Hooks All-Time Team

CORPUS CHRISTI - They have come from Canada, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, the United States and Venezuela. There have been highly-touted prospects and minor league journeymen. Some are playing Major League Baseball, and some are still chasing their dreams in independent ball. Others still are minor league managers, college coaches and even insurance agents. Double-A baseball represents a crossroads for the hundreds of men who play at the level each season. The younger, high draft picks often sink or swim at this level, while the older, veteran players scratch and claw to keep their careers alive.

In nine years of existence, the top players in Hooks history have represented all these things. The 10-Year Team consists of a first and second team, each of which includes a catcher, first baseman, second baseman, third baseman, shortstop, utility player, designated hitter and three outfielders, regardless of position. Each group has five starting pitchers and two relief pitchers.

Catcher - Max Stassi (2013)
Acquired by Houston from Oakland in February 2012, along with OF Chris Carter and RHP Brad Peacock, for SS Jed Lowrie, Stassi joined Corpus Christi on May 2 after he missed the first month of the season due to injury. After a slow first week, the 23-year-old from Woodland, Calif., went on to hit in 11 consecutive games, batting .375 (15-for-40) with seven doubles and nine RBIs.

The hitting streak was just the appetizer though, as Stassi posted some memorable power numbers in June and July. On June 26 against Springfield, he went 4-for-5 with a double, two home runs and a Hooks-record eight runs batted. Then, from July 15-21, he went deep in five straight games and 10 out of 15, driving in 22 runs in the process.

During his time in Corpus Christi, Stassi gunned down 37 percent (18-of-49) of would-be base stealers. He earned a call from Corpus Christi straight to the big leagues on August 20.

First Base - Jon Singleton (2012-13)
As a 20-year-old in the Texas League, Singleton displayed why Baseball America and MLB.com named him a Top-50 Prospect entering the 2012 season. He earned a mid- and post-season all-star selection and ranked among league leaders in extra-base hits (52), runs scored (94), total bases (229) and walks (88). The Harbor City, Calif., native hit .284 and led the Hooks in games (131), at-bats (461), runs, hits (131), doubles (27), home runs (21), RBIs (79) and total bases.

Singleton's average reached a season high three weeks into the campaign. On April 24 against Midland, he belted a pair of home runs and drove in four to climb to .377 through 17 games. He was twice named Texas League Player of the Week.

From May 21-29 Singleton hit .444 (12-for-27) with four home runs, including his second mutli-home run game of the season, 12 runs batted in and nine runs scored. Then from July 2-9, he posted a .450 batting average (9-for-20) with a home run and six RBIs.

At the MLB All-Star Futures Game in Kansas City July 8, the left-handed slugger went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored as the US Team drubbed the World 17-5. He played in 11 games for the Hooks on a rehab assignment in 2013, batting .263 with two long balls and eight RBIs.

Second Base - Jose Altuve (2011)
Despite just 35 days in the Texas League, the diminutive Venezuelan made his mark at Whataburger Field. Altuve posted multi-hit games in eight of his first 11 contests en route to hitting .361 with five homers and 25 RBIs. He strung together a 15-game hitting streak from June 5-20 and hit safely in 30 of his 35 games.

One of three Hooks to earn a call from Double-A to the big leagues in 2011, Altuve hasn't left Houston since July 20, 2011. He batted .276 to finish out his rookie season and was named an MLB All-Star in 2012.

Third Base - Chris Johnson (2008)
A 2006 fourth-round pick out of Stetson, Johnson at first progressed slowly through the minor leagues before vaulting himself into the prospect conversation two years later. He led the Texas League in batting average from April 24-July 28, hitting .343 with 12 home runs and 55 RBIs in 73 games.

The then 23-year-old put together a dozen three-hit games, including a four-hit performance, in which he drove in three runs July 10 against Frisco. Johnson took advantage of hitting at Whataburger Field, batting .346 in 47 games with 10 of his 12 long balls.

