More meaningless stats and a plea to save the 7th inning...

Since I started planning for the 2010 Astros season, they have improved their winning percentage a full 10 points from 31% to 41%. They have averaged more than 4 runs per game. At this point they'll only win 67 games and be fighting for last in the NL central. Does any of it really matter? Probably not, but I love to talk about it anyway.

I was talking to the kids last night about how cool it was when I was a kid to listen to the Astros game with my dad. Milo would yell "Holy Toledo" every time someone would belt a homer. Those were good times and I still prefer to listen to the games rather than watching on TV.

I've been an Astros fan my whole life. Nothing will ever change that. I'll drag anyone willing with me to Minute Maid Park every chance I get. I love the atmosphere, the crowd, the train and the backdrop of downtown. The thing missing from the last game I went to was "Take me out to the ball game." Don't get me wrong. I love "God Bless America" as much as the next guy, but seriously, can we get back to what made the 7th inning stretch something to look forward to?

Astros drop another one

What can I say? The Astros are 4-9. Hitting 4 out of 13 at bats would be a great average, but 30.8% is a lousy winning percentage. I know they usually play better ball in the second half of the season, but at this pace they’ll only win 50 games and be competing for worst team in baseball honors. They’re not going to win the pennant, but honestly are they that bad? I don’t think so. The problem is that as the casual fan, I can’t see that they have a whole lot to work with. It seems that every player has been living up to their expectations. Let’s face it Astros fans, I think it may be time to start focusing on 2010.

Running with the boys

I went on a run yesterday with the boys. They were riding their bikes while I tried to keep up. I let Jax take the lead and he took us all over the neighborhood trying to find what he called “new places we’ve never seen before”. During the first few minutes, my Garmin 301 kept beeping at me, but I ignored it. I thought it was a low battery beep since I didn’t turn on the interval training or virtual partner. About the third time I glanced down at it to find that I was running at 7:45 per mile and the Garmin was telling me to slow down.

To put things in perspective, I usually do my training runs at 8:45 to 9:00 per mile with a walk break periodically. I was more focused on keeping the boys out of the traffic than my pacing. As a result we had to cut the run short to only 2.75 miles since they wiped me out in the beginning. I guess I should set the goal to keep pace with them rather than making them slow down to stay with me. It wasn’t too long ago that I would not let them go with me because they couldn’t keep up with my slow pace. They’re growing so fast it’s just amazing.

Boys weekend: Day 2

The boys and I decided to hit some golf balls today. We went to a great place just off 290 between Telge and Cypress North Houston. Prices are great and the kids hit free when the adult buys a bucket of balls. We all had a great time.

Have you ever seen the TOP of the fowl pole?

Well I have now. First of all, I didn't misspell it. Chik-Fil-A sponsors the foul poles in Minute Maid Park, so they are aptly named the Fowl poles. So how did I see it? The boys and I headed through the rain to have a tour of the park and watch the Astros from the cheap seats. Outfiled View Deck is only $7 for adults and $1 for kids. So $9 got us in the game. We had a blast. Here are a few of the pics to document the fun.

Watching BP from behind the plate!

Jax in President Bush's seat and Ollie in Barbara Bush's seat.

Ollie got his hat signed by Jeff Bagwell

Jax got his hat signed by Jeff Bagwell

We absolutely had a blast!!!! Oh yeah, the Astros won 7-0.

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