Toronto Blue Jays

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.

Game Changer

Chris Kluwe is prying open America's last closet: major league sports.

The Roger Clemens Comeback Tour Continues

Roger Clemens claims he's not coming back to major league baseball this season. I don't think anybody really believes Clemens when he says he's not coming back to the majors, otherwise, this whole thing doesn't make sense. If he's not coming back, then why else go through the motions of getting ba ... More >>

The Astros Appear to Actually Have a Plan

It was quite the busy weekend for Astros GM Jeff Luhnow. He unloaded pitchers J.A. Happ, Brandon Lyon and David Carpenter on the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday, and he sent closer/clubhouse cancer Brett Myers to the Chicago White Sox on Saturday. Frankly, I'm shocked that any team in the American Lea ... 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 >>

Forgive Ed Wade? Why?

As the regular season start of Season One of the Jim Crane Era approaches, one can't help but finally get some sense of optimism when it comes to the Astros. A sense arising primarily from the feeling that the adults are back in control of the franchise, something that couldn't be said since the day ... More >>

Houston Astros: Click Here to See the Worst Lineup in Major League History

Read it and weep.​Around the trade deadline, there are typically three types of teams making moves: There are teams trading moderately to low-priced young players for solid veteran players. We call these teams "contenders." There are teams that are trading veteran players for moderately to l ... More >>

MLB Realignment -- I Want The Astros In The American League (And I'm Bright!)

"I'm smart! Not like everybody says... like dumb!"​Your Houston Astros lost 4-1 to the Atlanta Braves on Sunday afternoon to drop their record on the 2011 season to 24-42, the worst record in all of Major League Baseball. The Astros are a bad baseball team that is thoroughly uninteresting. As ... 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 >>

Les Miles for President (Also, 5 Winners and 5 Losers From This Weekend)

Everyone's talking about Les Miles, and not in a good way​"In the game of life nobody -- repeat, NOBODY -- is playing with more house money than Les Miles." -- Me on Twitter just after LSU's 16-14 win over Tennessee As Homer Simpson would say, it's funny because it's true. The truly funny th ... More >>

Game Time: Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman -- Five Thoughts

Photo by groovehouseActually enjoying a game at Minute Maid?​I know it's only three games. I know they were playing the Brewers. I know my judgment may be clouded by the fact that they actually won all three games, getting great pitching in the process. But I actually enjoyed going to an Ast ... 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 >>

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 >>

Roger Clemens: Ex-Red Sox GM Jumps On The Steroids Bandwagon

The smell of indictments in the air...​I'll admit that I've taken my share of potshots at Roger Clemens. I've tried to rely on matters that have been part of some record, or have some evidence for support, like The Mitchell Report, Clemens' public statements, and things said to Congressional inves ... 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 >>

Game Time: George Steinbrenner, 1930-2010

Jay Buhner for Ken Phelps?​I hated the Yankees growing up. No...I mean it, I HATED them. I hate them still now, but it's sort of a numb, latent, "I'm hating them because I'm just supposed to" kind of hate.When I was a teenager growing up in Connecticut worshiping Jim Rice, Dwight Evans, and Yaz, ... More >>

Geoff Blum Joins Baseball's Stupid-Injury List: Here Are 11 Others

If only someone warned this rookie about dress shirts​Astros utility player Geoff Blum popped his elbow putting on his shirt last week.Yes, that's right, putting on his shirt. Not his jersey. Not during the game. But his shirt. After the game. He's currently on the disabled list, and he might end ... More >>

Dirk Hayhurst's Bullpen Gospels Shows What The Minor Leagues Are All About

This generation's Ball Four​It's easy to become disillusioned about sports when night after night you watch the likes of Carlos Lee loafing around the outfield while making an insanely obscene amount of money. But you watch the guys like Michael Bourn and Hunter Pence going full speed every night, ... 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 >>

