I decided a few years ago to write about retired numbers across the league, breaking down every single team’s history and future on the matter. The most apparent is Cesar Cedeno. There was speculation that there was domestic strife that somehow led to Wilson's death and Bernice's jaw injury. From holdovers like Billy Wagner and Roger Clemens, to newcomers like Andy Pettitte and Miguel Tejada, But when we’re talking about players associated with the Astros, there are really just two that stand above the rest: longtime stalwarts Lance Berkman and Roy Oswalt, both of whom will be making their ballot debuts this winter. Baseball blog Seamheads went into further detail on the aftermath of Wilson's death and that of his young son. Pitcher Don Wilson had his number (40) retired a decade later, after his death by carbon monoxide poisoning. Of those totals, 49.4 bWAR and 52 fWAR came as a ‘Stro, both of which put him as the most valuable player in franchise history prior to the Bagwell-Biggio era. I included both the average and the median for those nine retired numbers, as well as both of those figures while setting aside Umbricht and Wilson as special cases. By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. The 'Houston Astros retired numbers' quiz Total tries: 1693 | Average Score: 5.1 out of 9 ( 57% ) | Quiz FAQ Can you name every player in Houston Astros franchise history to have his number retired? No. Lance Berkman made it 6-5 with a grand slam in the bottom of the eighth, and Brad Ausmus homered in the ninth to tie the score at 6. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019. In a span of just over two years – May 15, 1973 to June 1, 1975 – Nolan Ryan threw four no-hitters for the California Angels, tying the career mark of Sandy Koufax. The Astros can't right the wrongs of having retired too many numbers. Only one of the numbers the Astros retired belongs to a Hall of Famer. That’s far more than any other expansion team, and even more than some of the teams that were around at the beginning of the twentieth century. With those factors in mind, let’s look at the nine numbers the Astros have retired so far (stats with “HOU” represent only their output on the Astros): It’s worth noting that these numbers aren’t necessarily the full story. It's believed that he had come home at 1 a.m. but Bernice didn't find him and alert emergency officials until 1 p.m. later that day. The first two came under tragic circumstances. His longtime teammate Craig Biggio, also a career Astros and Hall favorite, places second on both lists. Number retired by Astros in 2007; Is the franchise leader in home runs (449) and RBI (1,529) Is the only player in franchise history to win the NL MVP award (1994) and NL Rookie of the Year Award (1991) Was the Astros Opening Day first baseman for 15 consecutive seasons (1991-2005) Jeff Bagwell's career stats » Full Story » To be honest, he seems like an easy choice. However, this doesn’t apply to Roy Oswalt, who’s seen his number 44 handed out half a dozen times since he was traded that same summer. Two nights after Albert Pujols kept the Astros from advancing to their first World Series with a three-run ninth-inning moon shot off Brad Lidge in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series at Minute Maid Park, Roy Oswalt put away the Cardinals for good in Game 6 at Busch Stadium. Jose Cruz was the first hitter honored by the team. Few fans who pile into Minute Maid Park probably have a clue just who Jim Umbricht (right) and Don Wilson (left) were, even though their respective numbers have been retired by the team and adorn one wall in the ballpark. Again, I see little reason to not retire his number upon his retirement. Every player had some significance to the team, even if they weren’t all necessarily Hall of Fame-level talents.

Jim Umbricht was 8-3 in two seasons on the hill for the Astros. His brother Ed spread his ashes over the Astrodome construction site from a private airplane while his parents and some teammates looked on. HOUSTON — The Houston Astros have retired nine numbers in their franchise. The Astros have been one of the more active teams in retiring numbers, with nine under their belt (not counting Jackie Robinson’s 42, which is retired league-wide). The ignition was on and the gasoline indicator was at empty, but the car's engine was cold. Average career bWAR places the Astos in the fourth quartile of MLB, while average career bWAR ranks the team as the exact middle of the league. The next team I’m covering in my Retired Numbers Series is one that has always intrigued me. They’re a little on the lower side of things going by total career value, but both clear just about every bar based on value while in an Astros uniform. He only played the final two seasons of his five year career (1959-1963) with the then-Colt .45s, and put up a total of four bWAR with them (due to the nature of the stat, he only had about three bWAR for his whole career—his time with the Pirates was a negative). Houston Astros Uniform Numbers. Really, that only leaves players currently with the team. That’s how things stayed until the bottom of the 18th, when Chris Burke hit a walkoff solo homer to give the Astros the game and the series. I primarily focused on using Wins Above Replacement (both Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference), since it’s a quick reference point that allows us to easily compare batters and pitchers. When I first visited Minute Maid Park, I was actually surprised by the sheer amount of jersey numbers that they had retired. Baseball-Reference is slightly stingier, “only” putting Berkman fifth among Astros hitters (with 46.1 bWAR with the team and 49.2 career bWAR so far). Jim Umbricht’s 32 was retired in 1965 following his death to melanoma at the age of 33. His wife found him slumped over in his Ford Thunderbird. But few fans who pile into Minute Maid Park each week probably know about the other names on that wall, former Colt .45s pitcher Jim Umbricht and Astros pitcher Don Wilson, whose names have been largely lost under a pile of team history. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google, Brewers' Devin Williams to miss series vs. Dodgers with arm issue, MLB plans to let more than 11,000 fans attend NLCS, World Series, The 'Starters for every MLB Wild Card game' quiz, Heat suffer massive injuries to star players in Game 1, Steelers-Titans game postponed due to positive COVID-19 tests, Twins eliminated after historic 18th straight playoff loss. And it preserves the memory of the players—I doubt that I would have bothered to look up some of the players had their numbers not led to my curiosity.