Nannini's Comeback Continues in Laredo

Based solely on the box score, Mike Nannini had the most effective start of him comeback to professional baseball Tuesday night in Laredo.  Nannini allowed only seven hits and one run(on a 2nd inning home run) in six innings.  He upped his record to 3-1 in his fourth start of the year.

Breakdown of Nannini's performance:

He faced 26 batters and threw 79 pitches(55 strikes)
Allowed seven hits(one infield hit)
Six ground ball outs
Seven fly outs
Two infield pop outs
Three strikeouts
One walk

It appears Nannini's next outing should be Sunday in Lincoln, Nebraska or Monday in Amarillo vs. Laredo.

Lane Completes Trip from Constellation Field to the Majors

UPDATE:  Lane made his MLB pitching debut Tuesday night in San Diego, and he shut down the Pirates.  He faced 10 batters and retired them all.  He struck out three and induced four ground outs and one infield pop out over 3 1/3 innings in his relief appearance.  He flew out in his only at bat.

Jason Lane became the third player in Skeeter history to reach the Major Leagues AFTER playing for the Sugar Land team.  Lane, who had made 11 starts for San Diego's AAA club in El Paso, had his contract selected by the Padres and is in the bullpen for Tuesday night's game against the Pirates at Petco Park.  This article from the Padres website has all the details about Lane's promotion.

Two other players have made it back to the big leagues after playing at Constellation Field.

Scott Kazmir, currently in Oakland's rotation, made 14 starts for Sugar Land in 2012 before getting a chance to return to affiliated baseball with the Cleveland organization in 2013.

Ryan Langerhans, currently back with Sugar Land, played four games with Toronto in 2013 after spending part of last season with the Skeeters.

Sidewalk Ordinance Vote Deadline Extended

NOTE: The deadline to cast your vote concerning what OFHA should do in regards to the City of Houston's Sidewalk Ordinance has been extended to the evening of Monday, June 2.  If you haven't cast your vote yet, please read the information below and use this link to make your opinion heard.

I delivered a hard copy of the following to the neighbors on my block in Oak Forest Friday.  OFHA's vote on the sidewalk ordinance question has begun and will run through May 29.  Each residence of Oak Forest is eligible for one vote, whether people living at that residence are OFHA members or not.

Here is a link to the vote.

Dear Oak Forest Neighbor,

Thursday night, I went to the special meeting of the Oak Forest Homeowners Association. In the name of an informed neighborhood, I decided to share with you what I learned.

The topic of the meeting was the city’s sidewalk ordinance which requires a sidewalk to be built whenever a house is torn down and replaced by a new house.  There is a provision within the ordinance which allows a subdivision to opt out of the requirement.  This provision can be utilized if the board of a subdivision’s home owners’ association makes a proclamation that the subdivision does not want sidewalks.

The meeting was attended by two city of Houston workers. They explained the basics of the ordinance and answered questions about how it applies to residents of Oak Forest.

THE VOTE

At the conclusion of the meeting, OFHA representatives announced that an online vote would be held between now and May 31** to decide what the board would do concerning the ordinance and its provision.  

The vote is scheduled to take place online at www.ofha.org   (Perhaps I misheard. As of Saturday night, there in no link of the OFHA website. Therefore, I'll put the direct link to the vote here again.) There will be one vote allowed for each residence in Oak Forest.  Membership in OFHA is NOT REQUIRED to cast a vote, only an address in the subdivision.

WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS?

When I first heard about this meeting, I was baffled by the need for it.  Having lived in this neighborhood and on this block for 15 years, I have grown accustomed to sidewalks in Oak Forest(at least in this part of it- I live in Section 17).  The ordinance makes sense to me, and I see no need to opt out for this part of the subdivision.

However, to prepare for Thursday’s meeting, I drove around in some other parts of Oak Forest Thursday morning.  It was an educational trip.  I discovered, as many of you reading this may already know, that especially east of White Oak Bayou, Oak Forest doesn’t have many sidewalks. In this aspect, the two sides of the bayou, while both part of Oak Forest, are two different neighborhoods.

WHAT HAPPENS IF OFHA OPTS OUT OF THE ORDINANCE?

This action will allow new homes to be built anywhere in Oak Forest without a sidewalk.  Two benefits of this action are that those parts of Oak Forest that don’t have sidewalks will be able to maintain their character.  Also, it will allow builders in the area to work without the encumberance of needing to build a sidewalk.

It should be noted that any individual can still build a sidewalk if they so decide, even if the OFHA opts out.  I got the vibe from discussion at the meeting that in a section of OFHA like mine that already has sidewalks, new homes would likely need to be built with sidewalks, so that the “sidewalk character” can be maintained.

WHAT IF OFHA DOESN’T OPT OUT?

If the status quo is maintained all new construction will need to be completed with a sidewalk.  There would be two main downsides to this action.  As new construction continues, neighborhoods could end up with a patchwork of areas with sidewalks and without sidewalks, since only new construction would have the concrete.  Additionally, the cost of the new sidewalk incurred by builders could affect the price of homes.

I hope this information is helpful to you.  Since I was able to go to the meeting, I wanted to share it with you.  Please let me know if you have any questions about this information.  I will do my best to share what I know.

**Contrary to what was announced at the meeting, the vote is now scheduled to end May 29. I have contacted OFHA to clarify the reasoning for the change. I'll will post that when I find out.

Sincerely Your Neighbor,

Mike Tauser

tauser@sbcglobal.net

Cougars Live Another Day

The Houston Cougars overcame a 4-0 deficit after seven innings to drop LSU in Sunday's night (potential) Championship game of the Baton Rouge Regional.  Houston scored four runs in the top of the eighth to tie the contest.  They then tallied a run in the top of the 10th for their first lead of the game, and held on for a 5-4 victory.

The win forces the regional into a deciding contest Monday night at Alex Box Stadium.  Houston(47-16) faces LSU(46-15-1) for the third time in the regional at 7 pm(Baton Rouge time).