Randy Johnson got his 300th career victory yesterday as the San Francisco Giants defeated the Washington Nationals 5-1. Johnson pitched six innings, giving up only two hits and one unearned run (he had a no-hitter through four innings) as he got the 300th win in his first try.Johnson got the victory ... More >>
Photo by William HoltkampSure it's just one week. Just seven games. But damn. The Astros are bad. Historically bad. How bad? The Astros record of 1-6 is the team's worst start to a season in 25 years. But it doesn't stop there. The Astros have failed to score in 27 of their last 28 innin ... More >>
Forbes magazine, which does stellar work examining the value of sports franchises, is branching out to assay the psyche of sports fans across the US.It's put together a list of the 10 Most Miserable Sports Cities, no doubt using highly sophisticated criteria that would please the most exacting scien ... More >>
Only through the benevolent grace of God Almighty has Houston been spared a tropical storm in the alarming gap of three days between the start of the hurricane season and the publication of our hurricane guide today.Yes, we took a chance. But we also pulled a few strings with the Big Man. Give us th ... More >>
Photo courtesy ESPNESPN has been charged for years with having an East Coast bias. ESPN's morning SportsCenter anchor Hannah Storm somewhat agrees with that charge, though she says the charge doesn't apply to her show and says that to her, "it is a non-issue." And if she does have any bias, it's pro ... More >>
Now that I'm unemployed, I'm spending way too much time at home watching TV. Particularly the MLB Network. I've become addicted to that thing. And yesterday, with the Astros having a day game against the Pirates on Fox, and there being an afternoon game on the MLB Network, I was in kind of a w ... More >>
Photo by I'mClaudeHow does somebody get hurt hitting a home run? I'm serious. Carlos Lee hit a home run in the fourth inning on Friday night and strained his right Achilles tendon. And I don't understand how the injury could happen.Sure, I can see him pulling a muscle on a strikeout. And if he were ... More >>
Photo by Photo MojoOn the night that Craig Biggio got his 3,000th hit, it can be argued that the most important person inside of Minute Maid Park was not Craig Biggio, or the Colorado Rockies pitcher on the mound. Instead, the most important person was the official scorer. Because it's the official ... More >>
Photo by Aaron M. SprecherCongratulations are in store for the Houston Astros who, this weekend, got their first three-game sweep of the season by beating up the moribund San Diego Padres. Of course, the Astros didn't have to face Padres ace Jake Peavy in this series, and they struggled in all three ... More >>
Chances have improved that we'll be seeing Open Road, a movie that takes place at least partly in Houston. The film picked up a distributor yesterday.And why shouldn't it? The cast includes noted motherlover Justin Timberlake, Jeff Bridges, Mary Steenbergen, Harry Dean Stanton and Lyle Lovett. Wim W ... More >>
The sinking ship that is the Houston Chronicle's sports department is now closer to being fully submerged. Brian McTaggart has confirmed today that he is leaving Chron sports as of June 1 and will be moving over to MLB.com to report on the Houston Astros full-time.I'm sure this isn't a move that Chr ... More >>
There's not much discussion of the Texas Rangers down in these parts -- except for when they're beating the asses of the Houston Astros, which they seem to do quite often. So Tom Hicks announcing now that he's willing to sell a majority interest in the franchise normally wouldn't generate much inter ... More >>
Photo by Aaron M. SprecherThe Chron did a story yesterday on the concession policies of the Houston Astros. The important thing to emerge from the story is that the Astros are the only team in major league baseball that does not allow fans to bring in their own food or drinks. That's right, ou ... More >>
So I'm watching the Astros/Twins game on Sunday afternoon, and it gets to be that inning for the trivia question. The question this time asks Jim Deshaies and Bill Brown to name the four Minnesota Twins that have been named as American League MVPs. So they start tossing out names of great Minnes ... More >>
Photo by Aaron M. SprecherI was listening to sports talk radio yesterday -- the past couple of days actually -- and it appears that there are people out there who think the Astros still have a chance to make the playoffs. As far as I could tell, these people weren't on the Astros payroll. And I just ... More >>
Photo by Aaron M. SprecherOver the past two Astros games, Jim Deshaies has been talking about the Astros going to a six-man pitching rotation. And Deshaies has given a lot of reasons for doing this, but as much as I like JD, I'm a little disappointed in that, with all of his discussion about g ... More >>
Photo by astromark2007ESPN doesn't think much of the fan experience in Houston, especially for the Astros fans, which ESPN ranks at number 68. This ranking is based on things like ownership, coaching, players, bang for the buck, fan relations, stadium experience, affordability, and something called ... More >>
