![\"Dierker](\"https:\/\/haughtcorner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Dierker-Mgr2.jpg?w=230\")
I could make a case for my retired number 49, having worn it to set a few team pitching records, and again while managing the team to four division titles.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t good enough to make it on my pitching or managing alone.<\/p>\nThe Astros are opening a team Hall of Fame and museum this year.\u00a0 It\u2019s a great idea, but it\u2019s also a way to right a wrong.<\/p>\n
I could make a case for my retired number 49, having worn it to set a few team pitching records, and again while managing the team to four division titles.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t good enough to make it on my pitching or managing alone.<\/p>\n
But it is<\/em> a great honor, and I\u2019m not inclined to give it back.<\/p>\n Lowering the bar<\/strong> Most MLB players who have had their numbers retired are also in the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.\u00a0 That bar has been set high, but it has recently been lowered. The only Astros who qualify on that basis are Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell.\u00a0 In my mind, they are the only Astros players who clearly deserved to have their numbers retired.<\/p>\n With Nolan Ryan and Joe Morgan, it\u2019s a sticky wicket.\u00a0 Both are legitimate HOF players, but in my mind, neither played with the Astros long enough to have their number retired.\u00a0 Nolan spent significant time with the Mets, Angels, Astros, and Rangers.\u00a0 His greatest years were with the Angels, but his career records were set as a Ranger.<\/p>\n Opening the Astros Hall of Fame has become necessary because there are quite a few players whose numbers are not retired, but who have done enough, based on the somewhat-lower bar a few of us cleared.<\/p>\n Roy Oswalt and Joe Niekro won more games than I did.\u00a0 They won more for the Astros than Jim Umbricht, Don Wilson, Mike Scott, and Ryan.<\/p>\n From a hitting standpoint, Jose Cruz and Jimmy Wynn fall a little short. \u00a0Maybe Cheo deserves it.\u00a0 There aren\u2019t many players who have been named team MVP four times, as he was.<\/p>\n Drawing the line<\/strong> The problem is, where do you draw the line?\u00a0 It\u2019s pretty hard to erase it after the fact.<\/p>\n Jim Umbricht wasn\u2019t a great pitcher, by any standard.\u00a0 He was a great human being who lost a battle with cancer while he was still trying to play. He was honored as a teammate and human being.<\/p>\n The Astros currently have a handful of players who will likely post numbers that should put their names and numbers in the rafters at Minute Maid Park, if they play most of their careers in Houston.\u00a0 If Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, and George Springer have their numbers retired, what about Joe Morgan?\u00a0 The Astros could end up with more retired numbers than the Yankees!<\/p>\n Sizzle or the steak?<\/strong> MLB has become more and more about glitz and glitter.\u00a0 The Astros got in on that idea early, when they retired numbers just to draw a crowd.<\/p>\n Standards of excellence have been eroded — all the way from Houston to Cooperstown.<\/p>\n The 2019 HOF vote<\/strong> Yesterday, Hall of Fame voters added two players who I wouldn\u2019t have voted for.<\/p>\n Roy Halladay was spectacular, like Don Wilson.\u00a0 Perhaps not as spectacular as Dizzy Dean, who made it with only 150 wins; or Sandy Koufax, who won 165 games.\u00a0 Halladay won 203 games with a 3.38 ERA.\u00a0 Tommy John won 288 games with a 3.34; Jim Kaat won 283 with a 3.45; and Kevin Brown won 211 with a 3.28.\u00a0 None of them made the HOF.<\/p>\n Not that long ago, it seemed like a pitcher needed 300 wins to make it. But there are many who have won 250 games or so, and still made the cut.<\/p>\n Salary is probably the best criteria of a player\u2019s value.\u00a0 Was Thomas a Hall of Fame player by that measure?\u00a0 Without a doubt.<\/p>\n My problem is that I place a lot of value on fielding and baserunning.\u00a0 Players like Martinez, Thomas, and Harold Baines were extremely valuable — but there was a reason they weren\u2019t playing in the field.<\/p>\n I have no problem with Mariano Rivera\u2019s election. How could you? I would have voted for Mike Mussina too. He won 270 games with a good ERA, pitching many games in the hitter-friendly environs of Camden Yards.<\/p>\n The Selig Effect<\/strong> The whole MLB extravaganza started The Astros have wiggled out of their retired-number problem by creating another Hall of Fame in lieu of retiring more numbers.\u00a0 That won\u2019t work in Cooperstown.<\/p>\n No one has worn Lance Berkman\u2019s #17 since he retired.\u00a0 He has borderline Cooperstown statistics.\u00a0 In my mind, the Astros should retire his number.\u00a0 It should be Biggio, Bagwell, and Berkman — and that\u2019s it. I\u2019m looking forward to seeing the Astros\u2019 shrine at Minute Maid. I\u2019ll probably be wearing a Hawaiian shirt.\u00a0 After all, it should be more fun than politics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"don](\"https:\/\/haughtcorner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/don-wilson.jpg?w=212\")
Don Wilson pitched two no-hitters, and he also had an 18-strikeout game.\u00a0 But he, too, died young; too young to win enough games to have his number retired.\u00a0 But if you are going to honor Umbricht, how can you not do the same for Wilson?<\/p>\n![\"e](\"https:\/\/haughtcorner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/e-mart.jpg?w=218\")
I would not have voted for Edgar Martinez, despite his incredible hitting.\u00a0 He played about three-quarters of his games as a designated hitter.\u00a0 Frank Thomas had even better offensive numbers.\u00a0\u00a0 He started as a DH 1300 times and played first base almost 1000 times.\u00a0 He played sparingly in the field during his last seven years, while he completed his HOF resume.\u00a0 I would not have voted for him, either.<\/p>\n![\"selig\"](\"https:\/\/haughtcorner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/selig.jpg?w=262\")
with Bud Selig.\u00a0 When he made the Hall of Fame, it became clear that it was more about marketing and promotion than anything else.<\/p>\n![\"Dierker](\"https:\/\/haughtcorner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/dierker-portrait.jpg?w=300\")
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