Hello everyone,
The last week of spring training is over. The Houston Astros 2008 roster is set, and it’s been a frenzy in the clubhouse.
I’ll say that its been tough on everyone to handle all of the packing and unpacking, and now we have to do more to get to San Diego. Not to mention trying to get everything set up with our places to stay for those of us who dont have a house yet.
All that aside, when we get to San Diego the games will finally count. I know that the media and all the so …read more

Hi,
We are down to our last week of spring training and for me the season can’t start soon enough. The games get more intense at this time and the bell has rung so to speak.
You really can’t tell how the season is going to go from spring training, but I can tell you that I definately have some fuel for the fire. I came across a question and answer that I found interesting and motivating. With a question asking if the Astros “can” make the playoffs … Not even asking if we WILL make the playoffs but if we …read more

Hi,
It feels good to finally be drawing near the season. Everyone in camp is starting to get to know each other, and the team even though it’s not set is having a lot of fun together. To me, it’s important to have a team that gets along in the clubhouse because your around each other so long and I honestly believe it effects the play on the field. Things change when the season starts, and we still dont know who all exactly is going to be on the team, so there’s a lot of questions as far as that’s concerned. …read more

Hey everyone!
So, we are just three short weeks away from our season opener in San Diego and I’m already itching to get on that plane to head out west.
I made a couple of appearances on ESPN this week, starting by doing a phone interview on ESPN News and finishing up on First Take on Friday. Doing interviews is actually a lot of fun, especially on ESPN because I still have to pinch myself somedays that I’m lucky enough to be playing this game everyday … and being on ESPN is pretty cool.
To recap the past week, we played some pretty …read more

Hey everyone,
First of all, I’d like to thank all of you for the great feedback on the Erstad nickname and all the good questions.
For the record, I have been calling Erstad “Dadio” because it’s really funny to me. Someone asked if he has a nickname for me and in fact he does, he calls me “son”. It’s turned into quite the joke and we both have fun with it. I did like D-Stud as well but, I’ve grown attached to Dadio and it’s a lot of fun to mess with him like that … so it’s probably going to …read more

Hi,
Finally spring training is here and I have some baseball to talk about! Even though I haven’t been able to do much in spring training, other than watch, there’s still a lot going on. And for the record, I’m healing quickly and rather excited because I am supposed to be back at practice tomorrow!
It’s been a bummer that the accident had me sidelined, but I was very fortunate that my injuries were not serious and that my recovery has been quick. So back to spring training …
When I arrived, I was happy to see that my locker was …read more

I had an accident this week and I wanted to set the record straight on what really happened. Despite the assumptions, I wanted to let everyone know that I did not consume any alcohol that evening.
I had just come home from dinner with some friends, and decided to jump in the hot tub to loosen up my muscles before bed. As we were walking out to the hot tub, I took about three steps toward the tub (leaving the door open behind me) and decided I needed to use the restroom before hopping into the hot water …read more

Hello,
The off season is finally over! I cant wait to get to Kissimmee and meet all the new Astros we have signed. I’ll be making the drive from Arlington, TX which is a good 18 hour drive. I’m not looking forward to that, but we are finally going to have some baseball to talk about.
It’s going to be really exciting to get on a baseball field with the new team and see how everything is going to play out. We have a lot of options this year, so it is going to be interesting to see how Cooper …read more

It’s been a great week for me because it has been more intense at my workout facility. The training has worked out the way my trainer and I expected. Generally, every off-season I would lift weights like a body builder and gain a bunch of weight.
It’s somewhat of a culture shock to put all my training into legs and core and explosive movements. I don’t have the big upper body that I’m used to, which is mainly only good for looking in the mirror, as it turns out.
This week was also my first opportunity to hit on the field. I …read more

Well, hello again.
It’s been another solid week of workouts and practice for me. My swing is finally starting to feel good. I haven’t had a chance to hit on a field yet, which is an entirely different feel than hitting in a cage. Our workouts at REPS are starting to tone down. We are doing a lot of running and coordination drills and less of the heavy weight power lifting.
Basically, we are trying to just maintain until spring training and the season, and get our bodies in condition to handle the every day running that baseball entails. It’s only …read more