Lance Berkman
From BR Bullpen
William Lance Berkman (Big Puma, Fat Elvis)
- Bats Both, Throws Left
- Height 6' 1", Weight 205 lb.
- School Rice University
- High School Canyon High School (New Braunfels)
- Debut July 16, 1999
- Born February 10, 1976 in Waco, TX USA
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[edit] Biographical Information
Lance Berkman is a top-quality hitter who has spent his whole career, so far, with the Houston Astros. He was 3rd in the MVP voting in 2002 and in 2006, and was 5th in 2001.
[edit] College Stardom
At Rice University, Berkman set records and led the team to the College World Series for its first trip ever in 1997. In 1995, Lance led the Southwest Conference as a freshman with 26 doubles but his .322 average and 6 homers were relatively unimpressive. The next year, he improved to .398 (4th in the SWC), slugged .747, drove in 92 runs and led the conference with 20 homers. Rice moved to the Western Athletic Conference in 1997 and Berkman was the star, leading the WAC in average (.431), slugging (1.032), homers (41), RBI (134), runs (109) and hits (110). He was named to the All-Conference Team at 1B and won Player of the Year honors. His 41 homers were second all-time in NCAA Division I, trailing Pete Incaviglia's 48 in 1985 and his RBI total was second all-time to Inky's 143. He led NCAA Division I in total bases (263), homers and RBI and was second to Mike Marchiano (1.034) in slugging. He won the NCBWA Player of the Year award. Selected 16th overall in the 1997 amateur draft by the Astros, he signed for a $1 million bonus.
[edit] Minor League Apprenticeship
Berkman was assigned straight to high-class A with the Kissimmee Cobras and hit .293/~.411/.543. His OPS was among the best in the Florida State League and even though he had only spent half the year with the club, he was named the 8th-best prospect in the league.
In 1998, Berkman was named the 64th best prospect in baseball according to Baseball America and he continued to shine, hitting .306/~.422/.555 for the Jackson Generals with 24 HR, 85 walks and 89 RBI before a late promotion to the AAA New Orleans Zephyrs. With New Orleans, he homered six times in 17 games and had a .271/~.394/.644 mark. In the Triple-A World Series, Lance hit .467 with 3 homers in the decisive game 4 to win it; he was MVP of the Series. He was voted the #10 prospect in the Texas League that year and led the loop with 10 intentional walks.
[edit] Major League Debut
Entering 1999, Baseball America listed him as the 13th-best prospect in the minors, between Roy Halladay and Carlos Beltran. He came up for 34 games at the age of 23 with Houston, hitting .237/.321/.387, but spent most of the season with New Orleans, outshining the other college slugging legend, Incaviglia, who hit only .194. Berkman hit .323/~.422/.518 in 64 games for New Orleans, with just 8 homers. He was downgraded to the #37 prospect in the minors after that year.
In the year 2000, after again spending a few weeks in the Pacific Coast League (.330/.479/.563, a walk per game), he played most of the season with Houston, hitting .297 with 21 home runs. That didn't immediately make him a star, though, as Jeff Bagwell and Richard Hidalgo both hit over 40 home runs and batted at least .310, Moises Alou added 30 home runs with a .355 average, and Daryle Ward also hit 20 home runs in fewer at-bats than Berkman had. It was a strong hitters' park.
[edit] Stardom with the Astros
Taking the cue, he ratcheted up the production in 2001, hitting 34 home runs with 55 doubles and a .331 average. Houston won the division with 93 victories. Berkman was 5th in the MVP voting, splitting votes with Jeff Bagwell, who was 7th. In 2000, he maintained the high production by hitting 42 home runs (3rd in the league), with 128 RBI (tops in the league). He was 3rd in the MVP voting.
The year 2003 was a bit of an off-year. One highlight came in the first inning of a game on July 13, when he hit back-to-back-to-back home runs with Richard Hidalgo and Morgan Ensberg. He hit two home runs that game - the first multi-homer game of his 2003 season and already the 12th multi-homer game of his career. In 2004, he hit 30 home runs with 106 RBI, and added a personal high of 127 walks. He was 7th in the league in the MVP voting.
In 2005, he missed 30 games, but contributed to an Astros team that went to the World Series. Although Chicago trounced Houston in the Series, Berkman hit .385. Berkman had another great year in 2006, hitting .315 and slugging for a career-high .621 thanks to 45 home runs - also a career best; he drove in 136 runs - third highest in the National League and made the All-Star team for the fourth time as the Astros fell just short of the playoffs.
[edit] Assessment
Lance Berkman is a four-time All-Star who has a shot at the Hall of Fame if he keeps up his current production. Through the end of 2006 none of the ten most similar players to Berkman (thus far in his career, using the similarity scores method) are in the Hall, but several are active players who will have a shot, such as Albert Pujols, David Ortiz, and Magglio Ordonez, while others are major stars who didn't miss by too much, such as King Kong Charlie Keller and Fred Lynn.
Berkman is the brother-in-law of former minor league pitcher Joshua Baker.
[edit] Notable Achievements
- 5-time NL All-Star (2001, 2002, 2004, 2006 & 2008)
- 2-time NL Doubles Leader (2001 & 2008)
- NL RBI Leader (2002)
- 20-Home Run Seasons: 9 (2000-2008)
- 30-Home Run Seasons: 5 (2001, 2002, 2004, 2006 & 2007)
- 40-Home Run Seasons: 2 (2002 & 2006)
- 100 RBI Seasons: 6 (2001, 2002, 2004 & 2006-2008)
- 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 5 (2001-2004 & 2008)
[edit] Records Held
- Doubles, switch hitter, season, 55, 2001
- Extra base hits, switch hitter, season, 94, 2001
- Berkman shares with Lou Gehrig the obscure record for the most consecutive years hitting a home run on the same date. He has hit a home run on each 21 September from 2001 to 2007. Gehrig set the record on 8 June 1938.
