1989 Houston Astros season

The Houston Astros' 1989 season in American baseball involved the Houston Astros attempting to win the National League West. The season was best remembered for the Astros winning 16 of 17 games in late May through mid June.

1989 Houston Astros
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1962)
Western Division (since 1969)
Location
The Astrodome (since 1965) Houston, Texas (since 1962)
Results
Record	86–76 (.531)
Divisional place	3rd
Other information
Owner(s)	John McMullen
General manager(s)	Bill Wood
Manager(s)	Art Howe
Local television	KTXH HSE
Local radio	KTRH (Bill Brown, Milo Hamilton, Larry Dierker, Bruce Gietzen, Bill Worrell, Enos Cabell) KXYZ (Orlando Sánchez-Diago, Rolando Becerra)
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Offseason

• December 4, 1988: The Astros traded a player to be named later to the Minnesota Twins for Mark Portugal. The Astros completed the deal by sending Todd McClure (minors) to the Twins on December 7.[1]
• December 21, 1988: Bob Forsch was signed as a free agent by the Astros.[2]
• January 10, 1989: John Fishel, Mike Hook (minors), and Pedro DeLeon (minors) were traded by the Astros to the New York Yankees for Rick Rhoden.[3]
• January 30, 1989: Dan Schatzeder was signed as a free agent by the Astros.[4]
• February 16, 1989: Roger Mason was signed as a Free Agent with the Houston Astros.[5]
• March 31, 1989: Dave Johnson and Victor Hithe (minors) were traded by the Astros to the Baltimore Orioles for Carl Nichols.[6]

Regular season

Standings

NL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
San Francisco Giants	92	70	0.568	—	53–28	39–42
San Diego Padres	89	73	0.549	3	46–35	43–38
Houston Astros	86	76	0.531	6	47–35	39–41
Los Angeles Dodgers	77	83	0.481	14	44–37	33–46
Cincinnati Reds	75	87	0.463	17	38–43	37–44
Atlanta Braves	63	97	0.394	28	33–46	30–51

Record vs. opponents

1989 National League Records Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	5–7	8–10	8–10	6–10	6–6	2–10	8–4	4–8	7–11	6–12	3–9
Chicago	7–5	—	7–5	5–7	7–5	10–8	10–8	10–8	12–6	8–4	6–6	11–7
Cincinnati	10–8	5–7	—	8–10	8–10	4–8	4–8	4–8	7–5	9–9	8–10	8–4
Houston	10–8	7–5	10–8	—	10–8	4–8	6–6	9–3	7–5	8–10	8–10	7–5
Los Angeles	10–6	5–7	10–8	8–10	—	7–5	5–7	6–6	7–5	6–12	10–8	3–9
Montreal	6–6	8–10	8–4	8–4	5–7	—	9–9	9–9	11–7	5–7	7–5	5–13
New York	10–2	8–10	8–4	6–6	7–5	9–9	—	12–6	9–9	5–7	3–9	10–8
Philadelphia	4-8	8–10	8–4	3–9	6–6	9–9	6–12	—	10–8	2–10	4–8	7–11
Pittsburgh	8–4	6–12	5–7	5–7	5–7	7–11	9–9	8–10	—	3–9	5–7	13–5
San Diego	11–7	4–8	9–9	10–8	12–6	7–5	7–5	10–2	9–3	—	8–10	2–10
San Francisco	12–6	6–6	10–8	10–8	8–10	5–7	9–3	8–4	7–5	10–8	—	7–5
St. Louis	9–3	7–11	4–8	5–7	9–3	13–5	8–10	11–7	5–13	10–2	5–7	—

Notable transactions

• April 5, 1989: Greg Gross was signed as a Free Agent with the Houston Astros.[7]
• April 6, 1989: Troy Afenir was traded by the Astros to the Oakland Athletics for Matt Sinatro.[8]
• June 5, 1989: Jeff Juden was drafted by the Astros in the 1st round (12th pick) of the 1989 Major League Baseball draft. Player signed June 30, 1989.[9]

