AL West

The Ryan Express: Astros to Name Nolan Ryan's Son, Reid, as Team President

The Astros desperately want Nolan Ryan as part of their organization. Today, it appears as if they might get as close as they have been in a while. Multiple sources are reporting the Astros will announce the hiring of Reid Ryan, son of the Hall of Fame pitcher, as their Team President today after fo ... More >>

Where Is Lil Wayne In the Lyrical Hot Water Hall of Fame?

Proving that it is almost never wise to compare the results of rough sex to Emmett Till's face, Lil Wayne was dropped from his Mountain Dew campaign last week. Emmett Till, for those of you who aren't familiar, was a 14-year-old boy who was beaten to death, shot, and dumped in the river for whistlin ... More >>

Top Five Things to Do in Houston Sports This Weekend: Dirt, Clay, Mud and Cheerleaders

TGIF, my children. It's time to rev up the weekend and get yo butt in gear. You may want to lie around on your couch watching the Final Four or spend some time absorbing "culture" at a "museum." I say blow all that crap out of the water with an ass kicking good time like any red blooded American. Ho ... More >>

One Man's (Idiotic?) 2013 Baseball Predictions

The major league baseball season opened up on Sunday night with the Rangers traveling to Rangers Ballpark in Arlington South to face the Astros. Most of the teams started up yesterday, and the rest of the league will get underway today. With the season getting underway, it's time once again to make ... More >>

The Astros: Out of Their League?

The Houston Astros take on a new season in a tough division with things all-new — uniforms, owner, manager, team and rules — not to mention a new/old mascot. And road trips to Dallas.

Houston Astros 2013: Season Win Total Prediction (And Four Other MLB Season Win Total Predictions)

Maybe it's because football keeps our attention year round (what up, Ed Reed?), maybe it's because we're right in the middle of March Madness, or maybe it's just because as a city we've been beaten down by a half a decade of mediocre to bad baseball, but goddamn, this baseball season snuck up on me! ... More >>

Nolan Ryan Ain't Riding In On A White Horse To Save The Astros

The Nolan Ryan crisis in Arlington is well in its second week. Thus the questions over his future with the Rangers, and his future in general, continue. But while it appears Ryan is losing the battle for power, it's just not known what role he will continue to serve in with the club. Ryan issued a ... More >>

Dallas Baseball Fans Suck, Former Ranger Star Josh Hamilton Says

Josh Hamilton is no longer a Texas Ranger, meaning the Dallas-Fort Worth area is deprived of its chance to spot the recovering alcoholic in bars and be subjected yet again to his Jesus-centric quotes. Maybe he should stick to proselytizing, because all he's doing now is pissing off Dallas fans. Ha ... More >>

Jim Crane and Charlie Finley: The Future Through The Past

A man buys a baseball team. He alienates the fans. He trades away all of the veterans with big contracts and attempts to build a team through the farm system. There's the threat of a forced move to another league. The other owners not wanting him in their club. And the commissioner treats him like a ... More >>

Things You Should Know About The Astros Trade (Including: Yes, The Astros Still Exist)

The baseball world was rocked to its core yesterday by a five-player trade between the Houston Astros and the Oakland A's. While the definition of "rocked to its core" may vary among baseball fans -- and "barely took notice" would be an acceptable, indeed unassailably factual, equivalent -- the tra ... More >>

Crystal Ball Part Deux: Looking Ahead to 2013 Houston Sports, Astros/Dynamo/UH/Rice Edition

Yesterday, we took a look at the futures of the Texans and Rockets. Predictions were made. Accusations were tossed about. But no one is Carnac the Magnificent. All we can really do is guess...except when it comes to the Astros.

