Lance Berkman’s jersey recently returned from a journey that went farther than say… one of Josh Hamiltons’ home runs at Yankee Stadium. Astronauts Dominic Gorie and Mike Foreman took a Berkman jersey on a 14-day mission to space. The astronauts took the jersey out and wore it while performing some head-first slides. Both Gorie and Foreman also sent Berkman a photo of his jersey from space.

The two men returned to Houston and took batting practice prior to Tuesday’s game. In addition to a little BP, the two astronauts received a few tips from Astros players and hitting instructors.

The Astros and NASA have had a pretty close relationship since their inception. Earlier this season, the ‘Stros wore patches on their jersey that commemorated NASA’s 50th anniversary.

Photo: Newscom

Post from: EveryJoe

Berkman’s jersey is out of this world

This week at b5media we are talking about our favorites; our favorite teams and our favorite players. Lucky for me, my favorite team happens to carry the colors of this blog. That’s right – the Houston Astros. It’s no coincidence that the colors were modeled after the Astros’ colors, since Hunter Pence was the previous author of this blog. But, since I’m a fan of Houston, you’ll never hear me complain about the colors on this site.

Houston has not always been my favorite team, however. Growing up, I always like the Minnesota Twins – back in the late 80s and early 90s when they had Kent Hrbek, Tom Brunansky, Kirby Puckett, Danny Gladden, Frank Viola and Scott Erickson. I’ll never forget being grounded during the 1991 playoffs, because of a bad progress report at school, so I couldn’t watch any of the playoffs that season. However, I was reinstated just in time to catch the World Series triumph over the Atlanta Braves.

As I went through high school I started becoming more interested in the Astros. Mainly because of Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio. These were two young guys that played so hard each game. I tried to do the exact same when I played on the diamond.

Then college time came. I was introduced to the Fox Sports channel, which meant daily Astros games! I really picked up on Houston when they were just exiting the Astrodome and entering Enron Field… err… Minute Maid Park. I watched intently as Chris Burke hit a game-winning 18th inning home run. I watched as the Astros finally made it to their first World Series in 2005, only to be swept by the Chicago White Sox. I watched the Killer B’s. I watched Derek Bell near the end of his great run with Houston. Then I watch a new Killer B, in Lance Berkman, bloom into a superstar. Through all of that, I’ll never forget how hard Biggio and Bagwell played. I’ll never forget the way that they never complained and always played the game the right way.

Still today, I watch Houston. I watch the Astros trying to fight their way back into contention this season, however, without Bagwell and Biggio. They still have Berkman, Roy Oswalt, and Brad Ausmus, but there’s a new group of Astros to watch. But, it doesn’t matter who’s on the field. If they are wearing an Astros jersey, I’ll be watching.

Post from: EveryJoe

Talking about favorites

Starting in left field for the Houston Astros in 2008 will be Carlos Lee. Lee, a native of Panama, is a 31-year-old who is coming into the peak of his career.

In 2007, Lee hit .303 and had 32 homeruns and 119 RBIs in his first year with the Astros. Playing in all 162 games, Lee was a dependable presence for Houston on a daily basis.

Lee’s career began with the Chicago White Sox in 1999. In his first career at bat, Lee hit a homerun. He stayed with the White Sox for six seasons before being traded to the Milwaukee Brewers. After a year and a half with the Brewers, Lee was traded to the Texas Rangers. Last offseason, Lee left the Rangers after a half season to sign with the Astros.

At 6-foot-2 and 240 pounds, Lee is nicknamed El Caballo – which means “the horse” in Spanish. El Caballo has quickly become a crowd favorite in Houston. He even has his own fan club in Minute Maid Park called Los Caballitos (little horses).

Lee set career-highs in homeruns (32), RBIs (119), hits (190) and doubles (43) in 2007. With Houston’s lineup even more formidable in 2008, expect Lee to have an even better season this year.

Check out this video clip of Los Caballitos at Minute Maid Park.

Post from: EveryJoe

Carlos Lee – A Closer Look