Roster

1989 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers 49 Juan Agosto 47 Larry Andersen 52 José Canó 38 Jim Clancy 44 Danny Darwin 43 Jim Deshaies 31 Bob Forsch 39 Bob Knepper 22 Roger Mason 35 Brian Meyer 51 Mark Portugal 36 Rick Rhoden 20 Dan Schatzeder 33 Mike Scott 45 Dave Smith		Catchers 14 Alan Ashby  7 Craig Biggio 28 Carl Nichols  9 Alex Treviño Infielders 11 Ken Caminiti 27 Glenn Davis 19 Bill Doran  4 Steve Lombardozzi 16 Rafael Ramírez 12 Craig Reynolds 10 Harry Spilman 29 Ron Washington 15 Eric Yelding		Outfielders 23 Eric Anthony 17 Kevin Bass 42 Mark Davidson  6 Greg Gross 28 Billy Hatcher 26 Louie Meadows 21 Terry Puhl 13 Glenn Wilson  2 Gerald Young		Manager 18 Art Howe Coaches  8 Yogi Berra 48 Matt Galante  3 Phil Garner 55 Les Moss  5 Ed Napoleon 24 Ed Ott

[10]

Player stats

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
C	Craig Biggio	134	443	114	.257	13	60
1B	Glenn Davis	158	581	156	.269	34	89
2B	Bill Doran	142	507	111	.219	8	58
3B	Ken Caminiti	161	585	149	.255	10	72
SS	Rafael Ramírez	151	537	132	.246	6	54
LF	Billy Hatcher	108	395	90	.228	3	44
CF	Gerald Young	146	533	124	.233	0	38
RF	Terry Puhl	121	354	96	.271	0	27

Other batters

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Kevin Bass	87	313	94	.300	5	44
Craig Reynolds	101	189	38	.201	2	14
Alex Treviño	59	131	38	.290	2	16
Glenn Wilson	28	102	22	.216	2	15
Eric Yelding	70	90	21	.233	0	9
Greg Gross	60	75	15	.200	0	4
Alan Ashby	22	61	10	.164	0	3
Eric Anthony	25	61	11	.180	4	7
Louie Meadows	31	51	9	.176	3	10
Steve Lombardozzi	21	37	8	.216	1	3
Harry Spilman	32	36	10	.278	0	3
Carl Nichols	8	13	1	.077	0	2
Ron Washington	7	7	1	.143	0	0

Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Mike Scott	33	229	20	10	3.10	172
Jim Deshaies	34	225.2	15	10	2.91	153
Jim Clancy	33	147	7	14	5.08	91
Bob Knepper	22	113	4	10	5.89	45
Mark Portugal	20	108	7	1	2.75	86
Rick Rhoden	20	96.2	2	6	4.28	41

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Bob Forsch	37	108.1	4	5	5.32	40
José Canó	6	23	1	1	5.09	8

Relief pitchers

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Juan Agosto	71	4	5	1	2.93	46
Danny Darwin	68	11	4	7	2.36	104
Larry Andersen	60	4	4	3	1.54	85
Dave Smith	52	3	4	25	2.64	31
Dan Schatzeder	36	4	1	1	4.45	46
Brian Meyer	12	0	1	1	4.50	13
Roger Mason	2	0	0	0	20.25	3
Greg Gross	1	0	0	0	18.00	1
Craig Reynolds	1	0	0	0	27.00	0

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Tucson Toros	Pacific Coast League	Bob Skinner
AA	Columbus Mudcats	Southern League	Tom Wiedenbauer
A	Osceola Astros	Florida State League	Rick Sweet
A	Asheville Tourists	South Atlantic League	Jim Coveney
A-Short Season	Auburn Astros	New York–Penn League	Reggie Waller
Rookie	GCL Astros	Gulf Coast League	Julio Linares

References

1. Mark Portugal at Baseball Reference
2. Bob Forsch at Baseball Reference
3. Rick Rhoden at Baseball Reference
4. Dan Schatzeder at Baseball Reference
5. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/masonro01.shtml
6. Carl Nichols at Baseball Reference
7. https://www.baseball-reference.com/g/grossgr01.shtml
8. Troy Afenir at Baseball Reference
9. Jeff Juden at Baseball Reference
10. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1989&t=HOU

External links

• 1989 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference