Fan News

Houston Astros 2008 Review:

The 2008 Houston Astros finished the regular season 86-75, 11 games back of the eventual NL Central Champion Chicago Cubs. The Astros got healthy offensive contributions from Hunter Pence, Lance Berkman, Carlos Lee, Ty Wigginton, and 35-year-old (if that is his real age) Miguel Tejada.

Ahh! The wonders of the modern age. I changed my cable service to include the MLB Network yesterday. I'll let you know what I think of it in days to come, but for now, let me fill you in on the whereabouts of Dr. Mike Marshall, expert kinesiologist and former Cy Young winning closer.

Drafted No. 38 overall by the Mets in 2001, third baseman David Wright has seen his skill, and popularity, rise more and more each year in the organization.

Raised in Chesapeake, VA (20 minutes away from the old Mets' AAA-affiliate Norfolk Tides), Wright grew up a Mets fan and dreamed of playing for his favorite team one day.

Never in a million years did he imagine it would come true.

The son of a retired police chief, Wright was raised in a very disciplined household.

It’s one day before the season opener, 2009. 

High above the streets of Boston, in a dimly lit office late at night, Theo Epstein sits alone at his desk. The door is locked, the curtains behind him are drawn, and before him on the desk there lies a single sheet of paper: folded once, dog-eared, and faintly yellowed from five years in a locked drawer. 

It's time for another editorial shift before I finish up my fantasy approach to the 2009 Major League Baseball season. Having assessed the infielders, attention now moves to the outfielders and pitchers—two groups that I tend to dismiss to a degree, so my analysis will be a tad superficial.

I'll deal with the pitchers separately. Here, I'll focus on the guys roaming the big real estate.

I haven't been this excited about an upcoming Mariner's season in a very long time. In my last article, I begged the Mariner's brass to hire Dave & DMZ* as the new Co-GM's before it became far too depressing to write about the M's flailing on a daily, weekly or any other basis.

Well, I don't know how to put this, but apparently I'm kind of a big deal because they did the next best thing. They ended the draconian rule of Bavasi and now the shining light reflecting off of the dome of our new GM Jack Zduriencik (or Z for the tongue-tied or drunk) has begun thawing my heart.

The Phillies have won two World Series titles since 1883. The Florida Marlins have won two titles since 1993. The Marlins are a pesky team for the Phillies.

Richard Simmons was last seen entering the Mets locker room in Port St. Lucie carrying a fairly worn copy of "Sweatin' to the Oldies." His target: Oliver Perez.

It seems our new multi-million dollar man needs to get in some better shape. The Daily News quoted Mets pitching coach, Dan Warthen, as saying "I think he's out of shape, the arm is out of shape..."

This is fantastic news. Not only did we send our second highest paid starting pitcher to the WBC, but he comes back out of shape because he wasn't working out while playing in the WBC.

Josh Hamilton is a special player. We all know that by now. In his first big league season as a starter, Hamilton wowed the Rangers and baseball fans the world over by hitting .304 with 32 home runs and 130 RBI. The sky seems to be the limit for the 27-year-old Hamilton, as his power and consistency should only improve with time.