Brian Moehler and the Astros have been reeling ever since Hurricane Ike hit. AP

Houston's nemesis: bad luck

The Astros made a very nice run before falling apart. Some in Houston are blaming Hurricane Ike. Others are blaming commissioner Bud Selig.

They've definitely been through a lot, and it's easy to understand their disappointment. They'd won nine of their first 10 games in September when two home games against the Cubs were canceled due to Ike and moved to Milwaukee by Selig.

One other factor that may have hurt them was Astros owner Drayton McLane's attempts to convince baseball that the games could be saved for Houston (maybe the hurricane didn't hit his fancy neighborhood), which seemed like a desperate attempt to save gate receipts but ultimately delayed MLB's decision where to play them. The first choices were Arlington and Atlanta, but Selig feared a rainout would really mess things up. So he settled on Miller Park, which has a dome.

The first game in Milwaukee, the Astros were no-hit by the Cubs' Carlos Zambrano, setting an ominous tone for the rough stretch that has followed.

They are in a tough spot now, four games behind the wild-card-leading Mets. But there is a bit of hope (though not as much as the astros.com headline suggests: Astros enter final week in thick of Wild Card hunt.)

The Astros were hurt by adversity not of their own doing. But ultimately, they could not come close to overcoming it.

Yes for Torre, Hodges and Santo

The 10-man post World War II Hall of Fame Veteran's Committee ballot, which includes the names of Joe Torre, Dick Allen, Gil Hodges, Jim Kaat, Al Oliver, Vada Pinson, Ron Santo, Luis Tiant and Maury Wills, will hopefully produce at least one or two new Hall of Famers this time.

The new streamlined Veterans Committee may not be so stingy with its votes after three previous times pitching a shutout. This time the ballot is smaller, and so is the voting block.

I'd check yes for Torre, Hodges and Santo. Torre will eventually get in as a manager but this ballot allows consideration of all roles, and the combination of playing and managing should be plenty for both Torre and Hodges. Santo was a great two-way player. It's somewhat surprising he isn't already in.

Around the Majors

• The inability to land trade target Brian Roberts didn't cost the Cubs. But it may hurt the Brewers, whose efforts to land Roberts went more under the radar.

• There's been some speculation that Brewers shortstop J.J. Hardy could be expendable since the talented Alcides Escobar may be ready to play shortstop next year. But I wouldn't be so quick to trade Hardy. They should first try to see if anyone will take Rickie Weeks instead.

• The Matt Cain-for-Prince Fielder trade possibility makes some sense, but not the way it's been presented publicly. One report had the Giants getting Hardy and another player along with Fielder, which seems rather lopsided. ("I'd say Cain plus another player'' is more in line, one NL exec said ).

• A trade of Cain for Fielder would solve the Giants' most glaring need. I might be getting ahead of myself here, but it would interesting to see whether the Giants might try to replace Cain by signing Sabathia, who's said to love the idea of playing for his hometown team. That would be a bold move by the Giants' new managing partner Bill Neukom.

• This is probably a long shot. But how about Colorado as a destination for Sabathia? While it seems like a financial stretch for the Rockies, Colorado GM Dan O'Dowd said he'd like to add a No. 1 pitcher and has been a fan of Sabathia forever, going back to O'Dowd's days overseeing the Indians' minor leagues.

• The Mariners just concluded an 0-11 road trip but haven't yet locked up the first-overall pick. They have a half-game lead for it on the Nationals. It's hard to say whose season has gone worse, but suffice it to say, it's been a rough year for Washington, the district and the state. The Mariners spent $100 million and will finish last. Meanwhile, the Nats failed to sign their first-round draft choice and have a GM (Jim Bowden) who's under investigation in the bonus skimming scandal.

• The Mariners will be looking for a GM and manager this winter. Manager Jim Riggleman is a fine baseball man, but that 11-game slide sealed his fate.

• If I were going to start a team, I might take David Wright to start mine. But Joel Sherman pointed out on his New York Post Hardball blog that Wright's RBI total (now 118) is mitigated by his many chances (at the time of the blogging, Wright had more at-bats with runners in scoring position, 219, than anyone else in the majors.

• Among other things, the Pirates might regret not taking left-handed reliever Phil Coke in the July deal with the Yankees, as was originally agreed. Coke has been dominant so far for the Yankees, with 11 1/3 scoreless innings.

• Scenes from a Stadium closing: 1) Richard Gere, Val Kilmer and Matthew Broderick hanging out, though not together; 2) Spike Lee filming A-Rod as he entered the workout room; 3) Derek Jeter greeting boyhood idol Dave Winfield. 4) Blinding flashbulbs whenever Jeter batted. 5) Players autographing for other players, and Mussina telling A-Rod to note his "almost 20 wins in 1997'', his "almost no-hitter in 1999,'' and his "almost world championship in 2001.'' 6) Willie Randolph smiling broadly again, even when he wasn't stealing a scene by sliding into second base; 6) Hal and Jennifer Steinbrenner were there, though not the more chatty Hank, who might have been home in Tampa polishing his dumb quotes.