Brad Ausmus has tried holding his hands close to his body, and he has tried holding them further away. He has tried holding them high. He has tried holding them low. He has angled his feet towards third base. He has angled his feet towards first. He has experimented with every physically possible degree of knee-bend. "For awhile it looked like I was sitting on a toilet," he says. But no matter how Ausmus has contorted himself, he has never arrived at a batting stance from which he has been able to hit a baseball with any consistency. "At some point, around 2001," Ausmus says, "I cut the line and let the whale go free."
Before the season began, Cecil Cooper predicted his Astros would win 90 games. With only 70 wins to their credit and just 13 games to play, they are going to come up woefully short and now Cooper won't be around to see if they get there next season. The free-falling Astros, losers of seven straight, fired Cooper on Monday afternoon, just in time to save his record after two-plus years of managing from dipping below .500 but far too late to save their season.
Welcome to June. This is your wake up call.
This weekend, when the Mets visit the Red Sox and the Yankees host the Phillies, Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium will feature four teams with payrolls totaling $574 million. Allowing for inflation, this is as much as the 10 highest payrolls in baseball in 1997, the year of the first regular-season games between the National and American leagues.
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- The Astros made it to 15 or 16 straight losses here on Thursday. Lance Berkman wasn't sure which it was. And frankly, he didn't care.
Ivan Rodriguez is set to join the Houston Astros as soon as his physical is complete.
Free agent catcher Ivan Rodriguez has reached an agreement with the Houston Astros, according to sources.
1. It's in the routine, not the spectacular. The Astros set a major-league record last season after committing only 67 errors. Houston's defensive range factor was a little above-average in six of nine positions, but its strength was in being steady with the balls it could reach. "We talk about not being spectacular -- in other words, routine," manager Cecil Cooper says. "Paying attention to the little details and making routine plays, that's the key. We've got veteran players, and they buy into that." The defense may be slightly better this season, with Geoff Blum taking over for Ty Wigginton as the primary third baseman. Riding that defense and a strong bullpen (see below), the Astros were only three games out of the wild card -- with the same record as the eventual World Series champion Phillies -- when Hurricane Ike interrupted a six-game winning streak and contributed in sending Houston into a tailspin. They still finished with the National League's best record after the
CLICK HERE FOR: Chicago | Cincinnati | Houston | Milwaukee | Pittsburgh | St. Louis
It's been almost exactly a year since the Rockies began one of the most memorable and impressive stretch runs in baseball history. On Sept. 16, 2007, Colorado snapped a three-game losing streak by hammering the Marlins 13-0 in front of a sparse Coors Field crowd of 19,161 fans. Not one of them would have guessed that the victory was their team's first of 14 in 15 games to close the season and complete a stunning rise from near-death to a playoff berth.
Brad Ausmus has tried holding his hands close to his body, and he has tried holding them further away. He has tried holding them high. He has tried holding them low. He has angled his feet towards third base. He has angled his feet towards first. He has experimented with every physically possible degree of knee-bend. "For awhile it looked like I was sitting on a toilet," he says. But no matter how Ausmus has contorted himself, he has never arrived at a batting stance from which he has been able to hit a baseball with any consistency. "At some point, around 2001," Ausmus says, "I cut the line and let the whale go free."
Before the season began, Cecil Cooper predicted his Astros would win 90 games. With only 70 wins to their credit and just 13 games to play, they are going to come up woefully short and now Cooper won't be around to see if they get there next season. The free-falling Astros, losers of seven straight, fired Cooper on Monday afternoon, just in time to save his record after two-plus years of managing from dipping below .500 but far too late to save their season.
Welcome to June. This is your wake up call.
This weekend, when the Mets visit the Red Sox and the Yankees host the Phillies, Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium will feature four teams with payrolls totaling $574 million. Allowing for inflation, this is as much as the 10 highest payrolls in baseball in 1997, the year of the first regular-season games between the National and American leagues.
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- The Astros made it to 15 or 16 straight losses here on Thursday. Lance Berkman wasn't sure which it was. And frankly, he didn't care.
Ivan Rodriguez is set to join the Houston Astros as soon as his physical is complete.
