Ahem, no.  Was pretty much what you expect out of Lidge when it comes to fielding:  try to do too much w/ what you are given and get nothing in return.  You could tell that He was trying to get the double play tonight, instead put himself in a bad situation.  It’s all good, this is why last year Berkman made a comparison about Lidges fielding that makes all the sense in the world!

See the family resemblance?  Good game tonight.

(As you can tell this isn’t as nicely written as it usually is and that is because Thomas has allowed me (Tim, his brother) to post about Lidge.  Guess he was tired     )

From here

Following the right-hander’s start against the Brewers, whom Houston beat, 10-3, the Astros announced they inked their ace right-hander to a five-year contract, with an option for a sixth year. The contract, unprecedented for a Houston pitcher, is worth $73 million, but Oswalt could make as much as $87 million should the club pick up the option year.

Oswalt will be paid $13 million in 2007 and ’08, $14 million in ’09, $15 million in 2010 and $16 million in 2011. The club can either exercise a $2 million buyout after ’11, or pick up the $16 million club option for 2012.

Oswalt also received a full no-trade clause, and he’ll donate $100,000 per season for the length of the contract to the Astros in Action Foundation.

This is exactly the kind of contract I hoped they would give Roy.  They gave him the $ he deserves, the years he deserves and the no trade clause he deserves!  I can’t wait to see him pitch this Sunday!  Kudos to Purpura and Drayton for doing the right thing this time.  This makes all of the trade talks concerning Roy around the trade deadline a non issue.  Perfect.

Happy 29th Birthday Roy! 

5 Years, $73 million with a 6th year option! 

Full details not disclosed..  but I’ll post them as soon as I get em!

Roy was very gracious in the press conference thanking Drayton and the Astros organization for giving him the opportunity to pitch for the Astros.  Not sure if this is the case, but when Roy was talking, he seemed pretty emotional, not really in tears.. but probably pretty close to it.  He kind of had the lump in his throat…

I was guessing the contract would be 5 years for about 14 million and it works out to be about 14.6 a year.  I’m happy for Roy and happy the Astros ponied up the cash to pay Roy.  He’s definitely worth it. 

Hit me once, shame on you.. Hit me twice, shame on me.. Hit me 3 times and I’m going to hit a grand slam and bury you in the 8th inning.  Well, something like that.  After the Brewers hit the 3rd Astro on the night, the Astros went on a tear scoring 7 runs in the 8th inning, capped off buy a pinch hit grand slam by Jason Lane.  That was really refreshing.. It’s nice to see good things happen to good people, and there’s few in the league as good as Jason Lane.  He deserves good things to happen to him.  Astros up 10-3, Willy-T is 0 for 3 after being drilled twice.  Looks like his hitting streak is all but over.  Unless the Astros go on another tear and bat around again this inning with 2 outs, Willy doesn’t appear to have another at bat coming. 

That’s really a shame that he had two of his at bats wasted tonight.  The Brewers capped it off by bringing in their ex-closer to get Willy out for his 3rd(official) at bat. 

Biggio just fouled a ball off his left foot and he’s definitely in pain, limping around trying to buy some time for the pain to wear off.  No reason for him to stay in the game.. it’s obvious he’s hurting, but like the trooper he is, he finishes his at bat. 

First at bat he hits Willy-T up around the shoulder, and then again in his 3rd at bat he drills him in the head.. and then like the ***** you are you leave the game.  Someone better get drilled on the Brewers, and it better happen fast.  That’s bull ****!  Yes I’m pissed!

That’s ****.. Guy has a 30 game hit streak and you drill him twice basically taking away any chance he has at extending it.  The Astros better rally and give Willy at least one more at bat(given that he gets to stay in the game).  Willy got hit in the head and stayed down for a few. 

**Update**
Willy T did stay in the game… 

They just announced on the T.V. that there was going to be a press conference directly following the game…  I hope what I think’s going to happen happens!

Link

One of my hobbies(I guess you could call it a hobby) is scouring the internet for useful and worthless information.  I love Wikipedia and I get a lot of information from there.  I was reading up on Roy-O today and found this in his section from Wikipedia which I found interesting… 

Link

In 1999, when Oswalt was at the Class A level in the Midwestern League, he suffered an apparently serious shoulder injury. After a month of pain in his upper shoulder, Oswalt was convinced that his shoulder was torn. Shortly thereafter, he was checking the sparkplug wires on his truck. He touched one of the sparkplug wires, causing the truck’s engine to start. The truck’s electric current flowed through Oswalt’s body, and consequently the muscles in his hand tightened on the sparkplug wire. Unable to let go of it, Oswalt grapsed the wire for almost one minute. Oswalt then claimed his foot slipped off the truck’s bumper and he was finally "thrown off." After the electric shock, Oswalt told his wife that his shoulder’s condition improved and that he no longer felt any pain. Oswalt claims he has not felt any pain in his shoulder since the incident.

