Happy Birthday - 7/8

No future Astros with birthdays today, but several former Astros mark the day ~

C Alan Ashby (63)
Originally drafted by Cleveland in the third round in 1969, Ashby came to Houston via a November 1978 trade with Toronto. He spent 11 seasons with Houston, hitting .252/.324/.374 in 965 games from 1979 to 1989. Ashby caught three no-hitters during his tenure with the Astros, one by Ken Forsch, one by Nolan Ryan and the legendary Mike Scott 1986 NL West Division clinching no-hitter. I understand that Ashby is currently announcing Astros games on CSN Houston, but since I have DirecTV, I cannot verify that that is the case.

OF Terry Puhl (58)
The native of Saskachewan province in Canada was signed as an amateur free agent by Houston in 1973 and played all but 15 games of his 15 major league seasons as an Astro. From 1977 to 1990, Puhl played in 1516 games, hitting .281/.349/.389 with 502 walks to 505 strikeouts. At the time of retirement in 1991, he was the career leader in fielding percentage for an outfielder. Puhl earned one All-Star nod in 1978.

OF Al Spangler (81)
Spangler was drafted by Houston in the 1961 expansion draft from the Milwaukee Braves. He played for the Colt .45's and the Astros from 1962 to 1965. In 422 games, he hit .265/.347.361 before being traded to the Angels in June of 1965.

RHP Gary Kroll (73)
Obtained from the Mets in a January 1966 trade, Kroll made ten relief appearances for Houston before being traded to Cleveland in July 1967. In 23.2 innings, he had a 3.80 ERA and a 1.563 WHIP.

RHP George Culver (71)
Obtained in a trade with the Cardinals in June 1970, Culver pitched 136 games out of the bullpen for Houston from 1970 to 1972. His record with the Astros was 14-13 with a 2.92 ERA and a 1.296 WHIP.

MGR Salty Parker (died July 27, 1992 at 80)
Salty Parker has the distinction of having a 1.000 win percentage as the Manager for the Houston Astros. Of course, he was only the Manager for one game. Parker took over for one game on August 26, 1972. He was preceded by Harry Walker and followed by Leo Durocher.