Free agent catcher Ivan Rodriguez has reached an agreement with the Houston Astros, according to sources.
1. It's in the routine, not the spectacular. The Astros set a major-league record last season after committing only 67 errors. Houston's defensive range factor was a little above-average in six of nine positions, but its strength was in being steady with the balls it could reach. "We talk about not being spectacular -- in other words, routine," manager Cecil Cooper says. "Paying attention to the little details and making routine plays, that's the key. We've got veteran players, and they buy into that." The defense may be slightly better this season, with Geoff Blum taking over for Ty Wigginton as the primary third baseman. Riding that defense and a strong bullpen (see below), the Astros were only three games out of the wild card -- with the same record as the eventual World Series champion Phillies -- when Hurricane Ike interrupted a six-game winning streak and contributed in sending Houston into a tailspin. They still finished with the National League's best record after the
CLICK HERE FOR: Chicago | Cincinnati | Houston | Milwaukee | Pittsburgh | St. Louis
It's been almost exactly a year since the Rockies began one of the most memorable and impressive stretch runs in baseball history. On Sept. 16, 2007, Colorado snapped a three-game losing streak by hammering the Marlins 13-0 in front of a sparse Coors Field crowd of 19,161 fans. Not one of them would have guessed that the victory was their team's first of 14 in 15 games to close the season and complete a stunning rise from near-death to a playoff berth.
ST. LOUIS -- Lance Berkman's grin is easy and familiar, which is the way everything seems to be going for him these days. His dark hair flops easily onto his forehead with a nice, boyish curl. The conversation spills out -- funny anecdotes, compelling opinions, fresh observations -- in a comfortable, easy cadence. And, of course, the act of hitting a baseball, something many ballplayers claim is the single most difficult feat in the athletic universe, looks ridiculously easy for the Astros' first baseman lately.
Somewhere, there are cranky old guys with "Ban the DH" bumper stickers on their station wagons who still think that Bud Selig is the devil himself and that interleague play is his demonic play toy. They live for the day when the wild card dies an excruciating death and interleague goes kicking and screaming with it.
A pair of pitchers not mentioned in the best light in last week's edition of Diamond Digits bounced back nicely. After going 0-for-4 in his attempts to win his 350th game, Greg Maddux finally became the ninth pitcher to reach three-five-o by allowing just one unearned run over six innings against the Rockies in San Diego Saturday night. That same night just a short trip up I-5, last week's worst player, Houston's Chris Sampson, redeemed himself by limiting the Dodgers to three hits over seven innings in the Astros' 5-0 win. Maybe this space provides the reverse of the SI jinx. Or maybe it just proves that baseball truly is a game of averages.
Roy Oswalt propped up one foot on a wall at the Astros' clubhouse and crossed his legs at the ankle, leaned back in his director's chair -- he's a professional athlete, kids, so don't try this at home -- and considered, for about a half-second, the whole idea of Roy Oswalt and the Nobodies.
Houston Astros general manager Ed Wade anticipates Miguel Tejada to be at spring training, even as the FBI investigates whether the former AL MVP made false statements with to a congressional committee about possible use of performance-enhancing drugs.
The Hot Stove season isn't dead yet. Things can and often do happen in January and February (see A-Rod to the Yankees, 2004)
Because you probably missed it, here's what happened during the final moments of Craig Biggio's major league career on Sunday afternoon: As Biggio, 20 years a Houston Astro, stepped to the plate, the volume at Minute Maid Park grew from deafening to roof-rattling. Atlanta Braves reliever Ron Mahay stepped off the mound, doffed his cap at Biggio and made a gesture that said, Take another moment, drink it in, it's okay.
Also in this column: • Where the Astros went wrong • White Sox want to keep Ozzie • It's comeback week for pitchers • More news and notes
Both 2005 World Series participants -- the Astros and White Sox -- have gone from the Fall Classic to classic falls. The difference is in how the respective club owners are confronting disappointment and responding to their precipitous declines. One is dishing out blame, the other dishing baloney.
