Lance Berkman continued on his roll, going two for three. But though he was able to get on base, he was not able to do any damage by way of scoring or knocking in runs. And Brandon Backe tied his career high with nine strikeouts, but he also surrendered six hits and four runs in his six innings of work, continuing with what has always been a problem, going deep into the game.

SOME MISCELLANEOUS GAME NOTES:

While Lance Berkman was destroying the Nationals, Ryan Zimmerman did the same to Astros pitching. He had eight hits in 14 at bats with two homers, four RBI, and four runs in the three games against the Astros.

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Roy Oswalt is not the only Astros pitcher surrendering home runs at an alarming rate. Brandon Backe has now given up seven homers this season. But what’s really sad is that, in 18.2 innings, Oscar Villarreal has given up six homers. The Astros also continue to lead the majors with a total of 48 home runs surrendered on the season.

I don’t know about you, but to me, it sounds like Lima Time.

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The Astros went 5-1 on the home stand, and are 18-17 for the season. The important number to remember is the number of runs scored per game. The Astros are only 2-12 when scoring three or less runs a game, while they are 16-5 when scoring four or more runs. And for a stat that really means absolutely nothing, I’ll note that the Astros are now 9-5 when the MMP roof is open.

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The Astros will be on the road for the next ten games, starting tonight in Los Angeles. The ‘Stros have a three game series with the Dodgers, then they fly up the coast to San Francisco for four games with the Giants, then head to Arlington for three games with the Rangers.

Brian Moehler gets the starts tonight for the Astros, and he’ll face Derek Lowe. Chris Sampson throws against Chad Billingsley on Saturday night, and Shawn Chacon goes up against Hideki Kuroda on Sunday afternoon.

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I like that Fox Sports and the Astros are now producing a Spanish language version of the broadcast – Spanish-speaking announcers and Spanish-language graphics. What I’m not liking is that Fox Sports feels the need to cut away from Bill Brown and Jim Deshaies for an inning so that we can watch that broadcast. If I wanted to watch that broadcast, I’d watch that broadcast. But – and I know this is hard to believe – when I’m on the English channel, I want to watch the English version.

The same goes for the ever decreasing times when I’m actually watching SportsCenter and they switch to ESPN Deportes to give me a few minutes of Spanish SportsCenter. Once again, if I wanted to watch ESPN Deportes, I’d be watching ESPN Deportes and not watching ESPN.

Then again, SportsCenter has become virtually unwatchable anyway, so why am I bitching? Ah, to hell with it. Have a good weekend, everybody. I’ll report back for duty next week. – John Royal

I don’t know how the Astros are winning these things. They’re being outplayed, outhustled, out-hit, and out-pitched. Well, most of the Astros are. Lance Berkman tied the Astros team record last night when he got his eighth straight hit in the fourth inning. A hit which just happened to be a home run. A monster of a home run that landed on the choo-choo tracks.

I say I don’t know how the Astros are winning these games – which I partly believe because about 6/9ths of the team is playing like absolute crap – but Hunter Pence, Michael Bourn and Lance Berkman are playing like studs. Like Pence on Tuesday, Bourn nailed a runner at the plate trying to score in the seventh inning, which could have proven to be the winning run.

And bitch all you want about Bourn, just knowing that he and Pence are out there patrolling the vast ground of the poorly-planned MMP outfield almost makes up for the fact that anything hit down the left field line will be an automatic double because it takes Carlos Lee ten years to get to the ball.

Oswalt was equal parts dominating – dominating like 2001 and 2002 dominating – and equal parts getting killed. But when the team needed him the most, he did come through, delivering a laser shot of a single up the middle in the fourth inning to score two runs and put the Astros up 3-2.

But let’s forget all of that. Let’s forget that team is mostly crap and is catching every lucky break. Let’s forget all of that and revel in Lance Berkman. The guy is in some kind of zone, and if he ever gets out of the zone, this team might be in trouble.

SOME MISCELLANEOUS GAME NOTES:

Here’s how hot Berkman has been. He had four hits on Sunday. He had five on Tuesday. He had two hits in three at bats last night. He has 11 hits in his last 13 at bats. In his last five games, he has four doubles, two homers, and 10 RBI. He also has four consecutive multi-hit games. So all hail the mighty Puma.

This stretch of play by Berkman is reminding me of Jeff Bagwell back in his MVP year of 1994. Bagwell just put the team on his shoulders and carried his teammates along, and it’s almost like Berkman is doing that right now. He is really fun to watch.

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Speaking of being on a streak… The Astros have won of 12 of their last 16 games, and with a record of 18-16, they now sit in third place. This was also their third straight last-at-bat victory.

Brandon Backe (2-3, 4.42 ERA) gets the start tonight against Washington’s John Lannan (2-3, 3.74 ERA). And I somehow expect the luck for the Astros is about to break because the Astros are trotting out Brian Moehler to start on Friday night in Los Angeles against the Dodgers’ Derek Lowe. And I’m sure the Dodger batters are just waiting for a chance to play around with Chris Sampson, who will be getting the start on Saturday.

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Roy Oswalt is tied for the league lead in a stat where a pitcher doesn’t want to be the leader: he has surrendered 11 home runs so far this season. I haven’t crunched the numbers, so I’m not sure how this stacks up with Jose Lima’s NL record 2000 season, but this number is a tad high.

And the Astros pitching staff, as a whole, has surrendered 46 home runs so far, and this, too, leads the league.

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When the team doesn’t hit, the team doesn’t win, as almost happened last night. The Astros are 16-5 on the season when scoring four or more runs. But they are only 2-11 if scoring three runs or less. So if the vaunted offense doesn’t work, the Astros don’t win. And with the likes of Brian Moehler and Chris Sampson coming up in the rotation, that vaunted offense – or at least Lance Berkman – better keep hitting.

