Cheering for the Local Kids

The Pearland, Texas, Little League Team defeated Washington  7-5 yesterday afternoon to qualify for the US finals of the Little League World Series tomorrow. 

They will meet either the team from Columbus, Georgia, or the team from Hawaii for the US title.  The Georgia kids had defeated Hawaii earlier in the competition, and were considered a lock for the championship, but the scrappy Hawaiians came back to beat them last night, by a score of  7-4.  That means Hawaii and Georgia will play an elimination game later today.

China (Tai Pei) and Japan meet tomorrow to determine the international champs, and the winner will meet the US champions on Sunday for all the marbles.

Out of Left Field

No one could have predicted that Roy Oswalt's first game against his former Astros teammates would come with Roy O  not on the mound, but playing left field.

On a wild night when Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard was ejected in the 14th inning after being rung up on a check swing for his fifth strikeout, then went berserk at the umpire and had to be restrained, Philadelphia's prized midseason acquisition wound up playing a defensive position other than pitcher for the first time ever as a pro.

Oh, and the Astros won 4-2.

With the Phillies out of position players, Oswalt headed out to left field in the top of the 15th, with left fielder Raul Ibanez replacing Howard at first.

Oswalt became the first Phillies pitcher to play a position in the field since Bill Wilson in 1971.

The first Astros batter in the 15th, catcher Jason Castro, lifted a routine fly to left that Oswalt handled easily.

"There's a saying in baseball: The ball will find you when you're out of position," Ibanez said. "The ball found him and he caught it."

Down to their last out, the Phillies had forced extra innings when Jimmy Rollins blasted a Wilton Lopez pitch into the right-field seats for a 2-2 tie.

In the 14th, closing in on midnight, minor-league umpire Scott Barry, filling in for Gerry Davis at third base, twice called check-swing strikes against Howard. After the second one, Howard threw down his bat in anger, prompting Barry to eject him, and Howard charged at him with arms flailing .

News Is Looking Better Today

Two of my (and America’s) all-time favorite players were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame last night. Both Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith were selected in their first year of eligibility, as they should have been. It almost seems a shame to have to point this out, but in addition to their stellar careers, they are both good men with never a hint of scandal associated with either of them.

Congratulations to both.

What Happens to Round Rock?

Now that Nolan Ryan’s group has bought the Texas Rangers, what happens to their other baseball teams? I’m talking about the Corpus Christi Hook and the Round Rock Express – double and triple A farm teams of the Houston Astros – already owned by the Ryans et al.

Here’s the best answer I’ve found so far:

The Astros' top two minor league affiliates are owned by Ryan-Sanders Baseball, in which Ryan is a principal owner.

A look at Ryan-Sanders Baseball and the likely futures of its holdings.

The players

Nolan Ryan — Principal owner: Baseball Hall-of-Famer and Alvin native, who played for the Mets, Angels, Astros and Rangers during his 27-year career. He became the Rangers team president in 2008 and was part of a group that won an auction for the Rangers in a Fort Worth bankruptcy court on Wednesday.

Don Sanders — Principal owner: Long-time prominent Houston businessman Founder of Sanders Morris Harris investment banking and securities firm.

Reid Ryan — Owner and CEO: Former minor league pitcher and Nolan Ryan's older son, handles the operations of the holdings.

Reese Ryan: — Owner and CFO: Nolan Ryan's younger son, who handles the finances.

The holdings

Round Rock Express (Astros Class AAA): The Astros affiliate from 2000-2004 as a Class AA club and since 2005 as a Class AAA club is likely on its way out of the organization. Astros Owner Drayton McLane has been resigned to the likelihood that Ryan's Rangers will take over the player development contract with Round Rock, which ends after this season. That would leave Oklahoma City without a big league tie, and the Astros would be the most logical choice, though more vacancies will open after this season in the biennial shuffle.

Corpus Christi Hooks (Astros Class AA): This affiliate is safely in the Astros' hands. The player development contract does not expire until after the 2012 season. And the Rangers have a contract with the Mandalay Baseball-owned Class AA Frisco RoughRiders in the vicinity of the major league home ballpark in Arlington, which they allowed into their market in 2003.

That seems likely, but when asked about it yesterday, Astros owner Drayton McLane said “We have had a great relationship with the Ryan Sanders organization. We have to wait and let the dust settle and see where we are.”

Nolan Gets His Own Team

Word this morning that Home Town Boy Nolan Ryan has successfully purchased the bankrupt Texas Rangers.

I guess owning your own team is a good thing and though I’ll always think of him as an Astro, he did have some good years with the Rangers.

Ryan’s group had the winning bid in bankruptcy court, but word from those in the know is that the team could have been had a lot cheaper without interference from Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban:

By RANDY GALLOWAY

rgalloway@ star-telegram.com

Mark Cuban’s basketball club is now a flat-line outfit, life and death in this era to simply survive the first round of the playoffs.

But in the early hours of Thursday morning, Cuban was in a Fort Worth courtroom, hell-bent to crash another local team.

As midnight came and went, as Wednesday night became Thursday morning, Cuban had pushed the Rangers into a total cost factor nearly reaching $600 million.

And then Cuban backed off and backed out at 12:45 a.m. Thursday after doing his dirty deed on behalf of dirty debt lenders who were stupid enough to allow Tom Hicks to cheat them.

The Greenberg-Ryan group now owns the Rangers. That’s the best news of all.

But it came at a cost much higher than expected, and a cost that might impact future spending. It certainly doesn’t help it.

Cuban knew that. He didn’t care.

The Hicks lenders rejoiced at this result, meaning the $600 million. Cuban is one of them. He’s totally in bed with the lenders.

Cuban and his surprise partner in the process, Jim Crane of Houston, appeared to be pony boys for the lenders, biding up the cost with certainly a nice financial payoff coming from the lenders.

This is shameful, Mark. Even for you, it’s shameful.

Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/08/05/2384807/cubans-swinging-for-the-fences.html#ixzz0vjeGRHpi

Bye, Lance II

Well, now it is official. Berkman was traded to the Yankees yesterday.

He has been having a bit of a down year, but he’s a great guy and an excellent player – sorry to see him go.

For what it’s worth, he went 0 for 4 against Tampa in his first appearance for New York, while the ‘Stros were blanking the Brewers for the second night in a row.

Bye, Lance

Almost every sports outlet is reporting this morning that Lance Berkman is on his way to the Yankees – nothing official yet, but he seemed to be saying goodbye to team-mates at last night’s game.

Hard to believe, but the Chronicle confirms that he is the last active Astro to have played in the Astrodome. Tempus really does fugit.