It’s the 111th chapter of Everystros, featuring Terry Puhl and Bill Doran.
Everystros CXI
When all is said and written, we will have taken a look at every player in Houston Astros (Colt .45s) history. After today, there remains 10 chapters. Unfortunately, this is coinciding with the commencement of Spring Training.
14. Terry Puhl (Bagwell score 61.41) is a six-foot-two lefty-batting and righty-throwing outfielder from Melville, Canada. Born on July 8, 1956, the Saskatchewan native broke into the majors with the 1977 Houston Astros, and spent 14 seasons in Houston before finishing up in 15 games for the Kansas City Royals in 1991 (four-for-18). In terms of plate appearances, that means Puhl played 99.6 percent of his career in Space City.
Puhl appeared in 1,516 games in total for Houston, starting 182 games in left field (1643 2⁄3 innings, .989), 314 in center field (2783 1⁄3 innings, .994), and 698 in right field (6243 innings, .994). As a hitter, he went 1357-for-4837 with a .281/.349/.389 career slashline. He hit 226 doubles, 56 triples, 62 home runs, and stole 217 bases in 316 attempts. Puhl drew 502 walks and struck out 505 times, scoring 676 runs and driving in 432.
In postseason play, Puhl was 16-for-43 over parts of three losing series, with a .372/.413/.442 slashline.
On July 30, 1977, Puhl hit a single and three doubles with two runs and two RBI in an 11-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs. On September 17, he hit a pair of singles and a pair of doubles, with a pair of runs and a pair of RBI in an 11-0 shutout of the San Diego Padres. On September 30, he hit two singles, a double, and a triple, with two runs scored in a 6-5 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
On August 8, 1978, Puhl singled and scored in the first, singled in the third, drew a walk in the fifth, hit an RBI-double in the seventh, then added a ninth-inning single for good measure, but Houston dropped that one, 3-2 to the San Francisco Giants. On September 3, he hit three singles and a double with one RBI in a 3-2 loss to the Cubs. For his efforts, Puhl made the National League All-Star Team for the only time in his career.
On April 30, 1979, Puhl hit a first-inning single and scored against the Cardinals. After going 0-for-three in the middle seven innings of the game, he came in with two outs, a runner on first, and a game tied at four, and blasted a two-run shot of Buddy Schultz for a 6-5 win over St. Louis. On June 13, he hit four singles and scored twice against the Philadelphia Phillies. On August 7, he singled in the third, reached on an error and scored in the fifth, then hit a go-ahead two-run single in the sixth, scoring later in the inning as the Dodgers topped the Astros, 10-8.
On May 9, 1980, Puhl hit a single and two solo home runs in a 5-4 loss to the Atlanta Braves. The next day, he singled and scored a game-tying run in the fifth, singled in the seventh, drew a 10th-inning walk, then added an 11th-inning bases-loaded walk to drive in the eventual game-winner in a 3-2 triumph versus Atlanta. On July 13, he singled and scored against the Braves in the first, singled in the fifth, led off with a triple in the seventh, and added a two-out single to load the bases in the eighth, and was on base when Craig Reynolds crossed the plate with the eventual game-winner in the 6-5 win over Atlanta. Two days later, he hit a fourth-inning single, stole a base, and scored the game-tying run, then singled in the eighth inning of a 3-2 win over the Phillies. On August 21, he hit three singles with a double, scoring four runs and driving two in while the Astros topped the Pittsburgh Pirates, 12-5. On October 1, he singled in the first, then hit a three-run lead-changing second-inning double, later scoring in an eventual 5-2 victory over Atlanta. On October 8, he hit a go-ahead third-inning RBI-single, a seventh-inning game-tying RBI-single, then singled and scored the go-ahead run in the 10th inning of a 7-4, Game Two victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS. On October 11, in Game Four, he hit a game-tying RBI-single in the ninth inning, but Houston lost in 10, 5-3. The next day, in Game Five, he hit a first-inning single, stole a base and scored, singled in the third, singled and scored a go-ahead run in the seventh, then singled and scored in the eighth, but the Phillies won, 8-7 in 10 innings.
