Alan Ashby Marquee

b. July 8, 1951 · Cleveland Indians 1973–1976, Toronto Blue Jays 1977–1978, Houston Astros 1979–1989

He caught Ken Forsch's no-hitter in April 1979, Nolan Ryan's fifth in September 1981 and Mike Scott's division-clinching one in September 1986, all for Houston. Very few catchers have caught three.

Seventeen seasons gave him 1,010 hits, 183 doubles, 90 home runs, 513 runs batted in and a .245 average across 1,299 games behind the plate. He caught for Houston for eleven years, through the division titles of 1980 and 1986, and hit .288 with 14 home runs in 1987 at thirty-six.

He was Toronto's first opening-day catcher in 1977. He broadcast Blue Jays games for a decade afterward and later called Astros games. No Hall of Fame ballot has listed him.

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1973	CLE	11	29	4	5	1	0	1	3	2	11	0	.172
1974	CLE	10	7	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	.143
1975	CLE	90	254	32	57	10	1	5	32	30	42	3	.224
1976	CLE	89	247	26	59	5	1	4	32	27	49	0	.239
1977	TOR	124	396	25	83	16	3	2	29	50	51	0	.210
1978	TOR	81	264	27	69	15	0	9	29	28	32	1	.261
1979	HOU	108	336	25	68	15	2	2	35	26	70	0	.202
1980	HOU	116	352	30	90	19	2	3	48	35	40	0	.256
1981	HOU	83	255	20	69	13	0	4	33	35	33	0	.271
1982	HOU	100	339	40	87	14	2	12	49	27	53	2	.257
1983	HOU	87	275	31	63	18	1	8	34	31	38	0	.229
1984	HOU	66	191	16	50	7	0	4	27	20	22	0	.262
1985	HOU	65	189	20	53	8	0	8	25	24	27	0	.280
1986	HOU	120	315	24	81	15	0	7	38	39	56	1	.257
1987	HOU	125	386	53	111	16	0	14	63	50	52	0	.288
1988	HOU	73	227	19	54	10	0	7	33	29	36	0	.238
1989	HOU	22	61	4	10	1	1	0	3	7	8	0	.164
Career	—	1370	4123	397	1010	183	13	90	513	461	622	7	.245

On this day & linked events

1951

Born July 8, 1951

Long Beach, CA, USA

1973

Major-league debut: Alan Ashby

Alan Ashby made a major-league debut on July 3, 1973.

1989

Final major-league game: Alan Ashby

Alan Ashby played a final major-league game on May 9, 1989.

Image: EricEnfermero, CC BY-SA 4.0