We have been reliably informed that Lance Berkman is wearing a "Sumo-Wrestler" costume in the below-pictured card. Gee, we would have never guessed. . .
In fact, in addition to the Japanese fat-guy shenanigans, according to BaseballLibrary.com, "Berkman's record includes no less than three instances of impersonating a mascot. In 1998, while playing for the [New Orleans] Zephyrs, Berkman was stuck on the DL while the team was in a slump. During one home game manager Tony Peña looked up and saw an unusually large Zephyrs' mascot dancing on the dugout. He quickly realized that his 6'1", 205-pound star outfielder was risking a re-injury to his knee, and ordered him down, slapping him with a $25 fine."
Beyond all that kooky stuff, Lance Berkman has also proven to be one of the greatest players in Astros history in terms of OPS. His 2001 season is the greatest single season for that category, and his name peppers the list of Astros with over 400 at bats (as in the 1994 strike-shortened season, Bagwell only had four hundred AB's) to OPS over 1.000 in a single season.
Player Year SLG OBP OPS AB
1994 Jeff Bagwell .750 .451 1.201 400
2001 Lance Berkman .620 .430 1.051 577
1999 Jeff Bagwell .591 .454 1.045 562
2006 Lance Berkman .621 .420 1.041 536
2000 Jeff Bagwell .615 .424 1.039 590
2000 Moises Alou .623 .416 1.039 454
2000 Richard Hidalgo .636 .391 1.028 558
1996 Jeff Bagwell .570 .451 1.021 568
1997 Jeff Bagwell .592 .425 1.017 566
2004 Lance Berkman .566 .450 1.016 544
2000 Just Minors #108
And of course, this all has quite a bit to do with the era in which he's played, but Berkman is also one of only three Astros with 1000+ ABs to maintain a .900+ career OPS (at least through November of 2006, when this page was last revised):
| Player | SLG | OBP | OPS | AB | |||||
| Moises Alou | .585 | .403 | .988 | 1551 | |||||
| Lance Berkman | .567 | .416 | .983 | 3687 | Jeff Bagwell | .540 | .407 | .948 | 7797 | |
The Astros' page on Berkman
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