Happy Birthday - 1/6

No future Astros with birthdays today, but one former Astro celebrates the day ~

LHP Alvin Morman (46)
Drafted by Houston in the 39th round in 1991, Morman pitched in 53 games for the Astros in 1996.  His record was 4-1 with a 4.93 ERA and a 1.595 WHIP. He went on to pitch for Cleveland, San Francisco and Kansas City.

Also, a Very Happy Birthday to friend of the blog Buca Morris (aka Brandon, aka Bartholomew, aka Bart Howe, but he'll answer to anything). We miss his wonderful voice on WTHB and hope that he will once again grace us with his presence.

Happy Birthday - 1/6

No future Astros and only one former Astro celebrates a birthday today ~

LHP Alvin Morman (45)
Drafted by Houston in the 39th round in 1991, Morman pitched in 53 games for the Astros in 1996.  His record was 4-1 with a 4.93 ERA and a 1.595 WHIP. He went on to pitch for Cleveland, San Francisco and Kansas City.

Also, a Very Happy Birthday to fellow WTHB writer Buca Morris (aka Brandon, aka Bartholomew, aka Bart Howe, but he'll answer to anything). Buca has a wonderful voice to his writing, and we all look forward to his contributions in 2014!

Astros Minor League Recap

There was only one Astros MiLB game last night with the rest being washouts or days off. And that one game was the Lancaster game which didn't start until 9:00. Since the Astros West Coast trip had left me totally sleep deprived, I opted for an early bedtime. This morning I looked back through my twitter timeline to get a flavor of what I had missed (you can't tell everything from a boxscore) and there was some good stuff in there so let's try something new today. The Call of the Game courtesy of twitter:

Lancaster JetHawks ‏@JetHawks
Mavs jump out to an early 2-0 lead on @Folty25. #JetHawks looking for a comeback win in the rubber game of the series!

Buca Morris ‏@BucaMorris
 "It's a beautiful drive. Lot's to see... (beat)... That is, of course, if you like desert."
-@jasondschwartz #LancasterJetHawks

Jason Schwartz ‏@jasondschwartz
Matt Duffy extends his hitting streak to 10 games with a leadoff 2B in the 4th. #JetHawks #Astros

Jason Schwartz ‏@jasondschwartz
Nolan Fontana just walked for the 3rd time tonight -- in the 4th inning! He’s now walked 8 times in 15 PAs this series. #JetHawks #Astros

Lancaster JetHawks ‏@JetHawks
#JetHawks put up 6 runs in the 4th inning to take a 9-2 lead in High Desert… Johnson w/ a big 3-R 2B!

Jason Schwartz ‏@jasondschwartz
Umpire called a balk and I could read the official scorer’s lips as he turned to the guy next to him… “What’s a balk?”

Jason Schwartz ‏@jasondschwartz
#JetHawks leading 9-3 and hitting the ball well but the play Matt Duffy just made at 3rd base is the best thing we’ll see tonight.

Anthony Boyer ‏@AnthonyBoyerTCB
The Mavericks mascot is hanging out, silently, in the booth with @jasondschwartz. Is it me or is that super creepy?

Lancaster JetHawks ‏@JetHawks
Mavericks score three in the 6th inning to cut the #JetHawks lead to 9-6.

Jason Schwartz ‏@jasondschwartz
Mavs mascot Wooly Bully joined me in booth last inning. I asked him/her(?) about league’s new deal with the California Beef Council.

Jason Schwartz ‏@jasondschwartz
…unfortunately mascots don’t talk so that didn’t go anywhere.

Anthony Boyer ‏@AnthonyBoyerTCB
@jasondschwartz Gotta be a him. Otherwise it'd be Wooly Heifery...

Buca Morris ‏@BucaMorris
Ze plane! Ze plane! Apparently the "Swooping Spruce Goose" is back in Adelanto. No matter, the JetHawks are up, 9-7. #Lancaster #Astros

Eric L. Smith ‏@Eric_L_Smith
.@jasondschwartz What up with the heckling of Torrez? Is that guy mad they cut off alcohol in the 7th?

Anthony Boyer ‏@AnthonyBoyerTCB
E6 on Fontana. WP on Ballew. 9-8 Lancaster, 2 outs B9.

Lancaster JetHawks ‏@JetHawks
Mavs get close but @tballew18 shuts the door, striking out the side and leaving the tying run at 2nd in the 9th. 9-8 the final. #JetHawks

Aaron West ‏@WestAaron14
My roommate @Tballew18 is a pretty good pitcher. In his last 3 innings pitched he has 9 strikeouts. #dominating #filthy #NoChance

Buca Morris ‏@BucaMorris
@jasondschwartz Fun game to listen to tonight. Plane returns, heckler, Lancaster fans doing a commercial below booth, mascot & the tense B9.

