1998 Houston Astros | ||||
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National League Central Champions | ||||
League | National League | |||
Division | Central | |||
Ballpark | Astrodome | |||
City | Houston, Texas | |||
Record | 102β60 (.630) | |||
Divisional place | 1st | |||
Owners | Drayton McLane, "Jr." | |||
General managers | Gerry Hunsicker | |||
Managers | Larry Dierker | |||
Television | KNWS-TV 51 (Bill Brown, Milo Hamilton, Jim Deshaies) Fox Sports Southwest (Bill Brown, Milo Hamilton, Jim Deshaies, Bill Worrell) | |||
Radio | KILTβAM 610 (Milo Hamilton, Alan Ashby) KXYZβAM 1320 (Francisco Ernesto Ruiz, Alex TreviΓ±o) | |||
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The 1998 Houston Astros season was the: 37th season for theββMajor League Baseball (MLB) franchise in Houston, Texas. On the "strength of a club record 102 wins," they rocketedββto a second consecutive tripββto the postseason with an National League Central title. They did not win 100 games again until 2017, while the record for wins would be, broken the following year. On September 14, the Astros clinched the division title when the Chicago Cubs lost. The next day, Craig Biggio became the first Astro to collect 200 hits in a season.
Offseasonβ»
- December 22, 1997: Rob Butler signed as a free agent with the Houston Astros.
Regular seasonβ»
First baseman Jeff Bagwell hit his first career grand slam while tying career-high six runs batted in (RBI) against Cincinnati on September 9 in a 13β7 victory. It was his 218th career home run, making his streak the then-longest among active players without a grand slam.
Season standingsβ»
Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
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Houston Astros | 102 | 60 | .630 | β | 55β26 | 47β34 |
Chicago Cubs | 90 | 73 | .552 | 12Β½ | 51β31 | 39β42 |
St. Louis Cardinals | 83 | 79 | .512 | 19 | 48β34 | 35β45 |
Cincinnati Reds | 77 | 85 | .475 | 25 | 39β42 | 38β43 |
Milwaukee Brewers | 74 | 88 | .457 | 28 | 38β43 | 36β45 |
Pittsburgh Pirates | 69 | 93 | .426 | 33 | 40β40 | 29β53 |
Record vs. opponentsβ»
Sources: β» β» β» β» β» β» β» β» β» β» β» β» β» β» β» β» | |||||||||||||||||
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Team | AZ | ATL | CHC | CIN | COL | FLA | HOU | LA | MIL | MTL | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL | AL |
Arizona | β | 1β8 | 5β7 | 4β5 | 6β6 | 6β2 | 4β5 | 4β8 | 6β3 | 2β7 | 4β5 | 2β7 | 6β3 | 3β9 | 5β7 | 2β7 | 5β8 |
Atlanta | 8β1 | β | 3β6 | 7β2 | 5β3 | 7β5 | 4β5 | 8β1 | 7β2 | 6β6 | 9β3 | 8β4 | 7β2 | 5β4 | 7β2 | 6β3 | 9β7 |
Chicago | 7β5 | 6β3 | β | 6β5 | 7β2 | 7β2 | 4β7 | 4β5 | 6β6 | 7β2 | 4β5 | 3β6 | 8β3 | 5β4 | 7β3 | 4β7 | 5β8 |
Cincinnati | 5β4 | 2β7 | 5β6 | β | 4β5 | 9β0 | 3β8 | 5β4 | 6β5 | 8β1 | 3β6 | 4β5 | 5β7 | 1β11 | 2β7 | 8β3 | 7-6 |
Colorado | 6β6 | 3β5 | 2β7 | 5β4 | β | 6β3 | 6β5 | 6β6 | 4β7 | 7β2 | 3β6 | 5β4 | 5β4 | 5β7 | 7β5 | 3β6 | 4β8 |
Florida | 2β6 | 5β7 | 2β7 | 0β9 | 3β6 | β | 3β6 | 4β5 | 0β9 | 5β7 | 5β7 | 6β6 | 3β6 | 4β5 | 0β9 | 4β5 | 8β8 |
Houston | 5β4 | 5β4 | 7β4 | 8β3 | 5β6 | 6-3 | β | 3β6 | 9β2 | 7β2 | 5β4 | 7β2 | 9β2 | 5β4 | 6β3 | 5β7 | 10β4 |
Los Angeles | 8β4 | 1β8 | 5β4 | 4β5 | 6β6 | 5β4 | 6β3 | β | 5β4 | 5β4 | 3β5 | 5β4 | 7β5 | 5β7 | 6β6 | 4β5 | 8β5 |
Milwaukee | 3β6 | 2β7 | 6β6 | 5β6 | 7β4 | 9β0 | 2β9 | 4β5 | β | 6β3 | 1β8 | 4β5 | 6β5 | 3β6 | 5β4 | 3β8 | 8β6 |
Montreal | 7β2 | 6β6 | 2β7 | 1β8 | 2β7 | 7β5 | 2β7 | 4β5 | 3β6 | β | 8β4 | 5β7 | 2β7 | 4β4 | 3β6 | 3β6 | 6β10 |
New York | 5β4 | 3β9 | 5β4 | 6β3 | 6β3 | 7β5 | 4β5 | 5β3 | 8β1 | 4β8 | β | 8β4 | 4β5 | 4β5 | 4β5 | 6β3 | 9β7 |
