vivalaultra

Craig Biggio with the leadoff homer. I stand by my prediction yesterday...857-0, 'Stros. Edit: And Berkman with another solo shot. Come on guys, only 855 more to go.

I think Francisco Liriano, Joe Nathan and Boof Bonser for A.J. Pierzynski was a worse trade. I could mention a couple of other trades as the worst of all-time. 1. Boston trades Jeff Bagwell for Astros aging relief pitcher Larry Anderson. 6. 1991 the Astros Traded Kenny Lofton for Willie Blair and Eddie Taubense. It is scary to think but in the 90's the Astros could have had Lofton, Bagwell and Biggio in the same lineup. Pfft. If the Astros wouldn't have made several bad moves, we could have had Bagwell, Biggio, Kenny Lofton, Bobby Abreu, Freddy Garcia, Carlos Guillen, and Curt Schilling in the 90s. Of course, most of those moves were made before the players involved blossomed into superstars, but still.

Yeah, I don't think the Brewers are a disappointment. They're hovering around .500, and that's with Ohka and Sheets out. I'm more concerned about the Brewers down the stretch than I am about the Reds.

Biggio should've at least made it as a reserve, I think. I mean, Ozzie loaded up his team with Sox. Phil could've at least thrown Bidge a bone. It's true that not many Astros starters have had All-Star caliber first halfs (exceptions being Mike Lamb and Chris Burke, who have slid into the regular lineup and are playing All-Star caliber ball), but come on, Phil, it's Craig Biggio. The guy's got a freakin' statue outside Minute Maid Park. Maybe after the 'Stros take home the WS title this year (...shutup), Phil will put him on next year's team, since it will probably be his last season. Being an Astros fan, I kinda wish Phil would've been more homerish with his picks, but I think he put together a fair, well-balanced team, selecting the most deserving players in the NL. I'm hoping Nomar wins the last-chance vote, and if Pedro's unavailable, I bet Capuano gets in...even though I don't think it would be a big stink if Oswalt got slotted in to replace him.

The Cubs need to hurry up and win this game. If I have to hear "YOUCANPUDDITINDABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOK!!!!!!" one more time, I'm gonna flip out.

Yeah, he looked good against us in that one game last series at MMP. I swear if we lose 1-0 with Rocket on the mound, I'll eat my hat.

I'll stake claim to having just had the best BBQ in the world. It's from Drexler's BBQ in Houston, the place owned by Clyde Drexler's family. Really, really great food. Second best BBQ ever is Stubb's BBQ in Austin. I'm Texan and I know my brisket.

Let's see.... ... ... Carlos Marmol. My prediction...'Stros 857-Cubbies 0. In other news, Francisco Liriano is having another excellent game. He's gone 7 innings against the Brewers, giving up three hits no runs and striking out 10 while only walking one. I know he's just a rookie, but I think he deserves to start the All-Star Game.

I'm cautiously optimistic that the Astros can at least put a couple of runs on the board against the Cubs.

Wow. With the Cubbies OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION~!, I'm starting to get worried about what they'll do against the Rocket tomorrow...LOL2006~!!!!!1!!!!!111!!!!!!

It's lookin' like the Big Z might be losing his cool...and control.

I liked how the Cubs were just jumping on Buerhle's first pitch and smacking the shit out of it, so Hawk said it was obviously because he was tipping his pitches. The Cubs are easily my least favorite team in baseball, but they're on pace to lose 100 games, so I feel safe rooting for them against the villianous White Sox.

I detest the Cubs, but I love me some Zambrano~! The Cubs/Sox series has been great, just to listen to the Cubs broadcasters bemoan the fact that their team blows and then hear Hawk Harrelson begging for balls to get foul and being a complete and utter homer. I hate Hawk. As far as KC All-Stars...uh....Reggie Sanders or Grudzielanek? Maybe Emil Brown?

