Astros Crawfish Boil: February 23, 2024

16. Don Wilson (Bagwell score 61.41) was a six-foot-two right-handed pitcher from Houston, TX. Born on February 12, 1945, he reached the major leagues for the first time with the Houston Astros in 1966, appearing once in relief on September 29, striking out seven and holding the Reds to two runs on five hits and a walk to earn a 3-2 victory over Cincinnati.

Including that 1966 appearance, Wilson appeared in 266 games for Houston, starting 245 times. He was 104-92 with two saves, a 3.15 ERA, and a 1.212 WHIP. In 1748 ¹⁄₃ innings, he issued 640 walks and struck out 1,283, holding his opponents to a .228/.300/.334 slashline.

During his nine seasons with the Astros, Wilson had 38 “Signature Starts™,” that is, a Quality Start with a WPA of .300+ and a 70+ GameScore.

On June 18, 1967, in Wilson’s 12th career start, he struck out 15 and pitched a complete game no-hitter against the Braves. He walked three in the 2-0 victory, in the first no-hitter ever thrown at the Astrodome and Houston’s third overall.

On July 24, 1968, Wilson struck out six and walked zero, pitching a three-hit, 1-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

On May 1, 1969, just a day after the Astros were no-hit by Jim Maloney and the Reds in a 10-0 loss, Wilson threw his second career no-hitter, and Houston’s first-ever road no-hitter. He struck out 13 and walked six, defeating Cincinnati, 4-0.

On June 22, 1970, Wilson struck out nine Padres and pitched a three-hitter, in a 4-1 win over San Diego. In 1971, he led the National League with 6.5 H/9 and made his only All-Star appearance,

On June 4, 1972, Wilson pitched a two-hitter, walking two and striking out six in a 5-0 win over the Montreal Expos. On August 20, he struck out 14 Phillies and walked three, pitching a four-hitter to defeat Philadelphia, 3-1. On September 7, Scott pitched a 13-inning complete game victory, over the Giants, striking out seven, walking two, and keeping San Francisco to one run on 10 hits in a 5-1 Houston win.

On April 21, 1973, Wilson tossed another two-hitter in a win over the Padres, striking out five and walking one in a 4-0 win against San Diego. On August 3, he threw a 10-inning four-hitter, striking out nine and walking two in a 1-0 triumph over the Cincinnati Reds.

On September 28, 1974, in his final major league appearance, Wilson threw his 20th career shutout to top Atlanta, 5-0. He allowed two hits and three walks in the win, somehow collecting zero strikeouts.

On January 5, 1975, WIlson died of carbon monoxide poisoning. In the post-mortem report, it showed that he had a blood alcohol content of 0.167. Wilson’s son also died in the incident, later ruled an accident. His number 40 was retired by the Astros just into the 1975 campaign, and the Astros wore a commemorative patch to honor him the following season.

15. George Springer (Bagwell score 72.91) is a six-foot-three right-handed outfielder from New Britain, CT. Born on September 19, 1989, he was initially a 48th-round pick of the Minnesota Twins in 2008 out of Avon Old Farms School. He passed on the contract, and was rewarded for his patience three years later when Houston took him in the first round of the 2011 draft out of the University of Connecticut. That particular first round featured 44 future major leaguers, including the first 29 picks. Springer’s 36.2 bWAR to date ranks him third, behind Francisco Lindor (42.7) and Gerrit Cole (41.2). Springer also ranks third of the 43 players taken 11th overall, a fraternity led by Max Scherzer (75.0) and Andrew McCutchen (48.6).

Springer reached the major leagues for Houston in 2014, and played most of the following seven seasons with the team. He led the majors in 2016 with 162 games and 744 plate appearances, and made the All-Star Team for the three years starting in 2017. He also took home a Silver Slugger in 2017 and in 2019.

Springer started 276 games in centerfield (2248 innings, .997), 458 games in right field (4164 innings, .985), 45 games at designated hitter, and zero times in left field (three innings, no errors). As a hitter, Springer was 832-for-3087, slashing .270/.361/.491 with 137 doubles, 13 triples, 174 home runs, and 48 stolen bases in 79 attempts. He walked 396 times and struck out 785 times, scoring 567 runs and driving in 458.

Springer had 213 multiple-hit games through his time with the Astros, including 53 three+ hit games, 12 four+ hit games, three five+ hit games, and one six-hit game.

On May 24, 2014, Springer hit a two-run seventh-inning game-tying home run against the Rangers, in an eventual 5-4 Houston victory over Texas. Two days later, he drew a first-inning walk and scored, hit a two-run second-inning double and scored, a fourth-inning double and scored, hit a sixth-inning single and scored, then added an eighth-inning solo home run in a 9-2 victory against the Kansas City Royals.

