Life on the Road Gets Easier After Astros Get Back Home

Do not adjust your television sets. This is no mirage.

The Houston Astros are playing a home game tonight.

Temporarily evicted from the Astrodome because of the Republican National Convention, they visited eight cities, traveled 9,186 miles and played 26 games in 28 days since their last home game on July 26. So what did they see on the tour of America?

Conventions.

In San Francisco, the Astros shared hotel space with a bar association convention. In Chicago, a hardware group and the Pentecostal church were vying for rooms, and the Astros actually had to foot the bill for one family member who spent the weekend with a player.

“I went to the ballpark and heard a different story every night,” traveling secretary Barry Waters said. “I’d hear about 30-minute waits for elevators and two hours for room service. One night a band was playing until 2 a.m. It was just something we had to get through.”

They found bright spots, though.

“One positive that will come out of this trip is that now when we go on a seven-day or a 10-day road trip, it’ll be no big deal,” Jeff Bagwell said.

“We know that nothing can be as bad as this.”

Add travels and travails: The NHL’s 1992-93 schedule has some twists of its own.

Like the New York Islanders against Edmonton in Oklahoma City.

And St. Louis against Hartford in Birmingham, Ala.

And the Islanders against the Blues in Dallas.

And stops in Miami and Atlanta.

Yes, it’s the regular-season schedule, all part of the league’s trying to make inroads with fans. This comes as part of the settlement of last spring’s strike, in which teams will play 84 games next season--41 at home, 41 on the road and two in other places.

At least some are geographically logical. Chicago is booked in Milwaukee and Indianapolis, and both of Sacramento’s games include San Jose. Boston plays in Providence.

Trivia time: Who is Mahmoud Abdul Rauf?

Thrown back: Growing pains have already started for the expansion-in-waiting Florida Marlins, too small a fish for at least one prospect.

According to the Miami Herald, the Marlins, who will join the National League next season, were in the bidding to sign Jose Pett of Brazil, who is only 16 and already 6 feet 6. Pett, who is said to throw faster than 90 m.p.h., ended up with the Toronto Blue Jays for a reported $700,000.

One possible reason is that, under Canadian-Brazilian taxation laws, the money is tax free.

Another is that Pett has never heard of the Marlins.

Trivia answer: Chris Jackson of the Denver Nuggets. Jackson changed his name after converting to Islam in 1991, but will continue to be known by his more familiar name in basketball dealings.

Quotebook: Former Arkansas Athletic Director Frank Broyles, once asked if he would still like the Razorbacks’ football coach if the team went 5-5: “Of course I would. I’d miss him, too.”