Writer’s note: One Sixty-Two is a season-long series of blog posts connecting baseball’s major-league players to life’s universal themes. Just as there are 162 games in a season, so there will be 162 posts in this series. Let’s play some ball.
Day One Hundred-Eight: Brett Wallace, Houston Astros
Summer can make it tough to remember just what home feels like. Between vacations, weekends away and day trips, many of us spend more time outside our house this time of year than we do inside it. While this can be a lot of fun, it also can be a bit disorienting at times. As much as we might hate to admit it, there’s a part of us that looks forward to the return of September routines, and the comfort of our own bed.
Brett Wallace doesn’t care so much about summer versus September. He’s just looking for someplace to call home, period. Since he was selected with the 13th pick of the amateur draft two years ago, Wallace has done nothing but slug home runs in the minor leagues. And yet, he has been traded three times: from the St. Louis Cardinals to the Oakland Athletics, then from the A’s to the Toronto Blue Jays, and finally from Toronto to the Houston Astros just a few days ago. I haven’t followed Wallace’s minor-league career closely, but his stats show a corner infielder who makes some errors but hits a ton. Sounds like a solid prospect to me. Indeed, Baseball America rated Wallace the 27th-best prospect in baseball this spring.
So the Houston Astros, after acquiring a very talented 19-year-old center fielder from the Philadelphia Phillies last week, shipped this youngster off to Toronto in exchange for Wallace. After then trading first baseman Lance Berkman to the Yankees, the Astros gave Wallace the call he’d been waiting for: He was headed from Triple-A to the big leagues.
It’s only been a week, but Wallace has six hits so far, he’s driven in a few runs, and he hasn’t made any errors yet. Things are looking promising for the kid.
Most importantly, Brett Wallace seems to know where home is now. There are no rumors of impending trades, as the Astros are looking for solid young players to help them rebuild. If Wallace keeps hitting, the Astros will be happy to pencil him in as their starting first baseman next year. And that means he might even be able to sign a one-year lease on an apartment in Houston.
Stability, Mr. Wallace, may finally be arriving. And we’re not even in September.
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