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For those of you who are only accustomed to the baseball stylings of Jose de Jesus Ortiz and Richard Justice, allow me to lead you to this column by one of the best baseball writers in the country, Thomas Boswell. There’s no hyperbole. There’s no reliance on emotion, no gut feelings. It’s just a column on what the Nationals owners have promised, what they have failed to deliver, and what they must do to remedy the situation. It’s a good read. Enjoy. – John Royal

JCF: So now what? Do you get a break? Or do you just dive straight into draft and free-agent prep?

DM: It’s both. Free agency arrives a couple days after the draft so you gotta be ready for both. So with the coaching staff it’s more about free agents or trade targets. Then with the personnel side it’s more draft. Then we’re also working on off-season player development plans for the players; strength and conditioning plans as well. So we’re packing in a lot of off-season planning this week, then that will free up more time to study free agents, trade targets and draft eligible players for the next seven weeks.

JCF: So you don’t mind running down your list of trade targets, do you?

JCF: All right, well, in all seriousness, how are you feeling these days? It’s been nearly a week since you guys were eliminated, has the pain dissipated somewhat or is it killing you to watch Utah play L.A.?

DM: (laughs) I’m watching them right now. I think at this point this week, I’m too busy to worry about the emotions of it right now. I think we had to dive right in; we didn’t give ourselves a whole lot of time to mourn. It was a disappointing end, but we take comfort in the trajectory of the team with our young players, and what we were able to accomplish. Getting home court in the Western Conference with a lot of adversity was something to look back on and be positive about, even though in the end it was disappointing.

JCF: So looking ahead, what do you see as the biggest need areas-- besides just a full season of good health for Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming-- for this team to be able to go further next year?

DM: I’ll talk more in skill sets. We won’t be able to get everything because we don’t have a huge amount of [salary cap] room—we just have mid-level room. We’re looking for a guy who can attack the basket, shoot, probably a little more offensive-minded even though we want to keep our identity--we’re the second best defensive team in the league. We want to keep that up so we can’t trade it all off, but I think with an acquisition either through trade or free agency we’re looking more for someone who has the ability to score, and ideally it’d be somebody who can beat their man off the dribble and shoot.

JCF: Before the season began, you talked about how you felt a great responsibility toward T-Mac and Yao to take advantage of their primes. Do you feel a sense of urgency right now since that window—at least with regard to Tracy—could be closed in a couple years?

DM: Yeah, I mean I think both of them have many, many good years left. But I think we do feel like there is a natural two-year stretch here to hopefully make things happen because that’s what we’ve got Tracy signed for--the next two years here.

JCF: Does part of the plan going forward include trying to scale back T-Mac and Yao’s minutes during the regular season, sort of like what the Spurs do with Ginobili, Parker and Duncan? Obviously personnel issues factor into the equation, but it’s no secret that, when healthy, McGrady and Yao played heavy minutes during the regular season.

DM: Yeah, I think, all things equal, that’s the smart approach that the Spurs are taking. But in this case, all else isn’t equal; they’ve won four titles [this decade]. I put the responsibility on me to get the roster to the point where coach Adelman can rest those guys more and feel comfortable and confident that we can still win the game.

JCF: I know we’ve talked about this before, but I want to ask you again since the wound is still fresh, so to speak. How do you react when you get bombarded by the annual “T-Mac can’t get out of the first round” stories? Do you get upset considering the fact his numbers indicate he always elevates his game in the postseason, or are you just oblivious to it by now?

DM: Yeah, that’s a new question (laughs). I’d worry about more if Tracy worried about it. He doesn’t, so we don’t worry about it at all. All we’re worried about is playing hard, playing our best, and doing what it takes to advance. We’ve come up short, and as you pointed out, it has nothing to do with Tracy. I think in only one of his [playoff appearances] was his team favored to win. To me, it’s just something that the media focuses on, but it’s not something we focus on.

JCF: Well, let’s approach the T-Mac discussion from a different angle now. I heard secondhand that you recently mentioned you believe Tracy is the best passing wing in the NBA. Did you really say that, and if so, I guess that means you consider McGrady to be an even better passer than LeBron James?

DM: Yeah, there’s no question he’s the best passing wing, not only from our eyes but there’s evidence as well. If you look at passes that lead to high percentage shots, Tracy leads the league in that. That’s the key to a skill he has that, I think, is still undervalued and less known from people who don’t watch the Rockets every day.

JCF: So does LeBron rank second in that particular area?

DM: Yeah, I know he’s high up there. I don’t have the ranking in my mind. But I know we looked at it last year and part of the way through this year. I haven’t taken a look at it since the season ended, but [Tracy] is always the top guy.

JCF: So what you really focus on then are passes that lead to good scoring opportunities?

DM: Yeah, guys who get players the ball in high percentage areas, whereas a lot of assists come from a pass to an open guy who has a 20-footer. That’s not a great shot. Tracy’s passes generally lead to open three looks, or shots near the basket.

JCF: Interesting. So going back to the team-building part of the off-season for a moment, it seems like this could be an interesting summer with regard to the free agent class. On the surface, it looks like we might see a situation that leads to too many players chasing too few available dollars, which could create a bit of a buyer’s market, for once; at least from the standpoint of there being a few bargains out there once all the big chunks of available cap room dry up. Obviously, it’s way too early to make that call, but are you counting on free agency to be a major part of your efforts to upgrade the team?

