Baseball

Lately, the Houston Astros have been hosting a game show. Haven't you heard?

It's called, "Who Wants to Be the Houston Astros Manager?"

Apparently, Bob Melvin and Manny Acta really do . And, of course, so does a motley cast comprised of the likes of Phil Garner, Dave Clark and several others.

Who knew that Ramon Hernandez could be so valuable?

Especially coming off of a season where he hit .258 and drove in 62 runs. Hernandez netted the Orioles two of the top 20 prospects in Brandon Waring (coming soon!) and prospect number 19, Justin Turner.

Turner was one of the lucky position players who got the September call to an Orioles team bereft of bullpen depth.

For Phillies fans, the joy of Game One of the NLCS was gone, when the Dodgers walked away with a 2-1 victory Friday.

The series is now tied 1-1 with Game Three in Philadelphia on Sunday night.

Wasted was a two-hit, three-strikeout, no walk performance by veteran Pedro Martinez, who hadn't pitched in 17 days. Martinez's day was over when Greg Dobbs pinch hit for him in the top of the eighth inning.

Part 1

Part 2

Grand Cards gives us the baseball cards of these guys

Now onto part three…

I have never been one to second guess. It's so easy after the fact to say he should have done this or he should have done that. If you raise the concern before it happens, then you have some validity in making a point.

I am what many would consider an "old timer" when it comes to watching baseball. It's been over a half a century and plenty of games have happened where it's very easy to say why did you do this when speaking of a manager's move.

It was the vaudevillian comedian Joe E. Brown who went on the record about it most famously. It was he who put it into words with so much brevity yet pith.

“Rooting for the Yankees,” Brown was jotted down as having said, “is like rooting for U.S. Steel.”

Those Damn Yankees—welcome back to the playoff spotlight.

This article was originally featured on www.stadiumjourney.com .

Back in 1989, the Rogers Centre (previously the Skydome) emerged as a modern marvel of architecture. Thanks to its retractable roof, after 20 years it still stands as one of the most unique ballparks in the majors.

FANFARE SCORE: 22

F ood & Beverage: 5

Now a 2-1 win is a 2-1 win, and I am sure Joe Torre and the Dodgers will gladly take this sure loss and head to Philly with a split.

What perplexes me though is the way managers continue to take 162 games worth of coaching and strategy and throw it out the window once the playoffs roll around.

Now can someone explain the thought process behind having Russell Martin squared to bunt in that situation?

Now it all worked out in the end, but to have a legitimate MLB hitter who had only dropped down two sacrifice bunts all year force the issue makes no sense to me.

Manny Parra was a pitcher that many thought could enjoy huge success in 2009.  He had shown flashes the previous season going 10-8 with a 4.39 ERA, but the underlying numbers pushed people to breakout aspirations.  How many pitchers post flyball rates of 26.6 percent (in 2009, the answer is just three)?