Playoffs!

Not counting the upcoming ALDS, how many Division Series have we played in?

Congrats go to the Astros for having the best record in MLB – 107-55. What an outstanding regular season. We have an AL Cy Young Award winner on the club. Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole each had 20 or more wins and 300 or more strikeouts. Alex Bregman should get – but you never know – the AL MVP Award. Yordan Alvarez will get AL Rookie of the Year.

We dominated pure and simple. In hitting and in pitching. Highest run differential.

Home field advantage throughout the playoffs. We are the team to beat.

This is from a Washington Post story from this past weekend:

What specific duties Hunter Biden carried out for Burisma are not fully known. A lawyer for Hunter Biden, George R. Mesires, declined to say how much his client earned, or whether the vice president’s son knew the company’s owner was in the crosshairs of authorities when he joined.

Here is the entire WAPO article: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/the-gas-tycoon-and-the-vice-presidents-son-the-story-of-hunter-bidens-foray-into-ukraine/ar-AAHZFB6?ocid=spartandhp.

I urge you to read the article. Sigh! It looks like he cashed in while his dad was VP. This is a problem.

Memo to my fellow Dems. Hunter Biden is this election season’s Hillary’s email server. We don’t need it. If we want to be defending Hunter Biden for the next 13 months, let’s keep supporting former Vice President Joe Biden for the Democratic Party nomination for president. Our Democratic Party leaders in 2015 and 2016 asked us to join them and support former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and we know what kind of campaign we ended up with. It is time to ditch Joe Biden’s campaign effort. Please!

Good grief! This is a headline from Daily Beast yesterday about U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

What to Wear When You’re Impeaching the President

Sexist piece of sh_t headline. I didn’t even bother to read the story,

We have played in 10 Division Series so this will be our 11th of course.

Ok, Ok, so you want to know.

In 1981, we lost 3 games to 2 to the Dodgers in the West Division Series. (We had a players’ strike that lasted a month and a half in 1981, so they split the season and had a division series in each division.)

In 1997, we lost the NLDS to The ATL 3 zip.

In 1998, we lost the NLDS to the Padres, 3 games to 1.

In 1999, we lost the NLDS to The ATL, 3 games to 1.

In 2001, we lost the NLDS to The ATL 3 zip.

In 2004, we won the NLDS over The ATL, 3 games to 2.

In 2005, we won the NLDS over The ATL, 3 games to 1.

In 2015, we lost the ALDS to KC, 3 games to 2.

In 2017, we won the ALDS over the Red Sox, 3 games to 1.

Last season, we won the ALDS over Cleveland 3 zip.

As of this posting, we still don’t know what time we will play on Friday. There are three other MLB playoff games that day. You know how we are treated by the TV folks, so expect a noon or so starting time. Just saying,

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Same Tune

Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, name the MLB team with the highest team batting average?

This is the same old tune. Commentary is talking about underrating H-Town Council Member Karla Cisneros. She surprised most folks when she ran and won four years ago. Here is from today’s front page Chron story:

Asked how she would operate differently from City Councilwoman Karla Cisneros, the District H incumbent she is trying to unseat in November, Isabel Longoria did not mince words.

“What I would do different is … not be afraid to stand up to folks and say, here are the decisions we have to make — and not hide until the last minute because I’m scared to upset people,” Longoria, a former city planning commissioner and legislative policy aide, told the Chronicle editorial board last week.

Cisneros, a former HISD board president and first-term council member, shot back, “I’ve experienced this my whole life. I have a very feminine look about me, my voice is soft, and I can tell you that I am often underestimated. I’ve been called an iron fist in a velvet glove, for good reason.”

Here is the entire story:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Houston-council-incumbents-look-to-fend-off-14471704.php.

As expected, CM Cisneros is not getting any of the endorsements, because the activists as always know better. Sure. I am sure they have been out there a lot in some of the older District H neighborhoods. Sure.

Same goes for some of the so-called City Hall insiders.

I saw this on ESPN’s website:

The Astros also are the first team to have three straight 100-win seasons in the same decade in which they had three 100-loss seasons (2011-13).

Carlos Correa will be off the rest of the weekend due to back issues. Correa first came up in 2015 and won NL Rookie of the Year. He had a healthy season in 2016. In 2017, he played in 109 games (thumb injury), in 2018, 110 games (back problems), and this season, 75 games (masseuse broke a rib and back problems). Injury prone?

The Astros of course lead MLB with a .275 team batting average followed by the Twins at .270.

We still need to clinch home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

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Not Taking Credit

The Astros have won 104 games and the Dodgers and Yankees 102 each. How many other teams have a shot at a 100 win season?

