Astroline Returns Thursday
Astros General Manager Jeff Luhnow to be first guest of weekly talk show
HOUSTON, TX - The Houston Astros offseason radio show, Astroline, returns to the airwaves Thursday, Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. CT with Astros General Manager Jeff Luhnow serving as the first guest of the weekly program. Astros radio color commentator and former Major League pitcher Steve Sparks will serve as the host. Sparks and fellow radio broadcaster Robert Ford will alternate hosting duties throughout the offseason.
Thursday's Astroline, which is presented by Karbach Brewing Co., will air on KBME SportsTalk 790 AM and will stream online at Astros.com/Astroline. All shows are scheduled to broadcast on KBME SportsTalk 790, but are subject to change due to scheduling conflicts. Astroline broadcasts live, weekly from 7-8 p.m. CT during the offseason.
For the third consecutive season, Astroline airs from Pluckers Wing Bar, which is located at 1400 Shepherd Dr., Houston, Texas, 77007. Pluckers Wing Bar is entering its third year of business in Houston after officially opening to the public in November 2013. Astroline runs through March 2016 (16 segments), which will be open to all Astros fans with no admission charge.
Fans can submit questions to the show via Twitter using the hashtag #Astroline, before and during the show. As always, fans will also have the option to call the show with questions at 713-212-5790.
Luhnow and his staff are currently preparing for the Annual Baseball Winter Meetings, which will be held in Nashville, Tenn., from Dec. 6-10. Since being named Astros GM during the 2011 Winter Meetings, Luhnow has made a multitude of trades and overseen four successful amateur drafts, which played a major role in the Astros 2015 postseason run, their first trip to the playoffs in 10 years. Also in 2015, the Astros farm system was ranked as the best in baseball by MiLB.com, as Astros minor league affiliates combined to post the best record among all 30 organizations during the regular season with a 502-405 (.553) mark. The Astros became the second organization since 2005 to have seven minor league teams qualify for the playoffs in a single year, joining the 2010 Mariners.
Sparks enters his fourth season as the Astros radio color commentator after being named to the post on Feb. 13, 2013. Prior to joining the Astros radio broadcast team, Sparks served as a pre- and postgame analyst for Astros television games over several seasons following a 17-year playing career. A knuckleballer in his playing days, Sparks pitched in the Major Leagues in parts of nine seasons (1995-2004) for the Brewers, Angels, Tigers, A's and Diamondbacks. His best season came in 2001 for Detroit when he went 14-9 with a 3.65 ERA and a Major League-best eight complete games while tallying 232.0 innings pitched.
*Media Note- Media wishing to interview Jeff Luhnow are asked to arrive by 6:45 p.m.
Astroline preliminary schedule (subject to change).
Day Date Station
Thu. Nov. 19 KBME
Thu. Dec. 3 KBME
Thu. Dec. 10 KBME
Wed. Dec. 16 KBME
Wed. Jan. 6 KBME
Thu. Jan. 14 KBME
Thu. Jan. 21 KBME
Thu. Jan. 28 KBME
Wed. Feb. 3 KBME
Thu. Feb. 11 KBME
Thu. Feb. 18 KBME
Wed. Feb. 24 KBME
Thu. Mar. 3 KBME
Thu. Mar. 10 KBME
Thu. Mar. 17 KBME
Thu. Mar. 24 KBME