CATCHER
?Brad Ausmus
?Johnny Edwards
(Edwards was a good defensive catcher who was killed offensively by the Dome. Left-handed hitter, he flew out to the RF warning track 25-30 times a season in there. In MMPUS, those are in the 10th row.)
FIRST BASE
?Jeff Bagwell
?Bob Watson
(Watson also played LF, remember; and, early on, catcher.)
SECOND BASE
?Craig Biggio
?Billy Doran
THIRD BASE
?Morgan Ensberg
?Denis Menke
(Menke was a solid defender and better-than-average offensive player in the low-offense days, and very versatile -- he played all the infield positions well, and could bat out of the top of the order, or drive in runs from the 5 spot.)
SHORTSTOP
?Dickie Thon (pre-Mike Torrez)
?Bill Spiers (Had to give him a position... he originally came up as a SS with the Brewers... I also thought of Sonny Jackson, going waaaay back.)
OUTFIELD
?Lance Berkman (Best all-around hitter the franchise has ever had)
?Cesar Cede?o
?Jimmy Wynn, The Toy Cannon
?Jose Cruz, Sr.
?Tossup between Rusty Staub and Terry Puhl. Staub was a better pure hitter, but Puhl played in Houston a lot longer, and more recently
STARTING PITCHERS
?Larry Dierker
?J.R. Richard
?Don Wilson
?Roy Oswalt
?Mike Cuellar (for a token lefty, a very good one)
BULLPEN
?Danny "D-Day" Darwin
?X-Man (Xavier Hernandez)
?Se?or Smoke (Aurelio Lopez, R.I.P.)
(Dual Closers)
?Fred Gladding (Fat Freddie)
?Dave Smith
This sure isn't an all-time best team, but it'd be fun to watch.
Jim R., it was fun doing this, thanks. And I'll probably change it 7-8 more times as I think of other guys I left off.
