The Pecan Park Eagle

Thanks to the dauntless, eye-blinding research a fellow named George Rose, a big little book entitled “One-Hit Wonders” from 2004 went through a revised edition second printing in 1979. In brief, it is a brief career sketch of 75 men who are in the record books among the approximately 200 total field of players who made it to the big leagues long enough to register one hit, and one hit only, as the sum total of their offensive accomplishments with the bat at the game’s highest level of play.

All of these players had minor league careers that ranged from immediate and early flame-out spurts – to brief steadiness for four or five years – to many seasons of distinguished minor league production. They share only that MLB “one-hit wonder” common ground as the sum total of their major league experience and their slippage away from further opportunity is both common and individual as an explanation for how they ended up in each other’s company.

Although it’s not clear if the book’s treatment of three men who achieved their one-hit wonder status is the grand total for Astros – or simply the total number of Astros included in Rose’s book, we shall list them here for your edification and opportunity for further research into the possibility of others.

Unless further research or author clarification proves us wrong, the Three Amigos of Houston Astro “One-Hit Wonder” History are:

(1) Greg Sims.

Greg Sims

19-yeear old outfielder Sims broke into the Astros lineup for the first time on April 15, 1966 and went hit less.  He finally got his lone MLB hit, a seeing-eye single, against veteran pitcher Terry Fox of the Phillies on May 14, 1966. (The book incorrectly reports the date of Sims’ only MLB hit game as May 20, 1966.)

Sims was 1 for 6 in 7 games before an attempt was made to return him to the Pirates as a returnee from the earlier Rule Five draft, The Pirates didn’t want him, so Sims accepted a minor league assignment with the Astros and then played several good years as a minor leaguer without ever returning to the majors with any club.

One interesting note: When the Astros bumped Sims from their 1966 roster, it was a choice they made between him or a fellow named Nate Colbert. They kept Colbert, so let’s give them their due. The Astros have made some good personnel decisions in the past.

Link to the MLB & Minor League Record of Greg Sims at Baseball Reference.Com:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/simsgr01.shtml

Link to the Box Score of the One MLB Hit Game of Greg Sims at Baseball Almanac.Com:

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=196605140PHI

(2) Jesus de la Rosa.

Jesus de la Rosa

By the time he reached the Astros for his first MLB game on August 2, 1975, de la Rosa was only four days shy of his 22nd birthday, but he had been playing in the clubs minor league system since 1969, having signed as one of those eager family kids from The Dominican whose celestial dream was always getting off the island and becoming a big league baseball player. As a first and third baseman. de la Rosa was eager to go. In his first try, de la Rosa was retired as a pinch hitter for pitcher Wayne Granger in the late innings of an 8-7 Astros loss at San Francisco.

The following day, August 3, 1975, de la Rosa got his second chance as a pinch hitter for pitcher Jose Sosa in the top of the 9th against Pete Falcone of the Giants. This time he cracked a double and scored a run as Houston rallied for two, but still lost to San Francisco by 5-4. It would turn out to be, of course, the only hit of Jesus de la Rosa all too brief MLB career. He would make more out in a third and final appearance to secure his career MLB batting average at .333, but he didn’t play log enough to buy his mama a house.

Link to the MLB & Minor League Record of Jesus de la Rosa at Baseball Reference.Com:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/dela_je01.shtml

Link to the Box Score of the One MLB Hit Game of Jesus de la Rosa at Baseball Almanac.Com:

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=197508031SFN

(3) Craig Cacek.

Craig Cacek

Traded by the Mets to the Astros in a December 1975 minor league deal, first baseman Craig Cacek finally got an MLB call-up by Houston in 1977 when star first sacker Bob Watson went on the DL with a hand injury. Cacek made his big league game debut on June 21, 1977 as a first base starter for Houston against a pretty fair pitcher named Steve Rogers in a contest played in Montreal. Cacek would get his lone hit off Steve Rogers.

In the Rose book, Cacek described the memory of his only big league hit on page 129-130 in wonderfully personal terms: ” My recollection was that Rogers shut us out on three hits, and I got one of the three. [It was] a big bouncer hit over the mound and was cut off by either the 2nd baseman or shortstop in shallow center field, and there was no play on me.”

Someone from the Astros collected the ball and gave it to Cacek after the game. “I still have that ball, it is a nice keepsake, but bittersweet in a way because I always believed I could have done more in the show.”

Cacek  must have been a real competitor. Real competitors never give up, even if they don’t reach their highest goals. These disappointment just go where all regrets go in the memory banks of our human egos. – They just transform their way into “woulda, coulda, shouldas!”

22-year old Craig Cacek played in a total of 7 Astros games in 1977, but never got another hit, ending his one-chance run at the big leagues with a 1 for 20 mark and a batting average of only .050 – an outcome, indeed, that left plenty of room for a fellow’s “woulda, coulda, shoulda” second guessing on the way to the greater peace that comes from finally accepting that life is what it is – we live only in the here and now – and that here’s never any going back for any of us. The past should only be our teacher – and not our torture. The also great lesson here too is – There are a lot of other ways in life for us humans to find ourselves on at least one “one-hit wonder” list in some area of life.

Link to the MLB & Minor League Record of Craig Cacek at Baseball Reference.Com:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/cacekcr01.shtml

Link to the Box Score of the One MLB Hit Game of Craig Cacek at Baseball Almanac.Com:

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=197706210MON

Appendices Comment:  We know what the author says about himself,with help from the photo on the back of “One Hit Wonders” about his Michigan background. We don’t really  think that the author of “One-Hit Wonders” is the same George Rose who played infield for our 1956 St. Thomas High School Eagles, but, in case it was you, George – and you were just using someone’s else photo and story to cover your humility as the true author of the book, you should have spoken up much sooner to our large and growing active alumni group. You could have sold a lot more books.

~ Editor – The Pecan Park Eagle 🙂