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Houston Astros News
Joe Smith talks his retirement after 15 seasons | 02/13/2024
Houston Astros 2024 top 20 prospects: Jacob Melton, Luis Baez lead the way (The Athletic)
Astros Acquire Minor League Outfielder Oliver Carrillo from Padres (SportsTalk 790)
MLB Network analysts take a stand on Houston Astros top priorities (SportsMap Houston)
If the latest Astros-Bregman reports have you feeling a certain way, consider this (SportsMap Houston)
Houston Astros Birthdays
RHP Paul Clemens (36)
RHP Tyler Clippard (39)
IF Larry Milbourne (73)
Everystros Chapter CI
We’ve made it all the way to the 101st chapter of Everystros, and with 20 chapters to go after today, it’s going to take until March 5 to finish it up. Gee, I wonder who’s number one...and what his Bagwell score will be....
39. Dickie Thon (Bagwell score 93.82) is a five-foot-11 right-handed infielder from South Bend, IN. Born on June 20, 1958, he reached the big leagues for the first time with the California Angels in 1979 (115 games, .269/.302/.328, 23 RBI). On April 1, 1981, the Angels sent Thon to the Astros for Ken Forsch.
Thon spent a total of seven seasons with Houston, making the All-Star Team and winning a Silver Slugger in 1983. In 566 games, he started 440 games at shortstop (3981 innings, .968) 18 games at second base (172 2⁄3 innings, .950), and eight games at third base (84 2⁄3 innings, .937).
As a hitter, Thon authored a .270/.329/.395 slashline, going 492-for-1822 with 85 doubles, 22 triples, 33 home runs, and 94 stolen bases in 128 attempts. He drew 163 walks against 250 strikeouts, with 226 runs scored and 172 RBI.
In 1982, Thon finished at an NL-ninth 6.1 bWAR and led the league with 10 triples. In 1983, he finished with a 7.4 bWAR, second only to John Denny’s 7.5 and first amongst position players. It wasn’t just that Thon was pretty good at part of the game, he was good at everything. He ranked sixth with an offensive bWAR of 5.3 and second with a defensive bWAR of 3.2.
On June 20, 1982, on Thon’s 24th birthday, he hit a single in the first, later scoring the first run of the game, hit a second-inning RBI sacrifice fly, reached on an error and scored in the fifth, then hit a two-run triple in the eighth to help defeat the San Diego Padres, 8-4. On August 15, ht hit a single and three doubles, scoring three runs in a 7-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds. On September 15, he hit a first-inning single and scored, then added a go-ahead three-run double in the seventh to top off the Atlanta Braves, 5-4. Five days later, he singled and stole a base in the third, drew a walk and scored in the sixth, then walked off the Braves with a ninth-inning RBI-double to score Terry Puhl in a 4-3 victory against Atlanta.
On April 19, 1983, Thon hit two singles, a double, and a home run with two RBI in a 6-5 triumph over Cincinnati. On June 17, he hit a single and two solo home runs to help defeat the Padres, 4-1. On June 28, he hit a sixth-inning solo shot, then added a lead-changing two-run homer in the eighth in an eventual 4-3 victory over the Braves. Three days later, he hit a fourth-inning single and a ninth-inning game-tying RBI-single, stealing a base later in the frame, although the Astros dropped a 5-2 decision to the Los Angeles Dodgers. On July 9, he hit a single and another pair of solo home runs in a 7-3 win over the New York Mets. On August 10, he singled and scored in the first, reached on a fielder’s choice and stole a base in the third, then stuck around long enough to walk the Padres off in the bottom of the 14th inning with a two-out solo home run for a 4-3 Astros win over San Diego.
On April 8, 1984, Thon was hit in the head by a pitch from Mike Torrez while playing the New York Mets. It fractured his orbital bone and caused him to miss the entire season, save the first five games. Arguably, Thon was never quite the same after that, although he was never a net negative at any point through the rest of his career.
“I couldn’t see the ball very well after I got hit in my left eye. I had to make adjustments, and open up a little bit and see the ball better. It’s tough to do that in the big leagues, but I did manage to play 10 [more] years.” - Thon, as quoted by Brian McTaggart on MLB.COM
On July 23, 1985, Thon hit three singles and a home run with two doubles in a 12-6 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. On August 14, he hit a seventh-inning go-ahead three-run pinch-hit home run against the Giants, then hit a ninth-inning RBI-single for good measure in a 7-5 victory against San Francisco.
Those two high-bWAR seasons were Thon’s career-best by a wide margin. Over his other 13 seasons he totaled 8.4 bWAR, only posting a negative overall bWAR in 1980 while still with the Halos. Long story short, he was spectacular for two years, and consistent for the other five seasons with Houston. Granted free agency on November 9, 1987, Thon went on to play with the Padres (95 games, .264/.347/.337, one home run, 18 RBI), the Phillies (431 games, .259/.302/.374, 32 home runs, 152 RBI), the Texas Rangers (95 games, .247/.293/.367, four home runs, 37 RBI), and the Milwaukee Brewers (85 games, .269/.324/.331, one home run, 33 RBI). SABR Bio
38. Steve Finley (Bagwell score 81.08) is a six-foot-two left-handed centerfielder from Union City, TN. Born on March 12, 1965, he was an 11th-round choice of the Atlanta Braves in 1986 out of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. After deciding not to sign just yet, he was selected the following draft as well, in the 13th round in 1987 by the Baltimore Orioles.
