**** FAVORITE ALL-TIME ASTROS BRACKET *****

3,256 Views | 53 Replies | Last: 3 yr ago by tjack16
tjack16
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Altuve got beat?! I'm actually genuinely shocked by this
jkag89
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tjack16 said:

Altuve got beat?! I'm actually genuinely shocked by this
Nobody is beating Nolan. It is a testament to how much Tuve is loved that it was even close. I am surprised by how much Berkman beat Springer, Tanya must have been stuffing the ballot.
Fat Bib Fortuna
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I think Nolan Ryan's popularity far transcends his time with the Astros. He's probably the one thing Astro and Ranger fans can agree on. I was 14 during his last year with the Astros in 1988 and my parents and I went to see him pitch at hot-ass Arlington Stadium 4 times over the next 3 years because we loved him so much. Then he was heavily involved with the Round Rock franchise, president of the Rangers, then back to the Astros as a special assistant. Pretty sure he could run for Governor and get 98% of the vote.

That said, I think most of us have an idea what the final is going to look like.
Fat Bib Fortuna
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THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE

#4 Craig Biggio def. #1 Nolan Ryan 88.1%-11.9%
#2 Jeff Bagwell def. #3 Lance Berkman 76.5%-23.5%

FINAL VOTE HERE










Mathguy64
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I made my decision based on the purely unscientific decision that one honked a hooter on TV and one didnt.
tjack16
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Not a shocking final 2

I was surprised Altuve or any current astro didn't make the final 4, but this is the final 2 I expected from the get go
Fat Bib Fortuna
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11 votes in, one vote separation.
jkag89
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tjack16 said:

Not a shocking final 2

I was surprised Altuve or any current astro didn't make the final 4, but this is the final 2 I expected from the get go
I am. I figured when Muck started this either Biggio or Bagwell would be in the final I just figured it would be against Ryan not against each other. As it is, these are the two I hoped would make the final.
spadilly
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jkag89 said:

tjack16 said:

Not a shocking final 2

I was surprised Altuve or any current astro didn't make the final 4, but this is the final 2 I expected from the get go
I am. I figured when Muck started this either Biggio or Bagwell would be in the final I just figured it would be against Ryan not against each other. As it is, these are the two I hoped would make the final.


Absolutely. I thought for sure it would end up being Biggio vs Nolan (or Bagwell vs Nolan depending on the draw).

Biggio was my idol growing up. I still look at him as the ultimate team player who always did it the right way. When the team needed him to change positions, he had no problem doing it. Learned how to play it the best he could and embraced it. Always gave back to the community. I got to meet him years ago at a postgame meet and greet (as a plus one) he put together for cancer patients. No reporters, no media, no outside knowledge. Just him wanting to treat a group folks to a game and post game party and show them a good time. I'll always remember that. Glad I got to meet him and tell him how much he meant to me and how grateful I was and how much I appreciated all that he he had done off the field.
I shed some tears when he was inducted into the HOF. No shame.


2005 spadilly with Biggio & 2019 spadilly watching the WS:


Ag_07
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Watching the WS in full on uni is greatness!!
Fat Bib Fortuna
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Final Count - Biggio 59%, Baggy 41%

Sometimes it's hard to believe they don't play for the team anymore.

I was 14 in Biggio's rookie year of 1988 and 33 when he retired in 2007. I have great memories of my friends and I faking sick from work to go to the home playoff games in 1997 and 1998 because we had been so starved for exciting baseball for so long. Biggio's first game was June 26, 1988. I wasn't even in high school yet!

He started at catcher and went 0-2 with a run scored and a stolen base. He also threw out Jose Uribe trying to steal third.

The rest of the Astros lineup was Gerald Young, Billy Hatcher, Bill Doran, Glenn Davis, Kevin Bass, Craig Reynolds playing third for some reason, Rafael Ramirez, and Jim Deshaies on the mound. Beat the Giants 6-0, DeShaies went 6-2/3 of shutout ball and Larry Andersen, who of course would be traded for Bagwell 2 years later, pitched the last 2-1/3.

His last game was October 3, 2007, a 3-0 victory over the Braves at home. He went 1-for-4, scored a run and hit his 668th double. He hit 31 doubles at age 41 in 2007, which allowed him to pass Honus Wagner, Carl Yazstremski, Nap Lajoie, and George Brett to wind up fifth on the all-time list.
The only guys in front of him when he retired were Tris Speaker, Pete Rose, Stan Musial, and Ty Cobb. I mean holy **** what a list. Pujols passed him by 1 last year so he's 6th, but the only other active guys in the top 50 are Miguel Cabrera at 581 and age 37 and Robinson Cano with 571 at age 37. Bidge is going to be in the Top 10 of that category for the rest of our days.

