The Pecan Park Eagle

Derek Jeter aso makes a great captain for the “Coulda’ Been Astros Together” club.

Yesterday we looked at Derek Jeter and the wistful fact that he could be now celebrating his 20th and last season in a HOF career, as a Houston Astro, had the club picked him with their number one overall choice in the 1992 amateur player draft. But, as life so often goes, they did not pick Jeter – and he will be finishing up as a proud and happy solo franchise player for the New York Yankees.

Today is just another dabble into some major rearrangement of known reality by adding Derek Jeter to the nine-man starting lineup of Houston Astros that “could have been” had the club either acquired and kept them the opportunity was there, or not dumped them off to blossom elsewhere, and then put them together with great Astros that were kept to perform at a high level in the year that comes together as the season the team “might have won” their first (still sought after) World Series.

I’m not suggesting that these nine players are all the club would have needed to have won it all in the particular year chosen for their actual accomplishments in that season. It just seems that a club with this kind of quality lineup on the field pretty much everyday beyond the pitcher would also be filled in with a solid roster behind them too. As our standard, in the relatively short time we have to research the components this morning, we are using a common season in which all the selected members put up their stats in the same time period as Astros, Almost Astros, and Former Astros.

That being said, here goes:

The 2001 Coulda’-Been-Astros-Together Starting Lineup

* Ken Caminiti finished the season as a Texas Ranger, batting only .228 for his total 2001 season, adding only 4 doubles and 1 triple to the extra base total he compiled in Houston. That being said, the Pecan Park Eagle will take him as their “could’ve been” man for third base for 2001 over any others.

Several of these named players had better seasons in other years (some, insanely so), but 2001 proved to be the best common ground for them all as a team to maybe have come together earlier for a World Series adventure in 2001. Luis Gonzalez may not have been a better center fielder than Kenny Lofton ever, but, in 2001, for whatever reason, his bat was madly better than almost everyone else’s.

Have fun with is material. The Eagle is curious to see if you can find another common year that might be an even better year for a one-season “Coulda’ Been” Best Astros club.

Have at. – This is the best I could offer in the limited time I have this morning.

And, of course ….