We here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly getting there in our pursuit of naming the Top 50 players from every major sports franchise in North America.

We return to the world of Baseball with the Houston Astros and that we believe are Top 50 players ever from that organization.

We encourage you to see the complete list here, but for those who can’t wait, here are the top five Houston Astros of all-time:



1.Jeff Bagwell

2. Craig Biggio

3. Lance Berkman

4. Cesar Cedeno

5. Jose Cruz



This won’t be the last of this, as we have the Detroit Lions up next. 

As always, we thank you for your support and look for your input!

Improving offensively with each passing year, Rusty Staub debuted with the then named Houston Colt .45’s and before he left for the Montreal Expos, he would make two All Star with the Astros.  Staub’s final three seasons in Houston saw him go over 150 Hits and in 1967 would lead the NL in Doubles while batting .333.  Had Staub just been an average defensive player his ranking would have been much higher.

With Houston, Staub would accrue 792 Hits and a .273 Batting Average.

Rusty Staub (Le Grande Orange) was an original Montreal Expo and had such great popularity over those three seasons he played there (though he did come back for a cup of coffee late in his career) that the team retired his number.  Staub would be an All-Star those three years and would put up an On Base Percentage over .400 as an Expo.

If the main criteria for the Hall are perseverance and effort, then Rusty Staub should have been a first-ballot Hall of Famer.  His hard work resulted in over 2,700 hits in a Major League career that many people who saw him early on would never have pegged him for.

Nobody could ever accuse Staub of not giving everything he had, regardless of the endeavor.  Those efforts included cooking, history, and, of course, baseball.  They called him eccentric for these things, but his meticulous nature turned him into a pure hitter and gained him respect throughout the league.  He made six All-Star Games but did so without showing much power (though he hit 25 homers twice) and without any real speed.  What he did do was hit for average consistently and walk frequently, which enabled him, even late in his career, to be a solid pinch-hitter.

Staub may have been freakishly consistent, but he was never dominant and was never a serious contender for any postseason award.  Six All-Star appearances were impressive, but rarely has the Baseball Hall of Fame rewarded longevity without at least a flash of immortality.  If they did, Staub would be a good place to start.