Happy Birthday - 2/11

OF Wallace Gonzalez (19)
Drafted in the 29th round in 2011 out of high school in California, Gonzalez spent his first professional season with the GCL Astros.  In 18 games, he hit .242/.309/.290/.599.  Baseball America found Gonzalez to be an intriguing late round pick citing his size (6'5" 240 lbs) and athleticism.

Former Astros with birthdays today ~

RF John Paciorek (67)
John Paciorek had the ultimate cup of coffee in the majors.  In one game for the 1963 Colt 45's, he went 3 for 3 with two walks, scored four runs and drove in three, all at the ripe old age of 18!

RHP Matt Lindstrom (32)
Lindstrom pitched late relief in 58 games for Houston in 2010.  He was 2-5 with 23 saves, a 79% save conversion rate, with a 4.39 ERA and a 1.650 WHIP.  He was traded to Colorado for Jonnathan Aristil and Wes Musick.

C J.R. Towles (28)
Towles played in 155 games for Houston over 5 seasons from 2007 to 2011.  Although he started out with a bang in a September call-up in 2007, hitting .375/.432/.575/1.007 and breaking the single game RBI record with eight RBI's in one game, he ultimately ended up with a .187 batting average at the major league level.  In eight seasons at the minor league level, he had a .295/.394/.465/.859 batting line.  Towles signed as a free agent with the Twins back in December.

RF Ollie Brown (68)
Played in 27 games for Houston in 1974