Baseball is a game for people who are hooked on hope. It requires patience for achieving long-term success, a willingness to live through the grind of daily effort without giving up, and a positive attitude, even when our club fails to reach the ultimate goal of winning the World Series, that we shall get back up as soon as possible from disappointment and try again next year—never abandoning our hope for something better until we reach that goal of becoming the best we can be. Along the way, and from one simple ordinary day to the next, the real joy of baseball is found in the journey.

No one personifies the spirit of hope that is baseball any better than the man we honor with this first annual award for community service. Nicknamed “The Toy Cannon” by Houston writer John Wilson, Jimmy Wynn still wears that description as beautifully as the finest tailor-made suit in the world.

Standing 5’9”, and weighing only 160 pounds, Wynn blasted his way into the big leagues as a Houston Colt .45 and Astro (1963-73) by becoming one of the most prolific compact power hitters in baseball history. His 37 homers in 1967 was an Astros club record until it was broken in 1994 by Jeff Bagwell’s 39 total. Wynn’s 223 Houston homers are 3rd on the all-time franchise list behind Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio. Jimmy finished his big-league career in 1977 with 291 dingers, plus a World Series homer for the Dodgers in 1974.

“Today I spend my time trying to give back to others, especially to kids, for all the gifts that God has bestowed upon me,” says Wynn. Among his many unpublicized acts of charity, Jimmy Wynn is an untiring volunteer for the Astros in Action Foundation.

It is the toy cannon of a positive vision that Jimmy Wynn now quietly carries with him to those who need to be hooked on hope in their own lives. Tonight the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame is doubly honored to establish this award in his name—and to present Jimmy Wynn as the first annual recipient.