Funk was born in Kansas City, Missouri. The Astros selected him in the 28th round of the June 1983 free agent draft. The 6\' 2" 210 lbs left-hander quickly began to work his way through the Houston minor league system. He was enjoying a good year with the Columbus Astros when he was called to the parent club.\n', '

Upon reaching the Majors, Funk quickly filled the role of a left-handed reliever for the Astros bullpen. The team was in the middle of a pennant race and had been lacking a lefty since Frank DiPino had been traded to the Chicago Cubs. In his first seven games Funk would record a stellar era of 2.45. On August 23, 1986 he was summoned from the bullpen at Busch Memorial Stadium to relieve Mike Scott in what was a 3-1 St. Louis Cardinals lead. Funk would proceed to get hammered during the course of the inning. He surrendered four earned runs and helped pad the Cardinals lead to 7 to 1. Funk\'s era ballooned to 6.48 and he was quickly demoted back to the minors at the behest of manager Hal Lanier. Jeff Calhoun would assume his spot as the left-handed reliever in the Astros bullpen for the remainder of the season. For the year, and his career, Funk finished with no decisions or saves over 8⅓ innings in eight games with six walks, two strikeouts (Mariano Duncan and Len Matuszek of the Los Angeles Dodgers), and the aforementioned 6.48 earned run average.\n', '

Funk appeared in his first big league game on Thursday, July 24, 1986 in a 9-3 Houston win over the Philadelphia Phillies at Veterans Stadium. He pitched the 9th and last inning of the game. The first batter he faced hit a home run. The following is the play by play;\n', '

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