That's right, we're finally in the top three on this countdown of the top All-Star moments in Astros history. Today, we're looking at the time Houston had the most All-Stars in team history.
There's actually a tie at this spot. In 2005, Houston had a bunch of people on the All-Star team. They had Morgan Ensberg, Roger Clemens, Brad Lidge, Roy Oswalt, Carlos Beltran, Jeff Kent...wait, wait. That's not right. Houston got RID of Beltran and Kent that offseason. So, they only had four All-Stars, which is still pretty good, but isn't the record.
In 2004, Houston had three starters in Clemens, Kent, Lance Berkman (who started in center field), Beltran, Moises Alou, Randy Johnson...wait, wait. I'm off again. The Astros also decided Alou and Johnson were't good enough to re-sign, so there's just four All-Stars this time too.
What about 1999, when the Astros had Jeff Bagwell, Mike Hampton, Jose Lima, Billy Wagner, Curt Schilling, Luis Gonzalez....(really, you're doing this a third time? It hasn't gotten old yet?) Yeah, I did. Of course, both Schilling and Gonzo were off the team by that time (as was Big Unit, who also made the '99 team, but I didn't want to rub that in).
Okay, okay, so which year holds the record? 1994. That's when five different Astros made the All-Star team, though sadly, none of them started the game. But, Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Ken Caminiti, Doug Drabek and John Hudek all made the team.
What's more, all five players got into the game and both Biggio and Bagwell scored runs. Bagwell got the most action, pinch-hitting for Greg Maddux in the bottom of third and staying around for four at-bats. He went 2 for 4 with a strikeout and a run scored. Biggio was 0 for 1, grounding out in the bottom of the ninth against Lee Smith, but since Marquis Grissom walked to lead off the inning, Biggio reached on the fielder's choice. He scored pretty quickly when Fred McGriff hit a two-run homer which tied the game at 7-7.
I can't say the same for the two pitchers, who got rocked a bit in 1 1/3 innings of work. Drabek entered the game in the top of the sixth inning, gave up four hits, three runs (one earned) and struck out one in 2/3 of an inning. Hudek didn't do much better, relieving Drabek and giving up two runs on a hit and a walk while striking out one.
It wasn't pretty, but it was a record for the Astros in one of the best seasons in franchise history. I'm not sure whether Houston would've beat out Montreal for the World Series with Bagwell's broken hand, but they certainly could have made things interesting.
Only two more spots left on this list. Any guesses what they might be?