You know how our top elected officials like to get out in front of a headline and take credit. Commentary is betting no one will jump in front of this one from today’s Chron:

Houston region’s poverty rate increases in 2018 as household income flattens

Here is the article:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/Houston-region-s-poverty-rate-increases-in-2018-14468509.php.

Or this one:

Houston area rate of uninsured highest among big U.S. cities

Here is the article: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/Houston-area-rate-of-uninsured-highest-in-nation-14468575.php.

This is from today’s Chron E-Board:

If you want to know one reason Houston ISD is facing imminent state intervention and is in dire need of effective leadership, take a gander at school board President Diana Dávila’s Twitter account.

On Thursday, after Tropical Storm Imelda unexpectedly roared back to life and soaked Houston, Dávila was busy sniping at interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan for her decision to hold classes that day.

The decision surely ended up inconveniencing many families who braved water-logged roadways to pick up students. But it was also an informed decision based on the best information at the time of a predawn call with Harris County emergency management officials and other area superintendents.

“As the largest employer of Harris county sometimes those decisions need to be made by HISD only,” Dávila had tweeted.

It was the kind of unproductive, petty posturing that does nothing to help students. The same kind of empty bluster that has kept the school board mired in dysfunction and now leaves it flailing against an all-but-certain takeover by the state.

Here is the entire E-Board take: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/Are-you-the-leader-HISD-needs-Speak-up-14468449.php.

Care to guess who the E-Board will endorse in the Davila-Judith Cruz HISD Trustee race?

My Dad got his mail ballot yesterday.

One of my best friends, State Sen. Carol Alvarado, tweeted this at some of us a couple of nights ago:

Cy Young battle. What do y’all think? Which one of our @astros will win? Wondering what some of my baseball buds are thinking.

The Senator is talking about the outstanding seasons by Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole. That’s a tough one. Verlander already has 20 wins. Cole has 19 wins and 316 strikeouts. They are both deserving. Can they make it a tie vote and each gets the Cy Young?

The Twins have won 98 games with 4 remaining and The ATL has 97 wins with 3 left of course as the teams with a shot at winning 100.

Home field advantage throughout the playoffs is looking better for us as we end our season with 4 in Anaheim.

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Not Taking Credit

The Astros have won 104 games and the Dodgers and Yankees 102 each. How many other teams have a shot at a 100 win season?

You know how our top elected officials like to get out in front of a headline and take credit. Commentary is betting no one will jump in front of this one from today’s Chron:

Houston region’s poverty rate increases in 2018 as household income flattens

Here is the article:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/Houston-region-s-poverty-rate-increases-in-2018-14468509.php.

Or this one:

Houston area rate of uninsured highest among big U.S. cities

Here is the article: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/Houston-area-rate-of-uninsured-highest-in-nation-14468575.php.

This is from today’s Chron E-Board:

If you want to know one reason Houston ISD is facing imminent state intervention and is in dire need of effective leadership, take a gander at school board President Diana Dávila’s Twitter account.

On Thursday, after Tropical Storm Imelda unexpectedly roared back to life and soaked Houston, Dávila was busy sniping at interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan for her decision to hold classes that day.

The decision surely ended up inconveniencing many families who braved water-logged roadways to pick up students. But it was also an informed decision based on the best information at the time of a predawn call with Harris County emergency management officials and other area superintendents.

“As the largest employer of Harris county sometimes those decisions need to be made by HISD only,” Dávila had tweeted.

It was the kind of unproductive, petty posturing that does nothing to help students. The same kind of empty bluster that has kept the school board mired in dysfunction and now leaves it flailing against an all-but-certain takeover by the state.

Here is the entire E-Board take: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/Are-you-the-leader-HISD-needs-Speak-up-14468449.php.

Care to guess who the E-Board will endorse in the Davila-Judith Cruz HISD Trustee race?

My Dad got his mail ballot yesterday.

One of my best friends, State Sen. Carol Alvarado, tweeted this at some of us a couple of nights ago:

Cy Young battle. What do y’all think? Which one of our @astros will win? Wondering what some of my baseball buds are thinking.

The Senator is talking about the outstanding seasons by Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole. That’s a tough one. Verlander already has 20 wins. Cole has 19 wins and 316 strikeouts. They are both deserving. Can they make it a tie vote and each gets the Cy Young?

The Twins have won 98 games with 4 remaining and The ATL has 97 wins with 3 left of course as the teams with a shot at winning 100.

Home field advantage throughout the playoffs is looking better for us as we end our season with 4 in Anaheim.

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No Other Choice

Gerrit Cole has struck out 316 hitters this season. When was the last season a pitcher struck out more than 316 hitters?