On May 22, 1982, Puhl singled and scored in the first inning, hit a game-tying RBI-triple in the fifth, then hit a game-tying ninth-inning grand slam to send it to extras, in a 6-5, 12-inning loss to New York. On June 16, he hit two home runs and collected three RBI in a 5-4, 10-inning loss to the Braves.
On May 30, 1983, Puhl drew a walk, stole a base, and scored in the first, singled and scored in the fifth, then hit a go-ahead eighth-inning two-run triple in a 9-7 win over the Cubs. On June 22, he singled and scored in the fifth, then hit a game-tying RBI-single in the ninth, in a 4-3 win over the Braves.
On April 4, 1984, Puhl led off the fourth with a single, hit a lead-changing two-run triple in the sixth, later scoring in an 8-2 triumph over the Montreal Expos. On June 7, he hit two singles, two doubles, and scored two runs with two RBI in a 14-5 win over the Giants. On August 23, he singled in the first, hit a two-run single in the third, hit a fifth-inning solo homer in the fifth in a 9-6 win against St. Louis.
On April 12, 1985, Puhl singled and stole a base in the second inning against the Phillies. He reached on an error in the fourth, hit a sixth-inning RBI-triple and scored, hit a two-run single later in the inning, and finished off with an eighth-inning RBI-sacrifice fly.
On May 4, 1986, Puhl drew a walk and was thrown out at home in the second, then hit a third-inning grand slam against the Expos, in an eventual 7-6 loss to Montreal.
On May 6, 1987, Puhl hit a ninth-inning pinch-go-ahead RBI-single in a 3-2 win over the Phillies. On September 28, 1987, Puhl hit singles in the second and the third, then launched a go-ahead fifth-inning grand slam before singling for a third time in the eighth.
On August 9, 1988, Puhl singled and stole a base in the first, doubled and scored a go-ahead run in the sixth, singled, stole a base, and scored another go-ahead run in the eighth, in a 3-2 win over the Giants.
On July 8, 1990, on his 34th birthday, Puhl hit a lead-changing pinch-two-run double in the seventh, then later scored in an eventual 5-3 win over the Expos.
After concluding his career with the Royals, Puhl eventually went into coaching at the college level for the Houston-Victoria Jaguars in NAIA baseball. SABR Bio
13. Bill Doran (Bagwell score 72.91) is a five-foot-11 switch-hitter from Cincinnati, OH. Born on May 28, 1958, he was a sixth-round pick of Houston in 1979 out of Miami University of Ohio. He leads the six then-eventual major leaguers with 32.8 bWAR, with Harold Reynolds at second chair with 15.8 bWAR. He also leads the group of 23 to reach the bigs after being chosen with the 138th overall pick. Alvin Davis is second, at 20.0 bWAR.
Doran reached the majors for the first time with Houston in 1982. He eventually appeared in 1,165 games over nine seasons, starting 1107 at second base (9717 1⁄3 innings, .983) and seven games at shortstop (74 2⁄3 innings, .921). As a hitter, he went 1,139-for-4,264 with a .267/.355/.374 slashline. He collected 180 doubles, 35 triples, 69 home runs, and 191 stolen bases in 276 attempts. He drew 585 walks and struck out 513 times, with 611 runs scored and 404 driven in.
On August 2, 1983, Doran hit a 12th-inning two-run go-ahead home run to help defeat the San Diego Padres, 4-2. On August 17, he hit four singles with two runs and one RBI in a 7-6 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. On September 4, he singled and stole a base in the first against the Cubs, then drew a second-inning walk, hit a fourth-inning RBI-single, later scoring a game-tying run, and added a lead-changing three-run fifth-inning home run in a 9-7 loss to Chicago.
On July 4, 1984, Doran hit three singles and a double, scoring twice and driving in a pair in a 10-5 victory against the New York Mets. Two days later, in the second game of a twin-bill against the Expos, Doran collected five singles and scored a run, in a 7-5 loss to Montreal. On September 16, Doran hit a second-inning single with a stolen base and a run, drew a walk and scored a game-tying run in the eighth, in a 10-9 victory over the Friars.
