The Pecan Park Eagle

The Hall of Fame Special Member Train Has Stopped Off in Houston More Often Than Many People Realize.

Although Houston claims only Craig Biggio as the single player, so far, who both earned and critically qualified as a career franchise player upon his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, numerous other HOF members have played some time with either the Colt .45 or Astro versions of MLB baseball in our city. And before the big leagues even reached Houston in 1962, many other HOF members played with or served the Houston Buffs at the minor league level on their ways up or down the ladder to MLB greatness. What follows is a list of all those Hall of Famers who have played, managed, or coached for either the Texas League Houston Buffs through 1961 – or for the MLB Houston Colt .45s/Astros from 1962 through 2016. Those who played, managed, or coached for Houston at the MLB level are shown in bold type. The rest were here during the long history of Houston as the minor league home of the Houston Buffalos prior to establishing their greatness in the big leagues, or, in the single Buffs case of Joe “Ducky” Medwick, before and after his MLB career, and Enos Slaughter – as one of the last managers of the old Buffs and a guy who still took a few limited whacks at the ball as a pinch hitter.

Hall of Famers Who Played, Managed, or Coached for Houston :

1. Yogi Berra, Coach
2. Craig Biggio, C, 2B, CF
3. Willard Brown, RF
4. Dizzy Dean, P
5. Leo Durocher, Mgr
6. Nellie Fox, 2B
7. Chick Hafey, OF
8. Randy Johnson, P
9. Eddie Mathews, 3B
10. Joe Medwick, CF
11. Joe Morgan, 2b
12. Robin Roberts, P
13. Nolan Ryan, P
14. Ron Santo, 3B
15. Enos Slaughter, Mgr-PH (Buffs)
16. Tris Speaker, CF
17. Don Sutton, P
18. Earl Weaver, 2B
19. Billy Williams, LF

Greatness doesn’t always make its home in Houston, but it does often make a stopover in the Bayou City near the beginning, the middle, or the end of a Hall of Fame Orange Blossom Special career ride.

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Bill McCurdy

Publisher, Editor, Writer

The Pecan Park Eagle

Houston, Texas

Tags: Houston Baseball and the Hall of Fame

This entry was posted on August 14, 2016 at 4:16 pm 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.