Astros Farm Director Quinton McCracken will be Thursday's guest on Astroline

HOUSTON, TX - Astros Director of Player Development Quinton McCracken will be the guest on Thursday night's Astroline show, which is broadcast live each week at 7 p.m. from Pluckers Wing Bar (1400 Shepherd Dr., 77007) and presented by Budweiser. The weekly show is open to the public with no admission charge.

This week's show, which will be aired on SportsTalk 790 AM, will be hosted by Astros radio analyst Steve Sparks, who will be filling in for Hall of Fame broadcaster Milo Hamilton. Astroline rotates between KTRH 740 AM and their sister station, SportsTalk 790 AM.

McCracken, a former Major League outfielder, is in his second season as the Astros director of player development. In his first season (2013), the Astros top six minor league clubs all qualified for the postseason, with two winning championships. Last month, ESPN.com ranked the Astros minor league system at No. 1. In his 11-plus Major League seasons, McCracken, a Duke University graduate, hit .274 in 999 career games (1995-2006).

Thursday night will be the first time Sparks will serve as the host of Astroline. The 2013 season marked his first as color analyst for the Astros radio broadcast as he partnered with play-by-play man Robert Ford. Prior to last season, Sparks spent several seasons as a postgame analyst for Astros television broadcasts. As a knuckleballing right-hander, Sparks spent nine seasons in the Major Leagues (1995-2004), primarily as a starting pitcher, appearing in 270 games overall (182 starts). His best season came in 2001 for Detroit when he went 14-9 with a 3.65 ERA and a ML-best eight complete games while tallying 232.0 innings pitched.

Fans can submit questions to the show via Twitter at twitter.com/astros before and during the show. Fans may also post questions on the Astros Facebook page at www.facebook.com/Astros. As always, fans will also have the option to call the show with questions at 713-212-5790.