Well I'm Glad You Asked

1. Please give a big Astroland welcome to my favorite, as well as yours, to the losing pitcher in the 80th All-Star Game, to the newest member of The Hundred Club, Brad Lidge.

2. Added to the library of games at Astroland is now Edgar Ramos' 9-inning no-hitter at Jackson in 1996

3. Quick, who's the greatest third baseman in Houston major league history? Time's up, and the answer wasn't Morgan Ensberg, either. It was Doug Rader, and now he's got his own page at Astroland.

4. I pulled out my Durham Bulls History and Statistical Summary, cranked up the scanner, opened the OCR software, fiddled with the results in Excel, and made this page on the 1965 Durham Bulls. I thus rescue Walt Matthews and his .939 OPS from oblivion, and it feels kinda good.

5. The Astroland P page is complete.

6. No offense to Oswalt 'n' Munro 'n' Saarloos 'n' Lidge 'n' Dotel 'n' Wagner, but it is Brian Powell who remains the last pitcher in the organization to pitch a complete game no-hitter.

7. If you couldn't name the only player in organizational history to hit four home runs in a a game before, well, now you can. For that page, I also made this chart which gives you the leaders in RBI and homers for the New Orleans Zephyrs teams that played under the Astros flag between 1997 and 2004.

8. I gave him the benefit of the doubt for as long as I reasonably could, but the rightful syringe icon has been placed next to Roger Clemens' name in dubious consideration of the fact that his playing record with the Astros and all other teams has been tainted by the use of performance enhancing drugs.

9. Please welcome Daryle Ward into The Hundred Club . . .

10. I updated the Eric Bruntlett page, looks a lot better now. Good luck in Philly, Eric!

10. Dean Hartgraves probably feels strongest about his first no-hitter, seeing how it was pitched on his birthday and all.