Pittsburgh Pirates

Tom Cruise Reaches

As the strapping Jack Reacher, the star scores.

Dear Astros Fans, Repeat After Me: Rebuilding Is A Good Thing

There are some Astros fans who are kind of upset about the veteran purge going on with the team at the moment. These fans profess to understand the team's need to rebuild, finally. But they don't want this rebuild to come at the expense of the big league club. What has to be understood is the Astr ... More >>

Jeff Luhnow Declares Independence From Carlos Lee

Jeff Luhnow traded Carlos Lee to the Los Angeles Dodgers last week. Lee dilly-dallied and whined about his taxes, so the Dodgers pulled out of the trade. It appeared that the Astros would thus be stuck with Lee for the rest of the season as the Dodgers were really, really, really desperate for anybo ... More >>

The Astros And The Fourth of July: 10 Moments to Remember

This is the Astros final season in the National League. And since I was asked to provide a Fourth of July holiday post, I thought I would like back at some of the Astros games played on the holiday. There have been some memorable games, and some not so memorable. And on at least one instance, there ... More >>

Weekend Review: Pacquiao Gets Jobbed, Humberto Quintero Makes "Chinese Eyes", Gary Stevens Humanizes Horses

Every year, it seems like there's one weekend around this time of year where the sports gods decide to remind us that we are heading to that abyss section of the sports calendar, where trying to find actual sports topics to carry blog posts and five hours of radio a day is somewhat daunting. For s ... More >>

Some Modest Suggestions for Bud Selig, MLB Commissioner For Life

Yep, we're still stuck with this bozo​In case you missed the news last week, Bud Selig's contract to be the commissioner of Major League Baseball has been extended another two years -- this coming after Selig had announced several years ago that he was retiring at the end of his current contra ... More >>

The Astros Lead the "Crazy Sounding Job Title" Standings; Six More to Consider

Most of you have probably been paying attention to the Houston Texans, what with them actually making the playoffs for the first time in team history. But there are other professional sports teams in this city, and one of those teams made some front-office moves last week, moves that will hopefully ... More >>

The Astros Are Heading To The Promised Land -- The American League!

Say hello to Yankee Fan​As a major league sport, baseball has always done a fairly good job of keeping itself relevant throughout the calendar year. (Football is the king of year-round relevancy. Basketball is the court jester. Baseball lies somewhere in between.) November is normally a fun b ... More >>

Sorry, But These Are Your Astros

The Astros are so bad...​Richard Justice is shocked, shocked, that the Astros are the worst team in the majors. Shocked because there's just no way anybody could have foreseen the Astros being this bad. Bad, yes, but not on track to lose 100 games for the first time in team history. Bad, bu ... More >>

The Astros' Jim Crane Era Begins: Get Caught Up On The Team With This Quiz

Do you recognize this man?​For the first time in a long time, the Houston Astros will not be led by a hyper, motto-spouting grocery magnate. Drayton McLane has sold the team to Houston businessman Jim Crane. It may be the first piece of Astro news you've bothered with this year. The team was ... More >>

Game Time: An Open Letter To Carlos Lee

Life is a breeze when you're Carlos Lee​Dear Carlos: I hope your travels are going much smoother this week than last week. I'm guessing the pilot of the Astros' team charter doesn't have any issues with an expiring pilot's license, so getting from Pittsburgh to Chicago and then eventually back h ... More >>

Houston Astros: 17 Reasons To -- Believe It Or Not -- Watch The Rest Of The Season

Reasons to be cheerful, part three: Deadline trades​The Astros return to action tonight, and with a record of 36-53, you're probably wondering why it is that you should give a damn about the rest of the season. Especially since Houston Texans training camp is not far off, college football is ... More >>

Astros' Mid-Season Report Card: It's Ugly Out There

The Astros in 2010, symbolized​The Houston Astros passed the halfway mark in games played this weekend, and after losing three straight to the San Diego Padres, the team's record for the season is 32-51. There are only two teams in baseball with worse records than the Astros, the Pittsburgh ... More >>

Dear Ed Wade: What Took So Long?

It's fun to watch the Astros again​Dear Ed Wade,I'm really wondering if you can yet provide me with a legitimate answer for why you kept Chris Johnson stuck down in Round Rock for so long this season?Yes, his defense has been as bad as advertised, but it's really been no worse than the defense of ... More >>

The Astros Win a Series! The Astros Win a Series!