Johnson made his big league debut as a September call-up in 2009 and bounced back-and-forth from Houston to Triple-A for a couple years, before the Astros traded him to Arizona in July 2012. He found a home with the Atlanta Braves in 2013 and finished second in the National League in hitting at .321.

Shortstop - Ben Zobrist (2006)
He's made a career with the Tampa Bay Rays since 2008 as a super-utility player, but in 2006 with the Hooks Zobrist played 79 of his 83 games at shortstop. The Dallas Baptist University product hit .327 with three home runs and 30 RBIs. He qualified for the batting title with 381 plate appearances, but finished four points behind Wichita's Billy Butler.

When it came to getting on base in the Texas League, no one was better. Zobrist paced the circuit - at a .434 clip - and made the TL Post-Season All-Star Team as a utility player.

The Astros traded Zobrist, with right-handed pitcher Mitch Talbot, to the Tampa Bay Rays for first baseman Aubrey Huff on July 12, so Zobrist did not get to celebrate the team's 2006 Texas League championship.

Zobrist has gone on to have arguably the best major league career of any former Hook. He has made two all-star teams and been a regular at three different positions in his career: shortstop, second base and right field. In 2008 he helped Tampa Bay reach the World Series, where it lost to Philadelphia. The following year he finished eighth in American League MVP voting after he posted an 8.6 WAR - the highest in the game.

Outfield - Josh Anderson (2005-06)
The first player to truly star for the Corpus Christi Hooks, Anderson was a fixture in centerfield and atop the batting order in the first two years of the franchise. Over two seasons he hit .296 with four home runs, 76 RBIs, 150 runs scored and 93 stolen bases. He holds the top two single-season steal totals in club annals.

His 2005 season was one of the best individual campaigns in club history. His 561 at-bats and 50 stolen bases that summer are still Hooks benchmarks, while his nine triples are second most in a season.

In 2006 Anderson anchored a stellar outfield. Flanked by Hunter Pence in right and Jorge Cortes in left, he helped the Hooks to their only Texas League title.

The Kentucky native started the 2006 season on fire, recording the first two five-hit games in Hooks history over a three-day span. April 23 against Frisco he went 5-for-6 with three runs scored; two days later he did it again, this time scoring twice. Anderson earned Texas League Player of the Week honors for April 17-23, after he hit .469 (15-for-32) with nine runs scored and four stolen bases.

Among Corpus Christi career leaders, Anderson ranks first in steals (93), second in at-bats (1,085) and hits (321), third in runs (150) and fourth in games played (257).

Outfield - Hunter Pence (2006)
After he turned down an opportunity to play for Team USA and blasted a batting practice home run through the cotton press window in left field, Pence became a fan favorite in Corpus Christi.

The hard-charging Arlington native ranked among Texas League leaders with 97 runs scored (3rd), eight triples (T-2nd), 28 home runs (4th) and 95 RBIs (5th). His home run total still ranks as the best single season mark in Hooks history and his runs batted in are second.

Pence, a 2006 Texas League All-Star, earned player of the week honors for May 8-14 after he hit .320 (8-for-25) with five home runs and 11 RBIs. In the postseason, he led the Hooks to their only Texas League championship, batting .387 with five doubles and nine RBIs in seven games.

In 2007 Pence bounced back-and-forth between Triple-A Round Rock and Houston, before he became a regular in the Astros outfield from 2008-2010. He belted 25 home runs in each of his first three full seasons.

The Astros dealt the two-time all-star to Philadelphia in 2011 for a package of IF Jonathan Singleton, OF Domingo Santana and RHPs Jarred Cosart and Josh Zeid. The Phillies traded Pence to San Francisco in 2012, where he won a World Series.

