Since debuting because the Houston Colt .45s on April 10, 1962—with a nine-run thumping of the Chicago Cubs, it’s value noting—the Houston Astros have had one of the most eventful histories of any membership in Major League Baseball. From title adjustments to league adjustments, from pioneering the trendy stadium to fielding some of the dominant and debatable groups of the trendy generation, fanatics of Houston baseball have all the time had one thing to discuss.
Even with a sexy transient historical past within the giant leagues in comparison to different golf equipment, the Houston Astros roster has given the sport some mythical players, even supposing they haven’t all made it to Cooperstown. Whether they performed at Colt Stadium, the Astrodome or Minute Maid Park, listed below are 10 of the Houston Astros best players that should survive in franchise lore.
CIRCA 1968: Larry Dierker #49 of the Houston Astros pitches all through a Major League Baseball spring coaching recreation.
Focus On Sport/Getty ImagesLarry Dierker
No dialog about Houston Astros greats could be entire with out a point out of Larry Dierker. Simply a large all-around determine within the membership’s historical past, he pitched for the Colt .45s ahead of the title alternate and helped lay the tracks for lots of Astros aces to return. He threw a no-hitter in 1976, his ultimate season with the workforce, and nonetheless holds the franchise marks for general seasons as a glass (13), begins (320), entire video games (106) and different elite profession benchmarks. But the 20 entire video games he threw all through the 1969 season may well be the most spectacular membership report he holds.
Dierker’s jersey quantity was once retired by means of the Astros in 2002 and he was once inducted into the Houston Astros Hall of Fame in 2019 as a constitution member. If that wasn’t sufficient, Dierker’s post-retirement profession as a broadcaster landed him a place at the workforce’s Media Wall of Honor, giving his legacy but any other position to are living at Minute Maid Park.
Craig Biggio #7 of the Houston Astros.
Ron Vesely/Getty ImagesCraig Biggio
Probably the primary title that involves thoughts for most other people once they suppose of the most productive Astros ever, Craig Biggio deservedly holds an enormous spot within the middle of numerous Houston baseball fans. His 20 seasons as an Astro are the most ever and the 2,850 video games he performed for the membership are a complete 700 video games forward of his mythical teammate, Jeff Bagwell, who sits at moment. With longevity like that, it’s little marvel the catcher-turned-second-baseman additionally holds the franchise marks for general hits, runs scored and at-bats.
It was once no wonder when the workforce retired his jersey quantity in 2008, not up to a yr after he retired. Biggio’s variety to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015—the franchise’s first plaque there additionally stunned no longer a unmarried particular person in The 713.
Jeff Bagwell of the Houston Astros fields all through an MLB recreation.
Ron Vesely/Getty ImagesJeff Bagwell
Speaking of Astros lifers that fanatics won’t ever tire of remembering, first baseman Jeff Bagwell can have had extra posters on Houston bed room partitions than any MLB participant thus far. Inarguably the most productive energy hitter in workforce historical past, Bagwell’s 449 house runs are simply the most by means of any Astro (47 of which got here all through the 2000 season by myself, any other report). But it’s the 1994 season that cemented him as a membership legend, as he batted an unbelievable .368 and was the primary Astro to be named MVP, then of the National League.
Due to the stench of being a participant who automatically beaten balls to the higher deck of the Astrodome all through MLB’s so-called “Steroid Era” (even if no definitive proof he partook has ever pop out), it took Bagwell till his 7th poll to get into Cooperstown in 2017.
Pitcher Billy Wagner #13 of the Houston Astros.
Ronald Martinez/Getty ImagesBilly Wagner
Relief pitchers need to be actually exceptional to depart a legacy and Billy Wagner was once that for his complete MLB profession, which started with a nine-season run in Houston. His 225 saves with the Astros are the most in membership historical past and he additionally holds the franchise data for strikeouts and save proportion amongst relievers. Wagner was once deservedly inducted into the Houston Astros Hall of Fame in 2020.
1979: J.R. Richard #50 of the Houston Astros delivers a pitch all through a Major League Baseball recreation.
Rich Pilling/MLB Photos by the use of Getty ImagesJ.R. Richard
Tragic tales appear to line Houston Astros historical past—see Don Wilson and Jim Umbricht for 2 highest examples—however J.R. Richard’s transient profession is also the franchise’s largest “what-if” situation thus far. A real iron guy at the mound, the Louisiana local pitched 9 instantly entire video games in 1979 for a workforce report that may most probably by no means be approached, pitched 3 consecutive shutouts in 1980 and confronted a exceptional 1,218 batters in 1976 by myself.
