Houston Astros induct 6 new members to club’s Hall of Fame

The Astros inducted six former employees into their Hall of Fame on Saturday, here they are:

During FanFest in January of 2020, the Houston Astros announced the six newest inductees to the Astros Hall of Fame. The class features Lance Berkman, Cesar Cedeno, Billy Wagner, Bob Watson, Roy Hofheinz and Roy Oswalt.

They will join the likes of Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Noland Ryan and others, who were the first class inducted in 2019. The Hall of Fame located in the former Home Run Alley area of Minute Maid Park, renamed to Hall of Fame Alley. Due to COVID-19, the on-field induction and celebration was pushed back a year to this past Saturday. You can watch the full induction ceremony on the team’s YouTube page.

Starting with Lance Berkman, here is a career highlight of each inductee, and a little background on why they now get to don the orange jacket.

Lance Berkman

Career Astros Statistics

• Seasons Played: 12 (1999-2010)
• Primary Position(s) Played: OF/1B
• Career Position Player WAR: 48.1 (Ranked 5th in Astros history)
• Batting Average: .296 (Ranked 5th in Astros history)
• Homeruns: 326 (Ranked 2nd in Astros history)
• RBIs: 1090 (Ranked 3rd in Astros history)
• On-base %: .410 (Ranked 1st in Astros history)
• OPS: .959 (Ranked 2nd in Astros history)

(Per Baseball Reference)

Lance Berkman, playfully dubbed “Big Puma”, will always be remembered as one of the top offensive players in the history of the team. The Rice graduate was drafted in 1997, making his major league debut in 1999.

Berkman was a welcomed addition to franchise’s core of Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio, which would be known as the feared “Killer B’s” during the early 2000’s. During his Houston career, Berkman made five All-Star games and finished in the top three of the MVP race twice. He still owns the franchise single season record for runs-batted-in with 126 (’06) and extra-base hits with ninety-four (’01).