On This Day (Well, yesterday); Don Wilson and 2010

Don Wilson is one of the all-time greats in Houston Astro history and his number, 40, will never be worn again. To say Wilson’s career ended too early would be an understatement as overwhelming as Wilson’s right arm. Wilson was an amazing player, a true professional, and knew what was truly important in baseball as well as what was required to achieve it. Don Wilson was 104-92 before being killed by Carbon Monoxide poisoning at just 29 years old. But despite his mediocre record, Wilson cared about nothing more than winning. Kevin Slowey and Rich Harden have both been removed this year during no-hitters and both cases were for the pitcher’s health. But an injured pitcher doesn’t help a team win games. Wilson wanted to win. I apologize it’s a day late, but I found this article on cardboardgods.com and I urge everyone to read it and take a look at Don Wilson’s career numbers. Oh, what could have been…

Some notes on 2010:

J.A. Happ has made 8 starts for the Houston Astros this season and 7 have been quality starts. If you take out the 1 non-quality start, the former Philadelphia great has a 2.29 ERA over 39.2 innings. Roy who?

After a first inning homerun today, Hunter Pence is hitting .291 with 22 homeruns and 79 RBI.

With a win today over the Diamondbacks, the Astros are now 8 games below .500 (64-72). The last time they were within 8 games of being even? May 2 when they were 8-16. The push for .500 continues!