I think Clear Channel has John Lopez working way too many hours. I made the mistake of listening to him for a bit yesterday, and not only did he make the mistake of wishing that the Astros would trade for Toronto's Roy Halladay, he appeared to be upset that the team isn't putting forth the necessar ... More >>
So the second half of the season gets underway for the Astros tonight, and the team has 74 games left to secure a playoff spot. Of course, the Astros are a surprising 44-44, and they're only three-and-a-half games behind the NL Central leading St. Louis Cardinals, and they're only five games behind ... More >>
The Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers and Thursday and Friday to get their record to 46-44. For a short time, the Astros were in a three-way tie for second place in the NL Central. And with the first-place St. Louis Cardinals coming in for three games starting tonight, there was a chan ... More >>
View Larger MapThe proposal to rename the stretch of Hillcroft that courses through the heart of Little Bombay is ginning up a surprising amount of aggro in the blogosphere. (Or is it a surprising amount of blogs in the aggrosphere -- sometimes it's hard to tell.)Under the headline "We'll give ... More >>
Paging the Purple One... the Eagle Needs You!For Houston music commentators, picking on the sorry state of the city's commercial airwaves is even more fun than sportswriters must have making fun of the Astros. But on the rare occasion a new format does come along - even if it's hardly "new" - it sti ... More >>
Is it actually possible? Is it actually possible that the Houston Astros could climb into first place of the NL Central this weekend? Can it really be that we'll wake up on Monday morning and discover that the Astros will be in a position to actually start pulling away with the division le ... More >>
Is it actually possible? Is it actually possible that the Houston Astros could climb into first place of the NL Central this weekend? Can it really be that we'll wake up on Monday morning and discover that the Astros will be in a position to actually start pulling away with the division le ... More >>
With the MLB non-waiver trade deadline fast approaching, the Houston Astros are a listing ship quickly going under. The Astros just lost three of four games to the Chicago Cubs and have gone from surging toward first place to trying to hold off the Milwaukee Brewers for third place.The latest disast ... More >>
Just when the Astros were looking their most desperate, just as they were teetering on the verge of collapse after losing four straight games and six of the last nine, just as the team's two best pitchers had been beset by injuries that caused them to leave games early, one Astro came through ... More >>
Photo by GroovehouseThe slumping Astros are facing the slumping Milwaukee Brewers this weekend in a series that is key only to those of you deluded enough to think the Astros have a shot in hell at making the NL playoffs. The good thing is that both teams have been losing, and losing badly ... More >>
Photo by Aaron M. SprecherIf Ed Wade were gone...The Astros Fan Blogger at Chron.com had an interesting post late last week.The gist of the post was that Drayton McLane had just fired Ed Wade and that he'd made the reader the general manager, then he wanted to know the first five things one ... More >>
Photo by Aaron M. SprecherAt noon yesterday, the long rumored and speculated-on demise of the Houston Astros baseball season was officially confirmed. Not so surprisingly, approximately five hours later, the long rumored and speculated on demise of the Houston Chronicle as a news-gathering or ... More >>
Richard Justice actually had a decent blog post the other day. In it, he attempted to evaluate which of Houston's big three sports franchises was the smartest -- sorry Dynamo fans, he didn't include them because he says the team hasn't been here long enough, and I won't include them because I con ... More >>
Richard Justice actually had a decent blog post the other day. In it, he attempted to evaluate which of Houston's big three sports franchises was the smartest -- sorry Dynamo fans, he didn't include them because he says the team hasn't been here long enough, and I won't include them because I con ... More >>
I've read that there are companies out there that employ people who do nothing but Quality Control. These people are supposed to make sure that the best product comes out while catching the errors. I'm not sure if Drayton McLane has such a person working for the Astros, but if he does, that pe ... More >>
Photo by Danny LopezSoccer fans in Houston have three main choices for watching the Dynamo play on the road -- the official watch party or one of the viewing parties held by the two fan clubs: the Texian Army or El Battallon.What's a fan to do? We're here to help. We're going to rate and re ... More >>
