Happy Birthday - 5/23

No future Astros with birthdays today, but several former Astros celebrate ~

SS Ricky Gutierrez (43)
A first round draft pick by Baltimore in 1988, Gutierrez came to Houston in this megatrade:

December 28, 1994: Traded by the San Diego Padres with Derek Bell, Doug Brocail, Pedro Martinez, Phil Plantier and Craig Shipley to the Houston Astros for a player to be named later, Ken Caminiti, Andujar Cedeno, Steve Finley, Roberto Petagine and Brian Williams. The Houston Astros sent Sean Fesh (minors) (May 1, 1995) to the San Diego Padres to complete the trade.

He played for Houston from 1995 to 1999, hitting .266/.337/.340 over 469 games.

RHP Kirk Saarloos (34)

Saarloos was drafted by Houston in the third round in 2001 and pitched for Houston in 2002 and 2003 before being traded to Oakland for Chad Harville in April of 2004. In 53 games (21 starts), Saarloos was 8-8 with a 5.61 ERA and a 1.478 WHIP.

RHP Chris Sampson (35)

Originally drafted by Houston in the eighth round in 1999 as a shortstop, Sampson had retired in 2000 and gone on to coach baseball for Collin College in Plano where he came to realize his potential as a pitcher. After contacting the Astros and being given a tryout, he was signed to a minor league contract in 2003. Sampson went on to pitch in 174 games (33 starts) for Houston from 2006 to 2010 with a 20-15 record, a 4.42 ERA and a 1.330 WHIP.