Lancaster JetHawks ‏@JetHawks
FINAL: #JetHawks 9, Mavs 8. WP: Walters (2-0) LP: Guaipe (0-1) SV: Ballew (3) HR: LAN - None, HD: Blash (6)

Now to fill in a few of the blanks ~

Mike Foltynewicz - 4IP 4H 3R/2ER 1BB 2SO 1HR

Blair Walters (W, 2-0) - 2IP 4H 3R 3BB 2SO

Jonas Dufek - 2IP 3H 1R 0BB 2SO

Travis Ballew - 1IP 1H 1R/0ER 0BB 3SO

Nolan Fontana - 1x2 3BB 2R CS

Carlos Perdomo - 1x2 BB 2SO 2R

Zach Johnson - 3x5 2B 4RBI SO R

Brandon Meredith - 1x2 3B 2RBI 3BB 1R

Player of the Day: Zach Johnson's RBI single and three-run double were pivotal to the JetHawks offense.

Pitcher of the Day: You heard Aaron West ... Travis Ballew is a pretty good pitcher.

Happy Birthday - 1/6

No future Astros and only one former Astro with a birthday today ~

LHP Alvin Morman (44)
Drafted by Houston in the 31st round in 1991, Morman pitched in 53 games for the Astros in 1996.  His record was 4-1 with a 4.93 ERA and a 1.595 WHIP. He went on to pitch for Cleveland, San Francisco and Kansas City.

Also, a Very Happy Birthday to my writing partner-in-crime, Buca Morris (aka Brandon, aka Bartholomew, aka Bart Howe, but he'll answer to anything). Happy Birthday and thanks for saving what little was left of my sanity during the 2012 season!

Farewell, Atlanta

[Note from Jayne: Buca has done a wonderful job helping me out with the recaps during the last several weeks. I invited him to post other thoughts from time to time, but this is the first time he's taken me up on it. You'll see why he should do so more often. And for the record, I couldn't have stayed as classy as Buca did after the stunt Atlanta pulled.]

            The Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves first met on April 27, 1962 in Colt Stadium.  Although, at that time they were known as the Houston Colt .45's and the Milwaukee Braves.  Since that time, the teams have played 701 times.

            In a season that has seen the end of many rivalries, with the Astros' switch to the American League next year, there have already been a few "lasts."  Sunday, marked the last time the Astros and Braves would play as National League opponents.  At the beginning of the season, actually during the Astros' first homestand, Craig Biggio presented Chipper Jones, who is set to retire at the end of this season, a cowboy hat signifying the respect and rivalry the two teams have had for each other and Jones over the years.

            Considering this, it came as a shock yesterday when Zachary Levine tweeted, " Turner Field scoreboard just showed a graphic saying you can't spell DISASTROUS without ASTRO. Dead serious."  Not only was this simply a bush-league, classless thing to do at any time, it ended up marring a significant event in these two teams history.  Instead of using the opportunity to perhaps pass along a little of the respect and dignity Houston showed Chipper on his last trip to Minute Maid Park, Atlanta decided to take the low road and basically declare Houston not worthy of any value in their baseball annals.

            Houston isn't having the best year as reflected by their record, but is that any a reason for Atlanta to disrespect an honorable opponent of 50 years?  Is that what Atlanta has been doing all these years and no one noticed: picking on the little guys?  If that's the case, good riddance; losing Atlanta as an opponent is actually a bonus in light of their callous actions.  Houston is done with Atlanta anyway.  The Astros are moving on and looking to the future.

            As mentioned before, 2012 has been a season of "lasts" and hopefully it marks the last time anybody in Atlanta does anything that tasteless and juvenile.            

Admitting You Have A Problem Is The First Step

Hi, I'm Jayne and I'm a blogoholic. I love my blog ... maybe a little too much. I am also a control freak. I admit that as well. But there comes a time when one must ask for help. And that time for me is now.

I have recruited the estimable Buca Morris to help me with the minor league recaps. He will be writing the recaps this weekend and depending on whether or not that sends him screaming into the night, he will be helping me out from time to time. We're going to play it by ear.

If you don't already follow Buca on twitter, I suggest that you drop everything and do so immediately.

He is quite intelligent ...


Buca Morris ‏@BucaMorris

omnia dicta fortiora si dicta Latina

He is quite funny ...

Buca Morris ‏@BucaMorris

Lady asked me how old I was this morning at the store, I lied so I didn't have to say the #. I even lie to cardio machines.

And he is quite insightful ...

Buca Morris ‏@BucaMorris

Blum got his bronze statue in 2008 for his achievements in 2005. J.R. Richard got a star that gets walked on a little over a week ago.

Welcome Buca!