As Zach Levine points out, today marks the 15th anniversary of the MLB strike that cancelled the 1994 World Series. I was 14 that year, and I had been nagging my mom for years to attend an Opening Day at the Astrodome. '94 was the first (and last) time it ever happened, and of the countless games I've been to over the years, that one still stands out above all the rest - the Astros fell behind the greatest Montreal Expos team ever, 5-3 in the 12th, only for Ken Caminiti to cap a game-winning rally in the bottom of the inning, and Houston won 6-5.

Fast forward to the strike in August of that year, and then the announcement a few weeks later that the postseason was cancelled; I remember feeling cheated that the season I watched get started would never get to finish. Houston ended the year a half game out of first place, and Jeff Bagwell was never as good before or since. I remember thinking that Montreal fans must have felt cheated even more.

I've always been a die-hard baseball fan, but the August '94 strike sandwiched in between the Houston Rockets' June '94 & '95 NBA titles marked the only time when another sport stole first place in my heart. The city of Houston had never had a major sports championship before (or since), so it was a perfect storm of circumstances. It took Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen, and the Astros' three consecutive Central Division titles in '97-'99 to bring me all the way back to baseball.

15 years later and the Astros are coming off another heartbreaking loss, but I'll be grateful that there's another game tonight. I hope 1994 is a mistake that baseball never repeats.

I've neglected updating here for perhaps too long, but this blog is not abandoned. Life is always > Internet, but I still mean to check in here from time to time. I was distracted at first by work, then by the first three weeks of American Idol I ever watched (helping fellow Arkansan Kris Allen win Season 8, huzzah), then by travel and now by house hunting. Fun times.

Our Astros, in the meantime, have climbed to a 40-41 record at the season's midway point that leaves them but 3.5 games out of first. A win tonight would put them back at .500 for the first time since being 1-1 on April 7. Though technically, last night was Game #82 of the season, and a win when May 5's suspended game resumes on Thursday would make their official first half record... still 40-41. Which doesn't sound that impressive, except that they ARE only 3.5 games out of first, and if you take away two bad weeks - 1-6 to start the season and 0-7 late in May - they're 39-28. That's a .582 winning percentage, good for 94 wins over an entire season. Even if they had managed to play mere .500 ball for those two weeks, Houston would be 46-35 and trailing only LA atop the National League.

Unfortunately, you can't arbitrarily exclude stretches of bad play on a whim like that, as it reflects that a team does have weaknesses. But my point is that this team does have a lot of strengths too, so that 3.5-back-with-a-shot-at-the-playoffs is not just a fluke. There are a crapload of teams in a similar position - 2nd through 12th place in the NL are separated by only 6 games - so the Astros' chances are naturally limited. Only three of those 11 teams will make the playoffs. But Houston's chances are really no worse than any of the other 10, either. They've got a legitimate shot, and that's what you always hope for as a fan.

Looking forward to tonight's game, and next Tuesday's All-Star Game with Hunter & Miggy, and (hopefully) another patented Astros second-half surge. Game on, guys!

The Astros have matched their season-high winning streak at two straight, for the third time. A win on Sunday softened the blow of a frustrating weekend versus Milwaukee, then Cincinnati was typical Astro Chow last night. Aaron Harang is usually another tasty dish for Houston, so they'll try for an April-best third straight W tonight.

Houston's other active team also won by one on Sunday, and they'll try tonight to do what no Houston team has done since the Astros' NL pennant back in '05 - advance in the playoffs.

I know this is exceedingly brief without much to say, but work has most of my attention this week. Continued Houston wins would be a great distraction.

Bums, I tell ya! Fire the lot of 'em!

...well, except for Berkman. We like him too much to fire him, even when he is a bum. Same goes for Oswalt. And Hunter Pence... we'd like the chance to like him too much, so keep him around. But the rest! Fire 'em all!

