Sky Closing In On Astros

For the first time this postseason, the roof at Enron Field/Dick Cheney Field/Minute Maid Park will be open this evening, and that has just about everyone but the White Sox unhappy. In the other postseason games, the roof was closed, and it made for a deafening atmosphere that greatly benefited the Astros. (Their record with the roof open this year was 15-11; closed, it was 39-18. And any Cardinals fan can tell you how claustrophobic that place got in the NLCS.

But, in yet ANOTHER break for the White Sox, commissioner Bud Selig and Major League Baseball are insisting on having the roof open, saying they prefer the "natural elements," because there's nothing more natural than a hill in center field and a train that toot-toots around the stadium.

Oh, and now word's getting out that Craig Biggio's wife and other members of the Astros traveling party were slapped and harassed during Game 2 in Chicago. (Outstandingly, Ozzie Guillen said the perpetrators should not be thrown in jail, but "brought to [him] in the dugout." What we wouldn't give, people ... what we wouldn't give.) So, to get this straight, the Astros are losing their best home-field advantage, the fans are slapping the wives around and the White Sox already have a 2-0 lead. Everything's comin' up Houston!

Roof! [Baseball Musings] Biggio's Wife Slapped By Fan [Houston Chronicle]