Good. Jason Bay absolutely deserved it. He's been under the radar, but definently deserves to start the All-Star Game, just keep him outta the homerun derby. Jose Reyes deserved it based on the last month alone, and there's a large derth of big name shortstops in the NL. I imagine the rest of the NL team will be: 1B: Pujols 2B: Utley 3B: ...Scott Rolen...or David Wright C: Lo Duca OF: Andruw OF: uh...who's ahead? Beltran or Edmonds? P: probably not Glavine...either Arroyo or Webb The interesting thing will be who Phil Garner takes as backups. I imagine Berkman will be selected and most likely Biggio. That leaves 5 manager picks, of those five, I have no idea, but probably Nomar, I'd guess.

Forget the Tigers and the Sox, The Royals are for reals, yo.

Jesus Christ...even the Royals are kicking ass on the NL Central teams, taking two outta three from the 'Stros and now, probably, the Cards. I can't wait until Monday.

The Cards loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the 10th, but weren't able to score with Miles grounding into a FC, Eckstein screwing up a squeeze play and Edmonds lining out. The way the Cards, Reds, and Stros are playing...the Cubs have a legitimate chance to come back and take the division... ... ... ... ... ... ...just kidding. Edit: It seems I wasn't the only one wowed by the Gary Matthews, Jr. catch this afternoon. The BBTN guys have literally christened it "The Greatest Catch Ever."

Yeah, the $115 price tag is really cheap considering the number of bands and the going rate for other festival (Wasn't Bonnaroo close to $200 for a ticket?), but that's supplemented by the crazy ridiculous Austin traffic and hotel room cost. It's also cool because all during ACL weekend, most of the bands play at the clubs in and around Austin. I remember at last year's festival, my girlfriend and I met the guy from the Arcade Fire that looks like Napoleon Dynamite during The Walkmen's set. He was totally flirting with a large crowd of 15 year old girls.

What was Bonaroo's lineup again? For $115 bucks a ticket, Iron & Wine and Calexico better do some songs together. That CD is amazing. Edit: Looking at Bonnaroo's lineup, they had a pretty damn good roster of artists. I wish Sonic Youth and Elvis Costello were gonna be in Austin.

Hmmm...yeah, I was probably wrong about Kanye. They're not so much top-heavy as they are really long, especially "The College Dropout". It has a few really long songs towards the end, which, I think causes the second half of the album to drag a bit, but, listening to it again the other day, they do have really good tracks most of the way through. As far as Satanic death metal goes, I say....Hail Satin! ...It's a quality fabric.

It's his ungodly speed and his ability to "play the game the right way."

'Stros 5. Rangers 0. Buchholz went 7 2 hit shutout innings. In 16 innings against the Rangers, he's given up 0 runs, 7 hits-only one for extra bases. Mike Lamb was a single short of hitting for the cycle. He was about to hit his 2nd homer of the game in the 8th, but Gary Matthews Jr., who is really underrated, did a Spiderman impression and made a hellacious catch, which will probably be the top webgem of the day, or at least in the top two.

In a move that's sure to make Thanksgiving in the Weaver house a lot less comfortable, Jeff Weaver has been DFA'd by the Angels, with his brother Jered called up to take his place.

It could be. His wife passed away last year, and he's gettin' up there in age. He stopped doing road games this year and he's finished writing his memoirs, so all signs point to either this being his last year or retiring sometime in the next few years. He'll probably stick around for at least another year to kinda help get the new guys in order before he steps away completely.

Those guys would be Brett Dolan and Dave Raymond. They've been ok thus far. You can tell they're still trying to figure out how to gel together. I miss Ashby though. Milo, on the other hand, is old and senile and needs to quit. He "miscalls" at least one or two plays a game and his ridiculous homerism is as irritating as ever. I like Milo. He's charming. He's been the Astros announcer as long as I've been following Astros baseball. There's something familiar about him, but it is true that his mind is gone. I'd be lost trying to figure out what's happening in a game just listening to him call it, but watching it on T.V. and listening to his call is great. I did miss Ash, too, but I'm warming to the new guys. Ash and Larry Dierker have their own radio show where they talk Astros baseball. I can only imagine the terrible, bitter things they have to say.