For years now, the Astros have been one loose, back-slapping, come-in-and-take-a-seat bunch of guys. From owner Drayton McLane -- a man who spends a few innings at every home game wandering around Minute Maid Park talking with fans -- right down the front-office line and all the way into the clubhouse, the Astros are a genuinely fun group. Nice guys. Easy going. Friendly.
While the Scott Linebrink trade probably won't have too great an affect on who gets the save chances in either San Diego or Milwaukee, there could be at least a few deals in the coming days that change the ninth inning landscape around the league. Last week, I mentioned rumors involving David Weathers in Cincinnati and Octavio Dotel in Kansas City, but as the deadline draws near, the number of big name relievers on the trade block grows.
Editor's note: We asked SI.com writers to share their memories from the best game they've ever seen. Here are their stories:
Sometime this week, barring an injury or an absolutely terrible stretch in an already abysmal season, Craig Biggio will get his bat on a pitched ball and bang out career hit No. 3,000. When he does, all of Houston, and all of baseball, will celebrate.
We have, this weekend, an interleague sighting. It's going to be a brief one -- we're back to your regularly scheduled intraleague games on Monday -- mostly harmless and, in some rare cases, maybe even a tad entertaining. Definitely worth tuning into a game or two.
I. The Nats: You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension -- a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into ... the Twilight Zone.
After the last few nights in Houston and, really, for the better part of the last week and a half or so, we are left to deal with this nearly undeniable truth about the sometimes frustrating, yet often strangely entertaining Astros:
Nothing gets chewed over more every NFL offseason than quarterback questions. Only Indianapolis and New England seem immune to the constant pattern of change, speculation and potential controversies at this position.
Bud Black has a very good bullpen to work with -- you could argue that it's the best in the business -- and you'd better believe that San Diego's first-year manager works it a lot. So, when August and September roll around, if the Padres' bullpen happens to start showing a few signs of wear and tear ... well, what's Black supposed to do? Not use his bullpen now?
Isn't it great when the biggest news of the week was the signing of minor league free agent contract to a last-place team? The Yankees and Roger Clemens stole the baseball spotlight but others have been quietly been making news and for at least another month likely will have a bigger impact on the major leagues than The Rocket. Here are this week's relative unknowns and whether or not you should know them for your fantasy team.
Also in this column: • Analyzing the Clemens derby • Pavano's All-Star team • More news and notes
If you've ever listened to Roger Clemens, or if you've listened to him lately, you know that winning the World Series always has been his goal. It's why he plays. It's why he's still playing. The man, clearly, has a thing for rings.
With one quick record-setting stroke of the pen, and one big announcement on the big screen above Yankee Stadium by Roger Clemens, the Yankees moved back into the ballgame Sunday. This is the best $28 million they ever spent (and actually since the salary's pro-rated over the entire season, it'll only cost them between $18-19 million).
No self-respecting manager or front-office team builder would dare use injuries as an excuse for losing. Are you kidding me? Using injuries as an excuse -- justifiably or not -- makes baseball people look weak.
Do you think the Angels' recent losing streak is just a bump in the road during a long season that could quickly turn around when players like Vladimir Guerrero, Howie Kendrick, Bartolo Colon, Kelvim Escobar, Mariano Rivera, etc. return? Or is this the beginning of a long disappointing season? -- Jason T., Carson, Calif.
It's time once again to sneak a peek at e-mails to and from sports figures. OK, these aren't actual intercepted messages; we're not running the NHL players union, people. But here's what we imagine that we're missing:
Back in the late '70s, the Orioles had a right-handed reliever named Don Stanhouse, a big ol' floppy-haired lug of a guy that Baltimore manager Earl Weaver supposedly liked to call "Full Pack." That, it was said, was the number of cigarettes that Weaver inhaled during one of Stanhouse's typically nerve-searing and painfully drawn-out appearances.
Jackie Robinson would have loved Jose Reyes, the New York Mets shortstop whose mentor may be Rickey Henderson but whose dynamic energy on the field recalls Robinson. Baseball's tribute Sunday to the 60th anniversary of Robinson's debut was classy (thanks to Ken Griffey Jr.'s idea to honor Robinson by wearing his No. 42, an idea that spread with enthusiasm), touching (Andruw Jones giving the literal and figurative tip of the helmet to Robinson) and inspiring (C.C. Sabathia pitching with a higher purpose). Given Robinson's importance to American culture and society, Jackie Robinson Day should be part of our country's official calendar, not just the baseball season.
