Except Drayton has to refund all the season ticket sales for this three game series plus any advanced sales on individual tickets previosly sold for this series. So Drayton refunds what, 30,000 season tickets and probably 5,000 individual tickets (have no idead if those numbers are accurate), and then he gets 60% of what 27,000 to 30,000 or so at significantly lower prices, and they are only going to play two and not three.

No-hitter for Z through 4. Well, actually he has 1 hit.

Except Drayton has to refund all the season ticket sales for this three game series plus any advanced sales on individual tickets previosly sold for this series. So Drayton refunds what, 30,000 season tickets and probably 5,000 individual tickets (have no idead if those numbers are accurate), and then he gets 60% of what 27,000 to 30,000 or so at significantly lower prices, and they are only going to play two and not three.

This is true if they play in Round Rock, Milwaukee, Tampa, or Poland. Milwaukee is the best option monetarily.

23,700 fans at the game.

Or 20k more than Tampa.

From before the game, via the MIL Journal-Sentinel:

The Astros weren’t thrilled about playing in front of a decidedly pro-Cubs crowd that filled the lower bowl of Miller Park.

“I am upset,” Astros manager Cecil Cooper said before the game. “But what are you going to do about it?

“It’s going to be like a Cubs home game. They’re not the home team; we are. We’re not happy with that. If I see the commissioner (Bud Selig), I’ll tell him that. I understand, but I’m not happy.”
...
“The initial goal was to see if we could have this all happen in Houston,” [GM Ed] Wade said. “All those options were discussed and one by one, discarded, as the forecast changed. Some of the places that were discussed were discarded.

“There was possible rain in Arlington (Texas) because of Ike, Atlanta had rain issues. Tampa Bay was discussed and they have a game tomorrow (Monday) there.

“This seemed to be the most sensible solution. The last thing we wanted to do was mobilize both clubs someplace and get rained out there.”

Houston Chronicle: Justice - Decision to play in Milwaukee beyond ridiculous

Commissioner Bud Selig should be embarrassed to have thrown a team in the thick of playoff contention into this situation. If the Astros miss the playoffs by a game, remember this one.

Drayton McLane shouldn’t be given a pass, either. He refused to believe predictions that a monstrous storm was headed for Houston. He wanted those three home games against the Cubs so badly that his judgment was clouded. Had he acted earlier, had he acknowledged that the Astros and Cubs simply weren’t going to play at Minute Maid Park, this series could have been played at a true neutral site over the weekend.

Anyplace else would have been better than what the Astros walked into Sunday night. This was a home game for the Cubs. Plain and simple. And dumb.
...
"We’re the only team in baseball that’s going to play 83 road games,’’ Roy Oswalt said after Zambrano no-hit the Astros 5-0 Sunday night.
...
The Astros left Minute Maid Park at 8:45 Sunday morning. Their plane took off at 11:50. They arrived at their hotel around 2 and left for the ballpark at 4.

From the link in 108:

Yes, Carlos Zambrano was unhittable. No, the Astros wouldn’t have beaten him anywhere. That argument misses the point.

Chicago Tribune: Home? Milwaukee far from it to Astros

The Astros believed there were indeed better alternatives, while the Cubs maintained they had no significant advantage.

Astros first baseman Lance Berkman said MLB "could have done a lot better job" in picking the neutral site for the makeup games.

"We could have gone to Atlanta, done something in Florida," he said. "In my opinion, there's more going on here than just getting two baseball games in. They could've gone any number of places. Heck, we could've played a doubleheader on Monday in Florida.

"The Cubs are a tough team, no matter where you play them. But we certainly would like to get them on more of a neutral field than in front of their home fans."

Berkman said he understands that revenue was involved in the decision. The Astros were said to have lost $3 million from the cancellation of games at Minute Maid Park.

"I know the owners are trying to make money," he said. "That's what they're in this business for. There certainly is going to be a much better gate here than at a neutral site. We're players. We're employees. We do what they tell us. We don't like it a lot of times, but we do it."

Commissioner Bud Selig should be embarrassed to have thrown a team in the thick of playoff contention into this situation. If the Astros miss the playoffs by a game, remember this one.

Or you could remember the first ###### 103 games the Astros played this year, rolling up a record of 47-56 in the process. At the time, Houston was 9.5 games out of the wild-card and 12.5 back in the division.

Sympathy level = 0.