St. Louis Cardinals

The Screwball Economics of Major League Baseball

As another season begins, MLB faces an unsustainable future - and you're picking up the tab.

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 >>

NFL Playoff Scenarios: A Guide To This Sunday

Week 17 of the NFL season is upon us this weekend, and while there are still plenty of moving (or potentially moving) parts left to be slotted, the one thing we are sure of is that in the NFC the Atlanta Falcons will have a first round bye and home field throughout the playoffs. The Texans have to ... More >>

We Dared To Go: The Astros Last Home Game Of A Godawful 2012, And the End Of Several Eras

Check out our slideshow of Milo Hamilton saying goodbye and more during the Astros' final 2012 home game. Astros fans probably knew back in April that they would have a hard row to hoe this year, but even still, every April brings out a sense of optimism in fans, and the unspoken concept that maybe ... More >>

Astros Put Fans Out Of Their Misery And Fire Brad Mills

So the Astros bloodletting continued this weekend. Manager Brad Mills, hitting coach Mike Barnett, and first base coach Bobby Meacham were fired after Saturday night's embarrassing lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks. The firing of Mills was expected (as was the firing of most of the coaching staff) th ... More >>

Cover Story: Houston's Ancient Baseball History Comes Alive

For most local sports fans, baseball history begins with the Astrodome. Mention the old exploding scoreboard, beer-hawkers and their cries of "Coldest foam in the dome!" and Jose Cruuuuuuuuuuz and you're sure to bring a tear of nostalgia to many a forty- and fiftysomething. And there are those crot ... 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 >>

Unimportant News: Rick Perry Places "Friendly World Series Wager." Important News: He Puts a Period in Dr Pepper!!!

NO PERIOD, Governor.​If your state has a team in the World Series, chances are your governor is going to make a silly bet with a cohort from the other league. So it's no surprise Rick Perry has a bet with someone called Jay Nixon, who we are reliably informed is the governor of Missouri. And ... 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 >>

Curt Flood: The Story of a Well-Paid Slave

Baseball's forgotten man​The man's name is Curt Flood. He spent a majority of his career with the St. Louis Cardinals, winning multiple Gold Gloves for his superb defensive play. He was one of the outstanding baseball players of the 1960s. But when he's remembered nowadays, he's not remembe ... More >>

Comment of the Day: Thou Shalt Not Criticize St. Biggio

​We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involv ... More >>

Milo Hamilton And The War On Lance Berkman

He's a Cardinal now, get used to it.​So it appears that in the time between being traded to the New York Yankees and signing with the St. Louis Cardinals that Lance Berkman has gone from being one of the good guys to Public Enemy Number One. At least if you can give credence to anything that ... More >>

The Truth About Lance Berkman's Work Ethic

Lance Berkman: Milo weighs in​Lance Berkman returns to Minute Maid Park tonight for the first time since the Astros traded him before the 2010 trade deadline. He will be wearing a St. Louis Cardinals uniform, which for an Astro fan is the equivalent of Luke Skywalker showing up at the Jedi Te ... More >>

Astros 2011: It Ain't Going to Be Pretty

Bad news: The Astros are actually playing baseball this season.​The Astros are probably opening up the season tomorrow -- they're scheduled to play, but the weather in Philadelphia might not cooperate. And if the stories that have been kicking around are true, this might be the last opening d ... More >>

The Year In Astros Baseball: 25 Things, Including Thank God For Jennie Finch

Mrs. Casey Daigle actually made some Astros games watchable​Let's face it. The Houston Astros suck. They sucked last season. They're going to suck this season. As long as Drayton McLane and Ed Wade are involved with this team, they're going to suck. But it's the end of the year, so let's tak ... More >>

Cardinals Mercifully Take Feliz Off Astro's Hands

Photo by Aaron M. SprecherA GM worse than Ed Wade?​I didn't think it was possible, but apparently, there's another baseball general manager out there who is actually able to make Ed Wade look smart. But meet John Mozeliak, the GM of the St. Louis Cardinals who, yesterday, actually traded for Pedr ... More >>

Lance Berkman & Roy O: Don't Retire Their Numbers, Drayton

JR Richard: Here's one number that should be retired​With the trades of Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman last week, the talk has started about whether the Astros should consider retiring their numbers once they retire. Now as much as I like to the honor the history of baseball and some of the great te ... More >>

The Post-Oswalt Astros: Oy

Bye-bye, dude​The seemingly impossible happened yesterday, as the Astros front office found a moment of competence and finally found a way to trade Roy Oswalt.Of course, this being the Astros' front office, Oswalt ended up with the Philadelphia Phillies in a deal about as surprising as Gary Kubiak ... More >>

Houston's Top Ten Sports Moments: Another View

The bosses came out their Top 10 Greatest Houston Sports Moments today, so I thought I would share mine.1. September 25, 1986: The magic number for the Houston Astros to clinch the NL West is one game. The Astros are playing a midweek day game against the San Francisco Giants, the team that just ... More >>

Roy O Traded To Phillies: The Rich Get Richer

Thanks for trying, Roy.​Roy Oswalt is leaving town, taking his four-pitch repertoire to the two-time defending National League champs, the Philadelphia Phillies.The trade was pending league approval as of Thursday afternoon, since the Astros are also sending cash. The trade is expected to go throu ... More >>

Roy Oswalt: Don't Blame Him For Astros' Front-Office Incompetence

Drayton McLane and Ed Wade are effing this up​In a way, it's probably all kismet. The stars were perfectly aligned (thanks to a little magic fairy dust from Drayton McLane applied to the pitching order), the scouts were in attendance, and the event had been hyped for awhile.Roy Oswalt was pitchin ... 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 >>

Announcements That Are Almost As Startling As Mark McGwire's Steroid Confession

​Former St. Louis Cardinal Mark McGwire gave a statement today to the Associated Press admitting he used performance-enhancing drugs during baseball's steroid era.The sports world is reeling from the confession, which came completely out of the blue. It is, of course, absolutely shocking; in fact, ... More >>

And Lo, A Rookie Shall Lead Them

​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 >>

The Astros: Even Worse Than We Thought?

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 >>

Astros-Pirates: Houston Keeps Surging

God Bless the Houston Astros

Astros-Reds: Houston Wins Again, and Tony La Russa Should Be Manager of the Year (Not to Imply Those Two Things Are Related)

Astros-Mets: Houston Takes Two of Three from New York, But St. Louis and Milwaukee Keep Chugging Along

Astros-Giants: Milo Hamilton Must Be Stopped!!!

Astros-Giants: Don’t Get Your Hopes Up, People

August Brings Several Opponents Who Are Actually Playing for Something

John Royal's Forecast for the Astros in June: Not So Hot

Astros-Diamondbacks: Good Hitting, Bad Pitching, Wash, Rinse, Repeat

Astros-Reds: That’s Five in a Row

Spring Training: Meet the New ‘Stros…

Drayton, This Is What You Get for Rushing Your Hires

Bright Idea: Have Woody Williams Mentor Wandy Rodriguez.

Is Purpura Going to Make a Trade? We Hope Not. Not.

An Accountability Moment

Way to Go, Biggio

We've Got a Man-crush on Hunter Pence

Re: Lights Out for Lidge?

Name That Town

An image crisis in Fort Bend County

Ready to Rumble

The Astros are on baseball's biggest stage, needing a comeback

As Good As It Gets?

As crunch time nears, the Astros keep fans in suspense

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

Getting to the Show

Minor leaguers toil away, hoping for a shot at the majors. One of them, Round Rock's Jason Green, got a call from the Astros, giving him a chance to live the dream. Others labor on.