The Houston Astros began publicly charting their Hall of Fame members starting in 2019. Since that date, a dozen Astros members have been inducted into the hallowed hall. One of the Astro’s inaugural Hall of Fame members was third baseman Bob Aspromonte. Robert Thomas Aspromonte was born in 1938; playing the most prominent part with the Houston Colt .45s, and subsequently, the Houston Astros.
Astros HOF Profile: Bob Aspromonte
Early Career: Dodgers
Aspromonte has racked up a few notable achievements in his baseball career. Houston joined the new Colt .45s in 1962 when he was awarded a franchise. He would play with them throughout the 1968 season.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Aspromonte watched his younger brother Ken, a future MLB player and manager, play ball and followed in his steps. Following graduation, Aspromonte made his pro debut in the Class A Southern League with the Brooklyn Dodgers. During the 1956 season, the Dodgers called him up to join the pennant-chasing Dodgers, making his debut at age 18 on September 19 during a win over the St. Louis Cardinals at Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field. In the eighth inning, he struck out as a pinch hitter for Sandy Amoros.
His strikeout was his lone appearance in a Brooklyn uniform, but not as a Dodger. He would spend the next three seasons with the Dodgers in the minors, finally making the roster out of spring training in 1960 for the then Los Angeles Dodgers. He would scatter his playing time between the majors and minors the next few seasons but would spend most of 1961 with the Dodgers in Los Angeles.
Houston
1962, with expansion on the horizon, Aspromonte was exposed to the 1961 expansion draft. With their second selection, the Colt .45’s picked up Aspromonte, the third pick overall. While used primarily as a shortstop with the Dodgers, Houston converted him into a third baseman, with limited time at shortstop and in the outfield. He became the starting third baseman for the .45’s and then the Astros, starting in 1965, for the franchise’s first six seasons.
On April 10, 1962, Aspromonte earned the title as the first batter in Houston’s MLB history. He had played third base and was inserted as the leadoff batter. Following a single for the club’s first hit off Don Cardwell of the Chicago Cubs, Aspromonte scored the first-ever MLB run for the team when the next batter, Al Spangler, tripled.
Late Career
In 1968, Aspromonte was traded to the Atlanta Braves, with the Astros receiving Marty Martinez in return. In December 1970, he was traded from the Braves to the New York Mets for Ron Herbel. While there, he started at third base for the 1971 Mets team. He became a footnote in Major League Baseball history in his final game that season. That season, he became the last Brooklyn Dodger to every play in the major leagues. Facing the Cardinal’s Steve Carlton at Shea Stadium, he went hitless in three at-bats and one RBI.
Throughout his career, Aspromonte collected 1,103 hits in his career. That number includes 135 doubles, 26 triples, and sixty homers. He also held the Astros club record for grand slams with six until 2011. That season, Carlos Lee surpassed the total with his seventh. He was announced as an inaugural member of the team’s Hall of Fame in January of 2019 and was inducted on August 3, 2019.
Main Photo Credits: (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)