On June 18, 1985, Doran drew a third-inning walk and stole a base, drew a walk and scored the game-tying run in the sixth, and hit a game-tying solo homer in the eighth, in a 3-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves. On July 11, he hit three singles and two doubles with two RBI in a 4-3, 12-inning win over the Mets. On August 9, he singled, stole a base and scored a run in the first against San Diego, hit a go-ahead second-inning RBI-single, a fourth-inning RBI-single with another stolen base in an eventual 6-4 loss to the Padres. On August 27, he drew a walk and scored a game-tying run in the first, hit a two-run go-ahead second-inning triple, added a game-tying seventh-inning RBI-single, later in the frame scoring the go-ahead run and later still hitting a two-run single, in an 11-4 triumph over the Cubbies. On September 6, he hit a first-inning single, a third-inning-single, a fifth-inning RBI-groundout, and a 10th-inning walk, later closing the game by crossing the plate on a Don Robinson wild pitch in a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
On April 8, 1987, Doran hit the seventh-inning lead-changing two-run single later scoring on a Jose Cruz home run in a 7-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. On April 19, he hit two home runs for three RBI in a 7-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds. On May 13, he singled and stole a base in the first, drew a walk and stole a base in the sixth, hit an eighth-inning single and scored the game-tying run, then drew a walk and scored the walk-off game-winner in the 10th to defeat the Mets, 2-1. On June 19, he hit a first-inning single, a sixth-inning inside-the-park game-tying home run, drew a ninth-inning walk, then singled and scored the walk-off game-winning run on a sacrifice fly in a 3-2 win over the Dodgers. On June 28, he hit two homers with three RBI in an 8-4 loss to the San Francisco Giants. On July 9, he singled in the first, stole a base and scored in the fifth, and hit a ninth-inning solo homer to defeat the Mets, 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth. On August 20, he hit a first-inning single, a three-run go-ahead fifth-inning homer in a 5-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Two days later, he hit a first-inning RBI-double, and a game-tying RBI-single in the eighth, in a 5-4 win over the Cubs.
On April 10, 1988, Doran singled and stole a base in the first, reached on an error and scored the game-tying run in the sixth, hit an RBI-single and scoring in the seventh, then singled and scored on a Kevin Bass grand slam in the ninth, in a 12-3 win over the Reds. On June 18, he singled in the first, hit a lead-changing two-run third-inning homer, a game-tying RBI-groundout in the fifth, added a game-tying seventh-inning two-run single, later in the inning drawing a walk in a 14-7 win over the Braves. On July 10, he hit a ninth-inning game-tying RBI-single, in a 6-5 walk-off win over the Mets. On August 2, he singled and scored in the first, hit a game-tying grand slam in the fourth, a single in the sixth, a single and a run in the eighth,
On May 4, 1989, he hit an eighth-inning single and a go-ahead 10th-inning solo home run to defeat the Expos, 5-4. On May 16, he hit a first-inning RBI-sacrifice fly against the Cardinals, added a two-run lead-changing single in the third, and hit a game-tying two-run homer in the seventh in an 8-7 win against St. Louis. On May 20, he hit four singles in a 5-4, 12-inning win against the Pirates. On June 11, he hit a single and a homer with five RBI in a 10-6 win over Atlanta.
On May 5, 1990, he hit two singles, two doubles, scored three runs, and drove in two more in a 9-5 win over the Mets. On June 12, he hit four singles, scoring once and driving another run home in a 5-4 win against the Dodgers. On August 30, Houston traded him to the Reds for PTBNLs Butch Henry, Keith Kaiser, and Terry McGriff.
Doran played parts of three years with the Reds (260 games, .265/.357/.375, 15 home runs, 87 RBI), then spent 1993 with the Milwaukee Brewers (.217/.284/.283, six RBI). After retirement, he went into coaching, as a first base coach, a hitting coach, and a bench coach, mostly for the Kansas City Royals.
Tomorrow in Chapter 112, we have a Hall of Fame second baseman and Houston’s all-time innings pitched-leader.