Let me be the first to offer my condolences to Brad Mills. Now I'm sure Mills doesn't think he needs my condolences. After all, he just achieved his dream, which is becoming the manager of a major league baseball team.But that team is the Houston Astros.Mills, who accepted the job today, was ac ... More >>
We're about a week away from the always highly anticipated Turkey of the Year award issue. There's absolutely no telling who will walk away with the coveted honor this year, because for the love of Christ there have been a ton of worthy nominees.It's our seventh annual list; in the days leading u ... More >>
Sick of corporate Christmas? Try shopping local. Hair Balls presents a 12-part series highlighting ideas for holiday gifts made and sold in Texas. If you aren't familiar with Esty.com, you should be. The four-year-old website is the best online source for anything handmade, from warm knitted scarve ... More >>
On our show sometimes, we'll get things given to us by the local teams or maybe a sponsor for us to give away to listeners. You know the kind of stuff I'm talking about. The occasional Wild Wing Cafe $25 gift card, perhaps a Borat DVD, or on an especially generous day, a couple of Rockets tickets ... More >>
As we noted earlier this week, the fast-approaching end of the first decade of the 21st century brings with it a lot of lists.Some will be national; this will be strictly local. A lot of great things happened in Houston in the ten years of The Oughts, but a lot of bad things happened too. It's calle ... More >>
I swear, the sense of desperation with the Astros and their desire for a Mariano Rivera-type reliever has me believing that Drayton thinks that Alec Baldwin speech in Glengarry Glen Ross is "always buy closers," not "always be closing."It's like he and his staff are afraid that Mitch and Murray a ... More >>
The Oughts have been a busy decade of people getting busy here in Houston, as perhaps every other decade has been. There's a reason the population has been booming, after all, and it's not all due to people leaving Detroit.But some Houstonians have been shtupping where they shouldn't shtup, and t ... More >>
Ten years ago, Houston was a different city. Enron hadn't yet experienced its downfall. Downtown was just beginning its slow renaissance. There were no silly "town square" concepts littered around town. People were just learning the word "McMansion." Montrose wasn't gentrified. Neither were any of t ... More >>
We recently took a look at the 10 Biggest Bummers of Houston's Decade; in the spirit of equal time (and the season), we now offer the 10 Biggest Non-Bummers of the Oughts.This being Houston, some of these happy developments have a not-so-happy side, but that's to be expected, we suppose.Are we mi ... More >>
Yesterday we looked at the decade's highlights and low points for the Texans. Here's a look at the Houston Astros.1. October 2005: The Astros drive past the Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals in two memorable NL playoff series to make the first World Series in the history of the franchise.2. ... More >>
Yesterday we looked at the decade's highlights and low points for the Texans. Here's a look at the Houston Astros.1. October 2005: The Astros drive past the Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals in two memorable NL playoff series to make the first World Series in the history of the franchise.2. ... More >>
Photo by verndogsSo Drayton McLane has made it known that he's really, really willing to sell the Houston Astros. And as his price, he's asking for $650 million.I'm sure the potential buyers are putting every aspect of Drayton's baseball empire under the microscope, but I thought I would pr ... More >>
Photo by Aaron M. SprecherBelieve it or not, but pitchers and catchers are reporting for the Houston Astros on February 19, 2010. Yes, the Astros are going to suck this year, but it's baseball, and I love baseball. That said, I realize that some of you might want some more specific reasons to get ... More >>
Photo by Aaron M. SprecherBelieve it or not, but pitchers and catchers are reporting for the Houston Astros on February 19, 2010. Yes, the Astros are going to suck this year, but it's baseball, and I love baseball. That said, I realize that some of you might want some more specific reasons to get ... More >>
The DSM, the so-called "Bible of Psychiatry," is getting a re-do. More mental disorders will be included, as the Washington Post says: Children who throw too many tantrums could be diagnosed with "temper dysregulation with dysphoria." Teenagers who are particularly eccentric might be candidates f ... More >>
Pitchers and catchers are reporting to Houston Astros camp today. The first workout is tomorrow. It's going to be a spring training full of questions for the Astros as management, the media, the players, and the fans try to figure out just what exactly this year's team is going to be like. As ... More >>
Photo by Aaron M. SprecherSo I had a friend the other day asking me why he should bother with watching the Houston Astros this season. I went with the because-you-love-baseball answer, and he went the-Astros-aren't-baseball answer. And I've got to confess, looking at Brian McTaggart's proposed ... More >>




