Oswalt merchandise, Castro news, and other offseason tidbits.
(photo courtesy of royoswalt44.net)
Roy Oswalt launched his web site, royoswalt44.net, a couple of months ago, but he just recently added a new element -- merchandise.
Oswalt is offering hats, t-shirts, sweatshirts and youth clothing that feature his personal logo, "RO44." He also has a number of items available bearing the logo of his soon-to-be-opened restaurant, Homeplate Fish and Steakhouse.
Not only are the items reasonably priced and pleasing to the eye, but he's giving every bit of the money he makes off the merchandise to community/charity efforts in both his hometown of Weir, Miss. and his second home, Houston. The recipients of the proceeds will be revealed at a later time.
Click here to check it out the gear.
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Rising Stars Game
You were first introduced to catcher Jason Castro last Spring Training when he was invited to Major League camp, and it's likely you'll continue to hear about the former No. 1 draft pick as he makes his way through the Astros' player development system.
Castro, who spent the majority of the '09 season at Double-A Corpus Christi, is currently playing in the Arizona Fall League. He'll be the lone Astros representative to participate in Saturday's Rising Stars Game, which will showcase the best of the best in the AFL.
The game will be broadcast to a national television audience on MLB Network, and a live feed will also be available at MLB.com, beginning at 7:15 p.m. CT. MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo has the rest of the details in this story, including information on who will call the game from the booth and other noteworthy tidbits.
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Wanted: A local angle?
Speaking of broadcast booths...
Every October, I wonder why local television announcers are not part of the national postseason broadcast. Imagine how much the broadcast would be enhanced if the networks included announcers who watched every single game a team played that season, beginning with Spring Training. They could certainly provide insight you just can't get from play-by-play and color announcers who don't have as much background and anecdotal info as the local guys.
It's not unheard of to have a third broadcaster in the booth during the regular season, so why not do this during the playoffs? At the very least, they could invite a local guy in to do three or four innings.
Radio announcers call postseason games, but the TV guys are left in the cold. They travel with the team through the playoffs, but they have absolutely no role. I always thought that was a shame. Imagine in '04 or '05 if Bill Brown and Jim Deshaies alternated time in the booth with the national announcers. They could provide the same tremendous insight as they do during the regular season. And, if nothing else, at least Willy T.'s last name would be been pronounced correctly.
Just a thought.
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Bourn autograph session
When I hear about a convention geared toward all things male, I can't help but picture a bunch of Al Bundys sitting on the couch, drinking beer out of a can, belching and telling stories about the four touchdowns they scored in a single game in high school.
But apparently, there's more to the "Guy Expo" than just lounging around and talking politics and sports. This weekend's event will take place at the George R. Brown Convention Center and promises, simply put, the best of what men like.
Sports will obviously be involved, and the Astros will be well-represented. We'll have a booth set up at the Guy Expo, and our very own Michael Bourn will be signing autographs on Saturday from 1 to 2 p.m. CT. Former Houston flamethrower J.R. Richard will precede Bourn with his own hour of autographs from noon to 1.
Click here for more information.
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