After two nights when the offense resembled competence, if not exactly brilliance, they lapsed back into their old ways tonight. These are the kinds of games I came to love, growing up knowing only the cavernous Astrodome, but of course I liked them better when Houston didn't draw the short straw. TOUGH loss for Wandy, as he pitched a great game even after his pitch count got alarmingly high early on. Y'know, I could rag on our hitters again for failing to get the job done, but sometimes you just run into a buzz saw. Wandy was great tonight, but Chad Billingsley was brilliant, so my hat's off to him. A win over the Brewers tomorrow will still put us at 6-4 over the last 10. I'll take it.

Miguel Tejada is our only everyday player to consistently get on base almost every day so far. Who saw that one coming?

I am somewhat upset with Joe Torre, because this could have been Brad Ausmus' last chance to ever play in front of the fans that know and love him best. You'd think that should count for something, even this early in April, and Joe's the kind of guy that should respect that. But I know, Joe is also the kind of guy to try and win every game, so with tonight tough and tight, he didn't feel he could sacrifice Russell Martin's bat. C'est la vie.

I'll be very interested tomorrow to see how Felipe Paulino follows up his shining season debut. For now, it's late and I'm tired, so I'll let it rest. G'night, y'all.

The Astros very much looked like a team tonight that simply refused to be beaten, which is something we didn't see a lot of in the club's 13 games prior to this series. Every time they got knocked down tonight, they got right back up to answer the bell in the next round. We never saw that Ausmus/Oswalt confrontation, but Roy got the faceoff with Manny he was wishing for; Oswalt won the first two battles before Ramirez destroyed a 2-1 fastball in the 6th, when Roy looked gassed. But he ended a jam the previous inning so that Manny came up with no men on, which is the way to do it if you're gonna have him homer off of you. Every Astros position player had at least one hit tonight, and when the Dodgers intentionally (and adventurously) walked Geoff Blum in the 8th to get to Pudge, he took it as the insult a veteran of his stature should and promptly made them pay with what proved to be the game-winning RBI. LaTroy Hawkins did a fine job as the pinch closer with Jose Valverde banged up from the previous night, and Manny was left stranded in the on deck circle as the game ended. Still no W for Roy, but this is the first of his four starts that Houston has won, so that's progress. Wandy goes for the sweep tomorrow.

I did some research earlier in the evening while waiting for the game to start. Besides their three ex-Astros, the Dodgers have one more Houston connection in first baseman James Loney - a fellow Houston native and four years my junior (dang). Loney won the 2008 Houston Area MLB Player of the Year award at this past January's 24th Annual Houston Baseball Awards Banquet. I only just recently (and very embarassingly) learned that Carl Crawford and Michael Bourn are Houston natives, too. This got me to wondering who else had won this award in the past, but I had surprising difficulty locating this information anywhere online. So I spent an hour or so digging through 24 years of archives over at Chron.com and came up with a definitive list:

Greater Houston Area MLB Player of the Year

• 2008: James Loney, Los Angeles Dodgers
• 2007: Josh Beckett, Boston Red Sox
• 2006: Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay Devil Rays
• 2005: Adam Dunn, Cincinatti Reds
• 2004: Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay Devil Rays
• 2003: Andy Pettitte, New York Yankees
• 2002: Kip Wells, Pittsburgh Pirates
• 2001: Roger Clemens, New York Yankees
• 2000: Andy Pettitte, New York Yankees
• 1999: Mike Jackson, Cleveland Indians
• 1998: Roger Clemens, Toronto Blue Jays
• 1997: Roger Clemens, Toronto Blue Jays
• 1996: Andy Pettitte, New York Yankees
• 1995: Jay Buhner, Seattle Mariners
• 1994: Chuck Knoblauch, Minnesota Twins
• 1993: Jay Buhner, Seattle Mariners
• 1992: Roger Clemens, Boston Red Sox
• 1991: Chuck Knoblauch, Minnesota Twins
• 1990: Doug Drabek, Pittsburgh Pirates
• 1989: Nolan Ryan, Texas Rangers
• 1988: Greg Swindell, Cleveland Indians

There was no such award given at the inaugural Houston Baseball Awards Dinner for 1985, and Roger Clemens was "honored" at the '86 and '87 dinners, but I don't think the award formally existed until '88. Interesting to note that with the exceptions of Knoblauch, Buhner and Wells, all of the others before the last five years played for the Astros at some point. I wouldn't object to Crawford, Beckett and Dunn following suit.