You may have heard a lot of folks worrying about the steep drop in the number of black baseball players as the sport celebrates Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier 60 years ago this weekend.
Also in this column: • Nats look forward to trade deadline • Possible suitors for Lidge • Johan Santana's "denial" • More news and notes
The Astros need to trade struggling, just-demoted Brad Lidge while he still has value. And apparently, he still does. Three executives contacted Tuesday said they'd gladly take Lidge off the Astros' hands -- at the right price, of course.
Also in this column: • Dodgers look brittle • Bonds' biggest ally • More news and notes
Remember when Derek Jeter tripped through that 0-for-32 April streak in 2004? He hit .168 that month, finally getting untracked with a homer off Barry Zito. Then he tore things up in June, went nuts in September and ended the season at .292. His other all-around stats were respectable, too, especially considering that awful start.
The Chicago Cubs and ace Carlos Zambrano are in serious negotiations on a contract that would pay the right-hander $80-85 million over five years, the largest contract for a non-free-agent pitcher in baseball history.
Somewhere between Final Four weekend in Atlanta and that golf tournament down the road next weekend, Major League Baseball is doing this little thing they like to call Opening Day. Maybe you've heard of it?
HUMBLE, Texas (AP) -- Jason Gore got a boost from the Rocket in the Houston Open.
KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- In baseball terminology, Brad Lidge is what is known as a "standup guy." He's accountable. Always willing to talk. Always willing to listen. Always there to take the kudos or the clobbering. That's Brad Lidge.
Also in this column: • Dye vs. C. Lee comparison • Freddy ready to break bank? • "No chance" to void Matthews • More news and notes TUCSON, Ariz. -- After visiting 13 spring camps and hearing 13 different spiels about how that team's time is now, I found myself nodding at Diamondbacks camp. That's nodding, not nodding off. I like what I see here. Arizona is my sleeper team in the National League. And it's not just heat stroke, either ... at least I think it's not.
The New York Yankees took advantage of Roger Clemens' attendance at Legends Field on Wednesday to ask Clemens back to the Bronx, SI.com has learned.
Houston's offense gets a huge boost from big Carlos Lee, an addition that will have a trickle-down effect on the rest of the lineup. However, with Roger Clemens in limbo and Andy Pettitte back with the Yankees, the starting pitching behind ace Roy Oswalt is in flux.
During his six-season tenure as the White Sox general manager, Ken Williams has completed 51 trades, the most by any G.M. during that span. Boredom, he likes to claim, is the explanation for his tireless wheeling and dealing, but in truth Williams has an appetite for risk and one of the game's shrewdest eyes for a bargain. In building the 2005 World Series champs, Williams not only took a chance on unconventional manager Ozzie Guillen but also, perhaps more important, spackled the cracks in his roster with such underappreciated players as Jose Contreras, Jermaine Dye and A.J. Pierzynski.
Colorado has been overmatched in the NL West for nearly a decade, not having finished above fourth place since 1998. But even while losing, the Rockies have always been a solid source of offensive fantasy talent. This year should be no different.
The dynamic in the Astros' training camp, in ways subtle and strong, is different this spring. It's early yet, so there's plenty of time for that dynamic to shift, for the personality of this team to morph again -- maybe dozens of times -- before the months-long monstrosity that they call a baseball season is over.
Also in this column: • More on Jeter-A-Rod saga • Andruw Jones and the Braves • Rollins' brash talk • More news and notes
Justin Verlander went to Tigers spring training last season with two games of major-league experience. Scott Proctor had been rather useless over two seasons with the Yankees thanks to his ERAs of 5.40 and 6.04. Frank Thomas reported to Oakland's camp having played a total of just 108 games over the previous two seasons. Each of those players, however, became key contributors for playoff-bound teams.
Also in this column: • Bernie Williams' chances • Cardinals whiffed on Weaver • More news and notes
This is part three of a five-part series on the top 75 prospects in professional baseball.
This is part two of a five-part series on the top 75 prospects in professional baseball.
