Look Happy and Act Surprised



Photo: Houston Astros



I wonder if the folks attending the launch party for the Houston Astros new uniforms and logo were told: "Ok, everyone act surprised when you see the new stuff."

After a couple of leaks – one by Major League Baseball who subsequently blamed its error on Hurricane Sandy – the Houston ball club's rebranding look offered little surprise to party-goers Friday night at Minute Maid Park.

Astros owner Jim Crane seemed to think those pesky leaks may have created a higher level of excitement among fans.

“It was a little frustrating," Crane admitted. "But it might’ve helped. Who knows? It got a little data out there in front and some excitement going and the paper picked it up last week. All publicity is good publicity, I guess.”

I'm no Paul Lukas, so don't look to me to break down the uniform details. All I can say is the vintage style looks pretty darn good to me. I love orange, so I'm really digging the alternate jersey.  

In other Astros news, the Houston Chronicle reports team general manager Jeff Luhnow said at the launch party he plans to reach out to Lance Berkman, 36, about possibly returning to Houston, perhaps as the team's designated hitter.

What was that? You forgot Houston was moving to the American League in 2013? Yeah, me too.

Berkman's knee problems limited to him to 32 games with the Cardinals this season. He was traded from the Astros to the New York Yankees in July 2010 – that was a disaster – and then signed with St. Louis where he was a member of the Cardinals in 2011 and 2012.

Bourn to Run to the Nationals?

Hey, Nationals fans, we your team needs a long-term solution in center field, right?

And you know the team, judging by media reports – that's all I have to go on – has been interested in Michael Bourn for a while, going back to before he left the Astros for the Braves.

Well, it seems the Nats are still hot for Bourn. My guy and your guy Jon Heyman of CBSsports.com is saying the Curly Dubs are the favorites to land Bourn, who is now a free agent.

That's no surprise. However, what would surprise me is the Nationals' willingness to spend the – take a deep breath -- $100 million it may take to get Bourn.

Yeah, the Nats have money, but bro, that's a lot of cash.

Bourn hit .348/.391/.739 this year, but you know what I really like about the guy? His speed. His stolen bases were down this year – he had 42 as opposed to 61 in 2011 – but he's always a threat on to swipe a base or two. 

And who knows? Maybe Bourn is the guy stealing bases for the Nats in the World Series next season and getting us all free tacos.

My family is still saying thanks to Angel Pagan for our four tacos, by the way.