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Monday, June 15, 2009

Original Colt .45 Hal Woodeshick passes

In the past several years, the Astros family has lost quite a few stars from past generations, and sadly, on Sunday, it lost one of its founding fathers. Left-hander Hal Woodeshick, a member of the original Colt .45s, passed away at the age of 76 after a lengthy illness.

Woodeshick not only was a member of Houston’s very first Major League team, he was also with the club when it became the Astros and moved into the Astrodome in 1965. He pitched 3 1/2 years with Houston as part of an 11-year Major League career, during which he compiled a 44-62 record and a 3.56 ERA over 427 games (62 starts).

Woodeshick, considered Houston’s first real closer, made one All-Star appearance in 1963, his second season with the Colt .45s. He was 11-9 with a 1.97 ERA over 55 relief appearances that year, and he logged 10 saves.

The next season, Woodeshick recorded a career-high 23 saves while compiling a 2.76 ERA. He was traded to the Cardinals in the middle of the 1965 season and made his only World Series appearance in 1967 with St. Louis, pitching one inning in relief against the Red Sox.

Repoz Posted: June 15, 2009 at 07:26 PM | 25 comment(s) | Login to Bookmark
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1. Baseball-Birthdays.com Posted: June 15, 2009 at 07:40 PM (#3220221)

Woodeshick played for the last two original Washington Senators teams and was then drafted by the expansion Senators prior to their first season... Woodie Held played a season for the expansion Senators, too.

RIP, Hal Woodeshick.

2. Steve Treder Posted: June 15, 2009 at 08:07 PM (#3220257)

First Held, now Woodeshick ... a sad week for interesting 1960s ballplayers.

A quibble with TFA:

Woodeshick, considered Houston’s first real closer, made one All-Star appearance in 1963, his second season with the Colt .45s. He was 11-9 with a 1.97 ERA over 55 relief appearances that year, and he logged 10 saves.

No, he was never considered "Houston's first real closer" by anyone. No pitcher appearing in 55 games and logging 10 saves (along with 11 wins and 9 losses), in 114 innings, no less, is being worked as a "closer." Neither the term nor the usage pattern had been invented in 1963; neither would appear until the late 1980s.

This is, of course, a pet peeve of mine. But to call Hal Woodeshick a "closer" is to drain the term of any useful meaning. Woodeshick wasn't a closer, he was an ace reliever, or, if you prefer, a fireman.

Moreover: not only wasn't Woodeshick "Houston's first real closer," he wasn't even their first ace reliever/fireman, as Don McMahon had put together a brilliant season for them in that role in 1962, presenting a 245 ERA+ in 51 games (40 games finished) in 77 innings.

/dorky rant

3. Baseball-Birthdays.com Posted: June 15, 2009 at 08:20 PM (#3220268)

I always liked the Colt .45s nickname... I wish they'd kept it.

4. Tom Nawrocki Posted: June 15, 2009 at 08:24 PM (#3220270)

5. Hang down your head, Tom Foley Posted: June 15, 2009 at 08:24 PM (#3220271)

First Woodie Held, and now Hal Woodeshick. We have to get Kirk Rueter to safety.

6. Steve Treder Posted: June 15, 2009 at 08:25 PM (#3220277)

I always liked the Colt .45s nickname... I wish they'd kept it.

It was distinctive, that's for sure. How many other pro sports franchises use not just a firearm, but a particular make and model of a firearm as their nickname?

OTOH, "Colt .45s" is a mouthful, and almost no one at the time ever spoke it fully (just as no one today, other than those who are paid to do so, ever says "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim"); everybody, including headline writers, just shortened it to "Colts." Which meant that many casual fans thought the team's nickname referred to juvenile horses, not sixguns.

7. Steve Treder Posted: June 15, 2009 at 08:30 PM (#3220283)

Woodeshick's usage in 1964 wasn't too far from the modern closers. He pitched barely over an inning per appearance, finished over three-quarters of the games he pitched in, and led the league in saves, with 23.

True, he was far more similar to a closer that year. But still: he was at 1.28 IP per appearance, compared to the modern closer who's at around 1.05, and 23 saves is about half of what typically leads the league today.

8. Repoz

Posted: June 15, 2009 at 08:47 PM (#3220296)

I always liked the Colt .45s nickname... I wish they'd kept it.

Never would have made it...by the late 60's Peggy Charren and her Action for Children's Television groupies were all over the place and would have eventually put a stop to such violent thoughts for us kiddies!

