Smile, There's a Baseball Star Behind You!

The Houston Astros has this really neat promotion where you can go out on the warning track and have your picture taken with the players. There is a barricade that separates us and they walk down the fence. All you have to do is ask and they'll pose with you. Most of them are very friendly and some of them have their idiosyncrasies. For instance, Morgan Ensberg (3B) always wears his batting gloves (when Jeff Kent was on the team, he did too). Craig Biggio always stands a little ways back so the fans can't get too close. This is our 3rd time doing this and things worked a bit differently. The more famous players weren't allowed to do individual poses (they were taking way too much time at the first part of the line) so they had to do like Craig Biggio. Stand back, pose, smile. Hunter Pence (left) is Houston's newest Honey (watch him, he'll be Rookie of the Year). He & Brandon Backe (right) felt really silly doing that and wished they could come to us.


This is Lance Berkman who plays 1B or the outfield. I'm not sure what determines what position he plays. He's lost weight so I almost didn't recognize him!








Here is Craig Biggio who recently got his 3,000th career hit.

This is Orlando Palmeiro. He is a relief player but he is always so happy to be out there posing for pictures. He got really silly this go around. The boy in front of Bear got the Dr. Evil pose. In this one, he was being silly to get a good smile out of Bear.






Sigh, Brad Ausmus. Our catcher. Our dreamy ballplayer. He was the very last one and the one all the ladies were there to see. My mom is afraid this will be his last season (contracts up) and I hope she's wrong!