DM: I think we look at everything really closely. I think it’s more likely we’ll upgrade through trade vs. free agency. I do agree with you though about the free agent outlook. But I hesitate because many years I’ve said that I think this may be the year free agency isn’t crazy, and every year I’ve been wrong (laughs). So until we go through our normal process of mapping out how much money each team has and their cap situation, I can’t say this with confidence. But my general intuition is I’ve again fooled myself into thinking it might not be crazy this year, and that will open up some opportunities for us because we’re obviously not a team that’s gonna have big cap room to go out and chase any sort of big-name player.

JCF: Now I know the draft picture is even less clear at this point, but I’ll ask you about it anyway. You had a great draft last year as far as getting guys who made significant contributions like Carl Landry and Aaron Brooks…

DM: We got a D- on our draft! (laughs)

JCF: Well, I don’t know, I think I gave you guys an F on draft day…

DM: Did you really?

JCF: Ummm, for some reason, I can’t seem to recall... But that’s obviously irrelevant, so let’s just move on… quickly. Do you feel like there’s the depth within this draft class for you to again find a player who can contribute despite the fact you don’t get to pick until 24 other teams have selected?

DM: Yeah, there’s only really two clear top of the draft guys; I think Beasley and Rose are going to go in some order. After that, there’s some depth of decent players that we feel good might extend down to 25. So if we keep the pick and don’t use it as part of a trade, I do feel like we’ll have some success at getting a good player. You can’t really project whether it’s going to be someone who can contribute in year one, you might take someone who is more of a player who might contribute over time. But whoever we get, we do feel good that we’ll have a decent shot at getting someone who helps the Rockets over the next four years.

JCF: Speaking of guys you draft who might contribute over time, what’s the latest on guys like Brad Newley and Lior Eliyahu?

DM: Hey, what about Sergei Lishouk? Come on, man. You gotta keep up with the foreign guys we have. (laughs) But Eliyahu played big minutes of the semi-finals of the Euroleague final four. Offensively, he’s a gifted player and he’s shown it. He hasn’t been as strong defensively, which is why he hasn’t had consistent minutes on Maccabi, which is one of the best teams in the world. But we feel good about his progress, and we’ll see how he contributes over time.

And Newley, he played out of the Australian league in a good Greek league this year, and he made some good progress. He set the all-time Greek league record of three pointers made in a game. So the progress on Newley has been positive as well.

JCF: So do you see either one of those guys helping the Rockets next year, or is that still further down the line?

DM: We’re obviously a team that won 55 games, so we’re a good team and I think it’s gonna be tough for anyone who’s not an established player to come in and play. So if that’s the case, it may be better for their development to be playing minutes elsewhere. But we’ll evaluate that over the off-season. A couple of those guys are gonna play in the summer league—it’s still a bit up in the air given the Olympic schedules. I think both of those players are gonna be on their Olympic squads.

JCF: One other player development question for you: Does the franchise have any interest in investing in a D-league team in order to perhaps install coach Adelman’s system and help develop young players that way? I know the Lakers and Spurs have adopted a similar approach.

DM: They have. I’ve had some public comments on this that probably stand, but until some of the structure of how the rights to players works in the D-league changes, I don’t see the Rockets owning a team.

JCF: That makes sense. So what about yourself? What did you learn in year one as a GM, and how would you evaluate your own performance?

DM: I don’t evaluate myself any different that we do as a group. And as a group we hit some of our goals which were to get home court in the Western Conference, and to give ourselves a better contract position, and to give us some players who are going to be on an upward curve going into next year. So those, as a group—and everyone worked on it, including the coaching staff who develop the younger players—we feel like we accomplished those, more or less. But we came up obviously short on maybe the most important goal, which was advancing in the playoffs. So I’d say we give ourselves mixed reviews at this point.

JCF: Finally, I have to ask: Before the playoffs began you said you felt like it was pretty much a slam dunk that the Celtics would win the East. Do you still feel that way after the scare they received from Atlanta? I know that was such a strange series when you factor in the point differential, but has your opinion of Boston changed at all, or do you feel like they’re still pretty much a lock to emerge from the East?

DM: Yeah, I think they’re pretty much a lock. I mean, they’ve got home court the whole way. I think it’s going to be very difficult for anyone to beat them in Boston. I’ve been in that environment. I think they have unbelievable fans and an unbelievable home court edge. And even if a team happens to beat them in Boston, the Celtics will match them by winning a game on the road. So I do feel like they’re going to come out of the East.

JCF: And out of the West?

DM: Um, out of the West… boy the West is hard to handicap right now. I think I like the Lakers against Utah. Oh boy, you know I might, surprisingly, go with the Spurs getting there, even with them getting beat up by New Orleans the first two games. I still think they have the best core, and the best coaching still left in the league. If I had to pick, I’d probably go with Celtics-Spurs right now.

JCF: That’s interesting. Since you have the reputation as the stats guy, I would think that the numbers would direct you more toward the Lakers and Hornets at this point.

DM: Yeah, they’d probably direct us away from the Spurs. But I guess I might be a little biased. The Celtics are a little more obvious, but the Spurs, you know Dennis [Lindsey] is a good friend who went there. I just really have a lot of respect for what they do there. So I think they’ll figure it out and win these games at home, and then they’ll go from there.

JCF: And I assume that, no matter what, the Celtics are probably your pick to win the whole thing, right?

DM: Yeah, that’s definitely my pick. I do think that series would go seven, though.

JCF: Well, it should be a great match-up, regardless. Hey, thanks so much for spending time with us throughout the season, Daryl. Get some rest, and we’ll catch up with you around draft time.

DM: Sounds good. I look forward to it.

