[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 132 (Monday, September 29, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H8115-H8116]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 CONGRATULATIONS TO THE HOUSTON ASTROS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas [Mr. Green] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GREEN. Mr. Speaker, normally we stand up here and talk about a 
lot of the great issues we debate, and every once in a while we get to 
talk about something in our hometown. This evening I would like to talk 
about my own district of Houston, Texas, where we are celebrating 
tonight and hopefully celebrating the rest of the week. I see my 
colleague from Georgia over there. I would like to congratulate the 
Houston Astros on their division title, and more than that, wish them 
luck in their game tomorrow against the Atlanta Braves.
  The Houston Astros captured their first ever National League Central 
title last Thursday, thanks to a 9-to-1 win over the Chicago Cubs, and 
it was their first division title since 1986.
  Since their All Star break, the Astros were 39-32 and 42-35 over the 
last 77 games. The Astros have been in first place in their division 
since July 18 of this year.
  Attendance at these games this year topped the 2 million mark for 
only the fourth time in our club history.
  Congratulations to both the owner, Drayton McLane, and our manager, 
Larry Dierker, Tal Smith, and all of the players and staff of the 
Houston Astros administration.
  Astros manager Larry Dierker joins a short list of rookie skippers 
this year who have won a division title in their first year. In fact, 
the last time a first-year manager was to achieve this feat was Hal 
Lanier, who led the Houston Astros to the 1986 division championship.
  No stranger to major league baseball, Larry Dierker's name has been 
associated with baseball in Houston almost since the inception of the 
club in the early 1960s. He made his baseball major league debut in 
Colt Stadium on his 18th birthday and on that day he struck out both 
Willie Mays and Jim Hart in the first inning.
  His 14-year pitching career saw him become become Houston's first 20-
game winner in 1969, the same year he pitched a club record of 20 
complete games. Larry Dierker was named to the National League All-Star 
team for the 1969 game that was played here at RFK Stadium in 
Washington, and also the 1971 contest in Tiger Stadium in Detroit. He 
still ranks among the club's all-time leaders in virtually every 
pitching category.
  With a manager like Larry Dierker, the Astros truly have a leader who 
not only knows Houston, but also knows the ins and outs of baseball.
  Mr. Speaker, we also have two major stars on our team also 
affectionately called the Killer Bs. Jeff Bagwell, the home run king 
for the Astros, hit a total of 43 home runs this season. Not only did 
he set a new club record, he finished second in homers in the National 
League. Bagwell also established club records this year with 135 RBIs, 
335 total bases, and 84 extra base hits. Setting a new Astros single 
season club record for homers, Bagwell ranked second in the National 
League for the number of RBIs.
  Then there is the other Killer B, Craig Biggio. He is the first 
player in the history of major league baseball to play in 162 games 
without grounding into a double play for the season. Biggio broke a 
1935 record held by Augie Galan from the Chicago Cubs who went 154 
games without grounding into a double play.
  Currently, Biggio crossed the plate 146 times this season, the most 
runs by a national leaguer since Chuck Klein stored 152 runs in 1932. 
Not only that, he has been hit by a pitch 34 times this season, 
establishing a new Astros record, which is not a record, I have to say, 
we are proud of, to have one of our players hit 34 times. Overall, 100 
Astros were hit by pitches this year, the highest total by a team this 
century. The rest of the team will not back down from any of the 
pitchers either.
  In fact, the great pitching staff we have is congratulations to 
Darryl Kile and other outstanding pitchers. Kile is currently up for 
the top pitching award, the Cy Young Award. He has pitched 255-2/3 
innings this season with a ranking of second in the National League. In 
addition, he has thrown 4 shutouts, tying for second in the National 
League.
  These key players, as well as the team, all contributed to their 
National League Central division title last Thursday, and being a 
Houston Astros fan, along with thousands and thousands of people in 
Houston, I want to congratulate the Astros and wish them the best of 
luck in their playoff game versus the Atlanta Braves tomorrow and also 
the series over the next few days.
  Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. GREEN. I yield to the gentleman from Georgia, who is also a 
pretty good basketball player in his own right.
  Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas [Mr.

[[Page H8116]]

Green], my partner on the basketball court, and I would congratulate 
your Houston Astros also. They have had a great year this year. We look 
forward to them coming to Atlanta. I hope they are unhappy when they 
leave Atlanta, but we sure look forward to a great series. I think five 
of them have been one-run games, two of them have been extra inning 
games. It is going to be a great series. We look forward to it.

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