1994 Houston Astros season

The Houston Astros' 1994 season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Houston Astros attempting to win the inaugural season of the National League Central division; they finished in second place. First baseman Jeff Bagwell was a unanimous selection for the National League Most Valuable Player Award. Despite nearly the last two months of the being cancelled due to the 1994–95 strike, Bagwell set a then-club record for home runs with 39 and a club record for batting average (.368) and slugging percentage (.750).

1994 Houston Astros
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record66–49 (.574)
Divisional place2nd
Other information
Owner(s)Drayton McLane, Jr.
General manager(s)Bob Watson
Manager(s)Terry Collins
Local televisionKTXH
Local radioKPRC (AM)
(Bill Brown, Milo Hamilton, Larry Dierker, Vince Controneo, Bill Worrell, Enos Cabell)
KXYZ
(Francisco Ernesto Ruiz, Danny Gonzalez)
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Offseason

Regular season

On June 24, Jeff Bagwell hit three home runs against the Los Angeles Dodgers at the Astrodome – two in the same inning – in a 16–4 rout, becoming the first Astro since Glenn Davis in 1990 to do so. He was the NL Player of the Week for consecutive weeks on June 19 and June 26 and the NL Player of the Month for June, his second career monthly award.[5]

Overview of Jeff Bagwell's unanimous Most Valuable Player Award season

Bagwell finished the 1994 season playing in 110 games and batting .368 with a .750 SLG, 1.201 OPS, 39 HR, 116 RBI, 104 runs scored, 300 total bases and 213 adjusted OPS (OPS+) in 400 at-bats. He led the major leagues in SLG, OPS+, RBI, and total bases, and the NL in runs scored and OPS, but fell short of winning the batting Triple Crown, finishing second for the batting title to Tony Gwynn, who, after batting .394, had the highest average in the major leagues since Ted Williams in 1941.[6] Bagwell finished second in HR to Matt Williams, who hit 43.[7] Bagwell set the record for the fewest plate appearances in a season with at least 100 runs and RBI and became the first National Leaguer to finish first or second in batting average, home runs, RBI, and runs scored since Willie Mays in 1955.[8] His .750 SLG at the time ranked as the seventh-best ever[9] – it still ranks as the 11th best single-season mark in Major League history – and was the highest by a National Leaguer since Rogers Hornsby in 1925 (.756). He unanimously won the NL Most Valuable Player Award, becoming the fourth player in National League history to be unanimously voted the award, and the first Astros player to win the award.[5] Bagwell also won his first Silver Slugger Award and Rawlings Gold Glove Award, and Player of the Year Awards from the Associated Press, Baseball Digest, and USA Today Baseball Weekly.[10]

At the time, in National League history, the 213 OPS+ trailed only Hornsby's 1924 season (222 OPS+) for the second-highest ever;[11] as of 2015, it was tied for 24th highest of all time in all major league seasons, and was the eighth highest among all not by Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth or Williams. Bagwell generated a .383 Isolated Power (ISO) mark, the 16th-highest in history. Twelve of the 15 higher seasons belonged to Bonds, Ruth, and Mark McGwire. Seven of the ten seasons that exceeded his .750 SLG belonged to Bonds and Ruth. Bagwell's 10.26 at bats per home run (AB/HR) ratio is the 25th-best in history. The 1.2009 OPS is the 20th-highest in history; 13 of the seasons that are higher belong to Bonds, Ruth and Williams.[5] The 116 RBI in 110 games qualified for the 13th-highest ratio in history.[12]

Projecting Bagwell's totals to 162 games and 650 plate appearances, he was on pace to amass 47 doubles, 57 home runs, 170 RBI, 22 stolen bases, 95 walks, 216 hits, along with .451 OBP, .750 SLG, and 1.201 OPS. When leading off an inning, he batted .460, .514 OBP, .990 SLG, 1.504 OPS, 14 HR, nine doubles and a triple. He also hit 23 home runs in 56 games at the Astrodome, setting a record that stood for the stadium that was famed to be pitcher-friendly until the Astros moved out following the 1999 season.[5] Bagwell's other totals in the Astrodome that season included a .373 batting average, 54 runs scored, 58 RBI, .816 SLG and 1.275 OPS. In 125 plate appearances against left-handed pitching, he batted .457 with 20 BB, 18 HR and 11 doubles for a .544 OBP, 1.095 SLG and 1.639 OPS.[13] He set single-season club records for batting average, SLG, OPS, OPS+, AB/HR, and offensive win percentage (.858), and also for home runs, breaking Wynn's 27-year-old record, and RBI, breaking Bob Watson's record he had set 17 years earlier – later which he again both subsequently broke.[7]