- Jason Friedman

The interesting thing, to me, is with the AHL as a whole. Specifically, just how many teams will there be in the league next year? I ask because the Dallas Stars terminated their arrangement with the AHL’s Iowa Stars. So, at the moment, there is no AHL team playing hockey in Des Moines.

The Dallas Stars are building an arena in the Austin area, and it is there that their AHL-affiliated team will play. There’s just one problem: This arena won’t be ready in time for the 2008-2009 season, so currently the Dallas Stars have nowhere to put their not-ready-for-primetime players.

So that leaves, for the moment, 28 AHL teams.

The owners of the arena in Des Moines hoped to have the Wild move the Aeros there. But that’s not happening. But Iowa says it will suit up a team for this season. There is even a name for this team, the Iowa Thunder. But the team isn’t affiliated with anyone. There’s a rumor that the Anaheim Ducks aren’t happy with their arrangement with their affiliate in Portland, Maine, so the Ducks might move their players there. And the Rochester Americans had a dual arrangement with the Buffalo Sabres and Florida Panthers this season, but with the season ended, the arrangement with the Sabres has ended. And with the sale of the Americans, it appears that there will be just a sole affiliation with the Florida Panthers. So it’s possible the Sabres could move their affiliation to Iowa, which would still leave Dallas without an affiliation agreement in the AHL, or Dallas could end up in a dual arrangement with another team.

Now, it’s possible that I don’t know what I’m talking about. But it doesn’t matter, because whatever happens, the Houston Aeros will be back at Toyota Center this coming season. Let’s just hope the people running Toyota Center learn the proper way to handle the ice. -- John Royal

Do I have any other thoughts? Yeah, Shawn Chacon sucks, and the fact that the team is still depending on him to be a solid pitcher does not bode well for the rest of the season. But I am very much liking that Fat Elvis is becoming the Big Puma – last night was the first five-hit night of Lance Berkman’s career. I’m thankful every night for Michael Bourn and Hunter Pence in the outfield, especially, once again, after watching the Nats trying to play out there.

But despite the Astros coming from behind, again, to win this game, I am still in agreement with the Chron’s Brian McTaggart when it comes to this team. They’re not that good. When the offense is clicking, like it has been the past week, it can beat just about anybody – except for good pitching; I firmly believe good pitching will always defeat good hitting. But when the team slumps, there is just not enough good pitching on the roster to pick up the team.

SOME MISCELLANEOUS GAME NOTES:

Roy Oswalt (3-3, 5.57 ERA) gets the start today, and he goes against Odalis Perez (0-3, 3.18 ERA).

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For the four games of this home stand, Berkman is 12 for 18 with two homers, four doubles, eight runs and seven RBI. On fire.

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Ten years ago yesterday, Chicago Cubs rookie Kerry Wood struck out 20 Houston Astros batters. I still remember listening to that game on the radio. Wood was phenomenal. And he was phenomenal for that rookie season. It’s really a shame his career was wrecked by injury, because he could have been up there with the greatest pitchers ever. But now he’s merely one of those what-if stories.

But damn, that one game was just special. I’ve seen no-hitters where the pitcher wasn’t as dominating as Kerry Wood was that game. And to think, if Wood and Mark Prior could have stayed healthy, the Cubs might have been the National League team of the decade.

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I can’t believe I’m doing this, but I’m agreeing once again with a Chron writer, Jerome Solomon, in that it is way too early to be giving up on Michael Bourn. Bourn is phenomenal in the field – and with the range that he and Pence have, the inability of Carlos Lee to field a position is almost negligible. When he gets on base, he has shown great instincts for stealing bases, or for advancing on hits. Finally, the Astros aren’t going to compete this year. Let the kid play, and let him get comfortable. I would probably move him down in the order, for now, so that he can get a bit more comfortable at the plate. But don’t give up on Bourn. Let him gain an identity. (Pun intended).

Also, there is nothing wrong with Hunter Pence. He started off slow, but his average and on-base percentage continue to rise. Pence and Bourn could be a great outfield combo for a long, long time to come.

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The funny moment of the night is courtesy of Bill Brown and Jim Deshaies. At one point, Deshaies got to talking about Vin Scully, and the two got to talking about the great baseball voices they listened to as they grew up. As they spoke, Fox Sports cut to a shot of Milo Hamilton, and both men agreed they had never heard of Milo when they were growing up.

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Finally, I want to address a pet peeve. When a bad guy homers into the stands, stop with the throwing back of the ball. Just because Cubs fans do it doesn’t mean you have to do it. And one of the reasons this bugs me so much is that I’ve been out in the outfield seats in the past, and I’ve been in sections where an opponent hit a homer, and I’ve seen a young kid get the ball, then I’ve watched you morons pile on the kid and boo and shout and essentially force him to throw the ball back. No kid should ever have to throw back a baseball because a bunch of morons want to copy a tradition started by drunken Cubs fans. – John Royal

Oh, don’t be fooled. There is a conflict of interest regarding Andy Pettitte, but the judge ruled, correctly, that Brian McNamee was not the correct party to request Hardin’s removal from the case.

But as with everything else on this matter, Rusty and his minion are wrong about their ethical obligations. Because, as Judge Ellison implied in his opinion, if Andy Pettitte decides to seek Rusty’s removal because of the conflict of interest, the judge will grant it.

At the moment, Pettitte’s attorneys are not commenting publicly on this matter, but sources are telling the New York Daily News that Pettitte and his legal team are hoping that they won’t have to get involved because they believe that Judge Ellison will dismiss the case.

