'Profound Sorrow' of Selig Not Enough for Astros

The Houston Astros would like you to know they are still mad as hell about last weekend's rash relocating of the team's vital home series against the Cubs. Hurricane Ike made Minute Maid unusable, so Bud Selig sent the games to the most neutral site absolutely possible: Milwaukee's Miller Park, adoringly dubbed Wrigley North for its frequent invasion by Cubs fans.

Houston, on a randy hot streak when the storm hit, lost both games to Chicago in Milwaukee, one of them a no-no by Carlos Zambrano. Understandably, anger at the league's decision has hit a fever pitch. Bud Selig attempted to squelch the heat by taking out a full-page ad in the Houston Chronicle which never really apologizes for the decision, but does express "profound sorrow" for that which had been lost due to the hurricane. You can read the whole thing here; in summation, Selig says there's nothing else he could have done.

As intimated, the 'Stros ain't buying it.

The Chron's Jose de Jesus Ortiz grabs some player reaction to the ad.

“Major League Baseball has always valued the dollar more than they do the individual, the players and their families,” Lance Berkman said. [...]

“The thing is we had days at the end of the season that we could have played a single game plus a doubleheader if need be,” Doug Brocail said. “And to make us go up and play at North Wrigley like we had to on no sleep, it was absolutely ridiculous. If it was New York or Boston, it would have been played at the end of the season. I truly believe that, and I think 99.9 percent of our teammates believe that. But no, we’re the Houston Astros.”

If the 'Stros did request postponing the game 'til the end of the season and Selig rejected that in favor of the Milwaukee move, that's just atrocious decision-making by MLB. Don't blame Cubs fans for the pair of losses, but it's easy to surmise Astro minds were a bit preoccupied last weekend. Baseball probably wasn't the most important endeavor.

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.