Outfield - George Springer (2013)
The only Corpus Christi Hook to win Texas League Player of the Year, Springer mesmerized the Whataburger Field faithful with his combination of speed and power in 2013. In 73 games with the Hooks, the UConn product hit .297 with 19 long balls, 55 runs batted in and 23 stolen bases. The Astros promoted him to Triple-A Oklahoma City June 23, where he continued his assault on a 40 home run, 40 steal season. He finished with 37 home runs and 45 stolen bases.

In Springer's final regular-season game in a Hooks uniform, he hit a home run at Frisco that most observers estimated at close to 500 feet. He followed that up with two home runs in the Texas League All-Star Game, before heading north to OKC. At the time of his call-up, he led the league in runs (56), extra-base hits (39) and slugging percentage (.579).

Springer was named the Hooks Player of the Month for April when he batted .297 with eight home runs and 20 runs driven in. He earned the same honor for the RedHawks in July, batting .347 with nine long balls and 27 RBIs.

Utility - Drew Sutton (2007-08)
One look at the Hooks all-time offensive leader board and Drew Sutton's name is everywhere. He is the club's career leader in runs (183), doubles (67) and walks (133). He also ranks among the franchise's top five in games, at-bats, hits, home runs, RBIs and stolen bases.

Sutton's age 24 season in 2007 was a nice opening act, as he hit .269 with nine home runs and 53 RBIs and earned a Texas League Player of the Week Award in April. He followed it up with a monster 2008 season.

He led the TL with 102 runs, 165 hits, 272 total bases and 39 doubles on the way to being named a league all-star. His runs and doubles totals are still Hooks single-season records.

The Astros traded Sutton to Cincinnati for Jeff Keppinger in early 2009. Sutton made his big league debut with the Reds on July 2 of that season. Since then he has bounced between Triple-A and the majors with Boston, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay.

Designated Hitter - Drew Locke (2009, 2012)
Like Sutton, this 2009 Texas League All-Star led the circuit in a bevy of offensive categories, including batting average (.338), RBIs (109) and hits (170). Locke also ranked second in slugging percentage (.531) and total bases (267).

On April 30 at Midland, Locke joined Josh Anderson as the only player in Hooks history to collect five hits in a game. His average was over .400 as late as May 11, before it tumbled after a June slump. Locke finished the summer strong with a .391 mark in August that included 16 extra-base hits.

Locke was so good for the Hooks in 2009 that his then-hitting coach and current manager Keith Bodie plucked him from the Sugarland Skeeters in 2012. The minor league veteran didn't post the all-star numbers he registered three years earlier, but he did produce his share of memorable moments.

On June 12 and 13 against San Antonio, just his fourth and fifth games after joining the team, Locke became the only Hooks player to hit grand slams in consecutive games - both Hooks wins. Just over a month later, on July 19, he registered the fourth five-hit game - and his second - in Corpus Christi history. In 68 games, Locke hit .295 with eight bombs and 46 RBIs. He retired following the year.

SP - Matt Albers (2006)
The second Hook to win Texas League Pitcher of the Year in as many seasons, Albers dominated the league, holding opponents to a .223 batting average and posting a circuit-best 2.17 earned run average, second best in Hooks history. The right-hander from Houston went 10-2, walked 47 and struck out 95 in 19 starts, which spanned 116 innings.

He earned TL Pitcher of the Week honors for June 12-18 after going 2-0 with a 1.54 ERA against San Antonio and Frisco. Albers did not get to stick around for the Hooks' league title, as he was promoted to the Astros in late July.

SP - Douglas Arguello (2009-10)
Despite a 10-9 record over two seasons, Arguello posted a 2.85 ERA (fourth in club history) in 36 starts for the Hooks in 2009 and 2010. The two-time TL All-Star allowed more than four runs in a start just twice in two summers.

In '09 he earned TL Pitcher of the Week honors for May 4-11 after tossing a complete game May 6 against Midland. The following season he led the league in ERA (2.55) and finished fourth in opponents' batting average (.254). His '10 earned run average is the third best single-season mark in Hooks history.