Now, if I were McNamee’s attorneys, I’d probably be praying that Pettitte doesn’t object to Rusty, because Rusty’s legal moves in his defense of Clemens have been amateurish, and Federal Judges, like Ellison, don’t quite go in for the cornpone theatrics of the type that Rusty likes to employ. As for me, I’m hoping Rusty stays in because I think McNamee lawyer Richard Emery is correct in his assessment that “[t]his case will be more unseemly and more inappropriate if litigated with Hardin in it.”

And I think that’s exactly what all of us sitting on the sidelines are hoping for: unseemly and inappropriate.

In other Rocket news, the Daily News is also reporting that Rocket spent the weekend huddled with his family as they discussed whether or not to drop the case.

But it might not matter if the suit is dropped because the Feds have announced that they plan to start talking to the Rocket mistresses. And as Barry Bonds can probably attest, nothing good happens when the mistress talks to the Feds, especially an aggrieved mistress.

And there is also more bad news for Team Rocket, as it appears the Feds are going after key Rocket witness Jose Canseco, and that they are vigorously questioning whether he blackmailed players to keep them out of his latest opus. For some reason, Team Rocket has made Canseco the key to their defense. It’s beginning to appear more and more as if Mr. Canseco is someone who can’t be relied on. And I’m beginning to wonder if maybe Team Rocket might have done something that Magglio Ordonez refused to do, which is pay off Canseco. – John Royal

I give you Jose de Jesus Ortiz on ESPN yesterday, making the entire city of Houston look like country bumpkins.

Before I go on, I’m going to remind you of what Ortiz wrote on Sunday morning, following his morning Mass: “I don't know about any of you, but I think we're all sinners. Moreover, I find it pathetic that so many folks have decided to pile on Clemens and his family, especially since some trashy tabloid articles appeared. As folks rush to cast stones, somehow people forget that dumping on Roger Clemens affects his children….With that in mind, I'd like to say it's time for folks to leave Roger Clemens and his family alone. Some of you would say he brought this upon himself, and that may be true. But, really, who are we to judge?”

Now, help me here, because I don’t understand something. Why does he write that we need to leave Rocket alone on Sunday, yet on Monday he’s telling ESPN: “In Houston, it hasn’t been that big of an issue.” Or that there’s not that much pressure on him in Houston because we know him and that “[h]e’s not the caricature that some tabloids have come up with.”

That’s another issue to be addressed from Ortiz’s interview. The continued misuse of the term “tabloid.” I don’t know how many of my readers have ever spent time in New York City, but I’ve had the luck to do so and I’ve read all four of the city’s daily newspapers. Three of those four are tabloids. And they are tabloids because a tabloid format makes them easier to read in a taxi, bus or crowded subway car. They are not called tabloids because of their lousy quality – okay, that might not be the case with the New York Post. But they are legitimate papers serving legitimate newsgathering functions. They are not the National Enquirer. In fact, in many ways, Newsday and the New York Daily News are far superior in content and quality than our own Chron.

So Ortiz’s use of “tabloid” is definitely a misstatement meant to make people think Rocket is being smeared by a publication on par with the National Enquirer instead of one that is superior to the Chron. And this isn’t just a simple mistake on Ortiz’s part. He came to the Chron from the New York area where he covered the Mets for the Newark Star Ledger.

Ortiz also tells ESPN that Houston’s treatment of Roger Clemens is on par with San Francisco’s treatment of Barry Bonds. Now the only way this could truly be judged on a fan basis would be if Rocket were still playing for the Astros like Bonds played everyday for the Giants when he was facing very public scrutiny over BALCO. But I know of one area where Clemens is receiving better treatment from Houston than Bonds did while in San Francisco.

Two reporters with the San Francisco Chronicle were threatened with jail for their continued reporting on secret grand jury matters implicating Bonds. And the reporters weren’t covering for Bonds, they were exposing Bonds. They even wrote a detailed book on Bonds and his use of steroids. Unlike Ortiz, these reporters didn’t go on national TV defending Bonds and acting as his mouthpiece.

I’m not implicating the entire Chron sports department. Brian McTaggart has not been covering for Clemens, and Richard Justice took the toady that is Ortiz to task yesterday, reminding Ortiz that the only person to blame for Clemens’s problems was Clemens.

But the Ortiz statement that really pisses me off – and which I believe may further divide a Chron sports department which is already bordering on civil war – is when Ortiz tells ESPN: “This is pathetic. Only [McNamee] who may, or may not, have raped a woman in Tampa could sit there and cast stones on a guy who may or may not have cheated on his wife.”

This pisses me off because of something I wrote yesterday: Ortiz wants us to lay off Clemens because of the effect it is having on the Rocket family while asking who we are to judge, yet he has never asked Team Rocket to lay off of Brian McNamee.

And again, he asks ESPN who are we to judge Clemens. Yet he sits there spouting Team Rocket propaganda about Brian McNamee. About McNamee being a rapist. We are not to judge Clemens, but Ortiz can judge McNamee. It is okay to make it as ugly as possible for McNamee, but Clemens must not be touched.

Now we don’t know if McNamee raped a woman because charges were never filed. The police suspected this, but they couldn’t charge McNamee. Yet, for Ortiz, this is enough to damn Brian McNamee. And while we need to spare the Rocket family any of the ugly incidents of his affair with a 15-year-old country singer, the McNamee family is not worthy of such protection – somehow, this whole sordid affair doesn’t effect them.

Anyway, if McNamee is such a evil man doomed to damnation because he’s an alleged rapist, why did Rocket allow this man to be around his family for many, many years afterwards, even though Rocket knew of the allegations?

Apparently Rocket agreed with Ortiz at one time, finding that he was not without sin and thus could not judge others. But Rocket is a desperate and pathetic man, who will stop at nothing to destroy others as he, himself, is destroyed.