​While sitting through the rain delay at Cougar Field on Sunday, I was following the Astros game on MLB.com and on Twitter. One thing I couldn't miss, besides the Astros losing again, were the number of tweets coming from the Astros beat writers about what was happening with Lance Berkman on h ... More >>

The Official 2010 Astros Preview, And It Ain't Pretty

​So it's Opening Day today, a day generally reserved for baseball optimism. Unless you live in Pittsburgh or Kansas City, or...Houston. I know that Lance Berkman thinks  that this team can compete, but seeing as how the Big Puma is starting the season on the disabled list with a balky knee, ... More >>

Astros Second-Half Preview: Now Comes The Hard Part

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 >>

Who's Leaving First: Ed Wade, Cecil Cooper or Roy Oswalt?

The Astros were able to actually win a series this weekend, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates in two of three games. And the good news is that they should be able to win a couple of games this week as their next four games are against the Colorado Rockies, another losing team, like the Astros, but on ... More >>

Houston Astros 2009 Season Preview Part 2: Happy Opening Day!

Photo by Michael (mx5tx) Are you psyched? I'm psyched, so I hope you're psyched. Of course, I'm psyched because I love baseball, not because I think the Astros are any good. And after I take a look at the team, I don't think you'll be psyched about this team, either. But first...here is the winn ... More >>

Houston Astros 2009 Season Preview Part 2: Happy Opening Day!

Photo by Michael (mx5tx) Are you psyched? I'm psyched, so I hope you're psyched. Of course, I'm psyched because I love baseball, not because I think the Astros are any good. And after I take a look at the team, I don't think you'll be psyched about this team, either. But first...here is the winn ... More >>

10 Ways To Solve the Impending Astros Attendance Crisis

Photo by Peter Rieke There's a new study out there claiming that there is going to be a big drop in attendance for major league baseball this season. And as we've seen from another such report, our own Houston Astros are expected to have one of the major's biggest attendance drops. So Drayton McLa ... More >>

10 Ways To Solve the Impending Astros Attendance Crisis

Photo by Peter Rieke There's a new study out there claiming that there is going to be a big drop in attendance for major league baseball this season. And as we've seen from another such report, our own Houston Astros are expected to have one of the major's biggest attendance drops. So Drayton McLa ... More >>

Astros Spring Training Starts Friday

Pitchers and catchers report to Houston Astros spring training on Friday, which means that come Saturday, the Astros will be out of contention. And the Chron is getting everybody ready for the season to come with a couple of articles in yesterday's paper on the status of the team and its roster. ... More >>

Astros Spring Training Starts Friday

Pitchers and catchers report to Houston Astros spring training on Friday, which means that come Saturday, the Astros will be out of contention. And the Chron is getting everybody ready for the season to come with a couple of articles in yesterday's paper on the status of the team and its roster. ... More >>

Houston Astros 2009 Season Preview

The Chron tried to get everybody in the mood for baseball yesterday with their story on what the 2009 Houston Astros roster looks like. If you're not excited about the season, don't blame the Chron because they're not the ones who put the roster together. And folks, this isn't a good roster. Citing ... More >>

Houston Astros 2009 Season Preview

The Chron tried to get everybody in the mood for baseball yesterday with their story on what the 2009 Houston Astros roster looks like. If you're not excited about the season, don't blame the Chron because they're not the ones who put the roster together. And folks, this isn't a good roster. Citing ... More >>

Coming Soon: Hockey Season

Astros-Reds: No Time for Mistakes

Astros-Pirates: Another Win for Houston

Astros-Pirates: Coming to Grips with Reality

Astros, Reds Ramp Up Epic Battle for Fifth in NL Central

Jose de Jesus Ortiz Gives Up on the Astros Season

Astros-Orioles: That’s Eight in a Row

The University of Houston Quiz, Continued...

Astros-Reds: The Vaunted Offense Keeps Hitting

Astros-Cardinals: ‘Stros Lose Again, But It’s Not the Starting Pitching’s Fault

Play Ball: John Royal’s MLB Predictions

Spring Training Doesn’t Count, Except for When It Does

Tornado Burgers, New Year's Play, Anthony Bourdain

Could Terry Ryan Be a Good Candidate for Astros GM? Maybe. Will He Be? Probably Not.

This One's for You, Milo Hamilton

Astros Recap

Drayton Says the Astros Are a Good Team. Why Shouldn't We Believe Him?

Fire Phil Garner

But He Seemed So Psyched in All Those Photos...

Live, from Chicago...

Friday Astros Note

Progress Report