Strat-O-Matic Baseball 365

It will be very hard to squeeze in any new Astros in the top 50 votes of all time but to help the franchise out I will propose the following. Too bad we are limited to only 50, because I’ll bet we produce a couple of hundred worthy selections (not to mention the need for complete WS teams, which would ensure adds across the salary spectrum). I’m sure some of these will not get a single vote, but maybe Strat will just decide one day to gift us a set of cards really geared to helping one franchise, and they’ll have these lists to work from. And it was a fun way to spend my lunch hour. I’ll limit to 11

Octavio Dotel (no card, 15 year career) 2002 he had 98 innings as a reliever, with a .88 whip and 11 k/9

JR Richard (2 cards now) 1980 was his most dominant season, cut short by a shamefully undiagnosed blood clot. Let’s pay tribute to this man who struggled after baseball. 113 innings, .92 whip and over 9 k/9. Perhaps the limited innings make him a desirable non* pitcher.

Andy Pettitte (no card) in 2005 pitched for the Astros with 223 innings and a 1.03 whip. Quite frankly deserves a Yankees card, but this is his best career whip, so it’s worth considering if you were a fan of his (even though his best friend Clemens says he “misremembers things”)

Turk Farrell (1 card, 14 year career) His only card is a pure reliever, but he was a starter for many years, and in 1963 had a nice .97 whip in 202 innings.

Jose Altuve (no card) He should be renominated after this year, which is shaping up to be a great one. But for now we can add 2014, where he led the league in batting average as a second baseman. 341/377/453. If he were a “1” he would be a great choice, but he is a “3”

Richard Hidalgo (no card, 9 year career). A monster year in 2000 314/391/636

Moises Alou (1 card, as an Expo). But his best year was 2000 for the Astros. 355/416/623.

Bill Spiers (no card, 13 year career). A nice utility option, we can add his 1997 card. 355 plate appearances is enough for me to appreciate an impressive 320/438/481

Morgan Ensberg (no card, 8 year career). A nice third base option, finished fourth in MVP in 2005 283/388/557

Carl Everett (1 card). If you are going to give him an Astro card, why not make it a good one? (Because he’s done terrible things in his life, that’s why) 1999 325/398/571

No Staub as an Astro? Ok, not his best year in his 23 year career, but his best Astro year was 1967 333/398/473. Led the league in doubles

No Astros post is complete without a shout out to the main man, the Astros GM Mr. Jeff Luhnow. The team is turning it around nicely!

1976 Bob Watson - Need a better representative card for Watson.

2006 Roy Oswalt - this card would be a * and much better addition.

1973 Roger Metzger

1998 Derek Bell

2004 Lance Berkman - better card than current one and he plays OF AND 1b

I think a Pettitte addition, which is long overdue, should be a Yankee year, not Astros.

Agreed...Pettitte should definitely come in as a Yankee...

Metzger would be a nice addition for the Astros...

I'd encourage the ambassadors to point out the holes of each franchise to help focus the debates.

I would nominate the 2006 Berkman before 2004. Higher OPS, finished 3rd in MVP (7th in 2004) and played 1b and OF legitimately (in 2004 he only played 1b in 4 games, so his fielding rating will suffer as a result). A legitimate consideration.

1976 Watson is a representative middle of the pack (for him) year. 1975 was his best year (870 ops), but even that won't generate much buzz generally speaking.

19998 was Bell's best year (855 OPS), but it would just be another card to add to the middle of the road.

Metzger has historical significance to the Astros, but his 622 ops won't get many votes.

In other words, we have to think big picture. If we were allowed to add meaningful cards per franchise, these are all valid. But at most we might get 1-4 cards per franchise PER YEAR, and that's if we get the entire community excited about players.

I hate that cards that are needed don't "generate any buzz"

ratioman2 wrote:1976 Watson is a representative middle of the pack (for him) year. 1975 was his best year (870 ops), but even that won't generate much buzz generally speaking.

1976 and 1975 are virtually identical in OPS+, but the 1975 Watson would be a 15 game INJ risk, while 1976 is not.

1981 Nolan Ryan
1980 Don Sutton

Rosie2167 wrote:I'd encourage the ambassadors to point out the holes of each franchise to help focus the debates.

Had a hard time finding actual needs of the Astros EXP grouping.
I would say a SP* Roy Oswalt.
One more RP---Dave Smith has 3 cards, and could obviously only used once. Maybe 2002 Octavio Dotel
Maybe another 1b option---I'd prefer a Berkman (2006) that plays 1b/OF or an improved Bob Watson (1976).
Maybe a SS other than Thon, 1973 Metzger wouldn't thrill anyone, but he is part of Astros history.
Maybe another corner OF--1998 Derek Bell, 2000 Moises Alou