The two-time NL strikeout chief’s doable street to Cooperstown ended when he had a stroke ahead of a recreation in 1980 on the age of 30. Thankfully, Richard lived any other 41 years, lengthy sufficient to look himself inducted as a constitution member of the Houston Astros Hall of Fame in 2019.
1988: Nolan Ryan of the Houston Astros pitches all through an MLB recreation as opposed to the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.
Ron Vesely/Getty ImagesNolan Ryan
Potentially the most dominant pitcher in fashionable baseball historical past, Nolan Ryan helped in spite of everything give the Astros national notoriety within the early Eighties and was once section of the workforce’s first 3 journeys to the playoffs. The Refugio local led the NL in ERA two times and the majors in strikeouts two times as an Astro. While just one of his seven profession no-hitters got here with Houston, Ryan’s sheer presence electrified the Astrodome and he nonetheless holds the franchise data for strikeouts (1,866) and lowest ERA with a minimal of 1,500 innings pitched (3.13).
CIRCA 1980: Outfielder Jose Cruz #25 of the Houston Astros bats towards the New York Mets.
Focus On Sport/Getty ImagesJose Cruz
While Nolan Ryan was once there for that preliminary Astros playoff go back and forth in 1980, Jose Cruz merits a lot of the credit score for buying them there. The cherished outfielder and local Puerto Rican solid a long lasting dating with Houston and its baseball fanatics for his paintings each at the box and stale. The sheer proven fact that “Cheo” led the NL in hits in 1983 whilst taking part in 81 video games on the pitcher-friendly Astrodome is exceptional sufficient however his on-base proportion of .359 in 13 seasons in Houston made him a continuing ache for opposing defenses.
His jersey was once retired by means of the membership in 1992 and he was once a constitution inductee into the Houston Astros Hall of Fame in 2019.
Lance Berkman #17 of the Houston Astros bats towards the San Francisco Giants all through an Major League Baseball recreation August 6, 2005.
Focus On Sport/Getty ImagesLance Berkman
A fan-favorite member of the Astros immortal “Killer B’s” of the Nineties and early 2000s, Lance Berkman’s title dots the franchise report e-book in some spots liked by means of baseball fans. The switch-hitting Waco local’s .410 on-base proportion as an Astro is the most productive ever and his .549 slugging proportion may be tops. Berkman’s six RBIs all through the 2005 World Series the workforce’s first go back and forth to the Fall Classic—was once one of the few brilliant spots for fanatics hoping to look the Commissioner’s Trophy come to Houston.
Roy Oswalt #44 of the Houston Astros pitches towards the San Francisco Giants.
Focus On Sport/Getty ImagesRoy Oswalt
Another icon from Houston’s first pennant-winning workforce, Roy Oswalt’s efficiency all through the 2005 NLCS is the stuff of legend. He steamrolled the Albert Pujols-led St. Louis Cardinals by means of throwing 14 innings in two video games with an ERA of 1.29, incomes him sequence MVP honors. Minute Maid Park may just’ve been referred to as “Roy’s House” in its first decade, as fanatics there noticed him continuously dominate fighters within the early 2000s.
Oswalt’s .636 successful proportion as an Astro is a franchise mark and his streak of 32.1 scoreless innings pitched in 2008 has additionally by no means been matched by means of a Houston pitcher. The workforce inducted him into its corridor of repute in 2020.
Jose Altuve #27 of the Houston Astros bats all through the 5th inning towards the Texas Rangers at Minute Maid Park on Sept. 7, 2022.
Carmen Mandato/Getty ImagesJose Altuve
Even shorter than Jimmy “The Toy Cannon” Wynn, Jose Altuve has put players a foot taller than him to disgrace along with his manufacturing since debuting in 2011. In 2017, the local Venezuelan was the primary Astros participant to win MVP honors after the membership’s transfer to the American League and it coincided with Houston’s first World Series identify. The perennial All-Star variety set the Astros mark for most hits in a season all through the 2014 marketing campaign, with 225, and has arguably been the face of town’s really extensive professional sports activities presence ever since.
It’s just a topic of time ahead of his jersey quantity hangs within the rafters at Minute Maid Park and he’s within the membership corridor of repute with different icons from this listing.