---

Bil - Bo

CARDS I HAVE	PLAYER	POSITION	REMARKS
19	JACK BILLINGHAM Cards	Pitcher/Coach	Fifteen years as pitching coach at Kissimmee, then he moved to Martinsville
4	Marvin Billingsley Cards	Pitcher	Gave up 169 hits in (what else?) 169 innings at Asheville in 1993
4	George Bjorkmann Cards	Catcher	There seems to be some confusion as to whether Mr. Bjorkman played at AA Columbus in 1982. What is not open to dispute is his five RBI performance for the Houston club July 13, 1983
5	Craig Bjornson Cards	Pitcher	Tucson native fell far short of pitching there
2	John Blackmore Cards	Pitcher
3	Willie Blair Cards	Pitcher	ARRGHH! The Lofton Deal!
8	Alberto Blanco Cards	Pitcher	'95 Midwest League All Star and '97 Florida State League Top Prospect
2	Romo Blanco Cards	Pitcher	Aka "Romauldo":'73 at Cedar Rapids and '75 at Dubuque
7	Nate Bland Cards	Pitcher	Seven-year minor- and independent-league veteran was acquired in the Rule V draft from the Mets in 2002, then, in addition to throwing a few innings at New orleans, contributed at the major league level in 2003
6	Wade Blasingame Cards	Pitcher	Blasingame was the winner of the longest game by innings in Astro history, the 24-inning pitchingfest vs. the Mets April 15, 1968. The 'Stros beat the Mets 1 - 0 when Bob Aspromonte's groundball went through shortstop Al Weiss' legs, scoring Norm Miller.  Don Wilson had started, and Hal King caught every inning, while an ex-Astro, Gerry Grote, caught all 24 for the Mets.
5	Craig Blazek Cards	Pitcher	23rd round pick in the June 2005 draft out of the University of Vermont pitched 5-2/3 innings at Tri-City before pitching 27 at Lexington that summer. Got a promotion to Lexington for 2006, and went 2 - 1 as a middle reliever, with a 3.82 ERA and 1.53 WHIP. Led the High A Salem Avalanche in Games Pitched in 2007, while posting a better-than-league-average 4.07 ERA
3	CURT BLEFARY Cards	Infield/Outfield	Named in '94 to the Sporting News' All Time Carolina League Team. '67 AL Rookie of the Year for the Orioles. Partcipated in 7 double plays 5/4/69 vs Giants. None of this, though, kept him from his eventual fate on the AstroConnection All-Disappointment Team  (you betcha)
1	Jeff Blitstein Card	Pitcher	39th round draft pick gave it a whirl in '99 as a Doubleday
27	Geoff Blum Cards	3rd Base	Third Baseman Acquired from the Expos when the organization threw in the towel on Chris Truby and jettisoned when Jimy Williams finally got it through his thick skull that Morgan Ensberg can hit. But the lamebrained platoon wasn't Blum's fault: Although he didn't walk enough, Blum possessed occasional power, and most of all played the game hard. After Ensberg's demise, would return to the fold for 2008, spelling Ty Wigginton at third when necessary
2	Seth Bobbitt Cards	Pitcher	aka "Katcherpeckeroff"
5	Bruce Bochy Cards	Catcher	Born at "Place Landes de Boussac," France, this marginal major leaguer (.338 at Covington in 1975, but .182 at Houston in 1980) would one day manage the Padres to a Divison Series victory over the 'Stros
6	Keith Bodie Cards	Outfield/Manager	Played the outfield at Columbus in 1980 after having been acquired in exchange for Reggie Baldwin; Would later manage the 1987 Asheville Tourists to a 91-48 record, and be named a coach at the 1988 Florida State League All-Star game. Returned to the organization after 20 years in 2008, as hitting coach with Salem, then moved up to AA corpus in 2009.
17	Joe Boever Cards	Relief Pitcher	"Boever the Saver" in the minors tied for the NL lead in appearances in 1992
16	Tim Bogar Cards	Shortstop	My girlfriend thinks he's too good-looking to be a baseball player--real good defense, too Opening Day shortstop in 2000, with the departure of Ricky Gutierrez. Plus (I mean, Bogar's gotta be one of the coolest career .228 utility players ever), he pitched in two games for the 'Stros in 2000. Unfortunately, retired a Dodger. Won an Appy League championship as manager of the 2004 Greeneville Astros.
14	Brian Bogusevic Cards	Pitcher	Number One pick in the June 2005 draft had doubled as an outfielder and a lefthanded pitcher at Tulane; the Astros--with an organizational need for lefthanders--put him to work as a pitcher only that summer at Tri-City. By the end of 2006--after a second year spent at Lexington--Bogusevic had yet to separate himself from the pack as a prospect worth that $1.375 million first round signing bonus. Some say he did so in 2007, though, as he led the High A Salem Avalanche in wins, and posted a workable 91:30 strikeout-to-walk ratio. But after 88 innings at AA Corpus in 2008, the Astros finally admitted defeat and converted Bogusevic to an outfielder. And, left at Corpus, he responded well, hitting .371 wih a 1.003 OPS in 42 games. But at Round Rock in 2009, while the average was OK, the SLG was an anemic .365
2	Ken Bolek Cards	Coach/Manager	Coached the '83 Columbus Astros and managed the '87 Osceola Astros
btext1 btextend	Marc Bombard Card	Manager	Took the reins of the Round Rock Express for the 2009 season, and did so as the active leader in minor league managerial victories
4	Rich Bombard Cards	Pitcher	First year was at Auburn in '82; by '86 he was at Columbus, where he'd gone 7 - 3 with a 3.31 the previous year
7	Daven Bond Cards	Pitcher	His '90 Star Columbus Mudcats # 5  notes a tendency to wildness Daven had to temper if he wanted to make it big
5	WALT BOND Cards	1st Base/Outfield	Opening Day in 64 and 65--and check out this way cool insert card from 1965
2	Ricardo Bonfante Cards	Shortstop	Switch-hitter from Cartagena Colombia hit .314 in the 2007 Venezuelan Summer League, .261 in the 2008 Appy League, and .145 in the 2009 South Atlantic League
1	Bill Bonham Card	Coach	Coached at Auburn in '86. We're gonna assume no relation to the deceased drummer for Led Zeppelin.
