Who belongs in the Houston Astros Hall of Honor?
This past Friday night, Oct. 1st, the Houston Astros kicked off their celebration of the upcoming 50th anniversary of the franchise in 2012 by naming their five major players for each of the five involved decades. I’m not sure how they came about these choices, but they certainly didn’t miss the inclusion of five players whose names belong on any Astros Wall of Honor. Jimmy Wynn got the nod as the player of the 1960s; Jose Cruz represented the 1970s; Nolan Ryan carried the flag for the 1980s; Jeff Bagwell was the man named for the 1990s; and Craig Biggio and his march to 3,000 hits picked off the first decade of the 21st century for his work over the first seven years of it.
I have no trouble with these selections, but I acknowledge that there are others out there asking what happened to guys like Larry Dierker, Joe Niekro, and Mike Scott? What happened to each of them and others is that you can only pick a single name for player of the decade, unless you change it to players of the decade. With one pick, several get left out.
I’ll try to fix that here by going for two names per decade, but that will still leave room for some unhappy faces out there, I’m sure:
1960s: Jimmy Wynn & Larry Dierker
1970s: Jose Cruz & Joe Niekro
1980s: Nolan Ryan & Mike Scott
1990s: Jeff Bagwell & Craig Biggio
2000s: Roy Oswalt & Lance Berkman
There. That feels better to me. Does it feel any better to you?
The next thing I’d offer is a few off-the-top-of-my-head suggestions for membership as the original class of the Houston Astros Hall of Honor, starting with the name of the place from the outset. I am no longer officially connected to the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame, but I left with the retirement title of “president emeritus” for my seven years total time served and a little practical experience with the travails of what accompanies the process of bestowing honor upon others for their achievements.
You run into a few egos that possess all the resilience of an unrefrigerated tomato. These types need to be handled with care or not touched at all. And that mindful advisory leads straight to the thought that the Astros are choosing well to name their planned special place as the Astros Hall of Honor, rather than their Hall of Fame.
Anyone may attain fame for the most notorious of reasons. Honor is something that only enfolds around those who earn and deserve it for their performances in a given field of action.
When I think of an Astros Hall of Honor, and the candidates for that first class of inductees, I think of these names without hesitation. Any names that evoke hesitation can wait until next year as the Astros thresh out their standards for what shall determine their selection process. I may miss someone along the way because this sort of thing can never be a one-person job. Please feel free to add the names of anyone else you feel, as a fan, has earned the right to be so honored by the Astros. The Astros will end up doing this thing their own way, but it doesn’t cost us anything but our time to make suggestions here, while the door is still open.
Here are my Colt .45/Astro nominees. Please note that, with the arguable exception of Nolan Ryan, I do not include players whose signature achievements occurred elsewhere:
Larry Dierker, Jimmy Wynn, Bob Aspromonte, Don Wilson, Jose Cruz, Joe Niekro, Glenn Davis, Billy Doran, Art Howe, Phil Garner, Bill Virdon, Billy Hatcher, Bob Knepper, J.R. Richard, Roger Metzger, Dave Smith, Nolan Ryan, Mike Scott, Alan Ashby, Terry Puhl, Cesar Cedeno, Craig Reynolds, Bob Watson, Kevin Bass, Enos Cabell, Doug Rader, Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Billy Wagner, Brad Ausmus, Lance Berkman, Roy Oswalt, and President Tal Smith.
If you care to eliminate any of my picks or add some of your own please leave a reply comment to this thread. The question is: Who should the Astros reward with “Hall of Honor” induction for their career or singular accomplishments as members of this franchise. I only selected one non-player for the honor, but I cannot imagine this hall even existing without him. Tal Smith has been a force within the franchise from 1962 almost continuously forward.
Now – let’s hear it from you too!
Tags: Baseball, History, Houston Astros
The Pecan Park Eagle 
October 5, 2010 at 3:11 pm |
I certainly agree with your suggestion but would recommend the adddition of 3 people who have also made a major impact on the popularity and success of the Houston franchise. They are:
Gene Elston, Milo Hamilton and Bill Brown.
October 5, 2010 at 4:48 pm |
Bob:
I couldn’t agree more. Except for Tal, I had been concentrating exclusively on players, but I also favor honoring people like Frick winners Gene Elston and Milo Hamilton, plus long-time broadcaster-writer Bill Brown.
Question: What do we do with people like Jim Umbricht, who basically had his number retired out of sympathy for his cancer affliction and death, and not so much for his pitching accomplishments.If we take in Umbricht because his number has been retired previously, what do we do then about Walt Bond, who also died 0f cancer in that same era with more field accomplishments than Jim Umbricht?
It doesn’t take long to see why this job can never be a one-person operation.
October 5, 2010 at 9:32 pm |
I’ve toyed a players-only version of this ever since Kaz Matsui was honored in Japan for his 2,00th hit. In their “Hall”, you get in by achievement, not by popularity so I set a standard:
1) At least eight full or partial seasons with the Astros.
2) Any one of the fllowing accomplishments while playing for the Astros: Named to an NL All-Star team, won a Gold Glove, achieved 2000 hits or 300 home runs or 100 victories or 200 saves.
