Tag: Houston Astros (Page 3 of 7)

Oswalt won’t face fine after ejection

June 2, 2010 /

Roy Oswalt can sleep a little easier this week knowing that his wallet won’t be lighter following his ejection during a game against the Nationals on Monday night. According to the Houston Chronicle, the Astros’ ace won’t face further disciplinary action.

“I felt that Roy Oswalt had been punished enough by his ejection (and) the Astros had been punished enough by his ejection,” said Major League Baseball vice president Bob Watson, who is in charge of discipline for the league. “That’s the bottom line.”

Home plate umpire Bill Hohn ejected Oswalt in the third inning Monday after a brief exchange with the pitcher.

Oswalt said he was expressing frustration after a throwing a ball, but Hohn, who has not commented on the situation, clearly believed otherwise. The two then exchanged words, with Oswalt saying he told Hohn “I’m not talking to you,” before getting tossed.

“I was hoping I wasn’t going to get fined for saying what I said,” Oswalt said. “I thought it was kind of quick on his part. Nothing I did towards him (warranted being) tossed out of the game.

“To be talking to myself on the mound and to get thrown out, I didn’t see the point of that.”

Assuming Oswalt wasn’t jawing with Hohn the entire night leading up to his ejection, Hohn comes off looking like just another power-hungry umpire. Some guys feel a sense of empowerment each night when they umpire a game and overreact when they feel a player has shown them up.

That said, umpires don’t have it easy. They get it from players, managers and fans on a nightly basis and I don’t blame them if they want to flex some of their power in order to get a situation under control. Still, it sounds as though Hohn overacted to what Oswalt said and it’s good to see that the pitcher won’t face any further punishment.


Photo from fOTOGLIF

External Sports, MLB

Report: Astros not ready to trade Oswalt

May 26, 2010 /

A source tells Tony Jackson of ESPNLosAngeles.com that the Astros aren’t looking to trade Roy Oswalt despite his request to be dealt to a contender.

A source with knowledge of the situation, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Tuesday that despite Oswalt’s request, the Astros aren’t looking to trade the right-hander and three-time All-Star at this point. But that could change as the summer moves along and the July trade deadline nears, especially if the Astros continue to languish in the National League Central cellar.

While the Astros are not shopping their ace, Fox Houston reported on Tuesday that Rangers president Nolan Ryan reached out to Houston to express interest in Oswalt.

It’s interesting that the article mentioned that the Rangers have interest, because I detailed over the weekend why Texas would be a great landing spot for Oswalt if the Astros decided to trade him. You can read it here.

It would be rather ridiculous if the Stros didn’t trade Oswalt at some point this year. Their farm system is dried up and Oswalt isn’t going to be around when the club eventually starts competing again. To not get something for him now would be unwise, especially when he still has plenty of value to a contender.


Photo from fOTOGLIF

External Sports, MLB

Jose Lima will be remembered by fans

May 24, 2010 /

Jose Lima, who played 13 seasons for five different clubs in major league baseball, died at the age of 37 on Sunday. He apparently suffered a major heart attack in his home and later passed away at Huntington Memorial Hospital.

Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle wrote a nice piece on Lima today about what he meant to the fans and his teammates. Below is a small taste of the article.

You never forgot how he stopped that afternoon and signed an autograph for your kid.

Jose Lima didn’t just scribble his name and hurry into the dugout like the others. He struck up a conversation, asked his name, made him laugh.

Your kid was hooked on Lima Time from that moment, and so were you. He captured an entire generation that way.

As legacies go, isn’t that a wonderful one?

“I was born for this,” Lima once said.

Indeed he was. Thousands of fans surely left the ballpark vowing to return because Jose Lima made them feel special.

“I know they pay my bills,” he said. “Some people change when they make a lot of money. That’s not Jose Lima.”

Death always has a way of making you remember the good in people. Some baseball fans didn’t like Lima because he craved attention and was outlandish, but part of the reason sports are great is because they give you athletes to both cheer for and root against.

Lima finished his baseball career with a losing record (89-102) and a 5.26 ERA. But even though he won’t go down as a good pitcher, most fans that watched baseball during his career span remember Jose Lima. He had a colorful personality and he will be missed.

External Sports, MLB

Would the Rangers be a good fit for Oswalt?

May 23, 2010 /

Roy Oswalt realizes that his window to win a World Series is closing fast. That’s why he recently told his agent to ask the Astros, the organization he has spent his entire pro career with, for a trade.

But Oswalt doesn’t want to play for just anyone. He wants to go to a contender.

“I’m not going to go to a team that’s not in contention of playing in the playoffs,” Oswalt said. “I’ve got two years left. In those two years, I’m trying to get back to the playoffs. I haven’t been there since ’05.”

Oswalt declined to tell the Houston Chronicle what teams he would like to play for, but I’ve got one: the Texas Rangers.

Let’s go down the checklist, shall we?

Are they a contender? Check. They’re currently in first place in the AL West.

Do they need pitching? Check. While they have some nice young arms in Neftali Feliz and Derek Holland, their starting staff is average at best and if they want to seriously contend, then they’ll need a strong presence at the front of their rotation.

Do they have the farm pieces in order to swing a trade? Check. Outside of maybe the Rays, the Rangers have the best farm system in baseball. Thanks to sound trades and a true commitment to scouting over the years, they have a bevy of power arms and bats in the minors. Surely they could put an attractive enough package together to entice the Astros to part with Oswalt.

Of course, this is just speculation on my part but the Rangers seem like a great fit. They’re off to an outstanding start this season and adding a piece like Oswalt would give them yet another weapon to keep the Angels at bay in the West. Of course, the team is currently seeking bankruptcy, so who knows if it will be willing to take on Oswalt’s salary.

As for the Astros, the club isn’t going anywhere this year and they’re incredibly depleted at the farm level. They need to rebuild and trading Oswalt (who deserves the opportunity to play for a contender) would be a good start.


Photo from fOTOGLIF

External Sports, MLB

The difference between MLB and NFL players when it comes to steroids

May 19, 2010 /

When it comes to speaking his mind about the differences between how MLB and NFL players are treated when it comes to steroids, Astros’ first baseman Lance Berkman hits the nail on the head.

From the Houston Chronicle:

“I will say that what will be interesting will be the reaction, because generally when that happens to a football player, it’s kind of ho-hum,” Berkman said. “They’ll write a story and he’ll serve his four games and nobody will ever say anything else about it.

“If that happens to a baseball player, they’d want to strike him from the record book. It’s just a totally, totally different reaction, and I don’t know why that is.”

Here’s my theory: Football is just more popular than baseball is, so people have a tendency to give NFL players more leniency.

Fantasy baseball isn’t as popular as fantasy football and the NFL has a clear advantage over MLB when it comes to gambling.

There are only 16 games in football, so fans live and die on every play. There are 162 games in baseball, so fans could essentially miss an entire week of action and it still might not even matter in the grand scheme of things.

People love football. They crave it. They want to see their favorite players in uniform and if one of them screws up, all they usually care about is how many games he’ll miss before he’s back on the field. When a baseball player screws up, the games he misses won’t necessarily have a barring on how the team does (look at Manny Ramirez’s suspension last year), so fans are more likely to get their moral handbooks out when passing judgment.

It’s not fair, but that’s just the way it is.


Photo from fOTOGLIF

External Sports, MLB, NFL

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2025 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