And this is why, as Milo Hamilton is so fond of saying, "Baseball is the most UNpredictable game in the world." The Astros were struggling offensively and found themselves matched up against a young lefty who surrendered no runs with 13 strikeouts in his previous outing, on a team riding an eight-game winning streak. The result? Houston's best offensive showing of the season and an 8-5 win. It certainly wasn't pretty, but Russ Ortiz earned his first W of the year, Jose Valverde notched his first save, and Houston is 4-3 in their last seven after starting 1-6. 4-3 doesn't sound like much, but a 4-3 pace projected over an entire season is worth 92 wins. I'll take it.

We saw one ex-Astro in the game last night - Mark Loretta, who went 0-for-2. We'll see another tonight when Randy Wolf goes for the Dodgers against Roy O. Roy is due for his first win and I'm Astros loyal to a fault, so I have no qualms cheering against Wolfie, but I will still enjoy watching him again. Wolf has been a favorite ever since he rose to stardom in Philadelphia - I've owned a Phillies Wolf #43 t-shirt for years - so I was thrilled when Ed Wade made the trade last year. I made it a point to snag an Astros Wolf #39 shirt in September, because I knew he might not be with the club after that. Obviously then I was disappointed when Houston pulled their offer to him, and later when he finally signed with LA, but I wasn't surprised. I know that's home for him, and I know the economics just didn't work for Houston, so I don't begrudge him that.

It's the third ex-Astro in LA that I miss the most - Mr. Brad Ausmus. Alyson Footer has some great photos over on her blog from yesterday. I've been nostalgic about a lot already this season, as I realize the time of my childhood heroes is growing to a close; it happens when you grow up. But as much as I loved Ryan & Scott, Bags & Bidge, Cammy & Kile... the one guy I honestly liked more than all of them was Brad Ausmus. I don't begrudge him signing with LA either, as I know it's home for him too. I'm most glad we knew it was coming so Houston could give him a proper send-off.

So I wrote him a letter back on April 10. Maybe childish, I know... something I haven't done in 20 years, and will more than likely never do again. But I thanked him for the memories. I included a baseball card, and I asked for his autograph. I told him I was an adult, that I understood if he didn't sign for adults, and I left it at that. I didn't hold any expectations then, but on Monday, I got my card back. Signed. That was all, but that's more than enough. Brad has always been a class act, all the way.

We may not actually see him in a game this series, though he wants to face off against Roy tonight. I'll be terrified if that happens; we saw what he did to Hampy last year. But it would also be great fun. (Joe Torre, are you listening?) I sincerely hope all the Ausmus-as-manager talk ends up being true down the line, even if it's not in Houston. But I ultimately wish him well in LA this season, and then in whatever he chooses to pursue after that. He'll never be in the Hall of Fame, but he'll always be one of the game's greats to many. Including me.

Well, the starting pitching has been good. VERY good. What everyone thought would be Houston's greatest weakness going into the season has actually been the greatest strength so far. The problem is that the offense - believed to be a strength - has averaged exactly three runs per game to this point. A 3.00 ERA is generally considered to be very good. But if you're only scoring three runs a game yourself, you're asking your pitchers to be better than very good in order to win. The starters have actually been exactly that lately, but certain parts of the bullpen have been shaky, and the anemic offense has left them no margin for error. So we have Oswalt, Paulino and Hampton all deliver quality starts and end up with no decisions as the team loses late. It's easy to blame the bullpen, but it's not like anyone out there had a Moehler-esque outing that left the Astros buried.

