I thought about shelving it for next year or deleting it altogether, but decided to go ahead and publish it as a way of honoring the 2017 World Series Champions and their fans.
So without further adieu... here are my five favorite Houston Astros from their all-time roster:
Current: Jose Altuve
2017 Gypsy Queen Gum Back Auto #CBCA-JA
I'll keep it short and simple. He's one of the best hitters in the league. He consistently plays hard. He's one of the leaders in the Astros clubhouse. And he accomplishes all of this while being one of the shortest guys in the league. He's truly the little engine that could and one of my favorite players in the game.
Early 90's to Mid 2000's: Craig Biggio
2013 Five Star Autographs #FSBA-CB
For years, I was more of a Bagwell, than a Biggio kind of guy. But when he became a member of the 3,000 hit club, I looked back at his career and was truly amazed at how his numbers added up over the years. I also admire any athlete that sticks with one franchise over their entire career.
Early 90's to Mid 2000's: Jeff Bagwell
2003 Flair Sweet Swatch Autos #JB
I enjoyed watching highlights of Bagwell since 1991, the same year he took our hobby by storm. I still have 20+ copies of his 1991 Upper Deck rookie card sitting in a box somewhere. He had the popular combination of hitting for average and power, while even displaying some speed for a few years. It was nice to see him get voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame this year.
Late 80's to Mid 90's: Ken Caminiti
1989 Donruss #542
When it comes to hitting, Ken Caminiti is hands down the biggest name to come out of my alma mater... San Jose State University. For that reason alone... he makes this list.
Mid 70's to Early 80's: J.R. Richard
I don't remember seeing Richard pitch in person, but I do remember being blown away by his statistics while flipping through my National League Green Books. From 1976 until he suffered his stroke in the Summer of 1980, he was considered one of the premiere pitchers in the National League. You gotta wonder if Houston would have been able to take down the Phillies in the NLCS had he been around to pitch that postseason.
What about you?
Who are your all-time favorite Houston Astros?
Hope all of you are enjoying your first weekend without baseball. Happy Saturday and sayonara!
12 comments:
I really liked the Astros when they were at peak awfulness (early 2010's) so a lot of my favorite Astros bring back terrible nightmares for Astros fans like Hunter Pence, J.R. Towles, Jose Valdez, Matt Downs and Wilton Lopez.
Nolan Ryan, hands down!
Doug Rader, Jimmy Wynn, Don Wilson, George Springer, Mike Scott
because the astros were nl west rivals of the dodgers for so long, i didn't really have any favorite astros. i respected jr richard, feared jose cruz, and hoped they would all fail when playing the dodgers. still, i did pull for terry puhl (a canadian) back then. once the astros went to the nl central, i was less critical of houston. so, my five all-time favorite astros would be terry puhl, lance berkman, craig biggio, davey lopes, and don sutton.
zippy - i almost added hunter to my list. i've always liked the guy.
sumomenkoman - lol. he's a legend, but growing up i was more of a steve carlton kind of guy.
commishbob - nice call on mike scott. like hunter pence, he just missed the cut.
gcrl - i grew up in the era of the astros being in the nl west, so i totally understand. completely forgot that lopes played for the astros. but i just remembered his 87t record breaker card.
I'll throw a lesser-known name out here. Obviously not in the same class as these guys, but I did like Morgan Ensberg.
Those 2013 Topps Five Star cards are a thing of beauty. I've been contemplating chasing the set but I know if I do then it'll be a budget buster. As far as favorite Astro, no question the Ryan Express!
Cammy definitely because I got to meet him a bunch of times when I was really young thanks to my uncle being good friends with him.
Nolan Ryan, Hunter Pence, and George Springer also make the list.
To close it out though I will go with a fella named Charlie Morton.
Jose Cruz.
These guys are all greats. Altuve is my favorite current player while Biggio and Bagwell were favorites when they played. Same with J.R. Richard. Richard was so big and threw so hard. If he'd been as mean as Bob Gibson I don't think anyone could have even gotten into the box against him. Fun post and brings up a lot of good memories for me. Thanks.
You know me..I have to go with Hunter Pence =P
adam k - i'm pretty sure i just sent someone a nice ensberg patch/auto. he had a few solid seasons, but disappeared.
reds card collector - it's a great set. you can grab a lot of affordable hof autographs. the problem will be the sp's. some of them go for big $$$
collecting cutch - wow. that's awesome! it was really fun watching morton pitch during their run this postseason.
rob - nice call.
bulldog - thanks. i love writing about guys who played when i was a kid. a mean richard would have indeed been scary
ana - of course!
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