Best Price: $49.95Don Wilson of the Houston Astros
For fans of the Houston Astros, January 5, 1975 will always be something of a day of mourning. On that day, one of the Astros greatest players left the great ballpark of life, leaving behind him more than enough fond memories to fill a thousand Minute Maid Parks in the team’s home city of Houston. The player’s name was Donald Edward Wilson, but his teammates and fans alike knew him simply as “Don”.
The rise of a pitcher
Don Wilson was born February 12, 1945, and played his college baseball in Compton, California – at the Compton Community College. After college, he was recruited in 1966 by the Astros, who were in need of good pitchers – as most teams usually are. He was known as a bit of a wild card in college, and his wild streak continued in the early years of his professional career. Part of that lack of control was simply the result of the speed with which he threw the ball. He was routinely referred to throughout his 9 years in the Majors as having one of the hardest thrown pitches in all of baseball. As many analysts have noted over the years, the truly hard throwing pitchers often find that the first thing they must sacrifice to obtain such speed and force is their control over the pitch.
His career
Wilson is known for a great many things in Astros lore, including being the first pitcher to ever record a no-hitter under a dome or on artificial grass. That no-hitter also saw an impressive display of strikeouts, as Don’s brutal pitches sealed the fates of 15 total batters on the day, including the legendary Hank Aaron, whose strikeout was the final deciding out in the contest. A year later, Wilson would record 18 total strikeouts in one game, setting a record for the franchise. His hard-throwing style was paying off.
By the time Wilson threw what would prove to be the last game of his career, he had earned the respect of his team, fans, and foes around the league. No-hitters were always a possibility when Don took the mound, and his opponents knew it. His very last game was close – a 5 to nothing, two hit affair over the Atlanta Braves in September of 1974. It was the last time he would ever be seen by a batter, however, as his body was found in his garage in January of the following year, dead in the passenger seat of his own car. The engine was still running, but the official account recorded the death as a tragic accident since there was no evidence of intent to commit suicide.
A few months later, the Astros organization officially retired Don’s number, a fitting tribute to a man who had given his life to the ball club. The next season, the players all wore the number 40 on a uniform patch to commemorate their fallen comrade. To this day, fans across the Houston area still talk about the hard-throwing pitcher who always left everything he had on the field of play.
Houston Astros is continuing to level up
Even the most optimistic Astros’ fan would not have expected this great change in their team’s performance. Two months ago, the Houston team was trembling through the season opening games but, the drastic change that happened in their performance was unbelievable. Today, Houston Astros had their sixth win in a row this season after their last win against the Brewers.
Houston Astros had their last win against the St. Louis Cardinals. The battle game was at the Busch Stadium and despite the hot and humid weather during the game; the Astros managed their way to win against the Cardinals with Seven runs to continue their winning series this season.
Astros manager, Brad Mills, was satisfied with the teamwork of his players and praised their support to each other. Mills stated that his team players were doing a great job and their remarkable excitement helped them to win the game. The manager was also satisfied with his tread off of the franchise icons Lance Berkman and Oswalt. He also changed the lineup of his team completely and added several young players.
Lance Berkman, who was one of the popular players in the Astros, had just left the Houston team and headed to the Yankees in exchange of two young players. This deal made the Astros team younger and the new players did their best to show that they belong to the game and up to the competition.
St. Louis Cardinals found the way to their first home loss against Houston Astros. Although St. Louis was heading but, the Astros managed to win the lead 5 – 4 during the eighth before they continue their way with another 4 points in the ninth to the final score 9 – 4.
Keppinger was thrilled and linked the winning to the new lineup of his team. He mentioned that the young players of his team were eager to prove themselves in the pitch. He also stated that they are improving from one match to another. Basically, the lineup of the Astros changed completely and that was the reason of their continuous winning.
Brett Myers, the Astros pitcher, was one of the main reasons behind this winning. Myers had just signed his new contract on Sunday and then he performed marvelously throughout the game with three hits, three runs and he struck out four batters in six innings. These numbers are considered a franchise record to start this new season with.
Many fans have stated that the team had seen this change since the Lance Berkman / Roy Oswalt trades. Since the franchise icons’ trades and the team had seen a lot of enthusiasm and improved its teamwork immensely. Most fans stated that if this team spirit continued then the Astros will have a leading position on the score board this season. The best thing about the Astros winnings is that they are because of team work and not because of dependence on one player.
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