Astros Show Some Signs of Improvement in August

Before finishing the month of August with a disappointing five game losing streak, the Astros had shown some signs of being competitive.  Though the team’s record in the month was only 8-21, the Astros led in 22 of their 29 games.  That they only won 7 of these games pinpoints the team’s most glaring of […]

Clearing The Bases

Arizona Diamondbacks: Pretty tough week for the DBacks as they lose 2B Aaron Hill until June with a broken hand. Hill suffered the injury when he was hit by an Edwin Jackson pitch. Tried to play with it over the weekend but just couldn’t do it. Outfielder Jason Kubel was also placed on the DL […]

World Series 2011 Observations

The 2011 World Series will be remembered as a great one despite an anti-climactic Game 7.  Before that there were 4 nail-biters plus Albert Pujols epic game and an unforgettable game 6. If ever there was a team of destiny, it’s the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals. Future regular season and World Series comebacks will be […]

Triple Milestones–Final 2011

Seven players reached the milestones of a .300 batting average, 30 home runs and 100 RBI this year. Four American Leaguers and three National Leaguers made it.  The only repeaters are Miguel Cabrera and Paul Konerko. The three National Leaguers who made it last year, Albert Pujols, Joey Votto and Carlos Gonzalez fell short but Pujols […]

Clearing The Bases

Last week we discussed the most disappointing players at each position, this week we’ll go with the most surprising, players who are playing well and above what we thought they might in spring training.  Some of the players listed are no longer playing at that position but that is where they qualified at coming into […]

2011 Pre-Season Preview: NL Central – St Louis Cardinals

Could 2011 be Albert Pujols’ last season in a Cardinals uniform? St. Louis Cardinals (2010 record: 86-76) As spring training got underway a few weeks ago, the Cardinals were a serious threat to win the NL Central division title. But with the Albert Pujols contract situation hanging like The Sword of Damocles above everyone’s head […]

The Berkman Actuality

Regular reader(s) will remember that, last week, I wrote about the possibility that Lance Berkman would become a Cardinal.  My conclusion was that it wouldn’t happen and it didn’t work for the Cardinals. Yeah, this is why I don’t bet actual money on anything. As you know by now, the Cards came to terms with Berkman over […]

2010 Off-Season Will Be Historically Tough For Yankees

Two seasons ago, the Yankees missed the playoffs for the first––and last––time this decade. They went into the off-season with a sense of urgency––a sense that holds none of the connoted nerves for Yankees fans, considering they always have the financial power to get the job done. And they did. The Yankees signed three of […]

Astros Begin Reloading in 2010 Season

After a miserable start to the 2010 season, the Houston Astros made a mid-course correction in July.  Astro icons Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman were traded for 6 younger players and the Club made a modest recovery in the second half of the season with rookies manning four positions in most games.  Catcher Jason Castro […]

Astros Come to Life in August

In the final month of the Astros forgettable 2009 season, the Astros inexplicably swept the National League Champion Philadelphia Phillies in a 4 game series in Houston.  The 2010 schedule also included a 4-game series with the Phillies, this time in Philadelphia in August.  The result was the same as the Astros brought their brooms […]

Is This the Last the Cubs Have Seen of Derrek Lee?

Chicago Tribune’s Paul Sullivan mentions in his piece from yesterday’s paper that most people believe Derrek Lee will be playing elsewhere in 2011. Sullivan cites “his age, his numbers and the fact the Cubs need a left-handed power hitter and first base is the logical position for such a player.” When we last checked Kornheiser’s […]

Break Up the Astros

The Houston Astros finished the month of July with 4 straight wins, outscoring the opposition 25-2.  It was the first winning month for the Club with a record of 13-11.  Most of the credit goes to the pitchers with the starters compiling a 2.54 ERA, the best in the league for the month.  Brett Myers […]

Evaluating the Yankees as They Prepare for the Stretch Run

With the trade deadline now behind us, baseball fans can now relax a little and stop checking the web for hourly updates on what deals their teams have cooking. Fans in Kansas City, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Cleveland can safely focus on football now that they know which prospects their teams got back for their serviceable […]

What Ever Happened to the 2005 Houston Astros?

In the last week, Eric Bruntlett was released by the Washington Nationals, Jason Lane was released by the Florida Marlins, Adam Everett was designated for assignment by the Detroit Tigers and Mike Lamb was designated for assignment by the Marlins.  All four were members of the 2005 Houston Astros team that won the National League […]

Are the Astros Really This Bad?

Anyone who saw the first two games of the Cincinnati series last week and the Washington game on Monday would obviously answer yes. The Astros are on a pace to lose 108 games this year after never having lost 100 in their 48-year history. After getting in a hole with an 8-14 record in April, […]

Laying An Egg

No, I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth or been thrown into some big glowing light on a remote island.  My work schedule has made it tough to blog this week and the Cardinals’ play has keep the motivation to blog down as well.  Let’s take a quick look at the Houston series […]

Where Is the Offense?

The Houston Astros have started slowly for several years (9-13 in April, 2009 and 13-16 in 2008).  However, the month of April, 2010 (8-14) was even worse.  After the Club started 0-8, there was a brief ray of hope when the team went 8-2 in the next 10 games including a 3 game sweep of […]

Live From Spring Training ’10: Cardinals vs. Astros

Astro starter, Wandy Rodriguez, couldn’t find a pitch he could get past the St. Louis Cardinals’ all right handed batting order in the first inning and was rocked for 5 runs in a Monday game at Kissimmee..  The big blows were a 2-run double by Ryan Ludwick and a 3-run homer by David Freese.  After […]

Dan’s Diary from Disneyball

While liquid sunshine continues to wreak havoc with spring training schedules, there’s no better alternative than writing about baseball. These are the latest tidbits from the camps around the Grapefruit League: Andruw Jones, signed for only $500,000 by the Chicago White Sox, might turn out to be the best free-agent acquisition of the winter. Once […]