Receiving a new wave of respect due to the sabremetric wave, Jim Wynn was nicknamed the “Toy Cannon” for generating power numbers despite a 5’ 8’’ frame.  Wynn often had an On Base Percentage well over 100 points over his Batting Average and led the National League in Walks in 1969.  Power, speed and a healthy OBP made Wynn a true threat at the plate and he is finally getting a lot of his due now.

Wynn played the first eleven seasons of his career in the Lone Star State, and he amassed 1,291 Hits and 223 Home Runs for the Astros.  The Astros gave him the ultimate honor in 2005 when they retired his number in 24, and they also induced Wynn into their Hall of Fame in 2019.

How does a guy with a lifetime Batting Average of .250, who never received a single vote for the Hall, even make this list? It reminds us of a band that fails to earn any real respect, but, in retrospect, is viewed as ahead of its time by the generation that follows. The metaphor we are talking about is Jim Wynn, the man dubbed the “Toy Cannon”.

Jim Wynn played the bulk of his career for an awful (and barely noticed) Houston Astro team in the gigantic Astrodome. The stadium was far from a hitter’s paradise, yet Wynn managed to put up decent power numbers there. He never posted what would be considered a decent Batting Average, but Jim Wynn walked… a lot. Two times he led the league in free passes and always had an On Base Percentage well over 100 points higher than his Batting Average. He could also steal, and he was great in the field, not that anybody was watching him when he played in Houston.

Wynn would later have a couple of good seasons in L.A., but he went from a team that nobody saw to a loaded club where nobody paid attention to him. Jim Wynn could be the best player in the ’60s and 70’s that nobody ever saw.