The Pecan Park Eagle

Roy Oswalt Heads Former Astro Run in 2010 Playoffs.

The Houston Astros couldn’t get to the 2010 MLB Playoffs collectively, but they are having a pretty good run at it individually – or so it seems. If we allow for their different backgrounds with the club at various times we still may have to assume that some of this widely spread appearance in the playoffs is a matter of the cream rising to the top – and probably some it too is just coincidence and due to the fact that a lot of players from a lot of clubs move around a lot these days.

At any rate, it’s still kind of fun to point out the obvious. Except for Minnesota, every one of the eight playoff clubs has some kind of administrative, coaching, or player connection to previous employeea of the Houston Astros.

Here’s a team-by-team breakdown of what we can see with the naked eye, a little familiarity with the history of the Astros, and a simple website search of current playoff team rosters. Active former Astros on the club’s current roster are shown in parentheses after the club’s name::

Texas Rangers (1)

Darren Oliver, P *

The Rangers have only one former Astro on their roster, but they have a partial owner and club president named Nolan Ryan running their operations. That one rings the bell on The Ballad of the Lost Astro faster than Quasimodo ever chimed a gong. The Rangers also have another former employee named Mike Maddux working as their pitching coach and yet another, Jackie Moore, serving as their bench coach. No telling how many former Astros management people are also now working in Arlington. The list starts with former Astros veep Rob Matwick.

Tampa Bay Rays (2)

Chad Qualls, P

Dan Wheeler, P

Throw in pitching Coach Jim Hickey and former Astros minor league prospect Ben Zobrist who never survived a trade that blocked his opportunity for a cup of coffee with the Astros and the Rays gel into another merry former Houston player home. Oh, and one other little detail could use a beacon of light: Former Astros General Manager Gerry Hunsicker serves as a Vice President and special advisor to the Rays’ current GM.

Hmmm! The Rays are sure making a lot of post-season runs these days. Makes you wonder how helpful Mr. Hunsicker has been to that successful movement by the Rays up the AL standings.

New York Yankees (2)

Lance Berkman, DH

Andy Pettitte, P

Did the former Astros have any bearing on the Yankees’ Game Two win over the Twins? Check your morning newspaper for details. The old puma that the Yankee fans love to ride and taunt as “Fat Elvis” provided 2 runs and 2 RBI on a home run and double that provided all the difference the Yankees would need on the scoreboard while starter “Earnest Andy” held the Twins at bay for the most part and chalked up another post-season win.

Minnesota Twins (0)

The Twins are the most Astros-Free organization now involved in the 2010 MLB post-season play. They also seem to be among those who are feeling the hardest sting from former Astros on their now probable early departure from the World Series chase.

Philadelphia Phillies (2)

Roy Oswalt, P

Brad Lidge, P

Roy starts Game Two against the Reds today. When he joined the Phillies, he brought the oxygen that club needed to start the water (H2O) flowing on their pennant quest. How do you come up with H2O in Philly? Easy. Just add two parts Halladay and Hamels to one part Oswalt and shake, not stir. If hot water results and the ground starts to shake, you just throw in a little Lidge to bring everything back to the waters of peace and calm. (Most of the time, the “L” in Lidge stands for lithium. The rest of the time, it stands for that second value in the W/L column.

Former member of the 1986 Astros, Davy Lopes, serves as first base coach for the Phillies.

Cincinnati Reds (0)

No former Astros fill spots on the Reds’ roster, but another former member of the great 1986 Astros club, Billy Hatcher, is on hand as the first base coach for the Reds.

San Francisco Giants (1)

Aubrey Huff, IB

Giants manager Bruce Bochy also used to catch for the Astros during his playing days.

Atlanta Braves (1)

Billy Wagner, P

All the Braves have with them to commemorate former Astros is Billy Wagner, the greatest closer in the club’s history.

In general, every club in the playoffs, except for Minnesota, has some kind of historical connection to the Astros through former players, managers, coaches, owners, or administrators. If I got anything wrong or left anyone out, please post your corrections below as a comment on this column.

I’ll have to admit: As an Astros fan, I really enjoyed watching Lance Berkman have such a lights-out, difference-making game last night against the Twins. Maybe that will shut up hs Yankee fan critics for about 24 hours.

Today I look forward to seeing what Roy Oswalt can do in Game Two versus the Reds.

Go Roy! Go Lance! Go former Astros!

If the Astros can’t be there, at least, make us proud that you once played for the good guys down here in Houston.

* Thanks, Bill Gilbert, for the reminder that Darren Oliver once pitched for the 2004 Astros.

Tags: Baseball, Playoff Rosters

This entry was posted on October 8, 2010 at 11:14 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.