Jimmy Wynn

Did You Know?

• Wynn's number 24 was retired by the Astros on June 25, 2005, during a game against the Texas Rangers; Jason Lane, who had worn 24, changed to 16.
• In the 1995 film Apollo 13, television footage of Wynn rounding third base appears as the Apollo astronauts broadcast what they think is a live feed.
• On the October 7, 1974 episode of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Wynn faced women's softball pitcher Rosie Black and struck out in four pitches.

Career

Jimmy Wynn went to Taft High School before the Cincinnati Reds signed him as an amateur free agent in 1962. He spent that season with the Tampa Tarpons in the Florida State League, mostly playing third base and hitting .290 with 14 home runs. After the season, the Houston Colt .45s picked him in the 1962 first-year minor league draft. In 1963, he started with the Double-A San Antonio Bullets, splitting time between shortstop and third base, batting .288 with 16 home runs in 78 games.

He got called up to the majors in July and made his debut on July 10, starting at shortstop and going 1-for-4 with a stolen base. For the rest of that year, he moved between shortstop and the outfield, mostly left field, finishing with 61 hits, four home runs, 27 RBIs, four stolen bases, and a .244 average in 70 games. Because he struggled defensively at shortstop, he became a full-time outfielder in 1964. He began the season as the starting center fielder but was sent back to the minors in June, replaced by Mike White.

Recalled in September, he finished the year starting in center field, playing 67 games with 49 hits, five home runs, 18 RBIs, five stolen bases, and a .224 average. In 1966, his season ended after 105 games when he broke his left arm crashing into the outfield wall at Connie Mack Stadium while chasing a Dick Allen fly ball, which turned into an inside-the-park home run for Allen and the Philadelphia Phillies in the bottom of the 10th inning on August 1. That year, he had 107 hits, 18 home runs, 62 RBIs, 13 stolen bases, a .256 average, and a .321 on-base percentage.