1998 Houston Astros season
The 1998 Houston Astros season marked their second consecutive trip to the postseason. They won a club-record 102 games (until the 2018 team broke it with 103 wins), the first time in club history with at least 100 wins in a season. The Astros won their second consecutive National League Central title.
1998 Houston Astros | |
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1998 NL Central Champions | |
Major League affiliations | |
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Location | |
Results | |
Record | 102–60 (.630) |
Divisional place | 1st |
Other information | |
Owner(s) | Drayton McLane, Jr. |
General manager(s) | Gerry Hunsicker |
Manager(s) | Larry Dierker |
Local television | KNWS-TV Fox Sports Southwest (Bill Brown, Jim Deshaies) |
Local radio | KILT (AM) (Milo Hamilton, Alan Ashby) KXYZ (Francisco Ernesto Ruiz, Alex Treviño) |
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Offseason
- December 22, 1997: Rob Butler signed as a Free Agent with the Houston Astros.[1]
Regular season
First baseman Jeff Bagwell hit his first career grand slam while tying a career-high six runs batted in (RBI) against Cincinnati on September 9 in a 13–7 victory. It was his 218th career home run, making his streak the then-longest among active players without a grand slam.[2]
Season standings
NL Central | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
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Houston Astros | 102 | 60 | 0.630 | — | 55–26 | 47–34 |
Chicago Cubs | 90 | 73 | 0.552 | 12½ | 51–31 | 39–42 |
St. Louis Cardinals | 83 | 79 | 0.512 | 19 | 48–34 | 35–45 |
Cincinnati Reds | 77 | 85 | 0.475 | 25 | 39–42 | 38–43 |
Milwaukee Brewers | 74 | 88 | 0.457 | 28 | 38–43 | 36–45 |
Pittsburgh Pirates | 69 | 93 | 0.426 | 33 | 40–40 | 29–53 |
Record vs. opponents
1998 National League Records Sources: | |||||||||||||||||
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Team | ARI | ATL | CHC | CIN | COL | FLA | HOU | LAD | MIL | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL | AL |
Arizona | — | 1–8 | 5–7 | 4–5 | 6–6 | 6–2 | 4–5 | 4–8 | 6–3 | 2–7 | 4–5 | 2–7 | 6–3 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 2–7 | 5–8 |
Atlanta | 8–1 | — | 3–6 | 7–2 | 5–3 | 7–5 | 4–5 | 8–1 | 7–2 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 7–2 | 5–4 | 7–2 | 6–3 | 9–7 |
Chicago | 7–5 | 6–3 | — | 6–5 | 7–2 | 7–2 | 4–7 | 4–5 | 6–6 | 7–2 | 4–5 | 3–6 | 8–3 | 5–4 | 7–3 | 4–7 | 5–8 |
Cincinnati | 5–4 | 2–7 | 5–6 | — | 4–5 | 9–0 | 3–8 | 5–4 | 6–5 | 8–1 | 3–6 | 4–5 | 5–7 | 1–11 | 2–7 | 8–3 | 7-6 |
Colorado | 6–6 | 3–5 | 2–7 | 5–4 | — | 6–3 | 6–5 | 6–6 | 4–7 | 7–2 | 3–6 | 5–4 | 5–4 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 3–6 | 4–8 |
Florida | 2–6 | 5–7 | 2–7 | 0–9 | 3–6 | — | 3–6 | 4–5 | 0–9 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 3–6 | 4–5 | 0–9 | 4–5 | 8–8 |
Houston | 5–4 | 5–4 | 7–4 | 8–3 | 5–6 | 6-3 | — | 3–6 | 9–2 | 7–2 | 5–4 | 7–2 | 9–2 | 5–4 | 6–3 | 5–7 | 10–4 |
Los Angeles | 8–4 | 1–8 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 6–6 | 5–4 | 6–3 | — | 5–4 | 5–4 | 3–5 | 5–4 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 4–5 | 8–5 |
Milwaukee | 3–6 | 2–7 | 6–6 | 5–6 | 7–4 | 9–0 | 2–9 | 4–5 | — | 6–3 | 1–8 | 4–5 | 6–5 | 3–6 | 5–4 | 3–8 | 8–6 |
Montreal | 7–2 | 6–6 | 2–7 | 1–8 | 2–7 | 7–5 | 2–7 | 4–5 | 3–6 | — | 8–4 | 5–7 | 2–7 | 4–4 | 3–6 | 3–6 | 6–10 |
New York | 5–4 | 3–9 | 5–4 | 6–3 | 6–3 | 7–5 | 4–5 | 5–3 | 8–1 | 4–8 | — | 8–4 | 4–5 | 4–5 | 4–5 | 6–3 | 9–7 |
Philadelphia | 7-2 | 4–8 | 6–3 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 6–6 | 2–7 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 7–5 | 4–8 | — | 8–1 | 1–8 | 2–6 | 3–6 | 7–9 |
Pittsburgh | 3–6 | 2–7 | 3–8 | 7–5 | 4–5 | 6–3 | 2–9 | 5–7 | 5–6 | 7–2 | 5–4 | 1–8 | — | 5–4 | 2–7 | 6–5 | 6–7 |
