I took Friday off to go to Houston for the three game series against Arizona. It was my first trip down of the year so I was excited about seeing Oswalt and Clemens pitch. I got down to Houston at about 4 pm Friday and checked into the Marriott Residence Inn (free night due to my frequent trips to Amarillo). Since it was Colt Stadium replica figurine night, I got there 2 hours early and took my seat in the Crawford Boxes for BP. Plenty of middle-aged guys with gloves trying to catch BP homers. The game went back and forth with AZ taking the lead multiple times and Houston always coming back to tie it until Garner put in Petitte and he gave up a run in the 11th. The Astros couldn’t answer and lost. It was ’70’s night so they had some funny player photos on the scoreboard including Preston Wilson with a sweet fro (Shaft) and Lance Berkman dressed up as Elvis. Luke Scott(walker) used the force to hit for the cycle becoming the 6th Astro in history to do so.

Game 2 on Saturday was a 4-1 win from Houston as Oswalt gave up one run in 8 innings with Lidge pitching a perfect ninth for the save. I enjoyed some chicken tenders (represent Mike) after the chilli cheese nachos from the night before made for a long game. Changing hotels to one with a lower rate since I actually had to pay was made easy as Club Quarters let me check in around noon. At the game, they gave away Biggio figurines and I snagged one for my collection.

Today was the rubber game and I had nineteenth row behind the plate to see Clemens pitch. He was really good with a bunch of strikouts mixed in with one unearned run through 7 innings. For some reason, leading 5-1, Garner yanked him for a pinch hitter (Wilson, who struck out) after 90 pitches. Bad move. Qualls proceeded to give up 4 runs in the 8th and then Lidge melted down again giving up a two run homer in the ninth. Houston lost 7-6 in a game they had in hand. Now, I’m torn as to whether or not they should make a move or look towards next year. If they got Tejada (years remaining on contract), that would be okay but Soriano would walk after this year so he would be a waste. I doubt Angelos will trade Tejada so it will probably is a moot point.

One nugget from Sunday’s game was before the game, player’s wives were out on the field for Family Day. I spotted Garner and his wife with their kids and grandkids. Imagine my surprise when Mrs. Garner scoots across the diamond in a robo-boot! Any defense I have ever put up in perceived criticism of Phil is now down the toilet since his wife had the gall to sport said boot. It probably also hurts his cause that all of his moves this year have sucked while he had the golden touch last year. Oh well, can’t wait for that year ending series at Turner Field!

We went to the Braves-Mets game last night; Pedro vs. Horacio. We got there at about 7PM and the ticket booth only had Standing Room Only seats left. We ended up buying the SRO seats and stood out in Sky Field for the whole game while Ismail ran the bases and played in the dirt on the mound up there. The game was the largest attendance in Braves Regular Season history at 53,943, beating the old record from the night Aaron hit #715.

Horacio had a horrible outing and gave up 4 runs in the first three innings. Pedro also gave up 4 runs in the first and looked shaky. Pedro would eventually settle down, but Horacio did not. The bullpen did OK and gave up 2 runs in 6 innings, but the Braves bats died. The Mets no-hit the Braves for the last 19 batters (6 1/3 innings). They hit a lot of deep flys, but the wind wasn’t a factor and the balls all stayed in the park. With the loss and the Reds win, we dropped back to 6.5 games.

When I got home, I found out even worse Braves-related news- we traded Betemit for Dany Baez. This is a horrible trade considering that we are more than likely not going to make the Wild Card and Baez is a free agent at the end of the year. The worst part is that we are giving up a great young player with a bright future. Chipper has been getting hurt so much lately that we need Wilson more than ever. Plus, he can play SS and 2nd base and probably the OF as well. I hate to see us throw away the future for a player that’s not very good to begin with and will probably not be back next season.

Lang and Matt: I saw Mike at the game; Melissa’s old sidekick. What was our name for him-snaggletooth?

I went to my first Braves game since returning from Germany. Ismail and I met one of my former soccer players and another former NA student named Kyle, his brother and his caregiver for the game. Kyle has Cerebral Palsy and is confined to a wheelchair, so finding a place where we could all sit was a bitch. Usually, we just buy 5 dollar seats and find an area where there’s no usher; if the usher comes, we just explain that Kyle can’t see the game well from upstairs and the handicapped seating is limited. The handicapped-accessible seating is like 30 dollars a seat, so for all of us it would have been $180. The upper deck seating for handicapped people is virtually non-existent and is over 20 a seat. There were tons of handicapped-accessible seats on virtually every aisle in the lower deck, but every single aisle had an usher that made us leave. They all had the same excuse about not wanting to get in trouble, despite the fact that there were thousands of empty seats. We finally found someone that let him and his brother sit in the area, but we had to sit in the stands below. Just another game with overbearing Braves personnel-it wouldn’t be normal without it. I guess that PR move last year to make Turner Field more fan-friendly failed.

