Shannon Warren.com

Richard Justice seems to think so.

O man, I love the off season!

Carlos would bring another 37 homers to the team. Think about that — 37 homers in 2006 would have gotten us into the playoffs. We would be going back to the World Series & the Cardinals would be at home.

What’s better is that it appears Carlos - a Panamanian by birth - really wants to play ball in Texas. Why? Apparently he has a ranch down here. How lucky for us?!

He would be one of many Astros with strong ties to Texas.

It is no secret that Berkman & Clemens are Texas natives. But it seems there is a broader philosophy in the General Manager’s office to recruit talented players from Texas — or at least to use Texas Pride as a selling point of playing here; e.g., Berkman, Clemens, Pettitte, Backe, Sampson, Albers.

Carlos, you would be in good company. So, let’s put the rumors to rest & get your signature on the dotted lineâ?¦ what do ya say? O ya, did I mention that Houston talks Spanglish with the best of them? Bienvenidos al Houston, mi casa es su casa.

In response to the A-Rod is Right For Houston ramblings, here are Lance Berkman’s thoughts on Adam Everett via Richard Justice,

Everett is the best defensive shortstop in baseball. Period. End of discussion. If you’ve got a guy who is the best at anything, you keep him. He makes the Astros better.

He sets a tone with the way he plays, with his leadership and calm, that affects everyone positively. His attitude was one of the reasons the 2005 Astros hung together and got back in contention.

He’s not why the Astros didn’t win in 2006. He didn’t have a great offensive year, but the Astros weren’t constructed to get huge offensive production from short and catcher. They didn’t get the production from the corner outfield spots, third and second they needed. They also had problems at the back of the rotation and in the bullpen. Those are things that need to be fixed before there’s a new shortstop brought in.

A-Rod is not the right fit for our team either in attitude or chemistry â?¦

For the $16 million you’d have to pay A-Rod, you might be able to get Alfonso Soriano and not have to weaken yourself in another area. When the Astros discuss improving this club, they should begin by getting better at third, left, right and the back of the rotation. If they do those things, they’ll win the National League Central next year. And then you’ll all be writing to say how brilliant I was for keeping Adam Everett. You would be right.

… because the Rocket is coming back, and he’s worth every penny.

I can think of no greater sports event; my favorite sport, in my favorite city, my favorite team, sitting next to a great friend.

It was a perfect day in Houston for the first World Series Game in Texasâ?? history.

14 epic innings ended in a loss & a near certain end to the Astros bid for the World Series, but somehow I step away from that game with something to show for the pain.

The Astros fans showed what loyalty looks like by cheering when the team was down & looked to be out. They also stayed around. In fact, the game ended at 1:13am & most of the crowd remained present and loud.

Our Astros would not quit, they fought till the end & showed us why they got to the World Series to begin with.

The silver lining in the cloud is that the team is full of young talent & will have a bright future. Weâ??ll see if our owner will pony up and buy us a power hitter in the off season, but even without one our future is very bright.

[I realize these pictures are being posted in November, but I just had them developed!]

So we didn’t do so hot at the World Series. That didn’t stop thousands of Houstonians from showing up to cheer on our boys at city hall.

The mayor pronounced it Houston Astros Day. This, of course, is no different than any other day for me.

How was YOUR weekend?

NLCS Games three & four @ Minute Maid Park

Be My Baby featuring Dixie Carter @ the Alley Theatre

This is not good for my GPA.

… and I was there:

Photo by Paul Thompson

Quotes from ESPN.com:

So what will they tell their grandchildren about the longest postseason game ever played?

Will they start with the final, unlikely hero … Chris Burke …

Or will they start with the home run that tied this game — with two outs in the ninth inning, of course — a home run that was gone by about half an inch, a home run launched by a catcher (Brad Ausmus) who had hit three homers all year?

Will they talk about the second grand slam of the first two-slam game in October history — the eighth-inning Lance Berkman shot that helped transform a blowout into one of the most unforgettable baseball games ever played?

Or will they simply talk about how drained they were from playing nearly six hours of baseball — from playing 18 grueling innings, not knowing whether there was a game tomorrow, not knowing when they’d get to eat again?

…

But here is where we would start if we were them:

With The Rocket.

Long after everyone in attendance forgets the score of this game (Astros 7, Braves 6 — in case you already have), they will remember the sight of a 341-game winner sitting in the bullpen, all alone, waiting for his moment.

They will remember the chills that reverberated from their toes to their armpits in the top of the 15th inning, as the great Roger Clemens arose to warm up — for his first relief appearance in 21 years.

They will remember Clemens sprinting out of the bullpen to the dugout in the middle of the 15th, and the way their ears hurt from the pandemonium that sight unleashed.

They will remember Clemens stomping toward home plate to make the (gulp) first pinch-hitting appearance of his entire career — all 286 years of it — because there was literally no one left to pitch or hit.

And they will remember the Rocket finding yet one more breathtaking exploit to add to his seemingly limitless legend — by spinning three astonishing innings of one-hit, four-strikeout, 44-pitch relief until he wound up as (what else?) the winning pitcher.

… [more here]

Guess who has tickets to the fourth game?

Here’s what it looked like last year:

Let’s do it again…