This actually left a neat list of 25 Astros who qualified and most every name is one most Astro fans would approve, except possibly Bob Knepper. It left only two Astros who I feel ought to belong but did not reach any of those milestones – Alan Ashby and Bob Aspromonte.
But the cool thing is that such a “Hall” can be done with no voting, no politics and no moral judgements and you get a very representative group of the best Astros in team history.
October 5, 2010 at 10:55 pm |
Bob H: Your idea and qualification plan makes perfect sense. I support it completely, even if it costs three names from my proffered list. The object of this whole subject here in the PP Eagle today is to stress that honors for measurable achievements are preferable to those attained through political, popular, moral, sympathetic, or profitable choice. During my time with the TBHOF, we worked hard to get there, but the challenge increases when you are assessing the merits of some players who worked 80-100 years ago. Those people don’t get much support from some contemporary judges. Your system would work purely with the Astros since they are all playing under the same ongoing conditions we know as Major League Baseball.
Worst system for a Hall of Honor? Establish no standard and leave selections in the hands of one or two selecting people. That route of choice leaves the door open to ego politics over measurable achievement when it comes down to the induction process. If there’s anything the Astros Hall of Honor doesn’t need it’s a marriage to the empire-building needs of a select person or two – no matter who they are.
I’m not suggesting that any kind of subjective power-building process is in place now. In fact, most of what I’ve seen lately suggests that the Astros have never been more dedicated to honoring their own history properly, Mike Acosta, the Astros Director of Authentication, is doing a beautiful job in the area of preservation and planning for the franchise’s 50th anniversary and plans for a Hall of Honor at Minute Maid Park. For all we know, the Astros may already have a plan in place for selecting inductees along the lines you have briefly, but so clearly, suggested here.
You and I, Mr. Hulsey, are just singing from the same choir: When it comes to an Astros Hall of Honor, give us induction standards that that ring free of judgment and hang clearly from measurable, publicly transparent achievement over time on the field.
Some other standards would need to be derived for non-playing inductees, but that decision has to come right after the decision is made on whether or not the Hall shall included non-playing personnel. Time of service is always one big measurable qualifier, as are awards like the “Frick” that both Elston and Hamilton have earned,
Better ways are always available, The more these things get threshed out and installed prior to the opening of the Hall, the better. Otherwise, the path of “no advance standards plan” leads inevitably to the increased possibility of subjective/political choosing by default. It’s just one of those auto-dynamics that runs fairly free in human nature.
There. Have I talked enough?
October 5, 2010 at 11:25 pm |
I don’t know what the criteria is, but I do know that Cesar Cedeno was the reason I paid money to watch the Astros in the 70’s. He is still probably the most talented athlete to ever play for the Astros (Carlos Beltran came close but lacked the BA). Power, speed, arm, average and defense, plus a take-the-extra-base guy to the extreme.
Also, I’ve always thought Billy Doran was highly overated. He had a terrible temper which got to be disruptive after every out. While he had a penchant for making very flashy, diving plays, he consistently ranked at or near the bottom for assists by a second baseman (suggesting many of these diving stops would be routine for most of his peers).
I would vote to exclude him.
October 6, 2010 at 5:44 pm |
I need to think about Knepper. He seemed to have hot seasons followed by cold seasons during his time here. It didn’t happen while an Astro, but I recall an hilarious exchange between Knepper and Roger Craig when Craig came out to pull him after a horrendous outing. Knepper’s comment of “It’s God’s will” didn’t go over well with Craig.
I think Roy Hofheinz and R.E. “Bob” Smith should be considered.
I liked Doran. I always preferred him to Ryne Sandberg, who I think is questionable HOF material.
October 6, 2010 at 8:02 pm |
Greetings Bill McCurdy,
I know this is off topic, but i stumbled upon an article you did on the Chron.com blog regarding Frontier Fiesta, I would love to know more about your involvement in the event. Are you an Alumni? I’m asking this because I am the director of marketing for Frontier Fiesta this year and I wish to conduct interviews with some of Frontier fiesta’s alumni and past attendees to get a first hand picture of how Fiesta was in it’s earlier years.
My email is ffmark@central.UH.edu – looking forward to hearing from you!
Adrian Edmonds
Director of Marketing
Frontier Fiesta Association
October 7, 2010 at 6:56 pm |
Bill, the case for Umbricht I believe was made primarily for his courage in pitching after coming back in 1963 from cancer surgery. However, a case also can be made based on his accomplishments, albeit ever so brief. Jim Umbricht arguably was the team’s best relief pitcher in both 1962 and 1963. His WHIP led the team’s relievers both seasons, 1.01 in 1962 and 0.96 in 1963. He was even tougher while playing with cancer. Umbricht was a very well-liked guy whose death palpably affected the guys he played with and other people in the organization, as well as the fans. Few people know who he is now, but his number wouldn’t have been retired had he been a person to whom people had little reaction, like Walt Bond, or Johnny Weekly, or Jay Dahl, all of whom died very young and after brief playing time with the Colt .45s. Probably all of them were good men and good teammates, but Umbricht was a guy who left an impression, and we assume that impression got his number up there. I was 15 when he died, but I have a vivid memory of the sadness that his death created in the community.
Mark