Friday's Three Astros Things

Some things to talk about while

1) Berkman, Oswalt to be honored Saturday

In case you missed it, two links to Houston's glory years will be back in Minute Maid Park on Saturday. No, Derek Jeter isn't sticking around for another series. Houston will be honoring both Lance Berkman and Roy Oswalt with a joint retirement ceremony. From the team's press release:

The ceremony will include retirement gifts and a video featuring several of Berkman and Oswalt's former teammates and other notable baseball figures. Prior to the ceremony, the Astros will hold a press conference during which each player will be signed to a one-day contract so that they can officially retire as Astros. In addition to Saturday night's gym bag giveaway, presented by Houston Methodist, 10,000 fans will also receive a special commemorative art card in honor of the two retirees.

"We are honored to celebrate the careers of Lance and Roy, two of the best players in Astros history," said President of Business Operations Reid Ryan. "Both were elite players and among the best of their era, and both played extremely significant roles in the most successful run in Astros history.

"Lance and Roy were also very popular with our fans and were outstanding representatives of the Astros organization. On Saturday, our fans will have the opportunity to celebrate their great careers with us."

This sounds like a great opportunity to remember two of Houston's best players. Anyone here going on Saturday? Anyone looking forward to seeing Berkman and Oswalt back in MMP on the side of the angels?

2) CSN Houston case gets one more appeal

Friday marks a sort of milestone, as we're a week away from another mediation session between all the parties involved in the CSN Houston mess with Judge Lynn Hughes. Before we get there, the Astros have sent another appeal to Hughes. From David Barron's piece:

The Astros are appealing a second case to U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes, this time involving the civil lawsuit filed against Comcast and former Astros owner Drayton McLane.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Marvin Isgur last month denied the Astros' request to return the civil case to state court, where it originally was filed last November. The lawsuit was moved by Comcast to federal court to be heard in conjunction with the CSN Houston bankruptcy case.

I wonder how this will sit with Hughes. The Astros have very clear goals in what they're trying to do and this appeal just pushes it up further. The Astros want recompense for the past two years, for that $36 million they've never gotten from Comcast.

Fans, though, don't care about this stuff. Whether Crane gets damages from Drayton in state court or federal court may not affect things much. But, if it annoys Hughes before that mediation session, it could change the tenor of all those negotiations.

3) Astros blast from the past

New segment that I'll debut every now and then, where I throw out facts about an Astros player and see if you can guess who he was. These aren't going to be players like Doug Rader or Steve Finley. These are the deep tracks.

First up, we've got a player from two decades ago. He wore No. 35, played all three outfield positions and collected 22 plate appearances in 12 games with the Astros.

Who is he?