Tonight the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros are kicking off
the 2013 Major League Baseball season as the Astros make their debut in the
American League. The last two years have been an interesting prelude, to say
the least, when the decision to move the Astros into the AL was made roughly two days after I
completed my MLB tattoo outline. Since that day I’ve received numerous
questions asking how I was going to cope with that decision or whether or not I
was going to skin graft the Astros tattoo to the other side. First off, skin
graft!? Are you stupid? The cost of that alone would be ridiculous. But even
more important, I also had the Milwaukee Brewers tattoo added to the AL side for the main reasons that their greatest success
came with the AL
in 1982 and I never quite accepted the relocation in the first place. I’ve
always been a bit of purist when it comes to teams, especially when it comes to
keeping original team names as they were intended when they first entered the
league. Unfortunately over time, my thoughts have always been superseded by the
owners and governing bodies of MLB. For example: the Washington Senators moving
twice and becoming the Minnesota Twins and Rangers before I was born, the
Montreal Expos becoming the Washington Nationals and the Seattle Pilots
becoming the Brewers. Finally, there’s the team/hat, the Houston Colt .45s.
This season the Astros are trying to avoid becoming the
second team to lose at least 106 games in at least three consecutive seasons, a
mark established by the expansion 1962-1965 New York Mets. What’s most
interesting about this stat is that the Colt .45s became an expansion team in
the National League the same year as the Mets. Also, the Colt .45s name only
lasted from 1962-1964, the same time frame as the first three 106+ loss seasons
of the streak. This hat was one of the first few that I picked up when I
started actively collecting New Era caps. I have always thought that this is
one of the coolest hats released; it’s simple, much like most of the classic
hats that have survived for more than 40 years in the league. What has become
most important to me with this team, let alone the hat, is that it baseball
fans don’t lose sight off this as a mark in history of MLB. When I was in the MLB Fan
Cave last year I only asked
for one thing during my time, a Colt .45s jersey. I was told that wouldn’t be a
problem, just as long as I never wore it inside the Fan Cave
because of the gun blazing across the chest. I complied, but I never got the
jersey. The one thing I always found incredibly funny amount the conditions
behind getting the jersey was that I had the gun from the jersey tattooed on my
body…
Like I said, I’m a purist. I captured every era of Colt
.45s/Astros baseball within one tattoo because the things matter to me.
When I marked up this cap there were only two names that
made the most sense, and no, they’re not Joe Morgan or Nellie Fox. Morgan was
originally draft by Houston
and went on to have a Hall of Fame career. Fox ended his Hall of Fame career
with Houston,
but neither of them made a great impact on the team. These two guys were
essential to the team.
#32- Jim Umbricht made his MLB debut on September 26, 1959
as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1959 and 1961 Umbricht only pitched
in one game per season; however, in 1960 he started three games and came out of
the bullpen for 14 others. Umbricht unfortunately didn’t make the playoff
roster during the 1960 season; however, he played in enough games to help the
Pirates win the NL pennant and earn a World Series ring. His numbers with the
Pirates weren’t much to sniff at: 1-2 with 5.12 ERA and 30 strikeouts, and he
found himself of the expansion draft list for the upcoming 1962 season. With
the 35th pick the Colt .45s took Umbricht.
Umbricht made 34 appearances out of the bullpen in 1962 and
finished the season as one of the most dominant players on the team. He went
4-0 with a 2.01 ERA and 55 strikeouts. Not too bad for a guy who never got much
playing time for the first few years of his career. At the beginning of spring
training for the 1963 season, Umbricht noticed a small black mole in his right
leg, near the thigh while on a golf outing with Richards. Umbricht
ignored the mole at first, but it grew at a rapid pace. Richards and team
trainer Jim Ewell told Umbricht to have it checked out by a doctor back in Houston. A
three-inch section of the mole was removed for testing and a doctor confirmed
it was a "black mole" tumor that had spread to his groin area. A
lifelong clean-cut bachelor, Umbricht had developed a reputation as a cheerful
person who only cared about others' well-being. Ewell, the team trainer said, Umbricht "had the most wonderful attitude of
anyone you'll ever meet". As a result, Umbricht's cancer
diagnosis shocked baseball and made national headlines. On March 7,
Umbricht underwent a six-hour operation using perfusion to remove the tumor
from his right leg. The perfusion technique was radical at the time, and began
to be used as a surgical procedure not long before Umbricht's surgery. After
a month-long hospital stay, Umbricht and his doctors told the media that he
beat the cancer, crediting "early detection and good physical
condition," further stating that he "should have five or six good
years left" in his baseball career. Umbricht, however, learned
that the doctors were unsure if the cancer surgery was a success, or even if it
had been completely removed from his body. Even if it was, his chance of survival
was slim at best. Upon hearing the news, Umbricht decided to keep it
a secret outside his immediate family. That season Umbricht made 35 appearances
and started three of those games. He went 4-3 with a 2.61 ERA and 48 strikeouts
and a .961 WHIP. For a guy who had surgery to remove a cancerous tumor, find
out that the operation wasn’t a 100 percent success and then go back to playing
baseball is beyond an incredible accomplishment. But sadly, September 29, 1963
would turn out to be Umbricht’s final game.