Jose de Jesus Ortiz, however, while telling me not to judge, has decided that he is without sin and that he can judge. And he has decided that while the Rocket family is to be spared, the McNamee is not. He has also decided that he is in the position to speak for the city of Houston, and for all journalists throughout the country.

Ortiz told ESPN that this whole thing has “just gotten ugly. It’s been pathetic. It’s sad. Every time I think it can’t get worse, it gets uglier.” And about that one thing he’s correct. But every time I think it can’t get worse, Jose de Jesus Ortiz opens his mouth and just makes it worse.

I can’t help but wonder what those two reporters in San Francisco think about Ortiz. And I can’t help but wonder what some of his colleagues over the Chron think – well, besides Richard Justice who called him a toady. But I do know what I think, and I’m going to cast my stones: Jose de Jesus Ortiz is an embarrassment to his profession, and for the Chron to retain any credibility, no matter how slight, the people in charge really need to get him off of the Astros beat.

Because it’s one thing for Ortiz to tell us to lay off Clemens, but it’s another, more disgusting and pathetic thing for Ortiz to go about calling people rapists who have never been found or judged to be rapists. But then again, unlike Ortiz, I don’t talk to God. – John Royal

We noticed this little dig, after a quote from Rocket’s pronouncement: “…Clemens said in a statement handed to the Houston Chronicle, a favorite outlet for Clemens and his lawyer Rusty Hardin.”

We hope they are not implying that the Chron has been slathering blow jobs upon Rocket and continues to do so up to the present moment and beyond.

Because there’s no need to imply that – it’s pretty damn clear on its face. – Richard Connelly

Gee, Ortiz, are you referring to Mrs. Rocket, who Roger threw under the bus by admitting she used HGH? Do you mean that same Mrs. Rocket who had to sit behind Rocket while he was testifying before Congress, the same Mrs. Rocket who had to sit there as her husband exposed her secrets to millions of people?

I want to know where Ortiz’s cares and concerns were in December and January and February and March and April and May as Team Rocket went on the attack against Brian McNamee. I don’t recall Ortiz telling us to lay off McNamee because of the effect on McNamee’s family when Rusty Hardin played a tape of a phone conversation between Rocket and McNamee, a phone call where a desperate McNamee pleaded for Rocket to please call his son, an ill son who still worshipped Rocket. And where was Ortiz and his call for sympathy when Rocket and Hardin were out there calling McNamee a rapist? Or when people close to Team Rocket were calling McNamee a drug pusher?

But here is what Ortiz fails to understand. It didn’t have to happen like this. None of this had to happen.

When the Mitchell Report hit last December, Roger Clemens essentially had three options. Option one was the Andy Pettitte: admit to steroid/HGH use and ask for forgiveness. Option two was the Mark McGwire: admit to nothing, refuse to talk about the past, and disappear. Option three was the Rafael Palmeiro: deny everything, loudly, and watch as your reputation is destroyed.

Roger Clemens and his mouthpiece chose the Rafael Palmeiro. Rocket went on 60 Minutes and told a couple of lies. Then he had the press conference where he attacked the press and played the tape of his phone conversation with Brian McNamee. Then he filed the defamation lawsuit against McNamee, claiming that McNamee had destroyed his reputation. Rocket went before Congress, tampered with a witness, and got Jose Canseco to be a character witness.

It’s really beginning to look like option three was not the wise choice.

Last week began the bimbo eruptions. The 15-year-old country singer. The New York bartender. The ex-wife of the pro golfer. Jennifer from New Orleans. The stripper from Detroit.

McNamee’s attorneys have made it clear they’re going to raise all of this at the defamation trial. They’re going depose the women. And his ex-teammates. And his coaches. And Mrs. Rocket. “Every avenue will be explored at deposition,” says one of McNamee’s attorneys.

It’s going to be ugly. Uglier than it already is. Uglier than flying a 15-year old girl across the country. Uglier than Mike Piazza getting hit in the head by a fastball for hitting a home run. Uglier than when Mindy McCready’s mother figured out that Rocket was still married. Uglier than Rusty Hardin playing the tape of a pleading man asking for forgiveness.

As one legal expert told the New York Daily News, “How many women are there? A girl a day? Every 15 minutes is one going to materialize from a bar or a trailer?” This stuff is going to come out. And Rocket’s reputation will never recover, no matter how any defamation suit comes out.

I don’t know what kind of advice Rusty Hardin has given to Roger Clemens (though it’s supposedly three million dollars' worth of advice). And I don’t know exactly how much or how little Rocket has listened to this advice. But forget about his reputation as a pitcher. His reputation as a person has been destroyed, and he’s never going to recover that. If Rocket is doing as Rusty Hardin has advised, then we’ve all got to questions Hardin’s ability as an attorney. But if Clemens is doing this against Hardin’s advice, then we’ve all got to really question Rocket’s judgment – and the evidence is pointing to his having very bad judgment.

If Rocket would’ve taken the Andy Pettitte option, if he would have said he was injured and that he only wanted to help his team, he would be seen as a hero, like Pettitte, and his reputation would be intact. If he would have taken the McGwire option, his baseball reputation might have been destroyed, but his reputation as a family man would have been saved. But he chose the Rafael Palmeiro option. It’s not going to matter what becomes of any defamation suit, or any investigation into the Mitchell Report. The Rocket’s reputation is damaged, and it can never be repaired.

Rocket friends and family are supposedly trying to convince him to drop his suit against McNamee. But supposedly Rusty Hardin and Rocket’s agents are trying to keep Clemens away from them.

