Michael Shapiro is a sports reporter for Chron, covering the Astros, Rockets, Texans and every team in town. Michael is a Denver native and graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, and a noted fan of pull-up threes, wide-receiver passes and a good hot fudge sundae.

Though still in a tentative stage, the Jose Altuve-in-left field experiment is underway. Two weeks remain until the Houston Astros hold their first full-squad workout of spring training. But in Houston,

Wagner’s No. 13 will be the 10th number retired by the Astros during a ceremony Aug. 16. He’ll be inducted July 27 in Cooperstown with Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia, Dave Parker and Dick Allen.

It will be a busy summer for former left-handed closer Billy Wagner, who will have his No. 13 retired by the Houston Astros before an Aug. 16 home game.

Rich Dauer, a former Baltimore Orioles infielder and Houston Astros first base coach, died Monday at 72. Dauer was honored by Houston star and current free agent Alex Bregman in an Instagram post Monday night. "RIP my brother. We love you," Bregman wrote. "You will be missed."

Former Houston Astros coach Rich Dauer has died at the age of 72, years after he underwent an emergency brain surgery the day of the team’s World Series celebration.