Who should take the field for the Houston Natives?
Latest Change Now Updated Below, 12/04/2010: All one has to do to qualify for this club is be born in Houston. We forgot about Curt Flood, who was born her, but grew up in Oakland, CA. Thanks to the memory of Mike McCroskey, we have now added Flood to the outfield as a replacement for the now departing Steve Henderson, Left Field (11/18/1952) (Jack Yates HS) (.280 BA, 68 HR, 79 SB). I still don’t see even Curt Flood replacing Michael Bourn defensively in center field, but he definitely is an upgrade from Henderson.
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Here’s a project for all of us, but thanks to early contributions of Dr. D. (Will Rhymes at 3B) and Shaun Bejani (Joel Youngblood at 3B) and the partial return of my own earlier absent memory (Craig Reyn0lds at SS), we, at least, now have all nine positions filled.
A lot of good ballplayers have come out of Houston over the years. Maybe it’s time we tried to put together our choices for the best starting lineup of native Houstonians that this city has ever produced. Off the top of my head, I came up with six players that would be my choices, but I had struck struck out on names for three positions until the names of Rhymes, Youngblood, and Reynolds came streaming back into the bright of day.
Can you think of anyone who might be better suited to play any of the nine positions with greater skill and production? It’s not always as easy as it looks – and sometimes we assume that a player is a Houston native when he really isn’t. Wayne Graham would have been a natural thought for 3rd base, but he wasn’t born in Houston. Neither were Roger Clemens or Andy Pettitte. Those famous Houstonians were born in Ohio and Louisiana, respectively.
Some players were either born nearby Houston – or else, they simply became so identified with Houston that we all mostly assumed that the were born here too. Watty Watkins is a good example. He was a Houstonian, all right. He just wasn’t born here. Others include people like pitcher Josh Beckett, born in Spring, Texas, and fabled Houston high school pitching phenom David Clyde, born out of state,
I don’t have time to research every question that comes to mind to me here, so, I thought some of you might enjoy searching with me for the best lineup of native Houstonians we can put together, The guys I’ve listed are my choices for those spots, but some of you may have other nominees. I considered a few at pitcher, but I chose Red Munger over either Scott Kazmir or Woody Williams because I basically felt that good old Red Munger was better than both of those guys put together.
Send in your comments and let’s see what we can build together. Meanwhile, here’s what I’ve come up with for starters:
Incomplete Starting Lineup for the Houston Natives
(1) George “Red” Munger, Pitcher (10/04/1918) (Sam Houston HS) (77 W-56 L, 3.83 ERA)
(2) Frank Mancuso, Catcher (05/23/1918) (Milby HS) (.241 BA, 5 HR, 2 SB)
(3) James Loney, First Base (05/07/1984) (Elkins HS) (.288 BA, 55 HR, 353 RBI)
(4) Will Rhymes, Second Base (04/01/1983) (Lamar HS) (.304, 1 HR, 19 RBI) *
(5) Joel Youngblood, Third Base (08/28/1951) (Austin HS) (.265 BA, 80 HR, 422 RBI)
(6) Craig Reynolds, Shortstop (12/27/1052) (Reagan HS) (.256 BA, 2 HR, 58 SB)
(7) Curt Flood, Left Field (01/18/1938) (Oakland Tech HS, Oakland, CA) (.293 BA, 85 HR, 88 SB)
(8) Michael Bourn, Center Field (12/27/1982) (Nimitz HS) (.263 BA, 11 HR, 173 SB)
(9) Carl Crawford, Right Field (08/05/1981) (Jeff Davis HS) (.296 BA, 104 HR, 409 SB)
Have a nice Friday, everybody – and Happy Houstonian Hunting too!
* Will Rhymes was suggested by Dr. D.
The Pecan Park Eagle 
December 3, 2010 at 2:46 pm |
I recommend Will Rhymes, WU Little League, Lamar HS and the Detroit Tigers for second base.
SS Paul Janish Born: 10/12/1982 in Houston, TX; Rice University and Cincinnati
Might want to think about Chris Snyder, Spring Woods and Pittsburgh at Catcher.
Maybe Wayne Graham at 3rd!
Wouldn’t Clemens and Pettitte count as natives?
December 3, 2010 at 9:19 pm |
Bill, great work as always! I love the lineup. If you need a third baseman, how about Joel Youngblood, he was born in Houston, never played for the Astros org. but did play 218 games as a third baseman, as he was a utility guy. played with the Giants, Reds, Mets and Cardinals. Just a suggestion. Thanks!
December 3, 2010 at 9:24 pm |
OH, and i guess I should credit Joel for playing that one season with the expos too! lol. By the way, while Joel wasn’t a great 3B, it was one of his weaker positions…OK the weakest he played…I still can’t think of anyone else.
December 3, 2010 at 11:58 pm
Shaun: Thanks for remembering Joel Youngblood. Unless someone better and Houston-born comes along, he has now been installed in the main body of this column as the starting third sacker for the Houston Natives. Good job remembering Youngblood. This isn’t as easy as some may think.
December 4, 2010 at 1:06 am |
Bill-Thanks, Dad would have been proud. He graduated from Sam Houston, a school that had no base ball team. He played American Legion ball but was signed while playing shortstop for a fast pitch softball team called Dobbs and Eddie’s. He was the first NATIVE Houstonian to win a World Series Game. While you are doing this piece, check out one of my Milby boys, Ron Davis. The Yankees, Twins, and the
Cubs.
Thanks,
David Munger
December 4, 2010 at 1:31 am |
David – Thanks for bringing me up to speed on your dad’s high school and early playing experience. I should have known these facts, but didn’t. I somehow got the idea he was an Austin boy and never pursued it further with him. Things would have ben different had we worked on a book together. Those are the times I go into my “no stone unturned” mode.
Your boy Ron Davis was lights out in 1979. I’d be interested in the story of what happened to him beyond 1981. He seemed to drop off from exceptional to mediocre pretty sharply. Was he injured? Or did the hitters all make an adjustment that he couldn’t counter? With pitchers, it’s usually one of those things, or else, some kind of personal problem appears to get in the way of performance. Whatever it was, it’s too bad. The guy had ability that exceeded the final results of his career record.
Regards, Bill McCurdy
December 4, 2010 at 10:44 pm |
Former Cardinal outfielder and famous free agent, Curt Flood, was born in Houston, but grew up in Oakland, Ca. Would he be elgible?
Lefty pitcher, Mike Staton is another born in Houston, but I don’t know if he grew up here.
December 4, 2010 at 11:34 pm |
Mike – Thank you. Curt Flood didn’t have to grow up here. He just had to be born here and be more deserving than one of the other guys to make the starting lineup of the Houston Natives. Curt Flood has now replaced Steve Henderson in our starting lineup, thanks to your memory of his birthplace. He’s even been added to the lineup in the main body of this column. Thanks. – Bill McCurdy