With the White Sox capturing the final playoff spot, time for some playoff predictions:



Phillies over Brewers in 3. Great offense, great bullpen for the Phillies. Lidge has a chance to shine with no Pujols to face this year in the postseason.



Cubs over Dodgers in 5. This will be a very competitive series and it wouldn't surprise me if the Dodgers win. Lowe, Billingsley and Kuroda were solid down the stretch and there are some question marks with Zambrano and… Continue

You gotta love these races for the final playoff spots. Last night (Thurs) I enjoyed watching the Twins come back with 2 in the 8th to tie it, and then flip over to the Brewers game (thanks to Directv's Extra Innings package) to catch Braun's walk-off slam. The Twins needed to sweep the Sox in order to stay in the chase, and now they have a half-game lead. The AL Central may come down to a make-up game on Monday for Chicago, followed by a one game playoff for division on Tue..



After… Continue

yes, the hurricane seemed to kill the Astros momentum (only 2 runs in past 3 games), but the Brewers continue to free fall (losers of 5 in a row), and the Mets (3 straight loses falling out of 1st place) haven't figured out their bullpen issues...there's still hope!

2 and 1/2 back. off to MIlwaukee for 2

3 back. Oswalt pitches another shutout and extended his scoreless innings pitched streak to 32 and 1/3 innings. Wow.

The incredible run continues as the Astros have passed the Cards and have now tied the Phillies sitting 4 back of the Brewers in the WC hunt. The Brewers can't score runs now...and where would they be without C.C.? This weekend's series against the Cubbies looms large as does the hurricane aiming towards Houston.



Here's a recap of the Astros recent run from MLB.com:



A 2-1 loss to Cincinnati on Aug. 26 left the Astros with a 66-66 record and no chance of reaching the… Continue

for Mark Saccomanno last night. You hear about players who have hit a HR in their first major league game, but what about this storyline:



It was scoreless in the fifth of Monday night's Astros-Pirates game when 28-year-old Mark Saccomanno stepped to the plate for the first time in the big leagues and hit the first pitch out of the park for a 1-0 lead. He's a 23rd-round draft pick from Klein Forest High School in Houston. His parents were in the stands as he got the call in Round Rock… Continue

The Astros have won 11 of 12 and are now 10 games over .500 at 77-67. They're 30-11 since July 27 and 44-27 since June 20. With a win tonight, looking to pass the Cardinals. It will take another incredible finish, much like that of '04 and '05, to close the gap but if the Brewers continue to blow 9th inning leads...

After winning 8 in a row, the Astros are 6 ½ back of the wild card. Check their remaining schedule…13 home and 9 road, and only 6 of the 22 remaining games are against teams with winning records (Cubs, Marlins). Cubbies in Houston next weekend...should be interesting.

now that I have a blog, I feel obligated to try this blogging out. Some random thoughts from this past weekend...the opening of college football season:



--Nice win for Texas. Attendance was 98,053! I'm trying to remember what the largest attendence was for the games I attended in '86-'90...70,000-75,000? And, this was only for a "big" SWC game; the opener vs. a non-conference team was never a sell out.

--Not worried about our next opponent, UTEP, as they dropped their opener to… Continue

My ranking of the 30 active MLB ballparks:

1. PNC Park – Pittsburgh

2. SBC/AT&T Park – San Francisco

3. Comerica Park – Detroit

4. Minute Maid Park – Houston

5. Petco Park – San Diego

6. Citizens Bank Park – Philadelphia

7. Nationals Park – Washington DC

8. Oriole Park at Camden Yards - Baltimore

9. Coors Field – Denver

10. Safeco Field – Seattle

11. Jacobs Field - Cleveland

12. Wrigley Field – Chicago

13. Kauffman Stadium –… Continue