San Diego | 9–3 | 4–5 | 4–5 | 11–1 | 7–5 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 7–5 | 6–3 | 4–4 | 5–4 | 8–1 | 4–5 | — | 8–4 | 6–3 | 6–7 |
San Francisco | 7–5 | 2–7 | 3–7 | 7–2 | 5–7 | 9–0 | 3–6 | 6–6 | 4–5 | 6–3 | 5–4 | 6–2 | 7–2 | 4–8 | — | 7–5 | 8–5 |
St. Louis | 7–2 | 3–6 | 7–4 | 3–8 | 6–3 | 5-4 | 7–5 | 5–4 | 8–3 | 6–3 | 3–6 | 6–3 | 5–6 | 3–6 | 5–7 | — | 4–9 |
Notable Transactions
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 Guillén. The Houston Astros sent John Halama (October 1, 1998) to the Seattle Mariners to complete the trade.[3]
Game Log
Legend | |
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Astros win | |
Astros loss | |
Postponement | |
Bold | Astros team member |
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March/April (17–10)
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May (16–12)
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June (17–10)
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July (15–12)
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August (22–7)
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August (15–9)
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Roster
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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Player stats
Batting
Starters by position
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 Gutiérrez | 141 | 491 | 128 | .261 | 2 | 46 |
3B | Bill Spiers | 123 | 384 | 105 | .273 | 4 | 43 |
LF | Moisés 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 batters
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 Howell | 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 |
Pitching
Starting pitchers
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 |
José Lima | 33 | 233.1 | 16 | 8 | 3.70 | 169 |
Mike Hampton | 32 | 211.2 | 11 | 7 | 3.36 | 137 |
Sean Bergman | 31 | 172 | 12 | 9 | 3.72 | 100 |
Randy Johnson | 11 | 84.1 | 10 | 1 | 1.28 | 116 |
Pete Schourek | 15 | 80 | 7 | 6 | 4.50 | 59 |
John Halama | 6 | 32.1 | 1 | 1 | 5.85 | 21 |
Other pitchers
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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N/A
Relief pitchers
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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Doug Henry | 59 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 3.04 | 59 |
Billy Wagner | 58 | 4 | 3 | 30 | 2.70 | 97 |
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 |
José Cabrera | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.31 | 1 |
Mike Grzanich | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.00 | 1 |
National League Divisional Playoffs
Houston Astros vs. San Diego Padres
The Astros season ended by defeat in four games to the San Diego Padres in the National League Division Series,[4] including losing two starts against Kevin Brown – one of the league's highest-accomplished pitchers that year[5] – both by a 2–1 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. [6] Bagwell, Derek Bell, and Craig Biggio combined for six hits in 51 at bats in this series.[7]
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 Records
- Larry Dierker, National League Manager of the Year
Farm system
Level | Team | League | Manager |
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AAA | New Orleans Zephyrs | Pacific Coast League | John Tamargo |
AA | Jackson Generals | Texas League | Jim Pankovits |
A | Kissimmee Cobras | Florida State League | Manny Acta |
A | Quad Cities River Bandits | Midwest League | Mike Rojas |
A-Short Season | Auburn Doubledays | New York–Penn League | Lyle Yates |
Rookie | GCL Astros | Gulf Coast League | Julio Linares |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: New Orleans; LEAGUE CO-CHAMPIONS: Auburn
References
- Rob Butler Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
- "Bagwell has a career day in 13–7 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.