On April 28, 2015, Springer hit a fifth-inning RBI-groundout, then stole a base, hit a two-run seventh-inning home run, and added an eighth-inning two-run single in a 14-3 win against the San Diego Padres. On June 10, he hit five singles in a 4-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox. On June 15, he hit a single and two solo home runs in a 6-3 win over the Colorado Rockies. On September 23, he hit a fifth-inning RBI-single and a seventh-inning lead-changing two-run triple, in an eventual 6-5 loss to the Los Angeles Angels.

On May 13, 2016, Springer singled in the third against Boston, hit a two-run double in the fifth, scoring the tying-run on a Marwin Gonzalez single, and hit a go-ahead two-run sixth-inning home run in a 7-6 victory against the Red Sox. On May 26, he hit two solo home runs in a 4-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. On May 31, he hit a first-inning double, a second-inning lead-changing three-run homer, and added a fourth-inning RBI-single and a run in an 8-5 triumph over the Arizona Diamondbacks. The next day, he hit a seventh-inning leadoff double and an 11th-inning walk-off solo home run for a 5-4 win over the Diamondbacks. On June 15, he hit an eighth-inning lead-changing two-run homer against the Cardinals, in a 4-1 victory over St. Louis. On June 24, he hit a single, a triple, and a home run with five RBI in a 13-4 win over the Royals. On August 19, he hit a lead-off first-inning home run against Baltimore, got hit by a pitch and scored in the second, hit a fifth-inning RBI-single, singled and scored in the seventh, then doubled in the ninth in a 15-8 win over the Orioles. On September 24, he hit a first-inning single, a fifth-inning single, a seventh-inning RBI-triple and a run, and a ninth-inning single in a 10-4 loss to the Angels.

On April 5, 2017, Springer hit a game-tying seventh-inning two-run double and a come-from-behind, walk-off two-run homer off Chase De Jong in a 4-3 win over the Seattle Mariners. On May 14, in Game Two of a doubleheader, he hit two solo home runs in a 10-7 win over the New York Yankees. On May 31, he hit two singles and two solo home runs in a 17-6 win over the Minnesota Twins. On June 4, he hit a single and two home runs for three RBI in a 7-2 win over the Rangers. On July 4, he hit two singles, a double, and a home run in a 16-4 win over the Atlanta Braves. Three days later, he hit a single, a double, and two home runs for five RBI in a 12-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. On October 25, he singled in the third, doubled in the ninth, and hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the 11th in a 7-6 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers, in Game Two of the World Series. On October 29, he drew a walk and scored in the fourth, drew a walk and scored in the fifth, hit a game-tying solo home run in the seventh, hit an eighth-inning single, then drew a two-out walk in the bottom of the 10th, in a 13-12 walk-off victory in Game Five of the World Series. He was later named the World Series MVP.

On April 13, 2018, Springer hit two solo home runs in a win over the Rangers, 3-2. On May 7, he hit four singles, a double, and a home run with three RBI, a six-hit game, in a 16-2 win over the Oakland Athletics. On June 10, he hit a leadoff homer against Texas, a second-inning single and a run, then drew a walk and scored the ninth-inning go-ahead run in an 8-7 win over the Rangers. On September 15, he hit four singles and scored three runs in a 10-4 win over the Diamondbacks. On October 8, he hit a single and two solo home runs in an 11-3, Game Three ALDS win over the Cleveland Indians.

On April 23, 2019, Springer hit a third-inning RBI-single, a fifth-inning RBI-double, scoring the game-tying run, drew a seventh-inning walk and scored a go-ahead run in a 10-4 win over the Twins. On May 12, he hit three singles and two homers for four RBI in a 15-5 win over Texas. On July 15, he hit a single and two homers with three RBI in a 9-6 loss over the Angels. On August 2, he hit three singles and a triple in a 10-2 victory over Seattle. on September 2, he drew a walk and scored a game-tying run in the third, a fifth-inning single, and a 10th-inning go-ahead solo home run in a 3-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. On September 10, he hit two solo home runs in a 21-7 loss to the A’s. Three days later, he hit a ninth-inning go-ahead three-run homer in a 4-1 win over the Royals. On September 22, he hit a first-inning homer, a second-inning two-run homer, and a fourth-inning solo homer in a 13-5 win over the Angels. On September 29, he hit two singles, a double, and a home run for two RBI in an 8-5 win over the Halos. On October 22, he drew a walk and scored in the first, hit a seventh-inning solo home run, and an eighth-inning RBI-double in a 5-4 loss to the Washington Nationals.

On August 1, 2020, Springer hit a second-inning RBI-single and scored in a 10-8 win over the Rockies. On September 5, he hit two homers with three RBI in a 7-6 loss to the Angels. On September 20, he singled and stole a base in first, added a sixth-inning solo home run and a seventh-inning solo home run in a 3-2 win over Arizona. On October 5, he hit three singles and a double with one RBI in a 10-5 win over the A’s, in Game One of the ALDS. The next day, in Game Two, he hit a pair of homers for three RBI in a 5-2 win.

On January 23, 2021, Springer signed a deal with the Blue Jays through free agency. He’s about to enter his fourth season with the club (365 games, .262/.338/.460).