trivia

[crashtest]

sadoug said:

I think a guy named gallager was the writer for the post.

I'm pretty sure the writer for the Post was Mickey Herskowitz. Clark Nealon was the elder statesman who also covered the Colt .45s.

I think the writer for the Chronicle was d*ck Peebles.

[crashtest]

sadoug said:

Pete runnels with the Red Sox..sent to the colt 45's
dont know the National league guy

BINGO! Pete Runnels it was. A second baseman/first baseman - kind of an odd combo, but then that is about how we are playing Loretta.

As for the NL guy, I never realized he was as good of a player as his pre-Colt .45 resume might suggest. I wish James would do an article about him, but it would be a tough interview since he died just last March.

[crashtest]

The NL guy was Norm Larker. Imagine, going from a hero on the World Champ Dodgers in '59, and making the All-Star team and coming within one hit of a batting title in '60 and living in LA to being banished to the Colt .45s in '62 and out of MLB in '63 (although he did play in Japan - probably the first guy to play for Houston to go fight hams). I mostly remember Larker for his terrible temper. No wonder he was always so p!ssed off. From the zenith to the nadir of his profession in the span of a few hundred at bats

[jamesa46]

crashtest said:

Who was the very first player selected by the Colt .45s in the expansion draft?

Eddie Bressoud

[jamesa46]

crashtest said:

Back in '62 Houston had 2 major papers, the Houston Chronicle and the Houston Post. Who were the beat writers who covered the Colt .45s for each paper?

Clark Nealon and Mickey Herskowitz

[jamesa46]

crashtest said:

Who hit the first grand slam for the Colt .45s?

Bob Aspromonte (who still holds the club record for career grand slam home runs)

[jamesa46]

crashtest said:

Who was the last Colt .45 player to touch a baseball in play? (James will get this one for sure)

If you mean former Colt .45's player, that would be Joe Morgan.
If were talking about that 11-1 thrashing by the Dodgers on Oct, 4, 1964, I'm going to guess Larry Dierker since he came in to mop up the last 4 innings after the team was already 10 or 11 runs behind in that butt-kicking by the Dodgers...or "The Toy Cannon".

[jamesa46]

crashtest said:

sadoug said:

Pete runnels with the Red Sox..sent to the colt 45's
dont know the National league guy

BINGO! Pete Runnels it was. A second baseman/first baseman - kind of an odd combo, but then that is about how we are playing Loretta.

As for the NL guy, I never realized he was as good of a player as his pre-Colt .45 resume might suggest. I wish James would do an article about him, but it would be a tough interview since he died just last March.

Actually, my next project is Big Walt Bond. I'm hoping Jimmy Wynn can connect me with any of Walt's survivng family members and then I'll go from there. I'd like to put to rest just exactly what it was that caused Walt to die at such a relatively young age. I've heard so many different stories of what he was suffering from that I think it's time to get to the bottom of it...plus Big Walt was the teams' very first legitimate power hitter.
So, Big Walt Bond is my next project.

[crashtest]

jamesa46 said:

crashtest said:

Who was the last Colt .45 player to touch a baseball in play? (James will get this one for sure)

If you mean former Colt .45's player, that would be Joe Morgan.
If were talking about that 11-1 thrashing by the Dodgers on Oct, 4, 1964, I'm going to guess Larry Dierker since he came in to mop up the last 4 innings after the team was already 10 or 11 runs behind in that butt-kicking by the Dodgers...or "The Toy Cannon".

James,

Excellent. I had forgotten that the 64 Colts ended the season in LA. I was thinking of TC's base hit down the line to give Bob Bruce the win in the last game at Colt Stadium.

Speaking of Sluggo's mop-up job, he pitched 4 innings of one-hit baseball. The start was given to a 30 year old Don Bradley who only lasted 2/3rds of an inning giving up 5 runs. Why in the hell didn't they give a start to Dierker in his hometown? From the looks of the boxscore, it appears that Bob Lillis made the last out, doing something other than striking out.

www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=196410040LAN

[crashtest]

jamesa46 said:

crashtest said:

Who hit the first grand slam for the Colt .45s?

Bob Aspromonte (who still holds the club record for career grand slam home runs)

The first grand slam in Houston history was on 6/10/62 , hit by ss Don Buddin.

www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1962/B06102HOU1962.htm

[crashtest]

jamesa46 said:

crashtest said:

BINGO! Pete Runnels it was. A second baseman/first baseman - kind of an odd combo, but then that is about how we are playing Loretta.

As for the NL guy, I never realized he was as good of a player as his pre-Colt .45 resume might suggest. I wish James would do an article about him, but it would be a tough interview since he died just last March.

Actually, my next project is Big Walt Bond. I'm hoping Jimmy Wynn can connect me with any of Walt's survivng family members and then I'll go from there. I'd like to put to rest just exactly what it was that caused Walt to die at such a relatively young age. I've heard so many different stories of what he was suffering from that I think it's time to get to the bottom of it...plus Big Walt was the teams' very first legitimate power hitter.
So, Big Walt Bond is my next project.

I had always heard Bond died of leukemia. Bill James wrote a glowing essay on Bond in his Historical Baseball Abstract regarding how Cleveland screwed him around while he tore up the bushes while they played a bunch of slugs in the show.

[crashtest]

I would like to have a "Six degrees of separation" thread. By that I mean player X was traded for player Y for player Z. The ones I've tried peter out pretty quickly after 2 or 3 players. For example, Hal Woodeshick was traded to the Cardinals for Mike Cuellar who was traded to Baltimore for Curt Blefary who was traded to the Yankees for Joe Pepitone who was purchased by the Cubs. Can anyone come up with a longer sequence? There might be one in the Morgan fiasco.

[crashtest]

Also, what is the all-time "comeback" roster? By that, I mean, what is the best line-up composed of players who played for us, went to another team, and came back.

C - Brad Ausmus
1B - Denis Menke/Enos Cabell
2B - Joe Morgan
3B - Ken Caminiti
SS - Mark Loretta
LF - Luis Gonzalez
CF - Jim Beauchamp
RF - Jesus Alou
LHP
RHP- Joaqui Andujar
RP - Russ Springer

[crashtest]

So, the question is, have the Astros ever had a left-handed starting pitcher to go to another team, then come back to start another game for us? I cannot think of one. Every player listed above played at least one game at the listed position both times he played here. Feel free to add another player with a greater "WinShare" total while playing for us. I think these are probably the best.

[crashtest]

We also need a bench and bullpen and a couple more starting pitchers to fill out the roster:

IF - Hector Torres
OF - Pete Incaviglia
P- Xavier Hernandez
PH/IF/OF - Denny Walling
PH/OF/IF - Greg Gross