Happy Birthday - 3/5

Happy Birthday to ~

C Hayden Timberlake (19)
Signed out of Queensland, Australia in July 2013, Timberlake played his first professional season in the Dominican Summer League. In 22 games, he hit .188/.303/.250 and caught 50% (16 of 32) of would-be base stealers.

OF L.J. Hoes (25)
Originally drafted by Baltimore in the third round in 2008, Hoes came to Houston in the July 2013 trade that sent Bud Norris to Baltimore. In 35 games in Oklahoma City, he hit .397/.381/.391 and in 55 games for Houston .172/.230/.287.

Two former Astros celebrate today as well ~

LHP Erik Bedard (36)
Born in Ontario, Bedard was drafted by the Orioles in the sixth round in 1999 and came to Houston as a free agent in January 2013. In 32 games (26 starts) for the Astros in 2013, Bedard was 4-12 with a 4.59 ERA and a 1.483 WHIP. Bedard played with Tampa Bay in 2014 until his release on August 3rd.

CF Brian Hunter (44)
A second round draft pick for the Astros in 1989, Brian started his major league career in Houston (1994-1996) and ended it in Houston (2002-2003), but played for five other teams in between. He had a .278/.314/.377 batting line in 370 games for Houston. His best season at the plate was 1995 when he hit .302 in 78 games. Per Baseball-Reference, he was part of this trade to Detroit in December of 1996:

December 10, 1996: Traded by the Houston Astros with Doug Brocail, Todd Jones, Orlando Miller and cash to the Detroit Tigers for Brad Ausmus, Jose Lima, Trever Miller, C.J. Nitkowski and Daryle Ward.

He led the American League in stolen bases in 1997 and 1999.

Happy Birthday - 3/5

Happy Birthday to ~

C Hayden Timberlake (18)
Signed out of Queensland, Australia in July 2013, Timberlake has not yet made his professional debut.

OF L.J. Hoes (24)
Originally drafted by Baltimore in the third round in 2008, Hoes came to Houston in the July 2013 trade that sent Bud Norris to Baltimore. In 46 games with the Astros after the trade, he hit .287/.337/.371.

Two former Astros celebrate today as well ~

LHP Erik Bedard (35)
Born in Ontario, Bedard was drafted by the Orioles in the sixth round in 1999 and came to Houston as a free agent in January 2013. In 32 games (26 starts) for the Astros in 2013, Bedard was 4-12 with a 4.59 ERA and a 1.483 WHIP. Bedard recently signed with Tampa Bay.

CF Brian Hunter (43)
A second round draft pick for the Astros in 1989, Brian started his major league career in Houston (1994-1996) and ended it in Houston (2002-2003), but played for five other teams in between. He had a .278/.314/.377 batting line in 370 games for Houston. His best season at the plate was 1995 when he hit .302 in 78 games. Per Baseball-Reference, he was part of this trade to Detroit in December of 1996:

December 10, 1996: Traded by the Houston Astros with Doug Brocail, Todd Jones, Orlando Miller and cash to the Detroit Tigers for Brad Ausmus, Jose Lima, Trever Miller, C.J. Nitkowski and Daryle Ward.

He led the American League in stolen bases in 1997 and 1999.

Aussie Astros Capture Gold, Silver at Australian U-18 Championships

Congratulations to Connor MacDonald, Hayden Timberlake, and their teammates from Team Queensland!

Connor and Hayden were named to Team Queensland for the 2014 Under-18 National Youth Championships, which was held in Canberra from January 5-12. Queensland went 6-1 in the first phase, which was a round-robin; their lone loss came to South Australia. They qualified as the top seed in Pool A, which consisted of the top 4 teams in round-robin play.

In pool play, Queensland was 2-1, with their lone loss coming in the 2nd game of pool play (and Friday), which was a 6-4 decision to a Western Australia squad featuring Jake Bowey. It was a measure of revenge for Team Western Australia, as they were clobbered 11-1 by Queensland on Thursday in the final round-robin game for both squads. In the end, though, Queensland would have the last laugh, as they won it all with a 3-1 victory over WA in the championship game.

We at What the Heck, Bobby? would also like to congratulate Jake Bowey and Team WA on their 2nd-place finish. Jake had a fine tournament himself, leading Western Australia in batting average and slugging percentage.

When Connor MacDonald, Hayden Timberlake, and Jake Bowey were signed, the Astros considered them to be premier young talents from Australia, and their excellent showings on the national stage this past week definitely come as positive signs for the Astros.

Now that their time as adversaries is over, we're looking forward to seeing them begin their Astros careers together.

Here are the final statistics for Connor MacDonald and Hayden Timberlake, and Jake Bowey's stats can be viewed here.

Queensland 3, Western Australia 1

Team Queensland was crowned National U-18 Champions on the strength of 3 unanswered runs and a fine performance from their 3 pitchers.

Queensland
RF Connor MacDonald: 1-3, RBI, R, BB; he reached on an error in the 4th, but was credited with an RBI.
C Hayden Timberlake: 0-4

Western Australia
C Jake Bowey: 0-3, BB