Happy Birthday - 10/31

Happy Birthday to ~

2B Tony Kemp (23)
Drafted by Houston in the fifth round in 2013 out of Vanderbilt, Kemp split his 2014 season between Lancaster (72 games) and Corpus Christi (59 games), hitting a combined .301/.396/.413 with 30 doubles, eight triples, eight home runs, 58 RBI, 41 stolen bases (13 caught stealing) and 73 walks to 67 strikeouts.

SS Ozziel Sanchez (17)
Sanchez was signed out of Panama during the 2014 international signing period and has not played in his first professional game at this time.

Three former Astros mark the day as well ~

C John "Pork Chop" Hoffman (died December 27, 2001 at 58)
Signed as an amateur free agent by the Colt .45's in 1963, Hoffman played in only eight games for the Colt .45's and the Astros in 1964 and 1965, hitting .143/.182/.143. And that was the sum total of his major league career.

C Ed Taubensee (46)
Originally drafted by the Reds in the sixth round in 1986, Taubensee came to Houston in a December 1991 trade with Cleveland. In 203 games for the Astros from 1992 to 1994, he hit .234/.296/.351. According to Baseball-Reference, he was:

Nicknamed "The Model" because of the way he strutted his stuff on the runway when the Astros revealed their new uniforms in 1994.

LHP Tim Byrdak (41)
A fifth round pick by Kansas City in 1994, he signed with Houston as a free agent in April 2008. In 199 games for the Astros from 2008 to 2010, he was 5-5 with a 3.53 ERA and a 1.345 WHIP. According to Baseball-Reference, while pitching for the Mets in 2012:

[H]e was leading the National League in games pitched with 56 when he announced on August 9th that he would need to undergo season-ending surgery to repair a torn capsule in his shoulder.

Byrdak made it back to pitch for the Mets in September 2013 for eight games before retiring at the end of the 2013 season.