The National League had some catching up to do, and it did just that this winter. The NL imported Barry Zito, Carlos Lee, Freddy Garcia and Randy Johnson from the American League. If this keeps up, things will even out before long.
Having wrested full control of the New York Yankees' baseball operations over the past 18 months, GM Brian Cashman is running a leaner, less reactionary organization. His stockpiling of young pitchers this winter is bad news for the rest of baseball. The Yankees are difficult enough to contend with because of advantages in resources. Give them homegrown young pitching and patience and they become even more of a threat.
By unloading Randy Johnson, the New York Yankees didn't merely clear $14 million of his $16 million salary off their books and move a pitcher who didn't comfortably fit in New York back home to Arizona (not to mention one who just had back surgery -- though word is he's fine and will be ready for spring training). Or add four younger, less expensive players to the Yankees' organization. They also greatly enhanced their chances of signing the star pitcher they really want: Roger Clemens.
HOUSTON (CNNMoney.com) - In his sixth and final day on the stand, Enron founder Kenneth Lay testified that the most painful moment in his life was watching Enron go into bankruptcy.
A federal grand jury is considering whether to indict San Francisco Giants baseball star Barry Bonds for perjury because of testimony he gave to another grand jury in 2003, CNN has learned.
As the new baseball season starts, teams will be looking for fans to dig deeper into their pockets this season, according to a recent survey which shows a 5.4 percent rise in average ticket prices, with 21 out of 30 teams raising prices.
Major League Baseball's playoffs start Tuesday afternoon, and so do productivity losses for U.S. employers, according to the latest estimate from an employment firm.
Most business capitals shout their names from the hilltops--literally, in the case of Hollywood. Everyone knows which industry dominates that town, and which ones rule Detroit and Houston. But how ...
Brooks Kieschnick is the only baseball player of the last half-century to both pitch and play a position on a regular basis.
Among the luckiest breaks of my life was to be born and raised in a loving family of Boston Red Sox fans. As a Red Sox fan, you learn early that life will not work out, that the Boss's pampered nephew -- not the deserving night-school graduate -- gets the coveted promotion, that the sweet, freckle-faced girl next door will get passed over for homecoming queen.
Everybody talks about the October surprise. Well, if you listen to the Democrats, the October surprise happened this week. We call it the political Play of the Week.
There was no eBay the last time there were Red Sox World Series tickets available. But there is now.
This year's Major League Baseball All-Star game is being played in Houston on July 13, and the hometown Astros have been garnering all sorts of attention--even though they're nine games out of firs...
HOUSTON -- The secret to this All-Star Home Run Derby thing -- just in case, you know, you ever find yourself competing in one -- is to avoid the urge to swing.
Senator John McCain is having a good day. He has chided the president of Goldman Sachs and admonished the owner of the Houston Astros. He has frustrated the Democrats' point person on taxes and duc...
Sponsoring a stadium, at first glance, looks like a good way for a company to boost its stock. On average, the 12 companies that have their names slapped on stadiums used by a Major League Baseball...
THIS MONTH: --The hottest shades for men and women to wear this summer --Wise up about shelling out for the latest software upgrades.
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack I don't care if I never get back...
Spring training is the time when hopeful new players show up in Florida and Arizona. This year's rookies also include new owners, whose big worry is not making the team but making money. Peter Mago...
''SO YOU'RE the big man,'' says the shopper, sizing up Wal-Mart's six-foot CEO David D. Glass as he tours a newly opened store in Auburn, New York. Glass doesn't miss a beat. ''Nah,'' he says, ''I ...
PEOPLE in show business are very innocent,'' says Hugh Duff Robertson, chief executive of A. Morgan Maree Jr. & Associates in Los Angeles. The firm, started in 1932, has numbered among its clients ...
As its 105th season swings into high gear, major-league baseball resembles a diehard Chicago Cubs fan: ready to forget last year's heartbreak, fiercely optimistic about this year's prospects. The b...
SINCE PETER UEBERROTH took over as the new Commissioner of Baseball, a post once considered as carefree as a batboy's, he hasn't been able to enjoy a game. In his first days on the job last October...
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