The Astros may have jumped to Central Division faves overnight with the announcement of the acquisition of four-time All-Star shortstop Miguel Tejada. Houston had to give up five players in return but it's worth it, no doubt. They should start printing those World Series tickets right now. Here's the players Baltimore received for their superstar shortstop: outfielder Luke Scott, pitchers Matt Albers, Troy Patton and Dennis Sarfate, and third baseman Michael Costanzo. I'd say the biggest blow to the franchise is losing highly-touted pitching prospect Patton, but still a small price to pay for a player of Tejada's talent. Take a look at some of Tejada's career stats: .287 batting ave., .344 on-base pct., .477 slugging, 258 homers, 1,033 RBIs, 2002 American League MVP, and numerous other awards. I guess that leaves Adam Everett and Chris Burke on the trading block. Time to start taking a look at that bullpen.

The National League bores the crap out of me. I really wanted to see the Cubs go to the World Series but with Ted Lilly coming up to bat with the bases loaded I knew it was going to take a lot more luck. Something the Cubs aren’t really known for. I hear the arguments coming from the NL fans all the time how the AL has no panache because it’s all offense and there’s no trick to managing an AL team. My friend Doug calls it “pure baseball.” Just stop. Watching pitchers bat is more painful than watching Paul Byrd backpedal on his pious stance toward performance-enhancing drugs. More painful than realizing Gabe Kaplan playing poker interspersed by ads for Time Life’s Christian Rock series is slightly more entertaining than the Monday Night Football game between the Colts and Jags.

The Boston Red Sox are not going to sweep the World Series because they are going to lose Mike Lowell or Kevin Youkilis to allow Daisuke Matsuzaka to bat for the sake of purity. Yeah, I’m aware they can pinch-hit for him when he runs out of gas in the third inning, very funny. I guess if you like your games extra long, with tons of pitching changes and bench players hitting .158 with runners in scoring position … then this is your game. I also don’t trust the weather in Denver. If they have to plow the base paths it could really go either way for a couple of those games.

Well that didn’t last long. I can’t believe we are already in the postseason. Where has the time gone? It’s been a while since I've checked in. I’ve had to put baseball on a list of to-dos while my wife and I spoil our new son rotten. It wasn’t until I unwrapped the Red Sox mobile that it even occurred to me it was time for the playoffs. Well, maybe that isn’t entirely true. I have watched a couple Red Sox games with my son.

The first game we watched was some forgettable loss to the Devil Rays that was broadcast by the morning zoo deejays Fox Sports Southeast cast as announcers. Dreadful, glad he slept through it. Our second game was a no-hitter thrown by Mr. Clay Buchholz of the East Texas Buchholz’s. Red Sox announcers Jerry Remy and Don Orsillo were phenomenal in their narration and the game was just surreal to watch happen.

If you missed it, the Red Sox September call-up Clay Buchholz no-hit the Orioles for the second start of his major-league career. On to my brackets:

News came in today that the Houston Astros (58-73) fired head coach Phil Garner and general manager Tim Purpura. Cecil Cooper has been named the new manager with Tal Smith taking over as interim GM for the rest of the year. Purpura's ousting was expected, and if anything, a little late, but the axing of Garner was slightly more surprising (but only slightly). Garner took the Astros to their first-ever World Series and managed with an exciting style; lots of small-ball and runner movement on the base paths via hit-and-runs, base stealing, sacrifice bunts, etc. He didn't sit around and wait for a three-run homer as is the boring style of play popular in the American League.

Astros fan favorite and Galveston native Brandon Backe is on the road to recovery after undergoing Tommy John ligament replacement surgery last year and will make his first appearance with the Round Rock Express tonight as they battle the Salt Lake Bees. Backe gave up three runs on five hits, four strikeouts, and two walks in an Aug. 2 start for the Corpus Christi Hooks and will hopefully be in the Astros' starting rotation as soon as Sept. 1 in Chicago. With off-season acquisitions Jason Jennings and Woody Williams struggling in their first year at Minute Maid the Astros could certainly use another arm to assist ace Roy Oswalt and the recently impressive (at least at home) Wandy Rodriguez.

… am I drawn to these Barry Bonds record-tying and -breaking home runs. I can’t take my eyes off of it. I have watched six more Giants games this year than I have in my entire life. The previous record was one, when my brother Sean got married out in San Francisco in 1992. For some reason, I need to see this home run. I don’t want him to succeed because he’s a jerk and I do want him to succeed because it may be the tough love karma slap baseball needs for allowing Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa to plunder Roger Maris’ record.

So far I have not been disappointed in the quality of the games for their sideshow quality. Every night there seems to be a 25% chance he will even get a pitch to hit. Thursday night Brett Tomko bravely went at him in his first at bat. His pitches landed around the strike zone hilariously similar to the way doves land in my cat-patrolled back yard.

It’s 8pm on Saturday night. I am about to turn on ESPN’s nationally broadcast game to watch one of my favorite players play for a team I care nothing about. In my opinion he is a future Hall of Famer. A class act that goes out there every night he has to and gives it his all with what he was born with. He is friendly with the press, signs tons of autographs for kids, helps old ladies cross the street, and despite some legal troubles, remains loved throughout the majors. It is important to remember he is innocent until proven guilty. Tonight he will be trying his best to keep his ass out of the record books. I am referring to none other than Dontrelle Willis.

I don’t know if it was because of his celebrated success on anyone of my, now in shambles, fantasy teams or because he just seems like a nice guy, I always seem to be rooting for him to succeed. He has one of those Rocky-esque rags-to-riches stories that is impossible to root against. His last seven starts have been kind of crappy, though, and he comes into San Francisco ripe for an implosion. The last thing I want to see is for him to land in the history books for giving up a pair of record-setting home runs to that bulbous ass Barry Bonds. I will, at the very least, watch.

Earlier today future Hall of Famer Craig Biggio announced that he'll be retiring following the conclusion of this season. His playing time will also be reduced drastically for the remainder of the season with manager Phil Garner informing fans of the nights he's scheduled to play. He will most likely only start the initial game of each road series. Expect Biggio to play in the first and last game in the series at Chicago's Wrigley Field, the Cardinals' Busch Stadium, and the Mets' Shea Stadium which is located close to the home he grew up in in Long Island. He plans to start most night home games and the final three home games of the season against the Atlanta Braves. Garner plans to put Bidge behind the plate for one inning in his final game. Biggio will be sorely missed at the Juice Box next year, but at least he went out on his own terms, a rarity in sports these days. For Biggio's astonishing career stats click here. For Astros' tickets click here.

The Astros lost in extra innings to the visiting Oakland A's. Shortstop extraordinaire Adam Everett broke his leg and will be out four to eight weeks. Jason Jennings was pulled after four innings and 74 pitches with the game tied 3-3. Seemingly every child under the age of 11 in Houston was in attendance at the sold-out game. Did this equal a bad day at the park? Hells no. It was a blast. There really is nothing like an afternoon at the park to cure the workingman blues.

My friend – let's call him Bill since he was playing hooky from work – grew up in the Bay area and is a huge A's fan. He, like the A's, had never been to Minute Maid Park. When Oakland showed up on the Astros home schedule, we knew we had to go. Problem was they were playing a Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday series. Fuck it. We're taking off from work. Day trip! Just the boys.