If I were not 2000 miles away I would have most assuredly made the pilgrimage to Wrigley North yesterday and reveled in the mastery of Big Z, then spent the night in the greater milwaukee area and gone back to do it all over again...I'm jealous of those of you who were able to be there...

I was lucky enough to be at the game, and the first thing I said when I got out was how totally unfair this was for the Astros. Most of them have no power, their city is in chaos, and then they have to travel a thousand miles last minute and play in front of 23,000 Cub fans and 4 Astros fans (this is not an exxageration--I saw two guys with a Texas flag and two people on the Jumbotron and that was it). And on top of that, they're facing a pitcher who not only has great stuff on a regular basis, but he was touching 98 in the first inning. You knew it was going to be a tough road for them.

That's not to say that Carlos wasn't brilliant, because he was. And when the wheels could've fallen off after he hit Hunter Pence in the side, he took a deep breath, and just continued mowing people down. He was so focused that even though you could tell the blood was flowing through his veins like lightning (especially in the 9th where nerves made him bounce a few pitches), he was stoic by Zambrano standards.

I can't wait to see how he comes out in his next start.

Had a co-worker who went as well, and the comment about only 4 Astros fans falls in line with what they told me, and with what I saw on the teevee. The only thing I'd say - and, honestly, I don't mean this as some kind of rebuttal - is that while you definitely got a larger crowd at last night's game than you would have in, say, Seattle, I still think you'd have found the Astros at a profound disadvantage when it came to fan ratios no matter where you played.

The Cubs have fans everywhere they go - that's what happens when you've had your games broadcast around the country for over two decades - and I just don't think the Astros travel nearly as well. Or, more to the point, that there aren't anywhere near as many Astros fans living outside of Houston as there are Cubs fans living outside of Chicago.

A side note: I know I've been bad about writing here. For whatever reason, I've just been unable to write much about baseball of late. To that end, because I still feel the need to write, I've begun doing a general purpose, anything goes sort of blog, just to keep going until I can get my baseball writing back in gear. I didn't want to be completely gauche and put a link in a post, but I want to let any interested folks know I'm doing it, so if you want to take a peek, it's at http://anonymousdrone.wordpress.com/.

/shameless self promotion

I want to thank both you guys for posting. I do read and enjoy it.

I find its easier to read if there are posts consistently, in the same way that its easier to play the field if the pitcher pitches a quick game.