The optimistic view is to say that we've only had three games so far that weren't realistically winnable (Moehler's two starts & Albert Pujols Day). This team could have received exactly the pitching they've received so far and easily be 10-3 right now. The frustrating thing is that they're not 10-3, or 8-5, or even 6-7. They're 4-9, because anyone not named Hunter or Miguel or Geoff/Jeff can't get a hit.

The further optimism is to say that guys named Lance, Carlos, Kaz and even Ivan won't keep hitting this poorly, which is more than likely true. It would just be nice if they warmed up sooner than later so that missed opportunities like these don't come back to haunt when more difficult challenges inevitably arrive.

At least the Rockets had a laugher over the weekend. They'll try to go up 2-0 tonight.

The Astros West (aka LA Dodgers) roll into town tonight with that 10-3 record the Astros wish they had. Interesting that of Houston's four free agent departures this winter, three landed in Los Angeles (Ausmus, Wolf, Loretta). Only non-tendered Ty Wigginton went elsewhere, and he signed with the Astros East (aka Baltimore Orioles), joining only six other ex-Astros on their 40-man roster. I'm looking for Russ Ortiz to be sharper in his second start of the season.

This entry suffers from A.D.D., so bear with me.

One of today's top baseball headlines on my Yahoo homepage: A-ROD HITS 3 HOMERS IN BATTING PRACTICE. Really? BP homers are headline material now? I want to know how many homers Big Puma hit in BP today - anybody got that stat? Geez. I don't mean this as ragging on A-Rod; he was actually one of my favorites back in his Seattle days, though he lost most of my respect when he signed for megabucks in Texas, then lost the rest when he signed for bigger megabucks in NY. I still think he's an extraordinarily talented athlete, even without steroids. I'm just shaking my head at the mega-media spotlight... Yankees batting practice gets national headlines while most other teams only get headlines when they play against the Yankees (or the Red Sox, or the Mets). Who knew anything about Carlos Beltran while he played in Kansas City?

The Astros have done a good job getting on with the rest of their season since the 1-6 start and the odd mid-series day off on Tuesday. The math is pretty simple: subtract those first seven games and you've got 155 left on the schedule. That's 31 turns through the rotation. If your starters are good enough to win you three out of each five games, on average, that's 93 wins, plus that one from the first seven. 94 wins has been good enough for the NL Wild Card 12 out of 14 seasons so far, including all of the last six. Is an Oswalt-Hampton-Ortiz-Rodriguez-Moehler lineup good enough to net you three out of any given five games? It's easier with names like Pettitte and Clemens in there, but probably. The question is if they can do it consistently. And if they can stay healthy.

Which, of course, Brian Moehler now isn't. Neither is Doug Brocail. And Kaz Matsui hasn't played in the last two games, and likely won't play until at least Saturday. Of those three, the one not on the DL (Matsui) actually concerns me the most, because I think the Astros have the least depth behind him. I wouldn't qualify any of their injuries as disastrous, though, so I'm not that worried yet. Moehler is more replaceable than Mike Hampton or Russ Ortiz.

Speaking of Hampton - for whatever reason, it hadn't really hit me until yesterday how nice it is to have Hampy back on the team. At least for me, as a fan. And not because he pitched so well yesterday, either; the nostalgia hit in the morning. I've gone on before about how Pudge Rodriguez is a throwback to my childhood heroes, and how I miss those like Luis Gonzalez and Curt Schilling that are gone now. Mike Hampton is one of those guys, too. And unlike Gonzo or Pudge or Schill, Hampy did have his best years in a Houston uniform. He was never my favorite pitcher during his previous run here - that was Jose Lima - and I'll confess I was glad that Houston didn't get saddled with that horrible contract. I didn't think that much of Houston re-signing him last November, either, and nostalgia never hit during spring training or his start against St. Louis. It just hit me yesterday. It's gotta be strange and a bit sad for him being back, that everyone not Doug Brocail that he played with before is now gone. But I'm still glad he's here, and I'm cheering for a big year now more than ever.