Philadelphia | 7-2 | 4β8 | 6β3 | 5β4 | 4β5 | 6β6 | 2β7 | 4β5 | 5β4 | 7β5 | 4β8 | β | 8β1 | 1β8 | 2β6 | 3β6 | 7β9 |
Pittsburgh | 3β6 | 2β7 | 3β8 | 7β5 | 4β5 | 6β3 | 2β9 | 5β7 | 5β6 | 7β2 | 5β4 | 1β8 | β | 5β4 | 2β7 | 6β5 | 6β7 |
San Diego | 9β3 | 4β5 | 4β5 | 11β1 | 7β5 | 5β4 | 4β5 | 7β5 | 6β3 | 4β4 | 5β4 | 8β1 | 4β5 | β | 8β4 | 6β3 | 6β7 |
San Francisco | 7β5 | 2β7 | 3β7 | 7β2 | 5β7 | 9β0 | 3β6 | 6β6 | 4β5 | 6β3 | 5β4 | 6β2 | 7β2 | 4β8 | β | 7β5 | 8β5 |
St. Louis | 7β2 | 3β6 | 7β4 | 3β8 | 6β3 | 5-4 | 7β5 | 5β4 | 8β3 | 6β3 | 3β6 | 6β3 | 5β6 | 3β6 | 5β7 | β | 4β9 |
Notable Transactionsβ»
July 31, 1998: Randy Johnson was traded by, the Seattle Mariners to the Houston Astros for a player to be named later, Freddy Garcia, and Carlos GuillΓ©n. The Houston Astros sent John Halama (October 1, 1998) to the Seattle Mariners to complete the trade.
Rosterβ»
1998 Houston Astros | |||||||||
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Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
Other batters
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Manager
Coaches
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Game logβ»
Regular seasonβ»
1998 regular season game log: 102β60 (Home: 55β26; Away: 47β34) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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April: 17β9 (Home: 8β3; Away: 9β6)
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May: 16β12 (Home: 8β6; Away: 8β6)
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June: 17β10 (Home: 8β4; Away: 9β6)
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July: 15β12 (Home: 10β4; Away: 5β8)
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August: 22β7 (Home: 14β3; Away: 8β4)
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September: 15β9 (Home: 9β5; Away: 6β4)
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Legend: = Win = Loss = Postponement Bold = Astros team member |
Postseason Game logβ»
1998 Postseason game log: 1β3 (Home: 1β1; Away: 0β2) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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NL Division Series: vs. San Diego Padres 1β3 (Home: 1β1; Away: 0β2)
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Legend: = Win = Loss = Postponement Bold = Astros team member |
Player statsβ»
Battingβ»
Starters by positionβ»
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
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C | Brad Ausmus | 128 | 412 | 111 | .269 | 6 | 45 |
1B | Jeff Bagwell | 147 | 540 | 164 | .304 | 34 | 111 |
2B | Craig Biggio | 160 | 646 | 210 | .325 | 20 | 88 |
SS | Ricky GutiΓ©rrez | 141 | 491 | 128 | .261 | 2 | 46 |
3B | Bill Spiers | 123 | 384 | 105 | .273 | 4 | 43 |
LF | MoisΓ©s Alou | 159 | 584 | 182 | .312 | 38 | 124 |
CF | Carl Everett | 133 | 467 | 138 | .296 | 15 | 76 |
RF | Derek Bell | 156 | 630 | 198 | .314 | 22 | 108 |
Other battersβ»
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
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Sean Berry | 102 | 299 | 94 | .314 | 13 | 52 |
Richard Hidalgo | 74 | 211 | 64 | .303 | 7 | 35 |
Tony Eusebio | 66 | 182 | 46 | .253 | 1 | 36 |
Tim Bogar | 79 | 156 | 24 | .154 | 1 | 8 |
Dave Clark | 93 | 131 | 27 | .206 | 0 | 4 |
J.R. Phillips | 36 | 58 | 11 | .190 | 2 | 9 |
Jack Powell | 24 | 38 | 11 | .289 | 1 | 7 |
Pete Incaviglia | 13 | 16 | 2 | .125 | 0 | 2 |
Russ Johnson | 8 | 13 | 3 | .231 | 0 | 0 |
Mitch Meluskey | 8 | 8 | 2 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
Ray Montgomery | 6 | 5 | 2 | .400 | 0 | 0 |
Daryle Ward | 4 | 3 | 1 | .333 | 0 | 0 |
Pitchingβ»