Commentary would have preferred the U.S. House of Representatives not go down the impeachment road, but Donald Trump gave us no other choice. To do nothing would have sent a strong signal throughout the world that the USA was Ok with lawlessness.

The phone call details were released this morning and Donald Trump did ask about Biden

From a Channel 11 poll conducted by Bob Stein:

Sylvester Turner 37%

Tony Buzbee 20%

Bill King 10%

Other 7%

Twenty-two percent of all voters are undecided and 5 percent wouldn’t say who they support.

See the story here: https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/sylvester-turner-leading-in-race-for-mayor-khou-11houston-public-media-poll-shows/285-534043c6-e757-47aa-bca0-d8679bc3ca73.

Tony Buzbee is spending a ton of dough.

Everyone will have a spin for sure on this today.

The Chron has a story on the local postal service situation. I didn’t learn anything new though.

In 2002, Randy Johnson with the D-Backs struck out 334 hitters of course.

103-54. Not bad at all.

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Haters Hate

What was our record after 156 games played during our 3 100 plus win seasons?

I guess folks are OK with the disruption in our postal service since the media has not covered the story. I wonder if the mail ballots were impacted.

I had to go to Baytown yesterday and it was a hassle since the I-10 bridge over the San Jacinto River is out of commission. Highway 225 was sure congested. I had to wait it out on the return. Thanks to the traffic app.

Last Saturday night, at The Yard, the Astros celebrated Latino Heritage Month and before the game had their Latino players stand behind their birth country or territory flag – Puerto Rico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Venezuela were displayed. The team posted the photos on social media and the haters came out and hated. You know, why aren’t they standing behind Old Glory. They couldn’t earn millions in their own country. Blah, blah, blah. These are the same folks who still wave the Johnny Reb flag. F_ck them!

After 156 games played, in 1998, the Astros were 98-58, in 2017, 96-60, and last season, 99-57 of course. Today, we are 102-54.

We are in Seattle for 2, the Yankees are in St. Pete for 2, and the Dodgers are in San Diego for 3. All three teams are on the road for the rest of the week.

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#BackToBackToBack

Only one Astros pitcher has a base hit this season. Name the pitcher?

Commentary is busy these days with a few campaigns and going to Baytown to hang with my Dad. Yesterday, I went to The Yard for the first time this month and boy was it a doozy. Three #SpringerDingers, Justin Verlander’s 20th win of the season, and an #ALWest clinch, our third division title in a row. Sellout crowd. It can’t get better than that. Playoffs, baby.

Commentary has made it pretty clear that I hope former Vice President Joe Biden isn’t our nominee for president. The press asked him this weekend if he ever discusses with his son Hunter, Hunter’s foreign business dealing. VP Biden said no. Sigh! Do you think Hunter Biden gets in on foreign business deals if his name is Hunter Smith?

In case y’all missed it, State Sen. Carol Alvarado will be the Texas State Senate Democratic Caucus Chair beginning this January. I would say this makes her a key part of the leadership of our State Dem Party. Cool.

Nobody’s talking about our mail service being disrupted and some mail even getting destroyed here in H-Town after the roof collapsed at a mail processing facility this past Thursday because of Imelda. I hear the postal service is looking for space to work out of, maybe bringing in sorting equipment and maybe even having the mail processed and sorted in another city. Mail delays are expected. I wonder if any political campaigns got impacted?

blogHOUSTON had an interesting take yesterday on flooding. Go check it out here:
https://www.bloghouston.com/2019/09/weekend-brunch-for-22-september-2019/.

A lot of folks are not happy with what has been going on. A lot of dithering if you ask Commentary. A lot.

Zack Greinke of course is the only Astros pitcher with a base hit.

We have six left. We have a half game lead on the Yankees for the best record in MLB.

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No Surrender

Commentary is not going to be one of those folks who just accepts that these days it is going to rain a lot and we are H-Town and it is going to flood and places and cars are going to get ruined and then we will dry out and wait for the next one. I am not going to surrender.

For those who stand and call for our public officials and candidates to tell us if they are going to take a stand on climate change? I will go one better. Who is going to go all in for better infrastructure?

Go look at the ballot language on the Metro bonds. It is about spending a few bil on more roads and not a goddamn word about easing flooding. Stick that up your climate change arse!

Just shut up!

Some folks were complaining yesterday about HISD having their schools open. Here is what they sent out yesterday afternoon:

Dear Parents and Community Members:

As weather conditions continue to develop across the Houston region as a result of Tropical Storm Imelda and we assess the status of all HISD campuses, the district is following established protocols for determining closures or delays at schools and district facilities.

This process includes:

Days before weather events, the interim superintendent engages in numerous conference calls with the National Weather Service, Houston TranStar, other city, county, and emergency management agencies, and school district superintendents from surrounding areas.