Clemens should probably drop his suit. And he should drop it quick. His reputation’s shot. He’s probably never going to get back his good name. But maybe if he acts now we won’t soon be reading about some 16-year-old claiming that Rocket’s his/her dad. At that point, Rocket’s reputation will not be able to go any lower.

And Rocket, apologizing for personal mistakes is not going to get the job done. Especially when you, in your so-called apology, continue to deny the McNamee allegations, and especially when in your apology you go and essentially call Mindy McCready, her mother and her father liars. Apologizing by calling yourself blameless is not getting the job done. Ortiz and his minions might fall for it, but nobody else will.

Clemens could have been out of all of this a long time ago. And I hope what he’s putting his family through now was worth it. Because, Jose de Jesus Ortiz, none of this had to happen. It’s not the public who is harming the Rocket family. It is Roger Clemens. And instead of telling the public to lay off of the Rocket, maybe you should be telling Rocket to lay off of his own family. – John Royal

The Eric Gagne of the Brewers is nowhere near the Gagne of the Dodgers. He’s more of a Brad Lidge from the Astros-era than he is a Brad Lidge from the Phillies-era (Lidge is 1-0 with 7 saves and a 0.00 ERA so far this season). And Sunday afternoon, with the Astros trailing 6-4 coming into the bottom of the ninth, and Gagne on the mound, there was just this feeling that the Astros could still win this game and sweep the series with the Brewers.

The Astros did tie the game, the sixth run coming on a bases loaded walk to Berkman. Which in itself was appropriate being that if it were not for Lance Berkman’s bat, the Astros would not have been in the situation to tie the game. Berkman, with a homer and two doubles, had accounted for three of the four runs going into the ninth, and his walk accounted for the sixth.

The Brewers didn’t go down easy, and were able to load the bases in the 12th, yet were unable to score. Berkman would then reach on an infield single and my man Hunter Pence, zero for five on the day with three strikeouts, connected and sent a pitch into the concourse behind the Crawford Boxes for a walk-off two-run home run, his fourth homer of the season.

The 8-6 win moved the Astros back to the five hundred mark for the season at 16-16. The Astros are still in fourth place, but they’re only a half-game behind the Brewers for third.

SOME MISCELLANEOUS BASEBALL NOTES:

I can’t figure this team out. I’m not trying to be funny because I’m serious. A team whose starting pitching is this bad shouldn’t be playing five hundred baseball. They can never depend on the vaunted offense to come alive, and they’ve shown that they have real problems with hitting good pitching. I guess I should just sit back and enjoy this, but a team that must have home runs to win a game just really worries me.

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I know it’s been a while since Channel 20 has had the rights to broadcast the Astros. But the station’s got to get its act together before it faces an FCC fine.

Once again, Bill Brown threw to a commercial break as Dave Borkowski came trotting in to replace the struggling Chris Sampson. And the guys in the truck switched to a shot they were going to use for framing the scene when they came back from the commercial. Only Channel 20 didn’t go to commercial. We got to hear Jim Deshaies speaking to his producer about where they were going to insert a taped clip about Chris Sampson. Then Deshaies talked about how he couldn’t go to the Astros page on ESPN.com without finding a story from Roger Cossack dealing with Roger Clemens.

Luckily, neither Brown nor Deshaies said anything on their mikes that would get anyone in trouble – and for my old job I used to listen to them during commercial breaks, and I can’t recall either one ever letting lose with a profanity – but broadcasters can be quite profane when they think no one is listening. So Channel 20 really should make someone is in the master control room at all times to push the commercial button.

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Another example of why Jim Deshaies is one of the best in the business: Milwaukee’s Ben Sheets was thrown at home plate for the second out of the top of the second inning. Looking at the replay, Deshaies calmly said he thought Sheets was safe, and after looking at several different angles, he remained convinced that Sheets was safe – not something that most announcers would do when the opposing club was involved.

Then later in the game, Jose Cruz, Jr. was thrown out at second base after a Michael Bourn pop up fell safe. Deshaies was convinced the umpire was right, but after looking at the replay several times, he thought the umpire might have been out of position and probably got the call wrong. Then, looking at it a final time, he notes that the umpire was correct and tells us why.

Most commentators don’t go to these lengths. They instead choose to rant about how bad the umpires are. So, once again, Houston, I hope all of you appreciate just how good Jim Deshaies is.

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Brandon Backe’s fifth inning homer on Saturday night was his third career MLB home run. That puts him at number seven all-time on the Astros list of home runs by pitchers.

Backe’s homer was followed by a Michael Bourn home run. Friday night, Miguel Tejada, Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee went back-to-back-to-back. This was the first time the Astros had consecutive games of back-to-back homers since August 11-12, 1981. The number of homers is probably one of the reasons the Astros have scored 30 runs in their last five games.

The sweep of the Brewers came about because of the Astros hitting home runs. And for each victory, the Astros had to come from behind to get the win.

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I know that I pick on Carlos Lee and Lance Berkman about how they’re out of shape. But watching Milwaukee’s Prince Fielder this weekend, I’m now convinced that they’re in a lot better shape than they look. That said, I’d really like to see Lee hustling as much as Fielder. Fielder always seem to be going full out, while Lee continues with his slow jog to balls hit down the left field line.

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The Astros are off Monday, but they return to action as they finish out this home stand with three games against the Washington Nationals. The Nationals are not the pushovers they were earlier in April. Their record is 14-18, and they have won eight of their last ten games.

