Happy Birthday - 3/21

Happy Birthday to ~

OF Andrew Aplin (24)
Drafted in the fifth round in 2012 out of Arizona State, Aplin spent the majority of his 2014 season with Corpus Christi, earning a promotion to Oklahoma City on August 1st. In the two venues combined, he hit .265/.372/.345 in 126 games.

These former Astros mark the day as well ~

1B Prentice Almont "Pidge" Browne (died June 3, 1997 at 68)
Browne played in 65 games for the Colt 45's in 1962, a rookie at 33. According to Baseball-Reference:

Pidge Browne was a long time minor league star who at the age of 33 finally got a shot at the major leagues with the expansion Houston Colt .45's in 1962 ... He was the Texas League home run champion in 1955 when he hit 33 home runs for Shreveport. He later became a fan favorite playing for the Houston minor league team in the late 1950s. 

He hit .210/.298/.320 with four doubles, two triples and a home run for Houston that season and never played in the major leagues again.

OF Tommy Davis (76)
Davis came to Houston in a trade with the Seattle Pilots in August of 1969 and played for Houston for parts of the 1969 and 1970 seasons, hitting .271/.308/.377 over 81 games. Davis spent parts of 18 seasons in the major leagues, playing 1999 games for 10 teams and earning All-Star nods and National League batting titles in 1962 and 1963.

Happy Birthday - 3/21

Happy Birthday to ~

OF Andrew Aplin (23)
Drafted in the fifth round in 2012 out of Arizona State, Aplin spent his second professional season with the JetHawks, hitting .278/.376/.424 with 32 doubles, seven triples, nine home runs, 107 RBI and 24 stolen bases. He was in the top five in the Astros system in runs scored, doubles, triples, RBI, stolen bases and walks. He was listed as the #19 prospect in the Astros system in the recent Baseball America Prospect Handbook.

C Rene Garcia (24)
Garcia was drafted in the 35th round in 2008 out of high school in his native Puerto Rico. Garcia started the season at Corpus Christi and hit .304/.348/.419 in his first 73 games of the season before being promoted to Oklahoma City on August 1st. In 18 games for the RedHawks, he hit .246/.279/.277.

RHP Bobby Doran (25)
Drafted in the fourth round in 2010 out of Texas Tech, Doran started the season with Corpus Christi and made a couple of spot starts for the RedHawks before his promotion to Oklahoma City on August 3rd. In 31 appearances for the season (21 starts), Doran went 11-2 with a 3.51 ERA and a 1.222 WHIP.

Former Astros with birthdays today ~

1B Prentice Almont "Pidge" Browne (died June 3, 1997 at 68)
Browne played in 65 games for the Colt 45's in 1962, a rookie at 33. According to Baseball-Reference:

Pidge Browne was a long time minor league star who at the age of 33 finally got a shot at the major leagues with the expansion Houston Colt .45's in 1962 ... He was the Texas League home run champion in 1955 when he hit 33 home runs for Shreveport. He later became a fan favorite playing for the Houston minor league team in the late 1950s. 

He hit .210/.298/.320 with four doubles, two triples and a home run for Houston that season and never played in the major leagues again.

OF Tommy Davis (75)
Davis came to Houston in a trade with the Seattle Pilots in August of 1969 and played for Houston for parts of the 1969 and 1970 seasons, hitting .271/.308/.377 over 81 games. Davis spent parts of 18 seasons in the major leagues, playing 1999 games for 10 teams and earning All-Star nods and National League batting titles in 1962 and 1963.

Happy Birthday - 3/21

Happy Birthday to ~

OF Andrew Aplin (22)
Drafted in the fifth round in 2012 out of Arizona State, Aplin quickly made his mark in his first professional season as he hit .348/.441/.537 with nine doubles, five triples and four home runs in 44 games at Tri-City before getting promoted directly to the High A Lancaster JetHawks team to end the season. In 24 games for Lancaster, he hit .260/.287/.423 with four doubles, two triples and three home runs.

C Rene Garcia (23)
Garcia was drafted in the 35th round in 2008 out of high school in his native Puerto Rico. Garcia started the season at Lancaster. In 60 games for the JetHawks, he hit .279/.308/.340 with 13 doubles before getting promoted to Corpus Christi. Garcia only played in nine games at Corpus (hitting .333/.379/.370) before an injury derailed his season.

RHP Bobby Doran (24)
Drafted in the fourth round in 2010 out of Texas Tech, Doran was one of the true success stories of 2012. He went from a 1-3 record with a 9.04 ERA and a 2.010 WHIP in 2011 to a 14-6 record with a 4.00 ERA and a 1.284 WHIP in 2012 as he split his season between Lancaster and Corpus Christi.

Former Astros with birthdays today ~

1B Prentice Almont "Pidge" Browne (died June 3, 1997 at 68)
Browne played in 65 games for the Colt 45's in 1962, a rookie at 33. According to Baseball-Reference:

Pidge Browne was a long time minor league star who at the age of 33 finally got a shot at the major leagues with the expansion Houston Colt .45's in 1962 ... He was the Texas League home run champion in 1955 when he hit 33 home runs for Shreveport. He later became a fan favorite playing for the Houston minor league team in the late 1950s. 

He hit .210/.298/.320 with four doubles, two triples and a home run for Houston that season and never played in the major leagues again.

OF Tommy Davis (74)
Davis came to Houston in a trade with the Seattle Pilots in August of 1969 and played for Houston for parts of the 1969 and 1970 seasons, hitting .271/.308/.377 over 81 games. Davis spent parts of 18 seasons in the major leagues, playing 1999 games for 10 teams and earning All-Star nods and National League batting titles in 1962 and 1963.

Happy Birthday - 3/21

C Rene Garcia (22)
Garcia was drafted in the 35th round in 2008 out of high school in his native Puerto Rico.  In 86 games for Lancaster in 2011, he hit .242/.288/.303 and had a 30% caught stealing percentage (37% for his minor league career).  During the winter, he played in 21 games for the Puerto Rican league.  Getting some home cooking must have agreed with him as he hit .333/.409/.487 in the winter.

RHP Bobby Doran (23)
Drafted in the 4th round in 2010 out of Texas Tech, Doran did not fare well in the launching pad at Lancaster in 2011.  Even though his home run rate was up, it was his elevated walk rate that really hurt him.  I'm not going to post his 2011 stats since it's his birthday.  A new season is beginning and Doran gets a fresh start to show us why he was a 4th round pick.

Photo by Bryan Green

Former Astros with birthdays today ~

1B Prentice Almont "Pidge" Browne (died June 3, 1997 at 68)
Browne played in 65 games for the Colt 45's in 1962, a rookie at 33.  According to Baseball-Reference:

Pidge Browne was a long time minor league star who at the age of 33 finally got a shot at the major leagues with the expansion Houston Colt .45's in 1962 ... He was the Texas League home run champion in 1955 when he hit 33 home runs for Shreveport. He later became a fan favorite playing for the Houston minor league team in the late 1950s. 

He hit .210/.298/.320 with four doubles, two triples and a home run for Houston that season and never played in the major leagues again.

OF Tommy Davis (73)
Davis came to Houston in a trade with the Seattle Pilots in August of 1969 and played for Houston for parts of the 1969 and 1970 seasons, hitting .271/.308/.377 over 81 games.  Davis spent parts of 18 seasons in the major leagues, playing 1999 games for 10 teams and earning All-Star nods and National League batting titles in 1962 and 1963.