Lance Berkman

Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle is tired of all the fan bellyaching down south in Big Texas , and he has decided to offer the fans a forum to give management their advice. 

One question, hundreds of answers: Which Astro had the greatest offensive season at his position?

Major League baseball has been asking fans this same question in an effort to choose each team's best-ever collection of stars.

They are calling it MLB 9s.

Scroll down to find out why Lance Berkman doesn't make the cut, why Dickie Thon should be remembered as a Hall-of-Famer whose career got cut short, and why Craig Biggio was so much more than just "Mr. Hit By Pitch".

Mercifully, the Houston Astros 2009 season is over.

74 wins, 88 losses; a very disappointing year in the National League Central.

For Houston, many moves are in order, but naming a new manager must be a priority.

Astros General Manager Ed Wade told MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart (the beat writer for the Houston baseball team) on Monday that he hopes to begin making contact with potential skipper candidates by the week’s end.

At this time last season, Astros' first baseman Lance Berkman left many wondering if he could continue at his torrid pace when he led the NL Triple Crown categories heading into the All-Star break.

In what has turned out to be a tale of two seasons for Berkman, 2009 has been a struggle.  Flirting with the dreaded "Mendoza Line" for the better part of the season, Berkman (a career .300 hitter) has ignited the last ten games improving his average to a respectable .268.

Throughout the years Lance Berkman has proven time and time again that he was a great option for fantasy owners.  A career .299 hitter, he hasn’t hit below .278 since getting a full-time job in 2000.  He’s shown the ability to hit 45 HR, but has consistently been in the 25-35 range.  He’s a perennial threat to eclipse the 100 RBI/100 R plateaus.

Good news and bad news about the Houston Astros' latest game against the Colorado Rockies.

First, the bad news: Astros starter Mike Hampton pitched six innings, giving up seven hits and five earned runs.

Good news: The Astros had an offensive explosion, getting 24 hits (including two in three at bats by Hampton, who also drew a walk) as they defeated the Rockies, 15-11.

Yes, a football score: Houston had two touchdowns, an extra point, and a two-point conversion while the Rockies had a field goal, touchdown, and two-point conversion.

Tough loss for Houston. They battled but just couldn't mount an attack against the duo of Billingsley and Broxton.

Wandy Rodriguez pitched another great game and is one of three pitchers in the majors with four quality starts. The offense couldn't string any hits together.

Hitting line:
Matsui 0-3, Sac bunt
Tejada 2-4, 2B
Berkman 0-4, GIDP, K
Lee 0-4, 2 K
Blum 0-3, BB, K
Erstad 1-4, K
Rodriguez 0-2, BB, GIDP
Bourn 1-2, BB, SB
Wandy Sac Bunt
Michaels 0-0 HBP
Pence 0-1, (lined out on a hard hit ball to short)

Reds 4, Astros 3

The 2009 Houston Astros have the rest of the league just where they want them.

At 4-8 and in last place in the six-team NL Central, the Astros are well-prepared for their most epic second-half surge yet.

Armed with a stellar pitching rotation including future-Hall-of-Famers Brian Moehler and Russ Ortiz, Houston finally has the parts necessary to win the franchise's first-ever World Series championship.

Some people would say the Astros have the league's oldest roster.

I say the Astros have the league's most-experienced roster.