Lance Berkman
FameRank: 6

"William Lance Berkman", nicknamed "Big Puma", is an American former professional baseball outfielder and first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers (baseball)/Texas Rangers.

A standout baseball player at Comal Independent School District/Canyon High School, Berkman attended Rice University, where he played college baseball for the Rice Owls. Named the 1997 National College Player of the Year, the Astros selected Berkman in the first round of the 1997 MLB Draft, and he debuted in MLB for the Astros in 1999. The Astros traded Berkman to the Yankees at the 2010 trade deadline. He spent the 2011 and 2012 seasons with the Cardinals, and the 2013 season with the Rangers, before deciding to retire. He signed a one day contract with Houston to officially retire as an Astro.

Berkman is a six-time Major League Baseball All-Star Game/MLB All-Star. He won the National League Comeback Player of the Year Award in 2011. He stands , and weighs . Berkman has spent various seasons of his career as a regular at all three outfield positions.

More Lance Berkman on Wikipedia.

There's a little more margin for error this year. Last year, it felt like we had to win every game. That wasn't a lot of fun.

192

It's a very high honor, ... I remember when I was being recruited to go there and they take you through the hall of honor and see all the guys' pictures and stuff. It doesn't even cross your mind then that one day you'll have your picture up there.

179

Viz is another guy that I think is great with not only the Latino guys but he's also great for guys like me. Anybody can draw on his wealth of experience. They set a standard for the right way to play the game and the right way to conduct yourself in the clubhouse and on the field. Their example is very important.

175

I don't care how he pitches. He's out there and his mom just passed away. If he pitches great or not, it's not going to matter one bit to anybody in here.

170

People have been saying we have the best schedule for the wild-card race, but I don't know that's true, ... These guys are tough, and we still have to play the game. Anything can happen, and obviously tonight Roger didn't have his best stuff, and they capitalized on it and we weren't able to stay in the game.

152

He did what he always does. It's amazing that on a day like this that he was able to focus and perform.

151

I feel like Wandy's thrown the ball really well the whole year, ... I know he's had a few rough starts, but you can't expect a rookie to come up and give the innings he's given us.

147

If we win (the wild card), it's because we have unbelievable starting pitching.

132

There's not another starting rotation that measures up to ours. And then you get to the back part of the game, with (Brad) Lidge. That's who we are. We don't outslug teams; we outpitch them.

86