Craig Biggio's a pretty good player. Enos Cabell and Jose Cruz were good players, too. For the purposes of this little essay, the reason I say Biggio is pretty good player is that he led the National League in stolen bases in 1994. Maybe you'll see where I'm going with this, but anyway, the reason why I say Jose Cruz was a pretty good player is that he led the league in hits (or tied for the lead) in 1983, and Enos Cabell? He led the league in at bats for 1979.
For example, Lofton led his league in steals five straight years, something done by Rickey Henderson, Vince Coleman, Luis Aparicio, and one other guy, in the history of the game. His six times total leading the league was surpassed by a few, but is as many as, say, Ty Cobb. For another thing, Lofton was a six time All-Star. Biggio has actually made the team seven times, but you get the picture, I'd think. Lofton is also a four-time Gold Glove winner, a feat equalled by Cesar Cedeño and Biggio, but surpassed only by Doug Rader. In addition, careerwise, Lofton would rank first all-time in steals on the club list, and sixth all-time on the Astros for Power/Speed Number, bested only by the following:
While that's certainly interesting, Power/Speed Number really doesn't have that big a correlation to winning. I started wondering where Lofton would rank all-time in more traditional stats. And Lofton does a bit better:
Now, I would never suggest that any of these players' virtues lay solely on the basis of those accomplishments (Biggio, for example, led the National League in runs twice, a much more significant accomplishment), but nevertheless, Biggio remains the only Astro to have led the league in steals, Cruz remains the only Astro to have led the league in hits, and Cabell remains the only Astro to have led the league in AB's.
They must be pretty difficult accomplishments, but the Astros once traded away a guy who all by himself led his league in all three departments at one time or another. That guy was Kenny Lofton, of course, and while not quite a Hall-of-Famer, he did some things after he was traded away that no Astro has ever done.
1990 Star
Florida State League All Star # 111991 ProCard
AAA All-Star # 52
1992 Score Hot Rookies # 3
Undated RBI Magazine # C5
Through 2002, With Lofton for Kicks Player SB HR PSN
1. Craig Biggio 381 195 257.96
2. Jeff Bagwell 185 380 248.85
3. Cesar Cedeño 487 163 244.24
4. Jim Wynn 180 223 199.20
5. Jose Cruz 288 138 186.59
6. Kenny Lofton 508 103 171.27
Through 2002
Stat
Number
Where Lofton
Would Rank Astros
Surpassed By
Hits 1781 4th Biggio, Bagwell, Cruz
Doubles 286 5th Biggio, Bagwell, Cedeño, Cruz
Triples 78 2nd Cruz
Runs 1148 3rd Biggio, Bagwell
Walks 735 4th Bagwell, Biggio, Wynn
Average .298 4th Moises Alou, Berkman, Bagwell
Total Bases 2532 5th Bagwell, Biggio, Cruz, Cedeño Now, I understand that everything on this page is second-guessing of the most severe and distorted type. For example, comparing Lofton's career stats (compiled with six different teams, at last count) to those of other players while just wearing an Astros uniform may not present a true picture. Wynn, Cedeño, and Cruz, for example, would look at least a little better in comparison to Lofton if you threw in their stats for other teams. And I also understand Bill Wood's thinking to a better degree than you might think.
The 1991 Astros had an outfield consisting of Luis Gonzalez in left, Steve Finley in center, and a platoon of Eric Anthony, Karl Rhodes, Mike Simms, and Mark Davidson in
1994 Osceola All-Time # 23