Quote:
Originally Posted by Merkle923
Tell the truth: did you have any memory of this former Number One draft choice playing for the Houston Astros?
I was moving an album full of the Mothers' Cookies team issues of the 1980's and there was Bannister in the '84 Astros set. He had been purchased late in spring training from Cleveland, appeared in just nine games for Houston, and was dealt to the Rangers on May 25.
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Alan Bannister's time with both Texas teams, Houston and Texas at the very end of his career was brief and it's just a blur in my memory. I remember him with the Phillies, since he came up with that organization. After a cup of coffee in the big leagues in 1974, he was the Phillies 1975 opening day second baseman, but played himself out of that job, more so with his defensive lapses rather than with the bat.. Late in his career he was he good offensive producer off the bench for the Cleveland Indians.
I guess most people remember him from his Chicago White Sox days, when he got his most playing time. He did a respectable job there and in his two years of his career where he got over 500 at bats, 1977 and 1979 he hit .275 and .285, respectively. He was the regular second baseman for the 1977 White Sox, one of the more popular non-division winning teams ever (3rd place, 90-72). That team won a lot of games with their hitting, but also lost a significant number of games with poor fielding. Their home run barrages and late-innings comebacks prompted the "Na, Na, Na, Na, Hey Hey, Goodbye" chant that White Sox fans stole from a popular rock song. Bannister fit right into that mode because he had some defensive shortcomings both at 2B and in LF, the two positions he played most in his career, but he was a decent table-setting offensive contributor..
He hit .270 lifetime, with 108 Stolen Bases (15 or more SB four times, with a best season of 22 SB) in just under 1,000 career MLB games, but he had little power (19 career HRs).. His career might have been disappointing for a first-round draft choice, but it wasn't a total bust, either.