SP - Juan Gutierrez (2006)
Albers' rotation mate in 2006, Gutierrez posted solid numbers of his own: an 8-4 record with a 3.04 ERA in 20 starts. The right-hander walked 34 and fanned 106 in 103 2/3 innings pitched. Among Texas League starting pitchers, the Venezuelan ranked third in strikeouts per nine innings (9.20) and fourth in batting average against (.237) and base runners per nine innings (11.55).

He won back-to-back starts May 24 and 29, both against Wichita, by tossing seven shutout innings in each game with 14 total strikeouts. Gutierrez loved pitching at Whataburger Field, where he posted a 1.95 ERA over 12 starts.

Gutierrez has pitched in the big leagues with four different teams: Houston, Arizona, Kansas City and the Los Angeles Angels.

SP - Jason Hirsh (2005)
The Texas League Pitcher of the Year in Corpus Christi's first season as a Double-A franchise, Hirsh set a number of Hooks single-season records that still stand. He ranks first in starts (29), innings pitched (172 1/3), strikeouts (165) and opponents' batting average (.218).

The TL All-Star was named league Pitcher of the Week three times, including a particularly impressive stretch from July 11-17, when he went 2-0, allowed just one run and struck out 19 in 15 innings.

Hirsh reached the big leagues with Houston in 2006 and made 23 appearances in 2007-08 for the Colorado Rockies.

SP - David Martinez (2013)
Martinez authored the best season by a pitcher in club history last year, earning Texas League Pitcher of the Year honors. He led the league and set Hooks single-season highs in wins (14), ERA (2.02) and WHIP (1.00).

The Venezuelan right-hander was the model of consistency for Corpus Christi early in the season, allowing runs to score in just two of his first eight appearances. In his final five starts for the Hooks, July 13-August 6, he went 4-0 with a 2.08 ERA, lasting at least seven innings in each game.

Martinez made his big league debut with the Astros August 21 and pitched out of Houston's bullpen through the end of the season.

RP - Jailen Peguero (2005-06, 2010)
Peguero boasted one of the most roundabout careers in Hooks history. He authored a pair of standout performances in the first two years of the franchise, before returning to post a 1.70 ERA in 2010.

After nearly three full seasons with the club, the native of Azua, Dominican Republic, ranks second in club history with 109 appearance and 29 saves. His 1.96 earned run average in a Hooks uniform is the lowest career mark by any pitcher who tossed more than 100 innings.

Peguero saved 26 games in the first two years of the franchise and made 77 appearances along the way, including a Hooks single season best 50 in 2005. After Triple-A and big league stops in the Diamondbacks, Angels and Rangers organizations, he landed back in Corpus Christi in 2010. He pitched in the Triple-A Mexican League from 2011-13.

RP - Jason Stoffel (2011-13)
The Hooks all-time saves leader with 32, Stoffel was automatic in 2012. He didn't blow a regular-season save and led the Texas League with 29. He also topped the circuit in games finished (49) and opponents' batting average among relievers (.196).

Stoffel allowed a run in just 10 of his 56 appearances and yielded just 2.02 walks per nine innings. He made his Hooks debut July 20, 2011 and finished the season with the team, then started the 2013 season in Corpus Christi before a promotion to Triple-A Oklahoma City April 26.

Honorable Mention: 2B Jonny Ash, C Jason Castro, RP Kevin Chapman, OF Jorge Cortes, OF Collin DeLome, SP Wilton Lopez, RP Kyle Middleton, SP Josh Miller, SP Bud Norris, SP Ross Seaton, 1B Todd Self, OF J.B. Shuck, C J.R. Towles, SS Jonathan Villar, OF Austin Wates

Selection Committee: Michael Coffin, Matt Hicks, Greg Rajan, Matt Rogers, Ken Schrom, Michael Wood