Astros and the City of Houston will be honoring Hall of Fame Broadcaster Milo

For anyone who hasn’t noticed yet, everyone’s favorite no-frills Museum District bar has added a huge back patio.

A nice, subdued weekend ahead after the bustle of last week.

Opening Day is Monday, and the Astros are almost done whittling down their roster as Spring Training winds down. Following the loss of Aaron Boone to season-ending heart surgery, the 'stros acquired Reds infielder Jeff Keppinger to fill out the right-handed side of their third base platoon (with Geoff Blum). The Geoff-Jeff show isn't going to replace the stellar production that the team got from Ty Wigginton last year, but it won't be a black hole in the lineup, either.

Astros third baseman Aaron Boone announced at a press conference this morning in Kissimmee that he will miss the entire season in order to have open heart surgery. Boone was signed during to offseason to be part of a platoon at third base with Geoff Blum, leaving that spot in the lineup very much in doubt with Opening Day three weeks away.

The boys from Kissimmee-by-way-of-Houston have won a grand spanking total of one game in Spring Training so far, to go along with fourteen losses and two ties. (Yes, there are ties in baseball, apparently) The pitchers are getting lit up, and the bats are odiously silent. Is this what the regular season will be like? Should fans ready the torches and pitchforks?

ESPN did their take last week on the four best athlete's from each state. For Texas, Lance Armstrong, Earl Campbell, Nolan Ryan and Tom Landry were selected as Texas' Mt. Rushmore.

Mr. T would be proud: now he won't have to save the community center by himself. Drayton McLane and Major League Baseball have put their money where their mouth is, and they're bringing first-class baseball facilities to one of Houston's most neglected neighborhoods.

Like a furry rodent prognosticating the weather, a sign of the impending return of spring is upon us. The Astros 2009 schedule kicks off with their Winter Caravan, a goodwill tour that annually precedes Spring Training, with players, coaches and alumni signing autographs for the unwashed masses. The Caravan starts this weekend in the Houston area, and will travel to Austin, San Antonio and (gasp!) Louisiana before everyone heads off to sleepaway camp in Kissimmee.

Like many other businesses around the country, your hometown baseball team is feeling the financial crunch. Two big sponsors (AIG and Bill Heard Dealerships) won't be contributing to the coffers in 2009, leaving owner Drayton McLane unable to raise his payroll going into next season. How to improve the team in these circumstances? That's General Manager Ed Wade's task at the MLB Winter Meetings in Las Vegas this week.

Five in a row. Eight straight home wins. 12 wins in their last 16 games. If you haven't been out to Minute Maid Park recently, then you're missing quite a show. The surging Houston Astros are one of the hottest teams in baseball and their being led by some clutch hitting by a mean sandwich called B.L.T. (Berkman, Lee and Tejada).

Wandy Rodriguez's home dominance continued on a beautiful day at Minute Maid Park on Sunday as he pitched seven strong innings while giving up only one earned run and leading the Astros past the Marlins 5-1.

The Astros' season is in full swing, and no one is swinging more than Hunter Pence. Good grief, Spaz, if you're going to be the number 2 hitter, you might want to be a little bit selective. We can't wait for Kaz Matsui to get off his aching butt and take over the job he was signed to do. Here's what the blogs are saying about our hometown teams and sporting events:

Annie Savoy said, "...I've tried all the major religions, and most of the minor ones...I've tried 'em all, I really have, and the only church that truly feeds the soul, day in, day out, is the Church of Baseball." Well, Annie, our church officially opens for business today when the St. Louis Cardinals pay a visit to our Houston Astros for Opening Day for the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. Wandy E. Rodriguez gets the start. He's got no decisions in the season thus far with only five innings under his belt, but his numbers are OK - six strike outs, a walk, but four earned runs. Start warming up your "Hey, batta, batta!" after your three o'clock staff meeting. The ball club takes the field at 6:05 PM.

What's that you say? Opening Day was yesterday? The Astros lost to the Padres? Pssh. In our world, the Astros' season doesn't begin until the boys in red win a game. Which could mean that "Opening Day" may not happen until mid-month. Regardless, Houston is pretty much a baseball town, even when the Astros are facing a rough season ahead. Assuming that you want to keep track of the ups-and-downs of the hometown boys in more detail than we can provide here, there are two excellent new resources that rolled out over the past week to help you out.

The Astros' spring training schedule in Florida wraps up today with a game against the Toronto Blue Jays, and then the team returns to Houston to play a weekend series against the Detroit Tigers before Opening Day on Monday in San Diego.

Well, the Streak is over, but the Rockets' chances of a top seed in the West are still intact. Will they be able to pull it out in the first round with all this momentum behind them? The Astros' rotation is almost set, but can Woody Williams find enough juice for one more season? Will the Texans' roster needs be met via free agency or next month's draft? All these questions (and a few answers) plus more in this week's examination of the blog zeitgeist.

Top o' the afternoon to ya! We always have trouble with Irish accents; we always either end up sounding Scottish or like a pirate. But regardless, the Rockets' streak poses an interesting conundrum, especially if you plan on getting sauced tonight: do you talk about the streak (potentially jinxing it) or refuse to even acknowledge its existence (which makes you seem like kind of a jerk). The choice is yours. Here's what the blogs are saying about the Rockets and more:

Spring Training is half over, the Rockets may never lose another game, ever, and the Texans have one less competitor to worry about. All this and more plus musical dramatic guest Roger Clemens in this week's roundup! Read on to see what the Web is saying about Houston's teams:

>> Wintry mix blasts Panhandle, North Texas with sleet, snow: They came from the north and helped freeze your tootsies. Yep, those darn north winds are to blame for the uber chill around town today writes Meteorologist Tim Heller on the Houston Weather Blog. The same system that blanketed North Texas with nine inches of snow and caused Dallas-Ft. Worth airport to cancel 200 flights will share its chill with Houston. "This type of storm system is very typical of the end of winter and early spring, and the same storm may cause different impacts on different places," said Ron McQueen, an NWS meteorologist. Houstonist says bring on the spring. Of course we'll likely be regretting that statement as August rolls around.