Rightfielder Dave Roberts, in addition to being the first of three Dave Roberts's to drift through the Houston organization, was also its first great minor-league player. He was not a rookie in 1962 when he put up the .322/15/96 numbers you see below, but his Oklahoma City '89ers were. He got 178 major league at-bats with the Colt .45's, which is probably enough of a sample to indicate that he could hit AAA pitching, but not major league. Still...ya gotta wonder. . .His numbers were so good at Oklahoma. Might he have improved that .202 if given a shot in '65? Roberts was an American Association all-star in '62 and a Pacific Coast League all-star in '64. He still holds the '89er single season home run record of 38 that he set in 1965. Over four 89er seasons he hit .309 with 99 doubles, 74 home runs and an 89er-record 326 RBIs. After a year with the Pirates and their Columbus, Ohio affiliate, Roberts finished his 22-year pro career with seven seasons in Japan. Let's pick up our story in the tenth year of Roberts' career:
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Dave Roberts
Season Team League BA HR RBI
1961 Houston American Association .208 3 21
1961 Jacksonville South Atlantic .316 8 29
1962 Oklahoma City American Association .322 15 96
1962 Houston National .245 1 10
1963 Oklahoma City Pacific Coast .270 16 86
1964 Houston National .184 1 7
1964 Oklahoma City Pacific Coast .371 5 30
1965 Oklahoma City Pacific Coast .318 38 114
1966 Columbus International .272 26 83
1966 Pittsburgh National .125 0 0