In the last month of the season Umbricht's cancer had
started to spread throughout his body and he needed to be sedated at times
because of the pain. In November, Umbricht learned that the cancer
spread to his chest area and was incurable. He was released from his contract
on December 16 due to his deteriorating health. The National League
allowed the Colts to sign Umbricht to a scout contract given the circumstances,
with the proviso that it would become a player contract if he rejoined the
active roster. By the time 1964 came around Umbricht’s health was progressively
getting worse. He didn’t make the trip to Cocoa Beach
to meet with the team for Spring Training as he was in-and-out of the hospital.
On March 16th Umbricht checked into the hospital for the last time
with the hopes that a third operation would be the last needed. During his
final hospital stay, the Colts' management, his family and the hospital staff
agreed not to release any further details about his illness, though word had
leaked that he was dying. He remained optimistic that he would beat
the illness until his final days, stating that "everything will be
ok" in an interview with United Press International sports Editor Milton
Richman. Umbricht succumbed to the disease on April 8, 1964 in the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Umbricht's death came on the eve of the Colts' 1964 season.
The team wore black patched on their sleeves for the 1964 season
and the newly renamed Astros retired his number in 1965. He was 33-years-old
when he passed.
#49- Lawrence Edward Dierker was signed as a free agent by
the Colt .45s in 1964 and made his MLB debut on September 22 of that same year.
He pitched in three games going 0-1 with a 2.00 ERA and five strikeouts in the
final year in the history of Colt .45s name. From 1965-1976 Dierker played for
the Astros making two All-Star Game appearances in 1969 and 1971 and finished
23rd in the NL MVP vote going 20-13 with a 2.33 ERA, 232 strikeouts
and 305.1 innings pitched; all career bests, yet for some reason he wasn’t even
considered for the NL Cy Young award. The rest of Dierker’s playing career was
welcomed with modest success. His final year came in 1977 with the St. Louis
Cardinals, but his Colt .45s/Astros run ended with a record of 139-123, an ERA
of 3.28 and 1493 strikeouts.
From 1979 to 1996 Dierker switched up to a broadcasting
position as the color commentator for the Astros’ radio and television broadcasts
until he took over as the Astros manager in 1997. From 1997-2001 Dierker
managed the team to a NL Central division title in every season except 2000
when they finished in fourth place. Dierker won the NL Manager of the Year
award in 1998 and he finished his career with a record of 435-348. In 1999,
Dierker had a close brush with death during a game against the San Diego Padres.
The Houston
manager had been plagued by severe headaches for several days. During the game,
Dierker had a seizure that rendered him unconscious. He required emergency brain
surgery for a cavernous angioma and after four weeks of recovery, returned to
the helm of the Astros and guided the team through the duration of the season.
The Astros won 97 games and a third consecutive National League Central
Division title.
Dierker returned to the broadcast booth from 2004-2005 and
up until March 23 of this year he worked with the Astros front office serving
as the community outreach executive. Dierker’s number was retired by the Astros
on May 19, 2002. This season will be only the third year since his rookie year
in 1964 that Dierker won’t be a part of the team.
If you need an idea of how bad things may potentially be in Houston this season, just
think about that last stat. It’s a damn shame. In my opinion, he’s more iconic
of a figure in the history of the Astros than Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell, Jose
Cruz and Mike Scott.
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