DPS: Truckload of Immigrants Was Speeding Straight Toward Schools

The tale of the two suspected illegal Guatemalan immigrants killed by a DPS sharpshooter perched in a helicopter took a turn Thursday when the Department said the truck they were in was barreling toward a school and had to be stopped. "The pickup truck continued to speed recklessly toward William ... More >>

Troy Sesler, Anime Film Critic Who Murdered His Family, Gets Life Without Parole

Trey Sesler, the 23-year-old YouTube anime critic who had been charged with killing three family members in rural Texas, has entered a guilty plea and been given life without parole, Waller County prosecutors say. Sesler gunned down his parents and a brother in their Houston home and then led cops ... More >>

Complaints and the Media

Movies Houstonians Love: Moneyball

The Albert Pujols Schadenfreude Post

To understand the magnitude of Albert Pujols's six-week slump to start the 2012 season (and I'm not going to lie, calling it a "slump" feels like a VERY lazy understatement), you have to remember the starting point from whence he came when he signed with the Los Angeles Angels this off-season. That ... More >>

MLB: 4 Season Win Total Bets You Can Still Get Down on Before Friday Morning

Happy Major League Baseball Opening Day! Oh, what's that? You say I missed Opening Day? It was actually last night when the St. Louis Cardinals helped christen the Miami Marlins' new ball park (and new name and new uniforms and new manager and...) with a 4-1 win? Oh, I'm sorry, that was the domesti ... More >>

Shanice Lambert: Another Panhandle Teacher Accused of Sexual Misconduct

What in tarnation is going on in the schoolhouses on Texas's High Plains? The latest in the Shame Parade is Shanice Lambert, who looks much more glamorous on her Facebook page than in her Armstrong County mugshot. According to the Amarillo Globe-News, police in Childress accuse the 37-year-old teac ... More >>

In Which John Royal Predicts the Winner of the 2012 World Series

The major league baseball season officially started last week when the Oakland A's and Seattle Mariners played two games in Tokyo. Most of the other teams open on Thursday, and the Astros get started on Friday when they host the Colorado Rockies. Thus, here are my predictions for this season. NATI ... More >>

Texas Rangers Unveil Two-Foot Long Hot Dog Covered In Everything (w/ "Making Of" VIDEO)

Whether it's the television show Man vs Food or our fascination with the competitive eating circuit, never has the American public been more hell bent on trying to eat its collective self into a collective coma. As new and exciting food challenges at bars and restaurants drive cholesterol and heart ... More >>

The Year In Astros Baseball: Thank God That's Over

​So let's continue our look back at the sporting year that was 2011 by taking a look at the Top 25 events to happen to the Houston Astros. 1. They finished with the worst record in team history, which was quite the accomplishment seeing as how the Astros were pretty damn bad for most of the ... More >>

Nolan Ryan....Or Old Man Potter From It's A Wonderful Life?

​Watching the terrific ending of Game Six last night, we kept getting shown shots of Rangers president Nolan Ryan looking extremely annoyed in the stands. Something about it felt familiar. And then we realized:

Mosquitoes: A Tiny, Highly Annoying Musical History

​The Texans are in first place (for now), the Texas Rangers may become the Lone Star State's first-ever World Series champions tomorrow (ouch), and early voting for the November 8 mayoral/City Council election started Monday. The Houston Press Music Awards showcase is less than three weeks awa ... More >>

Sugar Land Skeeters Go Old-School With Bullpen Cart; Two Classic Options They Could Have Used

Photo by Sugar Land SkeetersYou can't kill this "tradition."​The minor-league Sugar Land Skeeters have announced, not that we noticed, that they will be bringing back the not-so-noble tradition of the baseball-shaped bullpen cart when they start play next year. "The yet-to-be-named cart will ... More >>

20 Ways the Astros Are Still Losing Even Though They're Not Playing

Yep, Ed Wade's even a fool in the movies.​This past season was a painful one to watch and endure for Houston Astros fans. But even in the off-season the painful hits just keep on coming. 20. The owner of the Texas Rangers, Nolan Ryan, is getting plenty of airtime from Fox and TBS every nigh ... More >>

