'Rona-Free Hot Links, Vol. 21

*Apparently people don't know that Craig Biggio started at Catcher.

*Make sure you check out John Wessling's podcast, with this episode featuring the Brandon Backe of Astros Twitter: StrosFanUKnow.

Mayor @SylvesterTurner and @HoustonISD team up with Alex Bregman (@ABREG_1) and his fiancé, Reagan, at NRG Park to hand out food to families in need. More than 10K vehicles were expected on hand for the much-needed supplies pic.twitter.com/4ERvWnHHHs

— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) May 2, 2020

*Former Astros Greats on KBO teams:
Dan Straily (Lotte Giants), Preston Tucker (Kia Tigers).

*Tim Kurkjian: Lou Gehrig was way more than just a streak.

*Wired: An excerpt from Keith Law's new book on human fallibility and the case for robot umps.



*The big guy from the Dragon Show (I think) deadlifted over 1,100 pounds.

*Two words: Murder Hornets.



*What it feels like to compete at the biggest ice swimming race in North America.

Saturday Late-Morning Links

Here are your late Saturday morning links, as the Astros prepare to face the Cubs at 2:05pm (you can watch it on WGN).

*Corpus is officially ending the Piggyback System next week with a 6-man rotation and the pitchers to be determined.

*Despite all the dadgum strikeouts, the Astros are sticking with cHRis carter.

*Here's a good Oklahoman article on Jon Homerton putting his suspension behind him. When asked if Homerton can be in Houston by the end of the season, Jeff Luhnow responded, "Why not?"

*Click this link to hear The Constable and John Wessling on last night's Ripped Foul.

Thursday Morning Dump

Here are your relevant links for this, the 2nd off-day in four days because the MLB schedule is stupid.

*SI's Jay Jaffe knocks it out about the approach Luhnow is taking to this team, and how it's totally the right one.

*Billy Beane, on the Astros: "I think they're going to be a great franchise, because they've got revenues, they have smart people running things . . . My guess is, once they get there, they're going to be there for a long time."

*The Astros are on pace to strike out 2322 times (Justin Maxwell is still on pace for 108 triples, so you shove that "on pace" crap up your tail pipe). Porter said "Tuesday was about (Darvish), and Wednesday was about (the Astros)."

*DirecTV: "If the Astros and Comcast will agree to make the channel available only to those customers who want to pay for it or make it more reasonable for all of our customers, we can have an agreement completed very soon." 

*CSN Houston is reaching out to Louisiana fans to help get them on the air. 

*Alan Ashby is in trouble over his comments after Darvish lost his no-hitter in which he said, "That'll force a guy to learn some of the language." Ashby sort of apologized, which is for the best.

*Regardless of what happened with Marwin Gonzalez, Ron Washington would have taken Darvish out after the #9 spot came up. Even if it meant pulling him from a no-hitter.

*Pittsburgh is thankful for Wandy (6.2IP, 2H/0ER, 6K:1BB), as is Oakland for Jed Lowrie (3x3, BB, 3RBI) and Nate Freiman, who singled in his first MLB AB (2x3, RBI).

*Corpus Christi 2013 preview by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.

*Also, check out minor-league previews from the Crawfish Boxes (Oklahoma City, Corpus, Lancaster, and Quad Cities) and What The Heck, Bobby (Oklahoma City, Corpus).

*This will take you to yesterday's Ripped Foul podcast hosted by our boy John Wessling, in which I am your special guest. We talk Darvish, Luhnow, the minors, Ed Wade, and I mumble my way through draft talk.

No Carlos Lee this weekend

You likely won't be seeing Carlos Lee at first base this weekend, friends, as he has a hamstring issue.

Reply of the day comes courtesy of John Wessling:
but all Carlos heard was HAM. Mmmmmmm...HAM!

Hey, That Guy's an Astros Fan! Volume 3

Previously on Hey, That Guy's an Astros Fan we spoke to ESPN's Robert Flores, the Baseball Hall of Fame's Brad Horn, and today we bring you stand-up comedian John Wessling.

John was a semi-finalist on Last Comic Standing 2 this summer on NBC. He's also appeared on the Loco Comedy Jam and SiTV's Latino Laugh Festival after touring theaters opening for George Lopez. After starting comedy in Kansas City in 1995, he's been a traffic reporter and a rock radio morning show writer and co-host. He's been touring all over the country and beyond ever since. John was a stand-out performer at the 2004 Montreal Just For Laughs Comedy Festival. He headlines at comedy clubs all over the US and Canada and in his spare time he grows hair for www.locksoflove.org. You can visit John's official website here.

AC: What's your earliest Astros memory?

JW: My dad worked in oilfield service stuff when I was a kid and I would ride in the truck riding from jobsite to jobsite with him all summer. He found that the only thing that would shut me up was listening to Astro games on AM radio. Milo Hamilton was my first babysitter.

AC: Favorite all-time Astro?

JW: Nolan Ryan. He'll either be commissioner of baseball or Governor of Texas in the next ten years.

AC: Best moment in Astros history?

JW: Hmmm. It's a tie. Clinching the 2005 NL championship over the Cards and the combined 6-man no-hitter at Yankee Stadium.

AC: If you could have hired any manager available, who would it have been and why?

JW: Buck Showalter. Nobody gives him credit for building the core Yankee team that Joe Torre won so many titles with OR for building the D-backs from the ground up...who went on to beat those Yanks in 2001. Whenever I see Buck on ESPN, no matter what he's talking about he's usually right.

AC: Who disappointed you the most in 2009?

JW: Lance Berkman. He's by far my favorite Astro and he was cold as a dead fish all year. I'd like to see more leadership and personality from him in the future.

You can read John's thoughts on sports at Ripped Foul.

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