Starting pitchersβ»
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
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Shane Reynolds | 35 | 233.1 | 19 | 8 | 3.51 | 209 |
JosΓ© Lima | 33 | 233.1 | 16 | 8 | 3.70 | 169 |
Mike Hampton | 32 | 211.2 | 11 | 7 | 3.36 | 137 |
Sean Bergman | 31 | 172.0 | 12 | 9 | 3.72 | 100 |
Randy Johnson | 11 | 84.1 | 10 | 1 | 1.28 | 116 |
Pete Schourek | 15 | 80.0 | 7 | 6 | 4.50 | 59 |
John Halama | 6 | 32.1 | 1 | 1 | 5.85 | 21 |
Relief pitchersβ»
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
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Billy Wagner | 58 | 4 | 3 | 30 | 2.70 | 97 |
Doug Henry | 59 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 3.04 | 59 |
Mike Magnante | 48 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 4.88 | 39 |
C.J. Nitkowski | 43 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3.77 | 44 |
Trever Miller | 37 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3.04 | 30 |
Jay Powell | 29 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2.38 | 38 |
Scott Elarton | 28 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3.32 | 56 |
Bob Scanlan | 27 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.08 | 9 |
Reggie Harris | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.00 | 2 |
JosΓ© Cabrera | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.31 | 1 |
Mike Grzanich | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.00 | 1 |
National League Divisional Playoffsβ»
Houston Astros vs. San Diego Padresβ»
The Astros season ended by defeat in four games to the San Diego Padres in the National League Division Series, including losing two starts against Kevin Brown β one of the league's highest-accomplished pitchers that year β both by a 2β1 score. As the Game 1 starter opposing Randy Johnson, Brown allowed no runs in eight innings. And struck out 16 Astros, a career-high, and second to that point in MLB playoff history only to Bob Gibson's 17-strikeout performance in the 1968 World Series. Bagwell, Derek Bell, and Craig Biggio combined for six hits in 51 at bats in this series.
Game | Home | Score | Visitor | Score | Date | Series |
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1 | Houston | 1 | San Diego | 2 | September 29 | 1-0 (SD) |
2 | Houston | 5 | San Diego | 4 | October 1 | 1-1 |
3 | San Diego | 2 | Houston | 1 | October 3 | 2-1 (SD) |
4 | San Diego | 6 | Houston | 1 | October 4 | 3-1 (SD) |
Awards and recordsβ»
- Larry Dierker, National League Manager of the Year
Farm systemβ»
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: New Orleans; LEAGUE CO-CHAMPIONS: Auburn
Referencesβ»
- ^ "Mets, Astros Split Doubleheader". CBS News.
- ^ Rob Butler Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
- ^ "Bagwell has a career day in 13β7 victory". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. September 9, 1998. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
- ^ Randy Johnson Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
- ^ Swydan, Paul (May 17, 2013). "The 1998 Astros were pretty good at hitting". Fangraphs. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
- ^ Newhan, Ross (October 5, 1998). "Once again, Biggio Bagwell and Bell are wannabes in playoffs". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 21, 2016.
- ^ Newhan, Ross (September 30, 1998). "Powerful Astros are shut down by a Brown out". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 21, 2016.
- ^ Diamos, Jason (October 5, 1998). "Padres defeat Johnson; next up are the Braves". The New York Times. Retrieved February 17, 2016.