Shawn Chacon (0-0, 3.50 ERA) gets the start Tuesday, and he faces Shawn Hill (0-0, 3.32 ERA). Roy Oswalt (3-3, 3.57 ERA) gets the nod on Wednesday night, and he faces Odalis Perez (0-3, 3.18 ERA). The series finishes up on Thursday as Brandon Backe (2-3, 4.42) gets the start against Washington’s John Lannan (2-3, 3.74 ERA). – John Royal

Sure, every once in a long while there those who find themselves lucky enough to cheer for teams like the Bill Russell-era Celtics or 10-Cups-in-15-years Montreal Canadiens. But for most sports fans, embracing your favorite franchise often means bracing for the worst, year after year after tortured year.

Far more often than not, your team is going to end its season with a loss. That’s just the way it is. Of course, all losses are not created equal. That’s why ESPN.com’s Bill Simmons created his ingenious “Levels of Losing.” But no matter how you slice it, the agony of defeat is never pleasant. It’s sort of like that horrific Def Leppard and Tim McGraw collaboration ABC is using for its NBA playoffs coverage. You can listen to it loud. You can listen to it soft. You can even change the channel the second that blasphemous first note bombards your sense of hearing and good taste. But no matter what you do, exposure to such toxic audio assault is going to leave you nauseous and begging for mercy. Losing is like that, too.

Much more important is the opportunity to dream, for that is the essence of the bargain between fan and team. The fan lends his (or her) support, and in return the team extends an invitation to dream—for better players, better days and, ultimately, better endings. Keep the dream alive, and the franchise will find fans willing to follow it to the ends of the earth. Neglect it, and, well… I’m sure the good people of Seattle will be happy to enlighten you on the subject.

So to Rockets fans still mourning a second straight playoff defeat at the hands of the hated Jazz, and 11 consecutive years of postseason futility, take heart; yours is a team on which to dream. There is the steady, stellar play of Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. There is the promise of Luis Scola and Carl Landry. There is the hope that a player like Brandon Rush or Robin Lopez could somehow slide to the Rockets on draft day. There is the possibility of a free agent market that could favor the buyer for once. And last but certainly not least, there is the potential inherent within the expiring contract of Bobby Jackson.

To be sure, there remain a myriad of potential pitfalls as well. Ill health and budding empires are just two of the many outside forces which threaten to derail the dream once more. But now is not the time to drown in the ubiquitous doom and gloom which perpetually accompany premature endings. Now is the time to remember the deal you made when you originally signed up for this ride.

On that fateful day, you were promised plenty of pain, bitter pills and crushing losses; all in exchange for a dream. Well, guess what: Today, that dream is alive and well.

And if you don’t know how precious that gift really is, go ask a Sonics fan. Then give him a hug.

Because losing that dream is the worst pain of all. – Jason Friedman

Tomorrow: The season-ending Q&A with Rockets GM Daryl Morey

Nantz comes before us with a memoir, Always By My Side: A Father’s Grace and a Sports Journey Unlike Any Other. The memoir exists to serve two purposes: It is a brief of his broadcasting career, and it is a loving tome to his father, who’s in the late stages of Alzheimer’s. For purposes of a framing device, the book is set in 2007 as Nantz embarks on a mythical epic journey – mythical because I’ve yet to find anyone who feels this feat was monumental – of becoming the first broadcaster to do play-by-play of the Super Bowl, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and the Masters. A journey he makes with thoughts of his father always at the front of his mind.

Reading the details of his career advancement reminds me of the Ann Richards joke about George H.W. Bush – a good friend of Nantz – that Bush was born on third base and thought he had hit a triple.

His opinion of his viewers is best expressed by a story. He sees Tiger Woods in the locker room before Woods starts a round. Woods ignores him. Legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus tells Nantz that Woods is just like that before he starts a round. Nantz decides to play a joke on Woods: For the entire broadcast that day, he will not once mention Woods’s name. Never mind that Woods is leading the contest. Never mind that viewers may come in and out of the broadcast. Never mind that they might not see every graphic, or listen to every word his analyst says. Never mind that the only time some viewers will pay any attention is when Nantz speaks. Getting his revenge on Tiger Woods is more important than his actual job of relaying factual information to his viewers.

Then there’s the Janet Jackson Super Bowl in Houston. Nantz feels no need to actually watch the game, instead choosing to hang in the palatial suite the taxpayers built for Bob McNair. He misses the whole Janet Jackson thing – and makes no attempt to use any of his important connections (George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush) to help out his employer. Then Nantz grabs a limo and has the police whisk him away as soon as the game ends. Never mind the fans trying to deal with traffic. Nantz is important – he has dined with Rush Limbaugh after all.

The book partly fails because I end up knowing nothing about Nantz’s father. The one memory of Nantz with his father that I remember is the two of them attending the very first New Orleans Saints football game. So while it’s nice that Nantz’s memories with his father are supposed to drive this book, I really have no sense of what he’s like. I know lots of stuff about Billy Packer. And Ken Venturi. And George H.W. Bush. And Jim McKay. And Phil Simms. And Fred Couples. But his dad? Not so much

Ultimately, the book fails in how it deals with the subject of Alzheimer’s and how to deal with a loved one who suffers from it. Jim Nantz is constantly traveling, so it’s his mom dealing with his dad. And his sister. And his wife. Nantz just pops by for the occasional drive-by. Nantz knows his father is well-cared for, and that the best professionals are working on the matter. His solutions are those that most families can’t make, because most families don’t have the economic means to make his solutions.

Always By My Side is like a Nantz broadcast: It’s bland, inoffensive and you come away from it knowing nothing you don’t already know. There are no revelations about broadcasting or about Alzheimer’s in this book. The book is boring and nonessential. – John Royal

So it’s the evil bloggers who are trying to hold Malone accountable, while the mainstream media just ignore the story.

I'll climb down off my soapbox now, but I felt the need to rant. – John Royal