Sunday, December 22, 2013

#139 Luis Pujols, Astros

 
 
Card Front: Here we find Luis coming out of the box from what I assume is a Spring game in Florida against the Mets. It is strange to see both teams in their home whites. I know the Astros have been blasted for so many years for these duds, but I always love the look. I like that they did show them off and continue to hold some of the heritage in current looks.
 
 
Card Back: When you are a light hitting catcher that has two guys like Alan Ashby, and Bruce Bochy in front of you, you will spend a lot of time in the minors. Luis was not known for power or average, but made use of what he had. When I was a kid and saw Willie Keeler made his debut in 1892, I didn't know who he was until 2004 when Ichiro broke his single season hits record.
 
Six Degrees or less to Seattle: Luis would hang it up in 1985 as a Texas Ranger, but would team with Dwayne Henry. If you move to the shorter 1995 season, Dwayne was in Detroit with the Tigers with Chris Gomez. Mr. Gomez would go north of the border with the Blue Jays for the 2004 season with Guillermo Quiroz. Guillermo came to Seattle in 2006 for a short stop, only to come back for stints in 2009 and 2010 with Seattle only to bounce around amongst teams for the last three years.
 
Did you Know?: Luis was a coach under Felipe Alou in Montreal for seven years and would eventually manage the Tigers in their disastrous 2002 season, and would go back to coaching with Felipe in San Francisco and has managed in AA Corpus Christi for two years and was with Delmarva Shorebirds in 2013.
 
Next Card: #140 Don Gullett, Yankees


1 comment:

Matt Runyon said...

Houston's version of Johnnie LeMaster. How did he stay in baseball for such a long time?