#101 Astro Rookie Stars

A mixed bag of careers....starting with Bill Greif…..by this time already gone from the Astros…..and exiled to San Diego….no run support, plus a losing mentality but there was plenty of work to be had…..1972 was a difficult year, 5-16 and ERA at 5.60….the Friars meekly armed with .227 team BA most likely were not going to bail Bill out....Bill toiled in Padre Brown and Yellow....showed inconsistent signs of improvement....1973 Greif lowered his ERA by 2 runs a game and doubled his win total....limited backing lost one more game from year prior...took step back with 4.66 ERA in 1974 losing a career high 19 games....a new tact for the rest of career reassigned to bullpen....mixed results....out of the majors after 1976 season and out of baseball after 1978....known as the "Texas Tiger" from an early career on the field incident....an eccentric given his interest in psychic phenomena  and hypnosis.  

A Fire-baller  J.R. Richard 1980 was riding a dominant wave....sub 2.0 ERA midseason with 10 wins....seemingly HOF bound.....career came to an abrupt end by a stroke shortly after appearing in his first all star game...Debut in 1971 was exemplar vs. Giants KO’ing  15....despite the record tying debut Richard is prone to pedestrian numbers in both call ups and minors....sometimes invincible as evidenced by 4 wins in 4 starts, shutting out the competition in 33 innings....Stayed with Astro all year in 1975....a modest winning record but struggled with control....led league in wild pitches and walks....Put game in high gear in 1976 winning 20....proceeded to rack up 18 wins in next three years....supremacy in any given year was measured by averaging over one strikeout per inning....he was improving each year toping the circuit in ERA and strikeouts in 1979....Did try to come back in the minor but such efforts were futile.... One of the tallest pitchers ever standing at 6’8” giving him superior leverage...had a difficulty with being out of baseball but has bounced back to work in baseball’s community relation....had a TV movie made about the abrupt change in his life.

Ray Busse  obscure SS-3^rdbaseman....ordinary minor stats point to his best case scenario being destined for a deep reserve.....spare MLB work....traded to Cardinals for 1973 and quickly returned back to the Astros.....final line 2 home runs, nine RBIs, and a .148 BA.