Finley reached the majors with the Orioles in 1989, and played parts of two seasons with them (223 games, .245/.302/.325, five home runs, 62 RBI). On January 10, 1991, the O’s sent Finley with Pete Harnisch and Curt Schilling to Houston for Glenn Davis.
Finley played four seasons with Houston, starting 557 games in centerfield (4257 innings, .988), 72 times in right field (324 2⁄3 innings, .968), and two innings in left field without an error. As a hitter, he went 595-for-2121, slashing .281/.331/.406, with 88 doubles, 41 triples, 32 home runs, and 110 stolen bases in 150 attempts. He drew 156 walks and struck out 245 times, with 301 runs and 186 RBI.
Finley won five Gold Gloves and was named to two All-Star Teams in his career, but not while with the Astros.
On May 29, 1991, Finley hit three singles and a double, with a run and an RBI in an 8-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. On June 12, he singled in the first, hit a second-inning RBI-sacrifice fly, and a ninth-inning walk-off RBI-single to defeat the Philadelphia Phillies. On August 15, he hit two singles, a double and a home run with three RBI in a 6-1 win over the Dodgers.
On May 3, 1992, Finley singled and stole a base in the first, then scored the only run of the game with an eighth-inning homer off Roger Mason in a 1-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. On July 7, he hit a single in the fourth with a stolen base, a go-ahead RBI-single in the fifth, a single and a run in the eighth, and a fourth single with a stolen base in the ninth, only to see Houston lose to the Pirates, 5-3. On August 5, Finley hit a third-inning go-ahead RBI-double with a run scored, a fifth-inning RBI-single with a stolen base and a run, a sixth-inning go-ahead RBI-single, scoring another run, and a ninth-inning single, later scoring the game-tying run in a. 7-6 Houston win over LA. On August 28, he hit three singles and a double with three runs scored in an 8-1 victory against the Montreal Expos. On September 15, he singled and scored in the third, hit a game-tying homer in the bottom of the ninth, and an 11th-inning single, with a run scored on a three-run walk-off Jeff Bagwell special to top the San Francisco Giants, 9-6. On September 25, Finley hit a ninth-inning single and stole a base, then scored the go-ahead run in a 4-3 win against the Dodgers. On October 2, he hit two singles, a triple and a home run with two RBI in a 6-1 victory over the Dodgers.
On April 13, 1993, Finley was hitless until the eighth, when he hit an RBI-single off Jeff Fassero against the Expos, then scored the game-tying run on a wild pitch in a 9-6 Houston victory over Montreal.
On April 23, 1994, Finley hit three singles and one home run for three RBI ina win over St. Louis, 15-5. On December 28, 1994, Houston sent Finley with Ken Caminiti, Andújar Cedeño, Roberto Petagine, Brian Williams, and PTBNL Sean Fesh to the San Diego Padres for Derek Bell, Phil Plantier, Craig Shipley, Doug Brocail, Pedro Martínez, and Ricky Gutiérrez.
Finley played four seasons for the Padres (602 games, .276/.334/.458, 82 home runs, 298 RBI, six seasons for the Arizona Diamondbacks (849 games, .278/.351/.500, 153 home runs, 479 RBI, then one each with the Los Angeles Dodgers (58 games, .263/.324/.491, 13 home runs, 46 RBI), the Los Angeles Angels (112 games, .222/.271/.374, 12 home runs, 54 RBI), the Giants (139 games, .246/.320/.394, six home runs, 40 RBI) and the Colorado Rockies (43 games, .181/.245/.245, one home run, two RBI).
37. Billy Wagner (Bagwell score 93.02) is a five-foot-10, left-handed pitcher from Marion, VA. Born on July 25, 1971, he was a first-round choice of Houston in 1993 out of Ferrum College. He’s one of 28 to make the majors out of the round, led by Alex Rodriguez (117.5 bWAR). Thirty-seven players taken with the 12th overall pick have reached the bigs, led by Nomar Garciaparra (44.3 bWAR).
Wagner made the jump to the majors for the Astros when he faced one batter in September 1995, and totaled nine seasons with Houston. He pitched in 464 games, and leads the franchise leaderboard with 225 saves. He was 26-29 with a 2.53 ERA and a 1.039 WHIP over an extremely large sample size. He issued 191 walks and struck out 694 in 504 1⁄3 innings for 12.4 K/9. He also pitched in four postseason series, striking out seven in 4 2⁄3 innings but giving up five runs. He made three All-Star Teams while with the club, in 1999, 2001, and in 2003. In sheer volume, he finished in the National League top 10 in saves for five of six seasons from 1998 through 2003, ranking third in 1999 with 39 and in 2003 with 44.
Wagner should probably already be in the Hall of Fame, but after nine times on the ballot remains on the outside looking in. In the recently completed round of voting, he finished just five votes short of induction, and I’ll give you 3-1 odds he makes it the 10th time around.
On November 3, 2003, Wagner was traded by the Astros to the Philadelphia Phillies for Ezequiel Astacio, Taylor Buchholz, and Brandon Duckworth. Not a great trade in my opinion. Wagner went on to make four more All-Star appearances, playing for the Phillies (8-3, 59 saves, 1.86, 126 IP, 146 K), the New York Mets (5-5, 101 saves, 2.37, 189 2⁄3 IP, 230 K), the Boston Red Sox (1-1, 1.98, 13 2⁄3 IP, 22 K), and the Atlanta Braves (7-2, 37 saves, 1.43, 69 1⁄3 IP, 104 K). With 13.5 K’s in his final major league season, Wagner went out while still on top of his game, and retired with 422 career saves, currently sixth but third when he retired.