Hey...for some reason they helped dump a sensitive show like The Super 6!

9. Whaddaya think of that, John Moore? Posted: June 15, 2009 at 08:52 PM (#3220299)

23 saves is about half of what typically leads the league today.

23 saves out of only 66 wins, and Houston only had 31 saves as a team.

10. Steve Treder Posted: June 15, 2009 at 09:06 PM (#3220307)

23 saves out of only 66 wins, and Houston only had 31 saves as a team.

Well, yes. And neither of these figures are typical of closers or teams in the modern era.

Winning those 66 games, the Colts threw 30 complete games, last in the NL that year, but a number that dwarves every modern staff. It was just a way different era, and to try a call Woodeshick a closer is to vastly misrepresent how different it was.

11. jwb Posted: June 15, 2009 at 09:09 PM (#3220310)

Colt .45 is also the name of a malt liquor brand, brewed by National Brewing. Jerrold Hoffberger, National Brewing's president, owned the Orioles, so that was kind of weird, too.

12. Steve Treder Posted: June 15, 2009 at 09:11 PM (#3220311)

Colt .45 is also the name of a malt liquor brand, brewed by National Brewing.

Which when I was in high school we called "skunk," and if you've ever taken a whiff, you know why.

13. Baseball-Birthdays.com Posted: June 15, 2009 at 09:16 PM (#3220319)

heh... my father's beer of choice was National Brewing's National Bohemian... I seem to remember them sponsoring Senators' radio broadcasts, but I dunno...

14. God Posted: June 15, 2009 at 09:26 PM (#3220330)

Yeah, the name was perfect for Texas, since it referred to a) guns, b) horses, and c) beer. Why on earth did they change it?

15. Steve Treder Posted: June 15, 2009 at 09:30 PM (#3220337)

Why on earth did they change it?

Three reasons:

1) As mentioned earlier, no one other than PR flacks ever actually said it properly

2) I believe they were getting some trademark-infringement heat from the firearms company

3) Moving into the dome in 1965, Judge Hofheinz was looking to re-brand with a image more Space Age than Old West

16. Swedish Chef Posted: June 15, 2009 at 09:37 PM (#3220342)

Judge Hofheinz was looking to re-brand with a image more Space Age than Old West

Houston Rayguns would have been fine.

17. Quiet Flows the Don Taussig Avenger (Edmundo)

Posted: June 15, 2009 at 10:56 PM (#3220397)

heh... my father's beer of choice was National Brewing's National Bohemian...

Ah, Nat Boheme. 50 cents a quart during my college years, cheapest in town.

18. jwb Posted: June 15, 2009 at 11:14 PM (#3220409)

I seem to remember them sponsoring Senators' radio broadcasts, but I dunno...

This was part of the price Hoffberger and the Orioles paid to infringe on the Senators' market. Sounds like kind of a Brer Rabbit situation to me, "Don't make me advertise my beer during baseball games in a market 40 miles away! Please, no!" My dad drank Carling Black Label after National bought their U.S. breweries in the 1970s.

19. Baseball-Birthdays.com Posted: June 15, 2009 at 11:18 PM (#3220412)

Hey Mabel!

20. Pasta-diving Jeter (jmac66) Posted: June 15, 2009 at 11:37 PM (#3220419)

Hey Mabel indeed

Black Label

21. Baseball-Birthdays.com Posted: June 15, 2009 at 11:47 PM (#3220428)

jmac, that's more Mabel information than there is in the world, I think...

22. Pasta-diving Jeter (jmac66) Posted: June 15, 2009 at 11:56 PM (#3220431)

sure a hell of a lot more than I expected when I googled it

23. jwb Posted: June 16, 2009 at 01:22 AM (#3220458)

Remember the Colt .45 gimmick when they had a six pack holder with plastic that covered the entire top of the can? Great TV ad. A guy is sitting at an outdoor cafe table with a six of Colt .45 on it. A frontloader comes up behind him and dumps a load of dirt on the table. The guy dusts himself off, unearths the six pack, cracks open a fresh one, AND THE TOP OF THE CAN IS CLEAN!!!!! A completely unique experience.

24. Crispix Attacks Posted: June 16, 2009 at 02:01 AM (#3220477)

R.I.P.

His brother was a respected leader at the Presbyterian Church I used to go to.

...that is all.

25. Benji Posted: June 16, 2009 at 03:33 AM (#3220522)

I think the Astros were also named for the Dome.

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Original Colt .45 Hal Woodeshick passes

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