Wait…what day is it?
Mine is kind of lame since I did not grow up an Astros fan. Mine has always been Jeff Bagwell.
Cesar Cedeno for me.
Bob Watson was also an early favorite.
My first favorite was Turk Farrell. I always have been drawn to pitchers, wonder why. Other favorites have been Jesus and Mo Alou. JR Richard was a big favorite as were Billy Wagner, Brad Lidge, and Octavio Dotel. In this “modern era,” JV and Yuli are guys I will always think of as Astros. Altuve and Springer are in the next tier down.
Jose Cruz was my first favorite
But since no chance anyone else mentions him: Julio Gonzalez gave me my first ever box of baseball cards and hooked me on a life long hobby.
Thank you Julio.
Snark fail on my part. I thought there was a game tonight. Just went to pop it on annnnnnnnnnd, bummer.
80s it was Cruz and Ryan. Reasons: I loved saying “Cruuuuuz” (and he was a pretty good player, career .284 BA over 18 years); Ryan first caught my eye because the Guiness Book of World Records had him listed for fastest pitch. Then I watched the 5th no hitter on the Game of the Week and that was that.
In the 90s Bagwell and Hampton, segueing to Bagwell and Wagner. I really enjoyed Kile’s curveball and loved Finley and Gonzalez before they moved on. Wagner’s story is pretty good too.
Bottom line I feel fortunate to have watched some very good baseball played by very good players over the past 40+ years.
Bob Aspromonte.
2 Likes
Born in 91, Biggio was my favorite player growing up, Oswalt became my favorite after seeing him in his first start. Altuve during the early part of the rebuild, now honestly its so tough I have loved so many of the players during this run for different reasons. Maldonado sneaky might be my favorite right now but it’s probably Verlander
Bagwell and Biggio will always be my favorite. They were the definition of hard work, dedication and class. I’m sure both guys could have left for more money but chose to stay in Houston. Sure wish they could have won it all 1 time.
1 Like
Jimmy Wynn.
1 Like
I had the Glenn Davis thing too. He and Kevin Bass before I actually had much of a rooting interest. (Neither of them held a candle to my strange early-90s obsession with Fred McGriff.)
Then: Billy Spiers, Wade Miller, George Springer.
For some reason, I really liked Mark Portugal as a kid. (I would have been about 10-12 when he was on the Astros.) No idea why.
1 Like
The mullet
‘89 here. Early on, for whatever reason, it was Steve Finley. Then Biggio, who I don’t think will ever be unseated. Springer was my favorite from this era.
And I have a soft spot for Wandy Rodriguez. I loved watching him grow from a frightened-looking kid to a sneaky-dominant MLB starter.
2 Likes
Billy Hatcher, because of one home run. I saw it in the labor/delivery room at Texas Women’s Hospital, just around the corner from Austro and his wife, and it was the second most exciting thing that went on during that game.
1 Like
Yep. Aspro was definitely my first favorite Houston player as a Colt .45.
1 Like
Cruz was my first favorite, though I loved just about everyone on that 86 team.
Had Caminiti not gotten traded he might have reached Bagwell/Biggio territory for me. I ended my little league career as a 3B and I was mesmerized by the plays he would make in the field.
1 Like
Almost nailed it.
"To Mark,
God bless
always!
Glenn Davis"
(Just in case the sig doesn’t come through well in the picture)
2 Likes
Man, how forgetful can I be? I remember clearly the “To Mark,” but my mind’s eye saw it on a ball, not a photo. Sheesh.
Glad you still have it.
Billy Doran deserves a mention, i went from Thon to him as IF, Puhl and Cruz in the OF
1 Like