Jimmy Wynn

For the judge, see James A. Wynn, Jr..

James Sherman Wynn (born March 12, 1942 in Hamilton, Ohio), nicknamed the "Toy Cannon," is a former Major League Baseball center fielder. During a 15-year baseball career, he played from 1963-1977 for five different teams: the Houston Colt .45s/Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, and Milwaukee Brewers. His career started in 1962 when the Cincinnati Reds signed him as an amateur free agent. Shortly thereafter, he was drafted by the then Houston Colt .45s in the 1962 first player draft. He came up as a shortstop through the minor leagues. In his debut major league season of 1963 he also primarily played shortstop. However, he struggled with the position defensively and was moved to center field, where he played most of the rest of his career. He fielded that position fairly well. For eleven years, he was a fixture in the Astros' outfield. A power hitter, it has been speculated that he may have lost a substantial number of home runs to the lengthy fences in the Astrodome. In fact, after his career-high 37 home runs in 1967 were edged out by Hank Aaron's 39 in the final days of the season, Aaron, whose Atlanta Braves played their home games in the more homer-friendly Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, commented that he considered Wynn the season's home run champion. [1] Wynn's nickname was "the Toy Cannon" for his small size (5'8" 170 lbs.) but his bat had a lot of "pop." After being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Claude Osteen before the 1974 season, he helped the Dodgers win the N.L. pennant by batting .271 with 32 home runs and 108 RBI and earning the Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year Award. He started off 1975 well, but a bad shoulder injury limited his effectiveness at the plate and making throws from center field. He had to move to left field, and was traded by the Dodgers to the Atlanta Braves for Dusty Baker. He spent the final year of his career (1977) mainly as a designated hitter for the New York Yankees and Milwaukee Brewers.

His number 24 was retired by the Astros on June 25, 2005, when the Astros played the Texas Rangers. Jason Lane, who wore Wynn's 24 before the ceremony, changed his number to 16 as a result.

Wynn currently serves as a post-game analyst on Houston Astros television broadcasts on FSN Houston. He also serves as a community outreach executive for the team.

Wynn was a player who walked a lot, giving him a very high on-base percentage. Moreover, he played in the 1960s, a low run-scoring era, as well as in the Astrodome, a low run-scoring park. This has led to many statistical analysts (or proponents of sabermetrics) to argue that Wynn was a very underrated player who might even deserve the Baseball Hall of Fame.^[1]

See also

• List of top 300 Major League Baseball home run hitters
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career stolen bases

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• Baseball Evolution Hall of Fame - Player Profile