Astros legend Jimmy Wynn passed away today at age 78, the team announced. The Astros’ official statement:
Today, we lost a very big part of the Astros family with the passing of Jimmy Wynn. His contributions to our organization both on and off the field are too numerous to mention. As an All-Star player in the 1960’s and 70’s, Jimmy’s success on the field helped build our franchise from it’s beginnings. After his retirement, his tireless work in the community impacted thousands of young people in Houston. Although he is no longer with us, his legacy will live on at Minute Maid Park, at the Astros Youth Academy and beyond. We send our heartfelt condolences to his wife Marie, daughter, Kimberly, son, James, Jr., to the other members of his family and to his many fans and admirers.
Wynn hit .250/.366/.436 with 291 homers, 225 steals, and 1105 runs scored over 8011 career Major League plate appearances, with the first 11 of his 15 seasons coming in Houston. Wynn first played for the Astros (then known as the Colt .45s) in 1963, the franchise’s second season in existence, and he was one of the headline stars of the early days of Houston baseball. Between his 5’9″ height and big throwing arm, Wynn also boasted one of the era’s best nicknames, becoming known as the “Toy Cannon.”
While Wynn’s numbers are already impressive on the surface, he is often cited as a player who true ceiling as a hitter may have been obscured by a pair of extra factors. Firstly, his prime years came in the 1960’s, the most pitching-friendly decade in modern baseball history. Secondly, Wynn played the majority of his home games in the huge Astrodome, which suppressed his power numbers.
Despite these obstacles, Wynn twice topped the 33-homer plateau while playing for Houston, including a 37-homer campaign in 1967 that stood as the Astros’ team record until Jeff Bagwell broke the mark in 1994. Even among all the great offensive players who have suited up for the Astros in more hitter-friendly eras, Wynn still sits prominently within the top ten in most of the franchise’s all-time offensive categories. Wynn’s 148 walks during the 1969 season set a new National League record for the time, and that total is still tied for the 14th-highest single-season walk total in baseball history
Wynn posted a 129 OPS+ and 130 wRC+ over his career, which also includes stints with the Dodgers, Braves, Yankees, and Brewers. He was a three-time All-Star, with two of those appearances coming during his two seasons in Los Angeles. Wynn’s first year with the Dodgers, 1974, saw him bat .271/.387/.497 with 32 homers, helping carry the team to a National League pennant before falling to the A’s in the World Series.
We at MLBTR send our best wishes to Wynn’s family and legions of fans around the game.
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Interesting that: Yours (and, now, this one) are the only ones that seem out-of-place
What are you talking about????
One of my favorite old timers! God Bless Jimmy!
Rest In Peace
Jimmy threw a ball to me before a game at Shea stadium when I was a kid and I will never forget him, RIP Jimmy.
That’s awesome
One of the good guys
“The Toy Cannon”……………………………RIP
Geez I’m getting old.
Loved watching him with the Dodgers. Actually got a chance to see him play against the Reds in old Riverfront Stadium.
Only knew of him from playing on a sim baseball website, then on bball ref,com. But seriously “Toy Cannon” amazing nickname…..best wishes to those close to him..
IIRC he was on the Astros’ team in the old arcade RBI Baseball, which would have been how I knew of him
Pathetic backtrack attempt. Go rethink your life.
Please get a life.
I agree. Please get a life.
Very under rated slugger. Wasn’t a big guy, but The Toy Cannon was feared. Can’t believe he was 78 already. You’re right themaven, we are getting old.
I’ll always remember the play where Jimmy in CF ceded the putout to the strong armed RF Joe Ferguson on a potential sacrifice fly in the 1974 WS. Ferguson nailed the runner at home.
Very, very underrated player. Jim Wynn is a big reason why I prefer a big Hall of Fame. Players like him do not deserve to be forgotten. Sadly, that is exactly what will likely happen. But he was a big part of the story of MLB during the 1960s and 1970s. And that’s what the Hall should be all about. It’s shouldn’t specifically about stats or character or winning or anything else. It should be about all of those things, both good and bad. It should tell the history of the game. Guys like Jim Wynn might not have been as good as Hank Aaron, but they tell the story of MLB and deserve remembrance too. RIP Toy Cannon.
I agree. It seems like the NBA and NFL have adopted more open standards. But MLB and to a lesser degree NHL have tried to maintain some altogether too high of standards.
Completely agree with you. Mickey Lolich, Bobby Grich, Don Baylor, Dale Murphy, Dan Quisenberry, Thurman Munson, Steve Garvey, Willie Randolph, Gary Sheffield, Sammy Sosa, mark McGwire, Davey Johnson, David Cone, Doc Golden, Darryl Strawberry, Billy Martin. Luis Tiant. Tommy John. Without even researching. Maybe career stats don’t reach the arbitrary standards or there was a steroid cloud but each was an important figure in their era, made an impact on the game and belong in the hall of fame. The hall should be about fame and not about staying healthy for a long time and collecting objective career stats. The game isn’t just about stats. The Toy Cannon belongs in the Hall of Fame.
