Ah the Astros. The team that once had the Ryan Express, Mike Scott, Killer-B’s, Terry Puhl (formerly the best hitter Canada produced), Jose Cruz Sr, J.R. Richard, Roger Clemens, Joe Niekro, Billy Wagner, and Joe Morgan. So, where are they today, just 2 full seasons away from their only World Series appearance? Dropping and dropping fast but with some kids in the outfield and catching who give you hope.

“We’re the team to beat…”
   -Jimmy Rollins, Spring 2007

Good call. But now, with no further ado, let me turn over the Progosticator's Poncho to a Special Guest.

Pinch-hitting, Mr Liam McIlroy. Take it away....

Team Canada has made it into the Olympics!  Billy Crystal leads off for Yanks!  Schilling on 60 day DL!  Padres in China!  Lots of !!!!

Janssen is going under the knife and is gone for the year.

Do you believe in miracles?

The Jays have signed former Oriole, Met, Yankee, Mariner, Marlin and Giant reliever Armando "Suitcase" Benitez to a minor league contract as insurance for Casey Janssen coming down with a sore shoulder.

You know a team is bad when you talk about how many games they've lost as opposed to how many games they've won – for example, a team that goes 62-100 doesn't win 62 games, they lose 100. Such is the case of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who have endured one of the longest stretches of futility in baseball history. Last year the Pirates posted their best record in three years by "only" losing 94 games, which is an achievement of sorts I suppose. In both 2005 and 2006 the Bucs went 67-95, and you have to go back to when Brian Mulroney was Prime Minister (or George Bush Sr. was President) to find the last Pirates team with a winning record. The Pirates have finished below .500 every year since 1993, and this season threaten to tie the Phillies for the longest consecutive stretch of losing seasons in baseball history at 16. Can they avoid this ignominy? Probably not, but we'll take a gander anyway. You might not want to keep going if you are prone to queasiness though – this gets ugly.

Another one of those little rites of Spring; the Vegas Over/Under lines for the year.

Nah. Not the Braves. Their time has surely passed. After all, they're heading into 2008 with two 40 year old starting pitchers. When was the last time a team won a championship with two such elderly folks in the rotation?

It was 2007?

Not quite as long ago as I was expecting. Maybe we still have to take this outfit seriously.

When you walk through the garden
Got to watch your back

The last episode of The Wire is being broadcast tomorrow night. It's been called "the best show on television" - not merely the best show now, but the best show of the last twenty years, if not ever - and that's pretty much how I feel about it.

Hey, we're not the only ones remembering Cito...

I came across the following over at the Tao of Stieb:

If there are any things more useless than spring stats, its spring stats in a small sample!

I found something indescribably ancient on my computer, and I'm going to share it with all of you!

Enter the Florida Marlins' spring training facility press conference area. After having received notice of an important Florida Marlins announcement, a throng of reporters was seated and looking around confusedly. One Miami Herald reporter in the second row turned to his colleague and whispered “is confusedly a word?” “I don’t know,” the response came, “but if it isn’t, it should be, because it’s definitely the manner in which I’m looking around right now.”

Craig Burley asked for it, so his wish is our command: "You know, Scott Cassidy just retired too, and I don't see anyone composing paeans to his memory. Hmph."

Saturday, Matt Holliday homered off Cassidy in a frame in which "Butch" surrendered four runs in one-third of an inning. Yesterday, he retired.

Your thoughts and "paeans to his memory"?