SXSW Aftermath: Just Your Average, Garden-Variety Mayhem At The Continental Club

Photos by Chris GrayThe Stone River Boys​SXSW moves at such a frenetic clip that when you're finally able to catch your breath and collect your thoughts, it's almost over. That moment finally arrived for Aftermath at rockabilly troublemaker and Sirius/XM Outlaw Country DJ Mojo Nixon's annual "Mojo ... More >>

Game Time: Ten Historically Significant March Madness Buzzer Beaters

In my effort to help everyone prepare for March Madness, I bring you the second installment of the March Madness Preview. (Click here for yesterday's first installment -- you know the part with my picks and what not.) Today, we look at some of the most historical buzzer beaters in tournament histo ... More >>

Baseball Player Formally Charged With Assaulting Woodlands Man

Lance Broadway​Two minor-league baseball players charged with assaulting a Woodlands man at a Dallas club on New Year's Eve turned themselves into authorities February 19, and quickly bonded out.Lance Broadway, a minor-league pitcher in the Toronto Blue Jays organization, and pal Cameron McGuire, ... More >>

Woodlands Man Sues After Former Major-Leaguer (Allegedly) Assaults Him

​A former relief pitcher for the Chicago White Sox and New York Mets has been sued for allegedly assaulting a Woodlands man during a New Year's Eve party in Dallas.Randy Sorrels, attorney for 25-year-old Ivan Pinney, said his client's left eye was severely damaged when he was punched and kicked by ... More >>

Hey, Astros: Please Don't Make Terrible Trades

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 >>

Seeing The Astros Without Getting Drunk? Umpossible! But Now, Possible

Photo by Michael (mx5tx)Hey Astros fans. Are you tired of the exorbitant prices you have to pay for booze at Astros games? Well, I've got good news. And I've got bad news.The good news is that the prices might be getting a lot damn cheaper real soon. The bad news is that the reason is that alc ... More >>

This Season's MLB Predictions: The American League

With baseball season due to start next week, I thought I should put myself on the line and make some predictions. I'm going to do the American League today. I'll follow up with the National League and postseason picks tomorrow, and I'll give a more in-depth look at the Astros on Monday. So here' ... More >>

Miguel Tejada Connected to A-Rod's Trainer

Are the Astros about to get caught up in the Alex Rodriguez mess? Not that anybody's making a big deal about it, yet, but the New York Daily News has a big story out about a trainer Alex Rodriguez has been involved with. The trainer, from the Dominican Republic, is named Angel Presinal, and he's b ... More >>

Miguel Tejada Connected to A-Rod's Trainer

Are the Astros about to get caught up in the Alex Rodriguez mess? Not that anybody's making a big deal about it, yet, but the New York Daily News has a big story out about a trainer Alex Rodriguez has been involved with. The trainer, from the Dominican Republic, is named Angel Presinal, and he's b ... More >>

John Royal's Top 25 Random Baseball Facts

There's this new list craze going around Facebook in which you list 25 random things about yourself. And the geniuses at the Big League Stew baseball blog got hold of this and made it into a list of 25 Random Things About Yourself As It Relates to Baseball. Thus... 1. I am happiest in a baseball ... More >>

John Royal's Top 25 Random Baseball Facts

There's this new list craze going around Facebook in which you list 25 random things about yourself. And the geniuses at the Big League Stew baseball blog got hold of this and made it into a list of 25 Random Things About Yourself As It Relates to Baseball. Thus... 1. I am happiest in a baseball ... More >>

Astros-Cardinals: Good Pitching Wins Again

The Rocket’s Personal Items, Revealed…

Astros Farm Coach Stubby Clapp Denied Permission to Play in Olympics

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

Astros-Phillies: Jose Valverde Blows (the Save)

Play Ball: John Royal’s MLB Predictions

Spring Training: Roger Clemens, Bill Murray and Bill James

Steroids and Roger Clemens: Drayton McLane Can’t Quit You

Top Ten Bizarre Baseball Injuries

Steroids, Roger Clemens and Congress: Bust Out the Razor

Steroids and Roger Clemens

An Accountability Moment

Getting Rogered

Where Do We Go from Here?

On His Feet