As the weather event nears, the frequency of the conference calls increases.

The morning of the weather event, the interim superintendent takes part in a conference call at 3 a.m. HISD Risk Management team also takes part in conference calls with emergency agencies.

Using data, analysis, and recommendations from the National Weather Service, TranStar and city, county, and emergency management agencies, the interim superintendent makes a decision on closures or delays considering the safety and welfare of students and staff.

In today’s case, the weather event unfortunately took a turn that was unforeseen by many area school districts and agencies. Throughout the day, we took proactive measures to keep our students and staff safe. We followed the emergency management officials’ advice to shelter in place and maintain normal dismissal times.

The safety of our students, parents and staff is always our number one priority, and we will continue to heed the advice of city and county leaders as well as emergency management officials in our decision-making process for campus and district operations.

Some school districts decided otherwise.

HISD cancelled classes for today.

I saw a first yesterday. There were vehicles sitting on the median up and down Heights Boulevard.

I-45 North and North Main is always a trap. It is also a go to visual for the media.

Some runaway barges slammed into the I-10 San Jacinto River Bridge.  It is closed.  I go over it when I go visit my Dad.  Sigh,

Commentary is not in a mood for MLB today. I am still drying out

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Flood City

Flood City is H-Town’s brand folks. This is ridiculous. This is more frequent. We need to attack this and make it a priority.

Turn around, don’t drown is a cop out. Fix the flooding! This is ridiculous.

I just saw my sample ballot for the November elections. The #TXHD148SpecialElection is right behind the state constitutional amendments and ahead of the Metro bonds and City of H-Town elections. On this year’s ballot, the H-Town At-Large Council races are before the Council District races. In previous elections, the Council District races came before the At-Large races.

@abc13sports tweeted this last night

From 2011-2013, the Astros lost 100+ games each season. From 2017-2019, they have won 100+ games each season.

From a Tags tweet last night:

Astros W-L last 10 years:

2010: 76-86
2011: 56-106
2012: 55-107
2013: 51-111
2014: 70-92
2015: 86-76*
2016: 84-78
2017: 101-61*
2018: 103-59*
2019: 100-53*
*-made playoffs

I was there.

Alex Bregman has 37 dingers, #SpringerDinger 35, Yuli Gurriel 30 and Jose Altuve is sitting on 29.

We are officially a playoff team and one game head of the Yankees and two ahead of the Dodgers for MLB’s best record with nine games remaining.

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Break A Quorum

Gerrit Cole will pitch tonight. How many strikeouts does he need to reach the 300 strikeout mark for the season?

From the I didn’t know that department, here is from today’s Chron:

A quirk in Texas law could allow the two Republicans on Harris County Commissioners Court, despite being in the minority, to prevent the three Democrats from enacting a proposed property tax increase.

Typically, three court members constitute a quorum, the minimum number needed to conduct business. The Texas Government Code, however, requires four members be present to vote on levying a tax.

That exception affords rare power to Republican commissioners Steve Radack and Jack Cagle, who have been steamrolled on 3-2 votes on enacting bail reform, appointing a judge and a resolution on gun violence.

The pair simply would need to skip a tax hike vote to prevent the three Democrats from passing it, First Assistant County Attorney Robert Soard said. The trio on Sept. 10 proposed raising the overall property tax rate 2.26 cents per $100 of assessed value. The existing rate is 63 cents per $100 of assessed value.

Here is the entire read:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Republicans-oppose-a-Harris-County-tax-hike-A-14447484.php#.

If they are opposed to a tax raise, they are going to skip the meeting.

Dem Texas House Members went to Oklahoma in the early 2000s to stop a vote. Dem Texas State Senators went to New Mexico back then too to break a quorum. All is fair, I guess.

The Harris County GOP endorsed Luis La Rotta for State Representative, District 148. Interesting.

The Harris County GOP endorsed At-Large City Council Member Mike Knox for reelection.

Capitol Inside Editor Mike Hailey said this yesterday:

As a former Houston school trustee who served in the local post for eight years, Anna Eastman has an edge on the competition from fellow Democrats in terms of experience in HD 148…

Time will tell

We announced Anna’s kickoff reception late last week. It was held last night. It got dicey when the tropical storm suddenly visited H-Town yesterday afternoon. The show must go on. We thought it would kill turnout. Nope! Over 80 folks showed up at a residence by Heights High School. About 90% or so were HD 148 residents. The homeowner who hosted the event had one of the coolest partisan outfits I have ever seen.

Gerrit Cole has 292 strikeouts, so he will need 8 tonight to reach 300 of course.

The magic number is at 3.

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