FanHouse Brandon Backe

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Team who refuses to rebuild. Seriously, Drayton McLane, just keep holding out hope you can win the World Series and making your general managers deal every prospect you ever stumble across for the likes of Miguel Tejada and an overrated closer. It just keeps setting the franchise back years at a time. For now, they are solving a broken leg with a band-aid by winning 86 games and treading water.

Yesterday Josh Alper told you about Brandon Backe being arrested at a wedding over the weekend. According to the police report, Brandon resisted arrest and confronted the officers and had to be subdued, along with quite a few other people in attendance at the wedding. Well, it's starting to look like the Galveston police department may have gone a little too far.

According to witness testimony, it was the police who were acting out of line, and now the Galveston police department is launching it's own internal investigation into the incident.

Witnesses said Monday that police needlessly beat, Tasered and pepper-sprayed wedding guests who were trying to comply with police commands during an incident in which officers arrested 10 people, including Backe, at an outdoor bar at the San Luis Hotel on Seawall Boulevard.

Daniel Cole O'Balle, 19, was injured during the incident and flown by helicopter to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston. Backe was charged with three counts of assault on a public servant and two counts of retaliation. He was released on $115,000 bond.

Galveston police spokesman Cpt. Walter Braun said the department's office of professional conduct was conducting an internal investigation, although no formal complaints of officer misconduct had been received. "This administration is taking a proactive step," Braun said.

Brandon Backe spent most of the season getting tuned up on a regular basis. Opposing teams racked up 202 hits against him during the 2008 campaign which contributed to 14 losses, a 6.08 ERA and a lot of pent-up aggression. Unfortunately Backe chose the wrong outlet for his angst and spent a little time in the hoosegow as a result.

Backe was at a wedding in Galveston over the weekend and after the nuptials, he retired to a hotel bar with some friends. A member of the party was told by police that he couldn't go outside with his beverage and that's when, according to the Houston Chronicle, a "riot" broke out.

During the brawl, Backe was told by police to back away. He refused, and police attempted to handcuff him, the report said.

Backe struggled with officers. One officer stated in the report that he hit Backe twice in the face before handcuffing him. The officer also reported that Backe smelled of alcohol and had bloodshot eyes.

The Galveston police have more in common with the National League than previously thought. They all hit Backe and hit Backe hard.

The pitcher may have gotten off easy, actually. Unlike others in the party and Al Reyes, for that matter, he avoided the unique thrill of being tased. Backe was released on $1,500 bond and, presumably, is searching for a place where he can avoid getting hit for a little while.

Baseball fights are awesome. Baseball is basically the only sport that encourages every single man, woman, and child (err ... hitters, fielders, and coaches ... whatever) on the field to get involved in the brawls because no one ever throws punches and they're generally just ridiculous affairs where swear words are yelled at each other. A batting practice fight, however, is a different story. You only go after someone during batting practice if you're actually angry.

Apparently, Albert Pujols and Brandon Backe are actually angry with each other, because they got into what's being described as "a quarrel" during batting practice before today's Cardinals/Astros game. Backe explains:

"[I was] coming off the field and he approached me," Backe said. "I don't know. It's apparent that we don't like each other. That's OK. There's plenty of people I don't like in this game. It doesn't matter. It's baseball. It's the way it goes. The competition between he and I just escalated and it's OK. It's no big deal. This is what makes it fun."

One thing that I know is that pissing off Albert Pujols tends to be a bad idea for most pitchers. Oliver Perez tried it once and was left with a 450-foot memory. Tonight? Albert and his sore elbow hit two bombs off of Dave Borkowski and Oscar Villareal, who are probably not terribly pleased that Backe got Pujols so fired up. Some people will never learn.

I don't think he gets the national respect he really deserves (and his performance this year hasn't helped any) but Craig Biggio has truly had a remarkable career. He broke into the majors as a catcher before becoming a four-time Gold Glove winner at second base and then a (barely) serviceable center fielder. His career has truly gone full circle, though, as he's been back at second base the last few years and will return behind the plate for at least an inning or two on Saturday. From MLB.com:

Biggio originally had planned to catch Roy Oswalt on Friday, but after the right-hander shut it down for the year, Biggio turned to [Brandon] Backe, for two reasons. He doesn't throw too hard, and he figured Backe would get a kick out of pitching to someone he admired as a young Astros fan in the late 1980s and '90s.

Biggio was right on both counts.

"I guess it's kind of fitting for someone that grew up watching him as a catcher, and basically throughout his career," Backe said. "To be able to pitch to him ... that would be in a way pretty special to me. I don't know who's getting the better end of the deal, him or me, but it should be pretty interesting and I'm excited."

I can understand the sentimentality involved, but it seems a bit contrived. I guess it's really not a big deal considering the Astros are assured of finishing no higher than fourth in the NL Central, and their opponent, the Braves, are also on the outside looking in to the playoffs. But if this game is truly a meaningless exhibition, why not let every player try a different position? Put Carlos Lee on the mound, Lance Berkman at shortstop, Brad Lidge in center field. Heck, hold a fan raffle for the right to play left field for an inning. The final score may resemble a beer league softball game but at least it'd give the fans a reason to show up.