The game started off well; by the 6th inning, the Braves were winning 3-0 and cruising. It was not one of Smoltz’s best pitched games; he had 10 Ks, but gave up a lot of mistimed hits late in the game. The defense did a poor job behind him too. There were some real baserunning gaffes as well.

Losing 4-3 in the 8th inning, it looked as if the Braves would drop another game to the Marlins. However, Andruw and LaRoche both hit solo shots to take the lead. Wickman came on in his Atlanta debut and earned a save, looking as if we made the right move in acquiring him.

4.5 out of the wild card and we moved from 8th place to 4th in a day because several teams in front of us lost. Two months to go and a lot to play for; I would have never thought that a month ago.

I can not believe that we are not going to get a player out of trading Harrington? Fucking cash and low 1st Round pick? What the fuck is that going to do? Troy Murphy was available and we opt for $; what a waste.

Right now, I seriously want my money back from our season tickets; I thought we’d at least pick up a big man and this team would be competitive. Instead, we’re basically throwing away 18 pts and 7 rebs for nothing.

So as I told Dave, I’m coming in town later tonight and will be around all weekend. I know many of you may already have plans for the weekend, but if anyone is interested on Saturday night, there’s something coming on TV that we all should watch:
http://www.wwe.com/shows/snme/

So Dave and I were talking this morning about last night’s MLB All-Star Game, and we both had one similar reaction: What’s the deal with Houston manager Phil Garner? They showed his bizarre pregame speech (Dave has a favorite quote from that which he’s trying to recall so he can post it it) and then interviewed him during the game, and he seemed pretty bizarre and, sad to say, kind of dumb.

That said, I’ve watched very few Astros game and haven’t seen him in action all that much, so I don’t know if he’s just a baseball savant or if he’s as bad at managing as he is being on camera. Matt, can you break it down for us?

Ribery- Dr. Evil and Mini-Me

Camoranesi-Furio from Sopranos aka Jackie Chan

Was it Lang that made a Zurn Klinsmann call?

Matt made a Van Basten - Kiki Vandeweghe call.

To get the weekend off to a good start…

So I just see Bobby Jackson inked a deal w/ the Hornets, Terrry signed a 6yr deal with the Mavs and Cassell is wrapping up negotiations w/ the Clippers. Also see Nene locked up by the Nuggets. What are the Hawks doing while every other team is making moves? Busy negotiating with Solomon Jones?

The Atlanta Silverbacks, our 2nd Division Pro Soccer Team, recently opened up a Soccer-Specific Stadium right off of Northcrest Road where I-85 and I-285 meet. The stadium, which currently holds 3 K, is part of an ambitious plan by its ownership to eventually build up in various stages a 15 K venue with several practice fields and a youth system to feed into its Professional ranks. This is very similar to the European mold of Soccer Organizations. Right now, there are two stands that run along each sideline and there are two full-length practice fields on the property- a good start for the organization. After years of playing at the dumpy DeKalb Memorial Stadium, it was nice to finally see the day where the ‘Backs actually had something worth visiting.

Ismail and I went to this match on Friday night, their third game in the new digs. After watching the World Cup for the past three weeks, it was painfully obvious that the talent on the field was lacking. The teams played very hard, but lacked the kind of crisp passing and accurate shooting that i’d become accustomed to in Germany. The Backs would take the lead right before halftime on a goal from Scott Buete, a former Chicago Fire player that never lived up to his potential as a first round draft pick. The second half was pretty chaotic as both teams had several opportunities. Charleston hit the post twice in the match and looked poised to score a late goal. The Backs would somehow hang on to the 1-0 victory and win the Southern Derby Cup, a tradition between fans of the various southern Second Division teams that goes back to 2000. About 25 Charleston fans made the trip over from South Carolina and were very passionate for their team. It must’ve been a disappointing game to come all that way to see their team lose not only the game, but the Cup as well.

I definitely will try to catch a few more games this year; it’s an intimate little stadium that let gives the fans the chance to be close to the field. For us, it’s also very easy to get there from my house (only 20 minutes). Plus, it’s free for me because I have National Soccer Coaches Association membership, so it’s cost-effective as well.