Astros’ All-Time Best Seasons: Shortstop

1982: Dickie Thon

In 1982, the Astros finished 5th in the NL West Division, but it was not because of their shortstop Dicke Thon. He was 24-years old that year, in his fourth MLB season, and his second year with the Astros. While he didn’t hit for much power, he did lead the NL in triples in 1982 with 10. 1982 also marked Thon’s first chance at the everyday shortstop position.

He was one of the Astros who was able to hit at the Astrodome, as he hit 0.315/ 0.382/ 0.457. Away from the dome he only hit 0.236/ 0.266/ 0.335.

The aspect of the game that made Thon valuable was his speed on the bases and his defense at shortstop. You may not look at his stats and see the 15 errors, but his 0.975 fielding percentage says it wasn’t that bad.

His stats (from Baseball Reference):

• .276 BA/.327 OBP/.397 SLG/.724 OPS

• 137 hits

• 73 runs

• 31 doubles

• 10 triples

• 3 HRs

• 36 RBI

• 37 walks

• 6.1 WAR

 His teammates that year was Jose Cruz, Art Howe, Phil Garner, Alan Ashby, and Terry Puhl. The starting rotation consisted of Joe Niekro, Nolan Ryan, Don Sutton, Bob Knepper, and Vern Ruhle who later became a pitching coach for the Astros.

Did You Know: What manager was fired by the Astros mid-way through 1982 season with a 49-62 record?    

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