Boxscore

The Astros (1-2), like the Reds, won their game thanks to a 9th-inning home run. Berkman provided the fireworks and the lead, with a 3-run blast with 2 outs to give the team back the lead and the loss to the Padres (2-1).

The two teams finish their 4-game series with Astro Shawn Chacon attempting to split the series, while Randy Wolf seeks the series win for San Diego.

Opening Day is here, and I know you don’t feel like concentrating on work. It’s time to get out the fun!

This awesome Who Wants to be a Millionaire-style quiz tests your knowledge of NLC teams: current trivia, history, and Red Hot Mama lore. Well, I think it’s awesome. Whether you do is about to be seen, I reckon. I bet you will. After all, it’s not work.

Thanks to the Crack Technical Staff for making this quiz work. Now go play!

Who Wants to Be an NLC Expert?

(Game modified from a Flash template provided at Flash Kit.)
Get the latest version of Flash here.

Opening Day is nearly here. Or technically I guess it’s already done, since it apparently happened on the other side of the world when I was getting ready to drive to work. What the hell is wrong with Bud Selig?

But the real Opening Day is nearly here, and after following these teams for a spring, it’s difficult to predict who will be the worst in the coming year.

I mean, there’s the perennial winner, the Cardinals, who are just awful. They’re counting on Rick Ankiel and Chris Duncan for all their offense other than Albert Pujols, and their rotation is empty without the great Chris Carpenter to anchor them. But on the other hand, Ankiel and Duncan do have some potential and they have rid themselves of David Eckstein.

They don’t look so bad when you look at the Astros. The Astros, not content with the worst farm system in the league, have completely dismantled their major league pitching organization to bring in the likes of Miguel Tejada and Kaz Matsui. Then again, they’re just starting this push for homers.

The Reds have been going down this ill-fated path for years. That won’t be a problem this year. The Reds promised to search the corners of the earth for just the right manager, and then hired the first guy who walked through the door. A guy who prefers lead-off hitters who get out more. A guy with a history of running young pitchers into the ground. A guy who really understands that black and Hispanic players are better than white players in day games.

But at least the Reds have some talent. How about those Pirates? There’s a team that wouldn’t know how to sign a number one draft pick even if they could manage to perform enough below mediocre to get one. And talk about a history of losing: 2008 is going to be consecutive losing season number 16 for this franchise.

Of course, no one can outdo the Cubs for losing. Losing their minds to blow all that money on Kosuke Fukudome, leaving them with no choice but to include Jason Marquis in the rotation. At least Ryan Dempster didn’t make it. Oh wait.

Which brings us to those Brewers.

Well, they’re pretty OK actually. I mean, they’re no Big Red Machine, but at least their fans don’t sit in such a constantly deranged state that they think just now cutting Mike Stanton heralds good things for the team.

So, yeah, I’ll go with them.

Tonight on the podcast we talk with Lambo, host of The Astrocast, about how the Astros are looking going into the season. Among other things, we discuss:

• The starting rotation. It isn’t the imposing group it once was, but Roy Oswalt still holds down the fort, and the rest of the division isn’t exactly kicking ass either.
• Miguel Tejada: his bat, his defense, and the impact of his appearance in the Mitchell Re–hey look over there! Roger Clemens is poking someone with a stick!
• The promise of Hunter Pence.
• The impending visit of the Red Hot Broadcast crew to the fair city of Houston for spring break fun.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

There’s concern in Houston about the defense, or lack thereof, of the infield. Here’s a brief bit from a report on The Astros Dugout.

[Y]ou are right about our gawd awful infield defense – bobbles and bad throws (Tejada nearly got Newhan killed on a routine DP toss us the line right into the runner), missed pop-ups (Wiggy and Loretta both missed pops to them in fair territory on the infield dirt – unreal), and we have no range up the middle It is downright ugly.

That could make for a long year for the Astros. However, it’s not entirely unexpected. How good could the defense up the middle be when you switch out Adam Everett, arguably the best defensive shortstop in the league, with Miguel Tejada. Sure Tejada’s bat was better by far than Everett’s, but the whole steroids spectre has made it difficult to predict how much offense Tejada will produce.

That trade continues to look worse and worse.