Speaking of Matsui - the guy that seemed most likely next in line behind him, Drew Sutton, got shipped to Cincinnati today to complete the Jeff Keppinger deal. Don't like it. I still think Keppinger helps the team out a lot - he played Matsui's 2B today - and he's certainly proven valuable already. I wouldn't necessarily undo the deal. I just wish it didn't have to come at the cost of one of our few upper-level prospects. I'll be cheering for Sutton to make it big in Cincy, but it will be tinged with regret if he does.

As a Houston sports fan, I can't ignore that the only franchise to bring the city a major sports championship starts their postseason on Saturday in Portland. Basketball was the only other sport I ever displayed any long-term interest in, and that faded after Houston brought in Charles Barkley. But I'll admit that this is the most excited I've been about a Rockets squad since the 1995 Phi Slamma Jamma title team. I really think they're better with Ron Ron and without T-Mac. (Sure, Artest is crazy, but we had Vernon Maxwell before!) I was admittedly very disappointed at their inability to close the deal against Dallas last night, which ended up costing them home court; it seemed like Portland wanted it more. But I still think this could end up being a very special group. Go Rockets!

Michael Bourn has done well so far at earning my confidence. Jason Michaels has not. Pudge seems to have caught whatever the other catchers had during spring training, but I think he's primarily afflicted with a case of Trying Too Hard. He'll come around.

It's interesting to note that the only two starters that haven't helped the Astros win yet this young season are the injured Moehler, and Roy Oswalt. But Roy starts tomorrow at home versus the Reds, whom he owns, so I expect great things. The Astros have owned the Reds in general for the last several years, so I'd like to see them take three out of four before the Ausmus-led Dodgers roll into town.

So after a rough opening week, the Astros are 1-5. Not the start we would have liked, but what's past is past. The team looks for new life in Pittsburgh starting this afternoon, so I've got baseball to keep me company at work today, which is never a bad thing. And no matter what else happens in today's game, we can be almost 100% certain that Brian Moehler will pitch better than his svelte 37.80 ERA.

The "Blind Faith" in the subject has naught to do with the 2009 Astros, but instead with another story I discovered over the weekend. This is probably old news to most Houston fans, but it was new to me, and being an Astros fan from Arkansas, it struck me as particularly apropos.

Houston's major league team had already been known as the "Astros" five times longer than they were ever known as the "Colt .45s" by the time I was born, so all the Colts players were long gone by the time I started watching baseball. But I had a favorite Colt as a kid nonetheless - Bob Aspromonte (probably because his nickname "Aspro" looks like "Astro," but such is kid logic). I didn't know until this weekend that he was the last active Brooklyn Dodgers player, or that he was the last of the original 1962 Colts to leave the Houston organization when he was traded after the '68 season.

Those are both cool factoids, but the really incredible story is that of Aspromonte and Little Leaguer Bill Bradley of El Dorado, Arkansas (pictured above). It was featured on FSN's Amazing Sports Stories series, and in the book The Greatest Sports Stories Never Told. The full story is over here, but the summary is that young Bradley got struck by lighting during a Little League game; he was blinded and sent to Houston for surgery. Three times, he asked his hero Bob Aspromonte to hit a home run for him, and all three times, Aspro did. It's the kind of story that Hollywood couldn't write because no one would believe it - but it's true. That truly is amazing.

photo credit: http://media.commercialappeal.com/mca/content/img/photos/2008/06/07/s7amazing.jpeg

I have maintained for at least half a decade that Albert Pujols is the best player in baseball. I just wish he didn't share a division - or a league - with the Astros. Dang.