Astros’ All-Time Best Seasons: Third Base

2005: Morgan Ensberg

The magical 2005 season for the Houston Astros was filled with plenty of surprises. One fact that surprised me as I was researching for this article was that Morgan Ensberg was named the Houston Astros Most Valuable Player for 2005. With big names like Jeff Bagwell, Lance Berkman, Craig Biggio, Brad Lidge, Roger Clemens, Roy Oswalt, and Andy Pettitte all on the roster, who would have thought that Morgan Ensberg was the MVP for the Astros that year? Not me! No disrespect to Ensberg, but my initial thought was Oswalt for sure.

Anyway, here are Morgan Ensberg’s 2005 stats from Baseball Reference:

• .283 BA (17th among 3B in MLB)
• .388 OBP (4th among 3B in MLB)
• .557 SLG (4th among 3B in MLB)
• 86 Runs (T-6th among 3B in MLB)
• 149 Hits
• 36 HR (3rd among 3B in MLB)
• 101 RBI (T-5th among 3B in MLB)
• 85 BB (2nd among 3B in MLB)
• NL All-Star
• NL Silver Slugger
• Named NL Player of the Week on July 3, 2005

Looking back on it, I had completely forgotten that Morgan Ensberg had this great of a year in 2005. That’s probably due to the fact that I was nine years old then, but that’s still no excuse. Ensberg without a doubt in my mind was correctly named the Astros’ Most Valuable Player in 2005 and was a major contributor to the World Series run. Finishing in the top 5 in HR at your position in the “Steroid Era” is very impressive, especially when you look back on the great pitching that was in the NL Central in 2005.

Overall, Morgan Ensberg’s 2005 season was definitely one of the best that I have seen from an Astro at the third base position. It is extremely disappointing that the Houston Astros haven’t been able to replicate that kind of offensive production from third base in the last ten years. However, I  think that we will see this kind of production when Colin Moran gets up to the Major Leagues in the near future.

Next: Vote: Best All-Time Season at 3B