Most baseball fans have a player that they like above all others.  But why do you like that player?  Just because of his stats?  Think he’s cute?  Parental influence?  I’d like to hear who your favorite player is and why you like that player above all others.  I’ll go first.

My favorite baseball player, is of course an Astro and none other than William Berkman.. ok, he goes by Lance, the Big Puma!  Lance debuted with the Astros in 1999 and I can’t say he’s been my favorite since he became an Astro.  I’ve liked Biggio and Bagwell forever, like most Astros fans.  Lance has grown on me though.  Besides his tangibles as a baseball player, one of the things I like about Lance the most is his personality.  He has a pretty dry/sarcastic sense of humor and makes funny comments on a normal basis.  When asked why he wanted to be called "Big Puma" instead of Fat Elvis, he stated it was because he was a sleek, athletic player that moves with speed and grace.  Anyone who’s watched Lance more than once knows that speed and grace aren’t exactly his forte. 

<picture above taken from wikipedia.. I think he dropped from the stands, because I doubt he can jump that high… kidding of course>

Another such incident involving Lance(which I’m sure some of you have heard about) was during a game at Wrigley field some fans were hazing Berkman(basically calling him fat) and waving Twinkies at him(more specifically, I believe it was Ding Dongs).  Lance eventually turned around, told them to throw the twinkies down to him.  When he received them, he opened the package, ate one and stuck the other in his back pocket.  He received a great fan reaction and from what I’ve heard, received applause the rest of the night from the normally rowdy Wrigley fandom. 

Let me hear about your favorite players(doesn’t have to be Astros related) and why you like them!

Link

In order to bring up defensive specialist Eric Bruntlett and catcher Humberto Quintero and make them eligible for post season play(if the Astros get that far), Chris Sampson and J.R. House were optioned back to Triple A Round Rock.

Since being called up, House has went 0-9 in mainly pinch hit at bats.  House started one game for the Astros since being called up.  House isn’t really that great of a catcher and was brought up to hopefully add a spark in a normally weak offensive position for the Astros…  that didn’t work out so well…

Sampson on the other hand has been successful on the big club going 1-0 with a 3.31 ERA over his 5 games with the Astros.  Sampson has been the victim of basically just being the odd man out.  In his only start this season, he went 7 innings, giving up 3 hits and no runs in a spot start, but then was optioned back to Triple-A before getting another shot.  Instead of bringing up Wandy to make starts after being terrible in Triple A and bad as an Astros(albeit with good runs support), they should have brought up Sampson and let him take a few shots at starting… 

Sampson and House both have to stay down in the minors for 10 days.. after which hopefully Sampson will get called back up.  Not really a need to bring House back up in my opinion.  We’re in a hunt for the playoffs.. we need people that have shown they can produce.  House isn’t exactly the type of person we’re going to put in to pinch hit in the late inning situations and he’s not exactly a stud defensive catcher. 

And just like that, the Astros are again within 4 games of the Wild Card lead… and just like that, the season is alive again.  The Astros finished off their road trip taking 3 out of 4 from the Pittsburgh Pirates.  After dropping the 1st game in the series, the Astros came back with a vengeance winning the next 3, and stomping the Pirates 13-1 in the last game of their road trip. 

Hirsh was great, earning his 2nd win of his career, going 7 innings, with 5 hits, 1 run, 2 walks and 2 K’s to bring his pathetic ERA down to 8.53.  Berkman hit his team leading 36th home run of the season with 4 RBI’s bringing his total up to 110. 

This next week is going to be a very important and tough week for the Astros.  After an off day today(Monday), the Astros take on the Brewers for 3 and then the Mets for 3(I’ll be at the game Sunday, so expect pictures!).  We’ve got to win both of these series…  Hopefully the offensive production the Astros showed against the Pirates last night will be a glimpse of what they’ll do for the rest of the season. 

After destroying us on Tuesday 14-0, the Reds have lost 4 out of 5 to help the Astros get back in the Wild Card race.  They now head to the Dodgers and then the Padres for 3 each this week with an off day on Thursday.  Hopefully the Dodgers/Padres will beat up on the reds some more and help the Astros get back into this.