Cliff Johnson...and my radio debut

Cliff Johnson was drafted by the Astros in 1966 in the 5th round. After a few years in the minors he made his major league debut on September 13, 1972.

By 1977 he was traded to the Yankees for Mike Fischlin, Randy Niemann and a player to be named later; the Yankees sent Dave Bergman (November 23, 1977) to the Astros to complete the trade.

During his career he also played for the Indians, Cubs, A's, Blue Jays, and ended up back in Texas with the Rangers before retiring in 1985.

Career highlights and awards:
World Series championship- 1977, 1978
Hit a Major League record 20 career home runs as a pinch hitter


In other news...

I had the privilege of being the guest on the morning show at KBHT 93.5 today. A good buddy of mine is the morning DJ, Jake "the Snake" Austin, and he asked me last week to be on today's Snake Farm (as his show is called; you Ray Wiley Hubbard fans will make the connection).

I had no idea this little ol' blog would be discussed; if I had I would have given a link to their web broadcast so all my loyal followers out there in baseball card blogland could listen in.

Dave Giusti

Dave Giusti was signed by the Colt .45s in 1961 as an amateur free agent. He would eventually be traded by the Astros on October 11, 1968 with Dave Adlesh to the St. Louis Cardinals for Tommy Smith (minors) and Johnny Edwards.

A starter with the Colts and Astros, he was known for his palm ball.


Teams:
Houston Colt .45's/Astros (1962-1968)
St. Louis Cardinals (1969)
Pittsburgh Pirates (1970-1976)
Oakland Athletics (1977)
Chicago Cubs (1977)

Career highlights and awards:
All-Star (NL) 1973
Led NL in saves in 1971 with 30

After retiring from baseball Dave was an executive with American Express.

Doug Jones

Doug Jones was drafted by Milwaukee in 1978. He eventually played six seasons with the Indians before signing with the Astros in 1992. He played the next season with the 'Stros before being traded along with Jeff Juden to the Phillies for Mitch Williams.

Jones, a relief pitcher, was known for his slow pitches that could always get the better of hitters that faced him. At the time of his retirement he was 12th in the majors with 303 saves.




5x All-Star selection (1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1994)

Taylor Buchholz

Drafted in 2000 by the Phillies for their minor league system, Buchholz was traded to Houston on November 3, 2003 along with Ezequiel Astacio and Brandon Duckworth for Billy Wagner. His first season with the Astros organization was spent in New Orleans, followed by two seasons in Round Rock with the Express. While in Round Rock he was called up during the 2006 season but was later sent back down to the Express that same year.

On December 12, 2006 he was traded along with Jason Hirsh and Willy Taveras to the Colorado Rockies for Miguel Asencio and Jason Jennings.

Bryant Nelson

Bryant Nelson was drafted by Houston in 1993. He never played any major league games while with Houston, but did play in their minor league organization.

He was released by Houston in 1997. He was eventually picked up by Boston and played one season in the majors with them (2002).

Nelson currently plays in the Atlantic League with the Camden Riversharks.

Donne Wall

Donne Wall was drafted by Houston in 1989. In 1995 he was the MVP for the Tucson Torros.

After a few years in the minors he played his first big league game on September 2, 1995. He eventually played for the Padres, Mets, and Angels before retiring in 2002.

Dean Hartgraves

Drafted by the Astros in the 20th round in 1987, Dean Hartgraves would spend several years in the minors, mostly in Tucson, before making his MLB debut in '95. He continued to play for the Astros until 1996, however he was selected off waivers by Atlanta in June of that year. In '98 he saw some playing time with the Giants; at the end of the season he signed with the Padres but did not play any games with them. Instead, he would play in Japan in 1999 for the Chiba Lotte Marines.

Sent off 9/4/09; returned 9/12/09.