The Astros Franchise Deep Four

Finally we've reached the last member of MLB's first expansion wave, the Houston Astros!

	P	C	1B	2B	3B	SS	LF	CF	RF
1st	Roy Oswalt	Jason Castro	Jeff Bagwell	Craig Biggio	Morgan Ensberg	Dickie Thon	Jose Cruz	Cesar Cedeno	Terry Puhl
2nd	Larry Dierker	Alan Ashby	Lance Berkman	Joe Morgan	Ken Caminiti	Adam Everett	Luis Gonzalez	Jim Wynn	Kevin Bass
3rd	Mike Scott	Brad Ausmus	Glenn Davis	Bill Doran	Doug Rader	Craig Reynolds	Carlos Lee	Steve Finley	Hunter Pence
4th	Roger Clemens	Johnny Edwards	Bob Watson	Jose Altuve	Enos Cabell	Roger Metzger	Al Spangler	Michael Bourn	Rusty Staub

The Astros have a fine stable of second basemen. Even the guy on their 4th Team has been a star. First base and center field aren't too shabby either.

Jose Cruz is a solid 1st Teamer in left field, but after him, the list isn't too impressive. Al Spangler? Really? Part of what hurt them was Lance Berkman and Bob Watson being better fits for first base.

Morgan Ensberg and Dickie Thon are both pretty top-heavy value-wise, but their peaks were strong enough for me to put them on the 1st Team. I expected Ken Caminiti to be the top third baseman, but Ensberg was just better. Adam Everett had a better career than most people remember, making him a fine 2nd Teamer.

I was surprised that catcher was such a weak position. Turns out the Astros have never had a real star behind the dish. Jason Castro got the top spot mainly from his big season in 2013, because he's about the same as the rest of the pack otherwise. Come on, Astros. Get some better catchers!

Dusty Baker, the Ultimate #12

Remember when I was doing Ultimate Number Player photo collages? Heck, I barely remember it meself. But thanks to some dedicated YouTubers who've uploaded classic baseball games (most likely without the express written consent of Major League Baseball), I've been able to find photographic evidence of some players having worn certain numbers for certain teams. One of those is the great Dusty Baker, who I named the Ultimate #12 in this post without a photo to accompany it. Fear no longer. I have just the photo you've waited almost three years for:



We've got him wearing it with the Braves, the Dodgers, the Giants, and the Athletics.

And just for kicks, Baker has worn it at all his managerial stops as well: The Giants, the Cubs, the Reds, and now the Nationals. Why don't we get a photo collage of that as well?




Dusty's getting up there in years, so it's quite possible that Washington will be the last managerial stop of his career. Hopefully I won't have to amend this collage at any point.

Truly this man exemplifies all it means to wear the dozen digits... wait a minute. Baker... dozen... baker's dozen? Ohhhhh, Dusty. You clever sneak.

Good luck with the Nationals, Dusty Baker! Let's see if you can't get them that pennant they've been waiting for!

The Mets Franchise Deep Four

No, I didn't forget about this project. Just been doing other stuff lately. Today we're going to look at our amazin' friends in Flushing. Who are their best by position?

	P	C	1B	2B	3B	SS	LF	CF	RF
1st	Tom Seaver	Mike Piazza	Keith Hernandez	Edgardo Alfonzo	David Wright	Jose Reyes	Cleon Jones	Carlos Beltran	Darryl Strawberry
2nd	Jerry Koosman	John Stearns	John Olerud	Wally Backman	Howard Johnson	Bud Harrelson	Kevin McReynolds	Tommie Agee	Ron Swoboda
3rd	Dwight Gooden	Todd Hundley	Dave Magadan	Ron Hunt	Wayne Garrett	Kevin Elster	Steve Henderson	Lenny Dykstra	Joel Youngblood
4th	Jon Matlack	Gary Carter	Ed Kranepool	Felix Millan	Robin Ventura	Rey Ordonez	Bernard Gilkey	Mookie Wilson	Rusty Staub

The Mets have one heck of a 1st Team: Two Hall of Famers, one borderline guy who I think should be in, another guy who'll have a good argument once he retires, another guy who could qualify with a few more good seasons, and four other fine players.

Catcher surprised me. I thought Hall of Famer Gary Carter would end up on the 2nd Team, but the Mets really got him at the decline phase of his career. Stearns and Hundley were much better players than they get credit for. And Jerry Grote just missed the cut.

Center field was surprisingly deep. Angel Pagan, Juan Lagares, and Lee Mazzilli were all worthy of honorable mentions.

Right field and shortstop were the two weakest positions. After the 2nd Teams, there wasn't a lot to get excited about. You never realize how shallow some teams are at certain spots.

Second base didn't have any really outstanding players, but it had a lot of good ones. Jeff Kent just missed the cut, as you can see.

Congratulations to Mike Piazza and Ken Griffey Jr.

The news just came in today that Mike Piazza and Ken Griffey Jr. are the latest additions to the Hall of Fame. I have fond memories of these guys' heyday, back when I was a kid in the '90s. Congratulations go out to both of them. It's well-deserved.

As far as this blog is concerned, it's time for an update. Check out this classic Baseball Junk Drawer list:

Hall of Famers' First Major League Home Runs

The Rangers Franchise Deep Four

Hey, another of these! Yeah, I decided to finish this one, which I'd started on a while ago. The Washington Senators/Texas Rangers franchise isn't one that gets a lot of historical examination, but let it not be said that Baseball Junk Drawer ignores it!

	P	C	1B	2B	3B	SS	LF	CF	RF
1st	Kenny Rogers	Ivan Rodriguez	Rafael Palmeiro	Ian Kinsler	Buddy Bell	Alex Rodriguez	Frank Howard	Oddibe McDowell	Juan Gonzalez
2nd	Charlie Hough	Jim Sundberg	Mark Teixeira	Julio Franco	Adrian Beltre	Elvis Andrus	Rusty Greer	Don Lock	Ruben Sierra
3rd	Fergie Jenkins	Paul Casanova	Will Clark	Bump Wills	Ken McMullen	Toby Harrah	Josh Hamilton	Leonys Martin	Nelson Cruz
4th	Nolan Ryan	Gerald Laird	Pete O'Brien	Mark McLemore	Hank Blalock	Scott Fletcher	Billy Sample	Mickey Rivers	Jeff Burroughs

I hated to put Josh Hamilton on the 3rd Team, but I didn't feel right about putting him in center field, and he only had that one big MVP season while playing primarily left. The truth is though, Hamilton probably isn't (or wasn't) as great as that season, all things considered, so maybe it's perfectly fitting not to rank him very high.

Michael Young played too many positions to put him at any one, and since the Rangers are pretty strong at shortstop, Young's most logical position, he was off the board completely. Ed Brinkman was another fine player at that position who didn't make the cut. It's a shame there wasn't a place for Mr. Ranger somewhere.

I was surprised at how strong third base, pitcher, and right field were. Center field was weak, and catcher was extremely top-heavy. Jim Sundberg was probably good enough to be some teams' #1, but here he's stuck behind Pudge. After those two, the cupboard is pretty bare.