1950 Phillies
Looks Right!
I remember it well. It was 1965 and I had just picked up an early Astros game over the radio in New Orleans. “What do they mean, “Houston pitcher Robin Roberts looks in for
1965 Astros
Looks Wrong!
the sign?” ~ I still had failed to get used to the sound of Robin Roberts’ name being spoken as a pitcher for our newly re-christened Astros. The guy was the crown jewel pitcher for the 1950 Philadelphia Phillies club they called “The Whiz Kids.” ~ These Houston Astros were closer as a match to being a club that might qualify in 1965 by Roberts’ current age of 38 for re-designation as “The Wheeze Kids”.
The following is simply a nine-man roster of former Houston MLB players who were far more famous for their big league work elsewhere. Four of them (Roberts, Rodriquez, Fox, and Mathews) were even great enough to make the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The More-Famous-Elsewhere Houston MLB All Stars
Pitcher ~ Robin Roberts
Catcher ~ Ivan Rodriguez
1st Base ~ Pete Runnels
2nd Base ~ Nellie Fox
3rd Base ~ Eddie Mathews
Shortstop ~ Felix Mantilla
Left Field ~ Tommy Davis
Center Field ~ Tommy Agee
Right Field ~ Willie Crawford
********************
Top Ten AL Batting Averages
Thru Games of Wed., 9/19/18:
BATTING AVERAGE
1. Betts • BOS ~ .334
2. Martinez • BOS ~ .331
3. Trout • LAA ~ .317
4. Altuve • HOU ~ .315
********************
AL WEST SCORES,
Thru Wed., 9/19/18:
Seattle 9 – Houston 0.
Oakland 10 – LA Angels 0.
Tampa Bay 9 – Rangers 3.
********************
AL WEST STANDINGS
Morning of Thu., 9/20/18
TEAMS |
WON |
LOST |
PCT. |
GB |
Houston |
95 |
57 |
.625 |
—- |
Oakland |
91 |
61 |
.599 |
4.0 |
Seattle |
84 |
68 |
.553 |
11.0 |
LA Angels |
75 |
77 |
.493 |
20.0 |
Texas |
64 |
88 |
.421 |
31.0 |
********************
SCHEDULE BALANCE FOR
HOU, OAK & SEA:
DATE |
HOU |
OAK |
SEA |
|||
9/20 |
LAA |
|||||
9/21 |
LAA |
MIN |
@TEX |
|||
9/22 |
LAA |
MIN |
@TEX |
|||
9/23 |
LAA |
MIN |
@TEX |
|||
9/24 |
@TOR |
@SEA |
OAK |
|||
9/25 |
@TOR |
@SEA |
OAK |
|||
9/26 |
@TOR |
@SEA |
OAK |
|||
9/27 |
@BAL |
TEX |
||||
9/28 |
@BAL |
@LAA |
TEX |
|||
9/29 |
@BAL |
@LAA |
TEX |
|||
9/30 |
@BAL |
@LAA |
TEX |
********************
Bill McCurdy
Principal Writer, Editor, Publisher
The Pecan Park Eagle
The Pecan Park Eagle 
September 20, 2018 at 7:56 pm |
I think I would put John Mayberry at 1B
I think I would put Joe Morgan at 2B
Although I realize these two started in Houston and went onto greater fame elsewhere.
September 20, 2018 at 11:54 pm |
Fred,
As you surmise, I passed on Morgan and Mayberry because this was to be a club based upon well known good players who came here as established stars with other MLB clubs. I also disqualified any great players that may have started in Houston, but got bungled away by great local minds to far away places. That disqualification took away Morgan, Mayberry, and, for that matter, a red-headed fellow named Rusty Staub. Those guys never lost all of their original Houston root faces, even in places where the baseball machines revved up to red hot intensity.
On the other hand, how solid was Nellie Fox at 2nd base for this young Houston club? ~ Rock solid! When Nellie Fox joined the team, our guys were still known as the Colt .45s, and nobody almost anywhere knew what an “astro” was. ~ I sure didn’t. But we all knew who Nellie Fox was ~ and that he was a product of the “Go-Go” rambling Chicago White Sox of the 1950s ~ and that he was coming to Houston to help us get our own city’s World Series Hopes plane off the Southeast Texas ground.
BTW, I almost went with another guy at 1st base who fits the qualifications here. I still like him as a guy that we might want to add to a full roster club. And that would be Joe Pepitone. ~ New Yorker Joe was about as “un-Houston” as eastern seaboard people used to (and sometimes still do) think we still are. (i.e.,”Watch out for the tumbleweed bouncing off the Astrodome when you get down to Houston, Joe. We hear it’s pretty bad this time of year.”)
September 21, 2018 at 4:14 pm
Bill, then based on your premise,
How about Lee May at 1B?
Fred
September 21, 2018 at 7:28 pm |
Great addition, Fred! ~ Yes, Lee May fills the bill. And the premise grows clearer ~ and the roster begins to grow with great possibility. May was always a Red to me ~ just as Pepitone was always a Yankee, etc, etc. And, at other spots, there was Julio Gotay, the forever Cardinal-flavored infielder and the always Angelic Bo Belinsky on the mound. And on and on.