Astros’ All-Time Best Seasons: Shortstop

This is the 5th article in a series we at Climbing Tal’s Hill are doing for “Astros’ All-Time Best Seasons.” We are looking for the top-5 seasons for a player at each position. For this article we will be looking at shortstop.

Have you ever thought about the “All-Time Best Seasons” for a Houston Astro shortstop? We decided to look into which shortstop had the best seasons in the history. The writers set a criteria that the players have to have played at least 100-games with the Astros that year.

The problem with the shortstop position, is that the Astros have not been blessed with star talent at that position. The biggest name the Astros have probably had been Miguel Tejada, who the Astros paid dearly for in a trade. This is why the Astros are being patient with Carlos Correa, he has the potential be their best-ever shortstop.

Challenge:

But Tejada is not the best ever to player to play shortstop based on their WAR, who is it?

Next: 1982: Dickie Thon

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?    

Next: 1983: Dickie Thon

1983: Dickie Thon

Bill Virdon was fired as Astros manager in 1982.

His second season with the Astros, Dickie Thon really broke out the power bat in 1983. He was 25-years old that season, and was becoming an anchor at shortstop. Thon had the greatest season an Astros shortstop had ever had. Around the All-Star break, Thon was hitting over 0.300, but the NL starting nod went to Ozzie Smith, who won the fan vote.

Even though I’m sure people could not have expected Thon to make the All-Star team, more of a shocker was that he hit 20 HRs that year. After doing most of his damage at home in 1982, the following season was a different story. Let’s look at his splits home and away during the 1983 season.

Home: 0.292/ 0.352/ 0.420/ 0.772/ 4 HR/ 14 SB

Away: 0.280/ 0.330/ 0.494/ 0.824/ 16 HR/ 20 SB

While Thon’s batting average and on-base percentage was better at home, he hit more home runs and had a higher slugging percentage away from the Astrodome. Despite a slow start to the season, Thon batted 0.307 in first-half of the season, compared to 0.263 after the All-Star game.

His stats (from Baseball Reference):

• .286 BA/.389 OBP/.471 SLG/.859 OPS
• 177 hits
• 81 runs
• 28 doubles
• 9 triples
• 20 HRs
• 79 RBI
• 54 walks
• 34 stolen bases
• 7.4 WAR

Dickie Thon finised first in the NL with a 7.4 WAR that season, and even finished with 20% of the votes for NL MVP. He won the Silver Slugger Award in 1983, and I believe he was the only Astros shortstop to win that award. Only Cesar Cendeno had a higher WAR than 1983 Dickie Thon prior to the Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell era.

Did you know: Thon also finished in the top five in errors. How many errors did he commit in 1983?

Next: 1984: Craig Reynolds

1984: Craig Reynolds

Dickie Thon committed 29 errors in 1983, after only 15 in 1982.

Craig Reynolds inherited the shortstop position after a pitch from Mike Torrez hit Dickie Thon right above the left eye, which kept Thon out of the lineup for the rest of the season.

Replacing a player like Dickie Thon is a hard task, especially for utility man Craig Reynolds. Following Thon’s historical season, Reynolds had his best year. Reynolds had started for the Astros earlier in his career, so the transition was seamless.

He could not duplicate Thon’s hitting, power, or speed, but he did what he could including hitting a career-best 60 runs batted in. He could hit at the Astrodome, as evidenced by the splits below.

Home: 0.263/ 0.291/ .0.355/ 0.646/ 0 HR/ 5 SB

Away: 0.257/ 0.282/ 0.373/ 0.655/ 6 HR/ 2 SB

His stats (from Baseball Reference):

• .260 BA/.286 OBP/.364 SLG/ .651 OPS
• 137 hits
• 61 runs
• 15 doubles
• 11 triples
• 6 HRs
• 60 RBI
• 22 walks
• 3.0 WAR

Believe it or not, Adam Everett had a better year than Reynolds, and I wanted to get a certain shortstop in at the end of this list. But in the end, I thought that the situation that Reynolds faced replacing a type of player like Dickie Thon.

