Our Worst of the First Colt .45 All Stars
In homage to tonight’s MLB All Star Game, here’s my humble lineup for a special All Star Team from the three-year history of the Houston Colt .45’s, 1962-64. It’s special only in the sense that I tried to select the players that did the worst statistically at their respective positions over the course of that three year stint who also played in a minimum of 100 games for the season they were selected.
Some of these guys were pretty good ball players who just happened to have a down year during their Colt .45 history. Such was the case with Bob Aspromonte, who also happened to have been the only third baseman of note in Colt .45 history. “Aspro” made the team by hitting .214 in 1963.
Of some interest is the fact that none of the “position player worst” stats came from the original 1962 season. Six of the position players came from 1963 and two came from 1964. Only the pitcher, Turk Farrell, came from 1962, and he made this glorious team speciously by losing 20 games in 1962, even though his ERA was a healthy 3.02. It’s like Turk explained it himself: “Do you realize how good I had to be to lose 20 games in one season for the 1962 club?”
Yup. We do, Turk. We just had to have you in the lineup because this exercise is all in fun. Were it truly for real, we would at least have a fighting chance with you on the mound.
Here’s the batting order for our 2013 Pecan Park Eagle presentation of The Worst of the First Houston Colt .45 All Stars:
Bob Lillis (1963) SS (.198 BA/.229 OBP/.237 SLG) 1 HR in 147 G.
Ernie Fazio (1963) 2B (.184 BA/.273 OBP/.281 SLG) 2 HR in 102 G.
Cal Warwick (1963) RF (,254 BA/.319 OBP/.348 SLG) 7 HR in 150 G.
Rusty Staub (1963) 1B (.224 BA/.309 OBP/,308 SLG) 6 HR in 150 G.
Al Spangler (1964) LF (.245 BA/.311 OBP/.334 SLG/4 HR in 135 G.
Bob Aspromonte (1963) 3B (.214 BA/.276 OBP/.306 SLG) 8 HR in 136 G.
Howie Goss (1963) CF (.209 BA/.264 OBP/.328 SLG) 9 HR in 133 G. (extra: 128 K)
Jerry Grote (1964) C (.181 BA/.240 OBP/.262 SLG) 3 HR in 100 G.
Turk Farrell (1962) P (10-20, 3.02 ERA)
Too bad the laws governing reality get in the way of us issuing a challenge to the winners of tonight’s MLB All Star Game, but I will have my hands full enough simply adjusting to the fact that we Houston fans are now supposed to be pulling for the American League club tonight.
Happy All Star Game Day, baseball fans!
The Pecan Park Eagle 
July 16, 2013 at 1:52 pm |
I can’t root for the AL. I will root for Jason Castro, but not for the AL. Home field in the World Series won’t meaning anything to us for another five years at least.
July 16, 2013 at 6:46 pm |
This has to be very strange for Houstonians accustomed all their lives to rooting for the NL in the All-Star game. I hadn’t thought about that until your comment, Bill. Life is but a dream.