Hurricane Albert Devastates Houston

That's OK. I still miss the Browns.

 

Orioles

 

It won't matter because the Sox are flying!

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/photo?slug=cxs10610191802.white_sox_cxs106&prov=ap

 

It's official....

The Cardinals are the Braves of the 2000's. Can't win the big one. Best record in MLB; one of the best pitching staffs; beat the Astro's 11-5 games in the regular including a sweep in Houston late in the season and they lose in 6 games?

At a minimum they need to get some speed in the outfield and let Walker go. Walker can hit but he can't run or field. Time to get some speed and youth to supplement their power.

Even an Astro said the series keyed on hitting and that was the Cardinal's forte and they lost. At least they lost to a classy franchise. I would have hated to lose to somebody like the Braves.

Oh well, it (along with the whining on the new NBA dress code) are just more reasons to reinstate my refusal to actively support professonal sports. I have been a lifelong Cardinals fan and gave them a break simply because their conduct is so much better than the vast majority of other professional sports franchises. But on the other end I can go to my local highs school games for a fraction of the cost and see people playing their hearts out for the love of the game. No thugs on the field or in the stands.....

 

Astronomical!

Go Astros!
Why couldn't they of done it last year when I was in Houston!

 

Re: It's official....

That was exactly my thought last night.

Congrats to the Astros and classy players like Bagwell and Biggio. Guys like those two, who pour their hearts into the game deserve a chance to play in the World Series.

 

Oh , and officiating....

MLB officiating stinks. Has all year and it was showcased in the playoffs. The umpires need to be brought to heel and made to do their job. They have outsized ego's and I refuse to believe they aren't doing some of it on purpose. That call on 2nd base wasn't even close. The fact he initially called him safe says volumes. The incident between the Angel's and Sox is another pathetic example of the state of MLB umpiring.

However, while the call hurt the Card's the should have still been able to win so no reason to say the umpire's beat them....

 

Re: Oh , and officiating....

The best umpires are the ones you don't notice.

When I was in college I played ball at fairly high level. I played with and against some very good ball players, some of them went on to successful major league careers. One thing that I think is universal among ball players at all levels is that umpires are pricks.

Many umpires have huge egos. They are under the impression that they should be the center of attention. Some of them seek out controversy. I've seen umpires go after players to start an altercation. One MLB umpire that comes to mind is Angel Hernandez. Every time I see this guy do a game he is involved in some sort of "misunderstanding".

 

Thanks. My parents have been long suffering Astros fans since the Colt "45's. Amazing. The town is just beside itself. During class last night, my students were a documentary over the War of 1812 and I would go downstairs and give them updates on the game. I still remember the 1986 NLCS with the Mets and saying boy just wait until game 7 and Mike Scott. If you guys remember, NO ONE could hit him. If it went to him, the Mets were toast. I remember the meltdown in 1980 against the Phillies. I so remember Gene Elston calling the game and being so depressed after it. I am glad for Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell, but what about Jose Cruz. Remember he went through all of them as a player and a coach. Also, Enos Cabell and Nolan Ryan. Goodness. I wish them well and good luck. In the 2004 series, the Astros fans hung on every pitch. I mean every pitch. This year the Astros were 15-30 and they looked terrible. My Braves were in second and my Astros looked like a little league team. Somehow they pulled it together. I just remember telling myself, lets just get to .500. I was teaching at the University of Phoenix and a long suffering Astro fan was saying....lets just get to respectability. Who would have thunk it? My goodness. I still hate it when both play each other. I have followed the Astros since the Larry Dierker days of pitching. Man oh man. I have to give it to the fans. They were still selling out the ballpark when they were 15-30. We couldnt get tickets some days.

 

It is Texas you know...

We are talking about sports mad Texas here. You know, the land of multi million dollar high school sports venues.....

 

Yes, Odessa Permian...home of Friday Night Lights...yes. Katy High School....Rhodes Stadium ( although it is shared by the other Katy ISD schools), Fort Bend....yes. My high school...Santa Fe ...no. They had to raise a bond through election to get money. They were outgrowing my building that I went to high school in. This is a FOOTBALL mad state. Not baseball. Watch the UT-A&M game. That is college. High school games ( the big districts) will fill 10,000 seat stadiums. Gosh even in the little 1, 2 and six-man football high schools, people will come for miles to watch the games. That generalization will only work for bigger schools.

 

Just shut up, blasphemer. O Saint Peter and Saint Satchel, smite him! Smite him!

 

Not true....

You are missing the point. Baseball is not as popular as football no, but it is infinately more popular in Texas than it is in many other parts of the country. In some parts of the USA the ball parks are being ripped down en masse because of lack of use. Texas is also home to a large group of the demographic that still plays baseball, Hispanics. I was floored when I went to West Chicago and actually saw kids playing a game of pick-up baseball after school. I have not seen that in Illinois since I retired 10 years ago. Kids just don't do it around here. West Chicago however is rapidly becoming a majority Hispanic-American community. Been to Texas, no a lot of Texans and they are sports mad in general.