Jimmy “The Toy Cannon” Wynn was known for his prolific home runs! He could steal bases, hit, field and throw with the best of them! He wasn’t the largest or most imposing figure on the field, but his impact during and after his career was larger then life. He helped to build the Astros as an organization when he played, and he spent years building the organization as well as the community of Houston.

RIP to an All Star on the field and off.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2020/03/26/former-astros-star-jimmy-the-toy-cannon-wynn-dies-at-78/111466634/

RIP

was well before my time, but just based on his BR page, seems like a guy whose perception was hurt from him playing in a pitchers era in a pitchers park. some monster seasons in the late 60s and early 70s

Wynn was a terrific player. 06gsp, I completely agree with you regarding his perception; he played the majority of his career in either the Astrodome or Dodger Stadium, neither of which helped him.

In the film Apollo 13 there is a scene in which a baseball game on television features Wynn hitting a homer. Here's some detail: https://www.baseball-fever.com/forum/general-baseball/baseball-arts-literature-books-movies-tv/71442-apollo-13-film-and-jimmy-wynn

Wynn's career WAR of 55.8 (using baseball-reference) puts him in the top 150 all time for position players; this puts him in a cluster of players in the mid-50s that includes some hall of famers and other very well-known players: Will Clark, David Ortiz, Joe Gordon, Hank Greenberg, Joe Mauer, Willie Keeler, Joe Medwick, Luis Aparicio.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/WAR_bat_career.shtml

For those who prefer Win Shares to WAR, in the 2nd edition of his Historical Baseball Abstract (now 20 years old!) Bill James ranked Wynn the 10th best center fielder of all time, ahead of (among others) Larry Doby, Dale Murphy, Richie Ashburn and SIM-favorite Max Carey.

Loved watching Jimmy play! Had he played in Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, or any of several other HR friendly parks, he could have hit 400+ HR. Could field, run, hit with power...such an exciting player.

Well before my time, but an Astros legend who’s mentioned many times over the season in the Astros trivia questions.

R.I.P. Toy Cannon. He is on one of my prog teams now in its 1974 season and he helped me win a threepeat (1966-68)!

I am sorry to hear that. I always liked him, though he never played on teams I rooted for. But he was a fixture in baseball.

Had he played in a good home run ballpark, Wrigley or Tiger Stadium, or with that wall in Fenway?

I've had him for his career thus for (going into 1971) in the NWPEE prog. Solid power and OBP thread.

RIP

Posted by contrarian23 on 3/27/2020 1:50:00 PM (view original):
Wynn was a terrific player. 06gsp, I completely agree with you regarding his perception; he played the majority of his career in either the Astrodome or Dodger Stadium, neither of which helped him.

In the film Apollo 13 there is a scene in which a baseball game on television features Wynn hitting a homer. Here's some detail: https://www.baseball-fever.com/forum/general-baseball/baseball-arts-literature-books-movies-tv/71442-apollo-13-film-and-jimmy-wynn

Sounds like a good movie to revisit.