Worst Sports Night Ever? Texans Lose, Cards & Rangers to the Series

You'll have to put up with Tony LaRussa's mug for awhile.​Our Houston Texans analysis will be coming later, due to some unforeseen circumstances, but in its place let us ponder how the sporting gods have toyed with us. Sure, beating the Ravens in Baltimore would have been a big upset. But the ... More >>

Astros To The American League: The Logical Argument To Stop The Move

​Ever since the Peter Gammons tweet on Wednesday about the Astros sale to be approved in November as well as the Astros being moved to the American League, there's been a firestorm of anger and panic emitting from what few Astros fans remain. Yesterday, one group even started an internet peti ... More >>

Astros to AL with Jim Crane As Owner, Peter Gammons Says

Hello, AL West.​Peter Gammons probably has the best sources in Major League Baseball, and he's got news: The Astros sale to Jim Crane will be approved in mid-November, and the team will switch to the American League. Gammons tweets the sale "is expected to go through," so there's some wriggle ... More >>

Moneyball

Field of Statistically Knowable Dreams

Your 2011 Fall/Movie Preview (Part 1)

​Note: Pop Rocks will return next week. Labor Day has come and gone, which means the official start of the fall movie season is just around the corner. In fact, two of the more anticipated releases of latter 2011 -- Warrior and Contagion -- come out tomorrow. After what has been widely rega ... More >>

Nolan Ryan Out of Hospital

Nolan Ryan is a free man again.​Baseball great Nolan Ryan has been released from the hospital after a health scare, the Texas Rangers have announced. Ryan, 64, entered a Houston hospital yesterday after experiencing discomfort in areas that a man who has had heart bypass surgery doesn't want ... More >>

Nolan Ryan Hospitalized In Houston

Nolan Ryan, hospitalized​Nolan Ryan, the pride of Alvin, has been hospitalized in Houston for chest pains, the Texas Rangers have announced. "Ryan was resting comfortably and reported he was feeling better," said the Rangers, where Ryan is the CEO.. The Hall of Fame pitcher started experien ... More >>

Happy Hour Scene: Expanding our Horizons at Pub Fiction

​The Place: Pub Fiction 2303 Smith 713-400-8400 www.pubfiction.com The Deals: $2 domestics, $3 select imports, $4 vodka drinks. Food specials vary. The Hours: 4 to 7 p.m. Mondays through Fridays The Scene: Pub Fiction is a clean bar. Which isn't to say that filthy things don't happen there, ... More >>

The Beauty of Short Hops: Or, Come Back Ken Tremendous, A Nation Turns Its Lonely Eyes To You

​Author Michael Lewis wrote this book around the turn of the century that has dominated baseball discussion, for good and bad, ever since. This book, Moneyball, dealt with the efforts of Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane to field a competitive team despite not having the payroll to comp ... More >>

One Man's Predictions for This Baseball Season

​Believe it or not, it's time, yet again, for the Major League Baseball season to get underway. That's good news for those of us who enjoy watching the best players in baseball play the best sport ever created. That's bad news, however, for us Astros fans because, well, the Astros suck. But ... More >>

Dear Drayton, Just Say No to Michael Young

Michael Young wants to be on the Astros?​I understand that the Texas Rangers' third baseman, Michael Young, has requested a trade. I also understand that one of the teams for whom Young has approved a trade is the Houston Astros. In years past I would most strongly approve of a trade for M ... More >>

One Guy's Thoughts On The Sports Year: 25 Things To Remember

So with the end of the year fast approaching, I thought I would take some time to revisit some of the highlights, and lowlights, of this past sports year. Your list is probably different, but these are the things that caught my attention this year. maxim.com Thanks for everything, Jenn​1. ... More >>

Texas Rangers vs Yankees: Who The Hell Can You Root For?