Did You Know: Craig Reynolds appeared in two All-Star games. What years were they, and was I even born at the time?

Next: 2004: Adam Everett

2004: Adam Everett

September 6, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Houston Astros bench coach Adam Everett (36) before the game against the Oakland Athletics at O.co Coliseum. The Athletics defeated the Astros 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Craig Reynolds made the 1978 and 1979 All-Star game. I was not born for the 78 season, but I was for the 1979 season.

I went against the grain with Adam Everett, I chose his second-best season in terms of WAR. In 2004 Everett had a 3.2 WAR and in 2006 he had 3.5 WAR.  Keep in mind that most of Everett WAR value comes from his defense, but he showed a little all-around game in 2004 and 2006.

Everett in 2004 had 0.977 Fld %/ 10 errors and in 2006 he had 0.990 Fld %/ 7 errors. This was my reasoning for choosing 2004: to focus more on his hitting. After all, chicks dig the offense.

His stats (from Baseball Reference):

• .273 BA/.317 OBP/.385 SLG/.703 OPS
• 105 hits
• 15 doubles
• 2 triples
• 8 HRs
• 31 RBI
• 17 walks
• 13 stolen bases
• 3.2 WAR

The main stat that stood out to me was his batting in 2004, because Everett was a career 0.240 hitter. He did hit 11 home runs in 2005, but went back to his career batting average. Here is hoping a lot of fantasy baseball players didn’t bank on Everett after his three-year good stretch.

Adam Everett debuted with the Astros on August 30, 2001, and his career ended ten years later in 2011 with the Cleveland Indians. After baseball, Everett continued to work with the Astros as an instructor, and was named Astros bench coach on September 1st 2014.

Did You Know: Adam Everett finished second in All-Star voting in 2004, who got voted in?

Next: 2009: Miguel T-ejada

2009: Miguel Tejada

Jul 30, 2013; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Kansas City Royals second baseman Miguel Tejada (24) looks on during batting practice before a game against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

The Cardinals Edgar Renteria was voted to the 2004 All-Star game.

The Astros got tired of not having a star shortstop, so they mortgaged some of their future to get Miguel Tejada. They traded Troy Patton, Luke Scott, Dennis Sarfate, and Matt Albers. While besides Scott having a little success, none of those players became stars.

The problem was they got him from the Baltimore Orioles a year too early or too late. Right when the Astros traded for him, it came out that he was a year older than he said he was. Plus, he was involved in the Mitchell Report. This brought negative attention to Tejada and the team.

From an article written by Jorge Arangure JR,

In March 2009, then-Astros general manager Ed Wade received a phone call from Tejada’s attorney. Wade’s acquisition of Tejada had seemingly blown up in his face when he appeared in the Mitchell Report on December 13, 2007, a day after the trade. Furthermore, Tejada was called up to Washington D.C. in 2009 to speak with the members of congress with whom he had spoken during the Palmeiro investigation. Tejada’s possible steroid use outlined in the Mitchell Report put him in danger of being charged with perjury.

When the Astros got him, he was still a star, but one that was losing light. He did represent the Astros both years at the All-Star game.

His stats (from Baseball Reference):

• .313 BA/.340 OBP/.455 SLG/.795 OPS
• 199 hits
• 46 doubles
• 1 triple
• 14 HRs
• 86 RBI
• 1 stolen base
• 19 walks
• 1.9 WAR

Yes, Tejada’s WAR is less that Clint Barmes‘s (2011) and Adam Everett’s (2006), and behind Dickie Thon, was probably the biggest star at the time at shortstop the Astros have ever had.

Miguel Tejada finished the 2009 season on a 21-game hitting streak. He finished second in hits to future fellow-failed drug tester Ryan Braun. He also became the 29th shortstop of all-time to reach 2,000 hits in 2009 while in an Astros uniform.

While the batting average was there with the Astros, power never was a big part of his game. He is now just hanging around the game as a utility player. The former MVP has had a rough go of it in the majors, but you have to give him props for hanging around.

Did You Know: Miguel Tejada led the major leagues in what stat in 2009?

Next: Vote for the Astros Best All-Time Season: Shortstop