The Astros' lineup for his last game was Josh Anderson, who I have zero recollection of, Lance Berkman, Carlos Lee, Hunter Pence, Mark Loretta, Ty Wiggington, Brad Ausmus, and future Hall of Famer Felipe Paulino on the mound.

My parents were huge Astro fans in the 1970s and 1980s and took us to at least 8-10 games a year growing up. They both stopped watching baseball when the strike happened in 1994 and had not been to a game since, but I convinced them and my brother to go to Bidge's last game together. That was really special. There was even a video tribute from Ryne Sandberg, the face of second base for the 1980s and 1990s. I remember that chill when Ryno said, "Congratulations, Craig. I'll be seeing you in five years in Cooperstown."

Thanks to all who voted.

Mathguy64
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In a perfect world, this would have been a tie. Sometimes life isnt perfect.

Being born in 64, my first Astros who really made impressions were Cesar Cedeno, JRR and of course Cheo.

People dont remember how good Cedeno was. In 2 seasons at ages 21 and 22, he posted OPSs of .926 and .913, good enough for a + of 162 and 152. He was hitting 25 HR a year in the cavern known as the original Astrodome, before anyone ever thought of moving fences in. And oh yeah, he was stealing 55 bases a year. In one of those years he managed to finish a whopping 11th in the MVP vote. Back then, TV as one game a week on Saturday and if you werent Cincy, NYY, Bos or PITT you didnt get on TV and no one knew who you were.

Cheo had a 12 year window where he averaged an OPS+ of 126.4. 12 years in the Dome. Dude could rake.
Fat Bib Fortuna
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Cesar Cedeno was my Astro buddy when I was 4 or 5. Looking back on his stats, his early 1970s seasons had him on the trajectory to be a player like Roberto Clemente - but he just fell off and nobody knew why.

I graduated high school with Jose Cruz Jr. and his dad was always at the school hitting or pitching BP for the baseball team. He was the real embodiment of what the Astros meant to me growing up in the 70s and 80s. He was a hard worker, didnt complain, flashy in the field, also losing his hat, and it helped that J Fred would give us his signature JOSSSAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY CRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUZ" introduction for each at-bat.

Much like with Nolan Ryan, McMullen let the world know he wouldn't be signing Jose back at the end of his last year. We went to his last game as an Astro. It was at the end of the 1987 season and Cheo was 39. The team was a very disappointing 76-86 after winning the West and the attendance had been in the doghouse until that Sunday when 34,000 showed up for Cheo. Playing the Reds, Nolan Ryan pitching, Bottom of the 9th, down 2-1, 2 outs, Cruz comes up as the last hope. J. Fred does the intro for had to be 30-45 seconds, huge standing ovation. To my dying day, I'll remember Barry Larkin, who was 23 years old at the time, putting his glove down at shortstop and clapping for Jose Cruz.

Cheo hit a freaking laser beam up the middle and Larkin snagged it and threw him out by a step, ending the game. How badly I wish he could have gone out with a hit.

Big Bucks
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Thanks again for doing this. As a kid who became a fan at age 7 in 1979, this was a great trip down memory lane. And yes, it was very tough to vote against Jose Cruz as he, Nolan and Bill Doran were my childhood favorites. Think how blessed Houston has been in the last 35 years to have Doran, Biggio and Altuve at 2nd base.
Mathguy64
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Yeah 2B has been a productive place for this franchise. In roughly 60 years we have had 3 HOF players who played a lot of time there. And yes I'm counting on 'Tuve making it.
safety guy
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Who's the winningest pitcher in Astros history. The most under appreciated Astro of all time.
Fat Bib Fortuna
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Joe Niekro. Unfortunately remembered for the wrong thing.

turfman80
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Biggio is the worthy winner. But Ryan beating Altuve? Altuve hung in there during the dog days of the franchise and then delivered with multiple all star years, and he has the ring. Ryan blew a 5-2 lead in the 8th inning of game 5 against the Phillies in 1980, then had his Ranger uniform inducted into the HOF. He gets too much credit for his years as an Astro. Flame away.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothing is a real cool hand
JJxvi
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He from Alvin and threw that baw hard!
tjack16
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turfman80 said:

Biggio is the worthy winner. But Ryan beating Altuve? Altuve hung in there during the dog days of the franchise and then delivered with multiple all star years, and he has the ring. Ryan blew a 5-2 lead in the 8th inning of game 5 against the Phillies in 1980, then had his Ranger uniform inducted into the HOF. He gets too much credit for his years as an Astro. Flame away.


I agree. Altuve should have beaten him. He's been the heart and soul/face of this franchise. Had an MVP season during our only WS title run. Has been part of the worst team in franchise history, and best as well. Never once complained. He's signed until 2024

I always think of Nolan Ryan as a ranger. He chose the rangers for his hall of fame cap. Altuve will always be known as an Astro
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