W vs. Rudy? That's no help​The American League Championship Series, also known as the Reminder That Some Texas MLB Teams Are Still Playing, continues on.We've tried, but we can't figure out who to root for in this thing. We know who to root against -- the Rangers, and the Yankees -- but that seems ... More >>

Texas Rangers: Five Things To Know About Them As They Begin The ALCS

Thanks for the Iraq War, Rangers​If you're an Astros fan, you might be surprised to learn that the baseball season did not end back in July -- that was just when the Astros season was deemed over. Baseball has continued to be played and, for the first time ever, the Texas Rangers are within a step ... More >>

DPS Tells Falcon Lake Jet-Skiers To Stay On The U.S. Side If They Value Their Lives

There be pirates on the border​The Texas Department of Public Safety has issued a warning telling people who jet-ski on Falcon Lake, which is divided by the U.S.-Mexico border, to stay the hell on the American side.David Michael Hartley, 30, was shot yesterday afternoon and is believed to be dead. ... More >>

Dear Drayton: Be Like Nolan Ryan And Lower Some Prices

This could be you, Drayton​Dear Drayton,I know that you probably don't pay any attention to anything that I say. If you did, Ed Wade would be on the unemployment line, Carlos Lee would be playing rancher fulltime, and Pedro Feliz would be playing baseball in some independent league where he belong ... More >>

Mark Cuban: With Nolan Ryan Out, It's Now Up To You To Save The Astros

Mark Cuban: Houston needs you, desperately​My dream for the Houston Astros was destroyed very, very early on Thursday morning when Nolan Ryan and his business partner, Chuck Greenberg, won the bankruptcy bidding for the Texas Rangers. I've written before that I was hoping Ryan's bid would lose, an ... More >>

Please, Let Mark Cuban Buy The Rangers, For The Astros' Sake

Help us, Obi-Wan KenNolan, you're our only hope​Don't despair, Houston Astros fans. I know you're tired of bad baseball. I know you're a tired of good ol' boy Drayton and his bumbling sidekick Ed. I know you're tired of laggards like Carlos Lee and contracts wasted on the likes of Pedro Feliz. I k ... More >>

25 Ways You Know The Astros' Season Has Become Really, Really Bad

The new t-shirt at Minute Maid​You know the Houston Astros are a bad team when...1.  ...the only thing the team is first at is having the first pitcher in the majors to lose 10 games. Congratulations, Wandy.2.  ...Geoff Blum not only gets consistent playing time at third base, but also s ... More >>

Game Time: Ken Griffey, Jr.: Baseball's Tracy McGrady?

Not as good as Tom Gordon. Who?​I'm not sure if the back-burnering of Ken Griffey, Jr.'s sudden retirement yesterday speaks more to the magnitude of the Jim Joyce/Armando Galarraga aborted perfect game fiasco or just how far the perception of Griffey as a sure-fire lock of a future Hall of Famer h ... More >>

Game Time: Houston Astros 2010 Silver Linings, Volume 1: Their Players Stay Awake All Nine Innings!

Nap time for Mr. Griffey​Having spent about fifteen years in the corporate world prior to getting into radio three years ago, I always promised myself that I would never be the radio guy who complains about actually having to go cover games. There are fans who would gnaw off their right arm to ha ... More >>

Nolan Ryan: Abandon The Rangers And Run The Astros, Please

We'll take sloppy seconds if that Rangers deal falls through​The news is that Drayton McLane is still attempting to sell the Houston Astros. After the laughingstock that he turned this franchise into, I can't say that I blame him for wanting to dump the club on anybody who will meet his financial ... More >>

Game Time: The Caballo Chronicles, Volume 2: A Look at MLB's 20 Biggest Contracts Ever

​This is my second go round living in Houston. Prior to moving back here in the summer of 2007, the last time I was an H-town resident was between 1994 and 2001. As an Astro fan, that means I was here when the Bagwell/Biggio nucleus finally broke through in 1997 and made the playoffs, I was he ... More >>

One Man's 2010 Baseball Predictions (Cover Your Eyes, Astro Fans)

​The major league baseball season officially starts this weekend with two so-called major league teams playing on Sunday night (New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox). I was going to try and do a little Astros preview for today, but they're still trying to figure out who exactly is healthy and who ... More >>

He's Ours, Dammit!