The Beltran selection is a good thing, to be sure, but it in no way makes up for the disappointing first half the boys from Houston have endured.  I am not suggesting that there is no hope, since there are still a lot of games to be played.  I have been following them for 25 years, and they have had some less-than-stellar teams during that time.  There were years when not much was expected.  But that's not the case this year with this team.  Looking at their roster, there was just no way they could be pushing the Pirates for last place at the break.  Biggio has been about the only one who has been consistently good.  I've seen Bags go through slumps before, but I don't know that I've seen him look so bad for such an extended period.  I don't know how he's kept his average as high as it is, since it seems that he's swinging and missing most of the time.  Which leads me to wonder what Jimy is thinking having Bags bat second.  You just can't have someone in that spot who comes up empty so much of the time.  We're going to have to hold out hope that things improve drastically in the second half, or it's not going to be much fun being an Astros fan.  They can do it; let's see if they do do it.  Ken