Happy Birthday - 10/22

Happy Birthday to ~

SS Joan Mauricio (18)
An international free agent signed out of the Dominican Republic, Mauricio had a very successful freshman season in 2014. In his first 43 games for the Dominican Summer League Astros, Mauricio hit .275/.376/.444, leading to his promotion to the Gulf Coast League for his final 22 games of the season (.127/.271/.211).

Several former Astros mark the day as well ~

SS/OF Brian Bixler (32)
A second round draft pick by Pittsburgh in 2004, Bixler was claimed by Houston off waivers from the Nationals in November 2011. In his only season with the Astros, he split his time between Oklahoma City and Houston. In 75 games with the Redhawks, he hit .269/.346/.361. In 36 games with Houston, he hit .193/.253/.330. Most recently, he played in the Padres minor league system in 2014.

LHP Frank DiPino (58)
DiPino came to Houston as a part of a September 1982 trade with Milwaukee for Don Sutton. In 201 games pitched for the Astros from 1982 to 1986, he had a 3.65 ERA and a 1.304 WHIP. He left Houston in a July 1986 trade for Davey Lopes.

RHP Cecil Upshaw (died February 7, 1995 at age 52)
Upshaw came to Houston in an April 1973 trade with Atlanta. In 35 games out of the bullpen that season, he was 2-3 with a 4.46 ERA and a 1.383 WHIP. After the season, he was traded to Cleveland.

CF Gerald Young (50)
Originally drafted by the Mets in the fifth round in 1982, Young came to Houston in an August 1984 trade with New York. Playing for the Astros from 1987 to 1992, Young hit .246/.330/.302 and stole 153 bases.

Manager "Harry the Hat" Walker (died August 8, 1999 at age 82)
Walker managed the Astros from 1968 to 1972 and compiled a 355-353 record. According to Wikipedia:

"Harry the Hat" got his nickname from his habit during at-bats of continually adjusting his cap between pitches — there were no batting helmets in his day.

Happy Birthday - 10/22

Former Astros celebrating birthdays today ~

SS/OF Brian Bixler (31)
A second round draft pick by Pittsburgh in 2004, Bixler was claimed by Houston off waivers from the Nationals in November 2011. In his only season with the Astros, he split his time between Oklahoma City and Houston. In 75 games with the Redhawks, he hit .269/.346/.361. In 36 games with Houston, he hit .193/.253/.330. He was signed as a free agent by the Mets in November 2012 and played for their AAA affiliate in 2013.

LHP Frank DiPino (57)
DiPino came to Houston as a part of a September 1982 trade with Milwaukee for Don Sutton. In 201 games pitched for the Astros from 1982 to 1986, he had a 3.65 ERA and a 1.304 WHIP. He left Houston in a July 1986 trade for Davey Lopes.

CF Gerald Young (49)
Originally drafted by the Mets in the fifth round in 1982, Young came to Houston in an August 1984 trade with New York. Playing for the Astros from 1987 to 1992, Young hit .246/.330/.302 and stole 153 bases. According to Baseball-Reference, as of September 1, 2013, Young was the only player born in Honduras to have played in the major leagues.

Manager "Harry the Hat" Walker (died August 8, 1999 at age 82)
Walker managed the Astros from 1968 to 1972 and compiled a 355-353 record. According to Wikipedia:

"Harry the Hat" got his nickname from his habit during at-bats of continually adjusting his cap between pitches — there were no batting helmets in his day.

Happy Birthday - 10/22

C Miles Hamblin (24)
This Texas native was drafted in the 12th round in 2011 out of the University of Mississippi. After a good 2011 season for Tri-City, he started the 2012 season for Lexington but only appeared in two games before getting shelved for the season. In only three at-bats he hit a home run, walked and scored twice.

SS/OF Brian Bixler (30)
A second round draft pick by Pittsburgh in 2004, Bixler was claimed by Houston off waivers from the Nationals in November 2011. In his first season with the Astros, he split his time between Oklahoma City and Houston. In 75 games with the Redhawks, he hit .269/.346/.361. In 36 games with Houston, he hit .193/.253/.330. He elected free agency at the end of the season.

Former Astros having birthdays today ~

LHP Frank DiPino (56)
DiPino came to Houston as a part of a September 1982 trade with Milwaukee for Don Sutton. In 201 games pitched for the Astros from 1982 to 1986, he had a 3.65 ERA and a 1.304 WHIP. He left Houston in a July 1986 trade for Davey Lopes.

CF Gerald Young (48)
Originally drafted by the Mets in the fifth round in 1982, Young came to Houston in an August 1984 trade with New York. Playing for the Astros from 1987 to 1992, Young hit .246/.330/.302 and stole 153 bases.

Manager "Harry the Hat" Walker (died August 8, 1999 at age 82)
Walker managed the Astros from 1968 to 1972 and compiled a 355-353 record. According to Wikipedia:

"Harry the Hat" got his nickname from his habit during at-bats of continually adjusting his cap between pitches — there were no batting helmets in his day.

Players Electing Free Agency

The following players elected free agency:

LF Travis Buck
2B Brian Bixler
SS Angel Sanchez

Roster Moves

Houston/Oklahoma City
1B/3B Brett Wallace was recalled to Houston (yay!).
IF Brian Bixler was optioned to Oklahoma City.

Corpus Christi
IF/OF Bobby Borchering was assigned to Corpus Christi.
LF Marc Krauss was assigned to Corpus Christi.
C Rene Garcia was officially placed on the DL.

Roster Moves - 4/29

HOU/OKC
IF Brian Bixler was optioned to OKC.
RHP Jordan Lyles was recalled to Houston.

RHP Jordan Lyles was to be sent back to OKC after his start to make room for Marwin Gonzalez to come off the paternity list.

LAN
I missed a roster move from 4/28 as C Ryan McCurdy was assigned to Lancaster.

Roster Moves - 4/27

HOU
RHP Kyle Weiland was placed on the 15-day disabled list.
SS Marwin Gonzalez was placed on the 3-day paternity list.

OKC/HOU
IF Brian Bixler was recalled to the Astros.
LHP Fernando Abad was recalled to the Astros.

Jordan Lyles will be called up to start the game on Sunday in place of Weiland. An additional roster move will have to be made then to make room for Lyles on the 25-Man Roster.

Roster Moves - 4/12

OKC
2B Brian Bixler was optioned from Houston to Oklahoma City to make room for Jed Lowrie to come off the 15-day DL for Houston.
RF Brad Snyder was placed on the 7-day DL.

Roster Moves - 12/19

IF Brian Bixler cleared waivers and accepted an assignment to Oklahoma City with an invitation to Spring Training.

The Astros also accounced their minor league coordinators and medical staff, which showed that Tom Lawless, Manager of the Corpus Christi Hooks last season, will now be the Astros minor league roving infield instructor.

Roster Moves - 12/14

The Astros traded RHP Mark Melancon to the Red Sox for IF Jed Lowrie and RHP Kyle Weiland.  To make room on the 40-Man Roster, IF Brian Bixler was designated for assignment.  Here is Zachary Levine's story on the trade.  And here is a fun read about the Legend of Jed Lowrie.

It's never easy to see a good, young player like Mark Melancon go, but I think Sean Feist said it best ...

@native_astro Sean Feist

@AGirlintheSouth Having a closer on a 100 loss team is like having a taser gun taped to the side of a battleship. #Astros
~~~~~~~~~

And as I was writing this, Zachary Levine tweeted that IF/OF Nick Stavinoha was given his release by the Astros to play in Japan.  Here is Levine's story on that.