1	Josh Bonifay Card	First Baseman	The son of former Pirates' GM Cam Bonifay began in his father's organization. Signed by the Astros as a minor league free agent in December of 2005, Bonifay the younger went on to have a successful year at AA Corpus Christi in 2006, capped off by the triple play he initiated in the ninth inning of Game Four of the Texas League Championship Series.
3	Eddie Bonine Cards	Pitcher	Seven-year Astro minor-leaguer had full-year ERA's below 3.10 twice--at Daytona in 1980 and at Columbus in 1981--and made it to AAA Tucson for '84 and '85
4	Robert Bono Cards	Pitcher	11th round draft pick in June 2007 was one of many pitchers for that year's Greeneville squad to have posted disappointing numbers. Led the '08 Short season Tri-City team in innings pitched, and had a nice 46:11 strikeout to walk ratio. Paced the '09 Lexington Legends in wins and starters' ERA before being traded to the Marlins with two others for Matt Lindstrom in December.
2	Rod Booker Cards	Infield	Played in 183 games with St. Louis and Philadelphia before landing at Tucson in 1992
1	Aaron Boone Card	1st Baseman	Third Baseman signed when we let Ty Wigginton walk had cancer treatment instead and failed to record a hit for the Astros
1	Dan Boone Card	Pitcher	Supposed decendent of the pioneer Daniel Boone was received from the Padres for Joe Pittman on June 8, 1982. Boone was 0 - 1 with a 3.55 in ten games for Houston and 5 - 4 with a 3.31 in 25 games for Tucson in 1982. Began '83 with Tucson, before being given his release on June 17. After five years out of baseball, would return, armed with a knuckleball, and throw a no-hitter for AAA Rochester in the Oriole chain
1	Ron Boone Card	?	Unknown function for the 1975 AAA Iowa Oaks
6	Dave Borkowski Cards	Pitcher	Pitched four innings of one-hit, scoreless ball (and innngs 10 - 13) in his heroic first appearance as a Houston Astro, April 25, 2006 vs. the Dodgers, and actually made something of a habit of heroic stints in extra-inning games for the 2006 and 2007 major league clubs
1	Tom Borland Card	Pitcher	8 - 10 with a 4.47 for the '62 (AAA) Oklahoma City squad, good enough to get him a card from the Smokey Bear 62 Colt Retro Set
10	Stan Boroski Cards	Coach	Pitching coach for the 2001 - 2002 Battle Catsthe '03 - '06 Avalanche, and the '07 - '09 Hooks
1	Heath Bost Card	Pitcher	4 - 1 with a 4.41 for the last New Orleans Zephyr team to be affiliated with the Astros
1	DJ Boston Card	Coach	Ex New York Met performed hitting coach duties at Greeneville in 2008
6	Ken Boswell Cards	2nd/3rd Base	Longtime Met before trade to 'Stros 10-29-74 had .667 BA in World Series play, including three pinch-hits in '73 to tie all-time mark
2	Mike Botkin Card	Outfield/Infield	If you're a utilityman when you're at single A Daytona Beach, you gotta know your professional future is probably fairly limited
4	Kent Bottenfield Cards	Pitcher	Looked great in 2001-- spring training
2	Derrick Bottoms Cards	Pitcher	Nashville resident never got the promotion from the New York-Penn league
28	Michael Bourn Cards	Centerfielder	Speedy centerfielder acquired from the Phillies in the Brad Lidge deal was stealing bases like mad in the early going of his Astros career, but having a lot of trouble getting on base. 2009 showed vitally needed improvement as he raised the average from .229 to .285 and the OBP from .288 to .354. Bourn in 2009 also led the National League in stolen bases and became the first Houston outfielder since Cesar Cedeno to win a Gold Glove
3	Andy Bovender Cards	Infield	Hit .313 at Auburn in '95 before fading at Quad City
37	Ryan Bowen Cards	Pitcher	When he was a regular starter for the 'Stros in late '91 and early '92, I always got a kick out of telling my friends that Ryan was going for the 'Stros that night. Feeble humor, but no feebler than the humor involved in the fact that this '86 first round draft pick who spent all or parts of six years in the Astros' minor league system pitched his greatest major league game, a 1 - 0 complete game shutout, for the Marlins
6	RJ Bowers Cards	Outfield	Quad City River Bandit later broke the NCAA rushing record
1	Rod Boxberger Card	Pitcher	Pitched a 7-inning no-hitter while pitching for the Columbus Astros, July 12, 1978. Blanked the Montgomery Rebels 3 - 0