I think Bobby Grich was one of top 2B of his era. HOF worthy.
Fred “Crime Dog” McGriff and Al Oliver are HOFers. Pity McGriff was a few HR shy of 500. Oliver? He and Billy Williams were a lot alike. Give them four at-bats and they’ll hit the ball hard three times.
I agree that McGriff is a HOFer. Another victim of the 1994-95 strike. He would have easily passed 500 HRs with full seasons there. The biggest argument against him is that he was never the best first baseman in the league for any season. But he was consistently in the top 3-5 first baseman each year for over 15 years. You could always count on him for 30 homers and 100 RBIs each and every year. And he was remarkably healthy too. To me, the consistency is far more impressive than a player with a higher peak, but shorter longevity like Don Mattingly.
hiflew: Great point.
Staying healthy is part of as well. What people forget is that it doesn’t have to be an either/or situation. There is room for compilers that last forever like Craig Biggio and Don Sutton. As well as super high peaks that fade quickly like Don Mattingly and Dale Murphy and a guy like Johan Santana (seriously, look up his peak numbers).
By todays standards he is a hall of famer.
Wynn got better with age. His k to walk improved as he aged. What a player!…. and in my opinion a borderline HOFer.
My favorite baseball player of all-time. R.I.P. Dear man.
As an Astros fan, he’s in my top 10 Astros of all time IMO.
Freeway shot, he will not be forgotten by true baseball fans.
Why did my post get removed? I praised Mr. Wynn.
RIP “Toy Canon”
our local newspaper, near houston said the astrodome was, “homer friendly.” only time i saw him play was in 1972. he hit a hr, which we missed. got there a few minutes late.
Growing up in NY I used to pray for the Mets to trade for Jimmy. Truly under rated. Was the equivalent of Joe Morgan. Would be a HOF candidate if he was the one traded to Cincinnati in his prime. RIP.
I saw him hit his last major league home run. He was on the Yankees and it was opening day of 1977 and it seemed like big things were gonna come from the Toy Cannon, but that turned out to be his swan song.
Jimmy Wynn is a HOFer. It’s a shame he didn’t see his Plaque in person before leaving us.
Side note, I started switch hitting in 11th grade. I was tired of 5 of the 6 nastiest leftys in the tri-county area (I was the 6th; 4 of those 5 were drafted out of high school and the 5th went to college to get a fatter signing bonus when he got drafted). Videos of Wynn hitting on YouTube helped me construct a useful right handed swing.
160 lbs dripping wet and still hit 292 dingers? That’s HOF worthy by itself.
Sad to hear. My first Major League game I saw at Colt 45 Stadium in Houston in 1963, saw a rookie help beat Don Drysdale and the Dodgers. The Toy Cannon. What an amazing ball player.
RIP Toy Cannon…Wynn’s Nickname. One of the good guys from my youth.
Wynn was a great player and I’m sorry to hear of his passing. I’m a Phillies fan and will never forget the time when I saw the Phillies play the Astros and Dick Allen hit an absolute rocket to straight away center field. I immediately thought it was out or would be one of many inside the park homers hit in that field. Wynn went back and made an amazing catch right at the 447 foot sign. Condolences to the family!
As a fellow five niner, I rooted for The Toy Cannon. I still have several cards of his. RIP Jimmy Wynn. And if we’re expanding the HOF, how about Jamie Moyer? 269 wins. Over 100 wins after he turned 40. Topped out with high school level fastball. An artist on the mound and an ace of a human being.
RIP Toy Cannon. I was never able to see him play, but I have a Jimmy Wynn Colt .45s jersey that I absolutely cherish. I’ll certainly be wearing it the rest of the day. Rest in pease Jimmy.
The Toy Cannon, a ball players, ball player. SF Giants fan that thought he was great !! RIP JIMMY
You have to wonder what sort of numbers he woulod have posted had he played in a gutter friendly park instead of the Astrodome. for most of his career.
Who?
Quality ballplayer.
A perfectly good conversation, moving along nicely, and then someone makes a totally ridiculous statement like Wynn was the equal of Joe Morgan. Wynn as an excellent player and certainly belongs in HOF if Baines & Smith belong, but let’s not lose our minds. To be clear, I have the upmost respect for the Toy Cannon (definitely a HOF nickname), and I am saddened to learn of his death. Every day I pick a picture of one the players born on that date to be my screen saver, and every March 12, that picture is Jimmy Wynn in a Colts .45 uniform.