By Friday, August 12, the Astros had compiled a 66-49 record through 115 games. They were trailing the Cincinnati Reds by half a game for the NL Central Division lead and the Atlanta Braves by 2.5 games in the 1994 NL Wildcard Race. They had scored 602 runs (5.23 per game) and had allowed 503 runs (4.37 per game).[14]

Offensively, the Astros led the Majors in doubles during the strike-shortened season (252) intentional walks (58) and sacrifice hits (73).[15]

Game log
1994 Regular Season Game Log (66-49) (Home: 37-22; Road: 29-27)
Legend
Astros win Astros loss All-Star Game Game postponed

Season standings
NL Central W L Pct. GB Home Road
Cincinnati Reds 6648 0.579 — 37–22 29–26
Houston Astros 6649 0.574 ½ 37–22 29–27
Pittsburgh Pirates 5361 0.465 13 32–29 21–32
St. Louis Cardinals 5361 0.465 13 23–33 30–28
Chicago Cubs 4964 0.434 16½ 20–39 29–25
Division leaders W L Pct.
Montreal Expos 7440 0.649
Cincinnati Reds 6648 0.579
Los Angeles Dodgers 5856 0.509
Wild card team W L Pct. GB
Atlanta Braves68460.597—
Houston Astros66490.5742​1⁄2
New York Mets55580.48712​1⁄2
San Francisco Giants55600.47813​1⁄2
Philadelphia Phillies54610.47014​1⁄2
St. Louis Cardinals53610.46515
Pittsburgh Pirates53610.46515
Colorado Rockies53640.45316​1⁄2
Florida Marlins51640.44417​1⁄2
Chicago Cubs49640.43418​1⁄2
San Diego Padres47700.40222​1⁄2

Record vs. opponents
1994 National League Records

Sources:
Team ATL CHC CIN COL FLA HOU LAD MON NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL
Atlanta —4–25–58–28–43–36–04–55–46–33–96–15–15–7
Chicago 2–4—5–76–64–54–83–32–41–41–65–56–35–45–5
Cincinnati 5–57–5—4–47–54–63–64–22–44–29–38–27–22–2–1
Colorado 2–86–64–4—3–95–54–64–25–12–42–35–53–78–4
Florida 4–85–45–79–3—2–43–32–76–44–61–65–12–43–7
Houston 3–38–46–45–54–2—1–82–43–35–18–45–58–28–4
Los Angeles 0–63–36–36–43–38–1—3–96–67–53–36–45–52–4
Montreal 5–44–22–42–47–24–29–3—4–35–48–212–05–77–3
New York 4–54–14–21–54–63–36–63–4—4–64–56–66–66–3
Philadelphia 3-66–12–44–26–41–55–74–56–4—5–44–84–84–3
Pittsburgh 9–35–53–93–26–14–83–32–85–44–5—3–31–55–5
San Diego 1–63–62–85–51–55–54–60–126–68–43–3—5–24–2
San Francisco 1–54–52–77–34–22–85–57–56–68–45–12–5—2–4
St. Louis 7–55–52–2–14–87–34–84–23–73–63–45–52–44–2—

Notable transactions

Roster
1994 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

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

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
Mike Felder5811728.239013
Andy Stankiewicz375414.25915
Milt Thompson9216.28613
Mike Simms6121.08300

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
Doug Drabek23164.21262.84121

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

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
Mitch Williams251467.6521

Statistical achievements

Batting
  • Adjusted on-base plus slugging: Jeff Bagwell (213)
  • Doubles: Craig Biggio (44)
  • On-base plus slugging: Jeff Bagwell (1.201)
  • Runs batted in: Jeff Bagwell (116)
  • Runs scored: Jeff Bagwell (104)
  • Slugging percentage: Jeff Bagwell (.750)
  • Stolen bases: Craig Biggio (39)
  • Total bases: Jeff Bagwell (300)

Pitching

Records
  • Adjusted on-base plus slugging for Houston Astros: Jeff Bagwell (213)
  • Batting average for Houston Astros: Jeff Bagwell (.368)
  • Home runs hit at Astrodome in a season: Jeff Bagwell (23)
  • On-base plus slugging for Houston Astros: Jeff Bagwell (1.201)

Awards and honors

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Tucson Toros Pacific Coast League Rick Sweet
AA Jackson Generals Texas League Sal Butera
A Osceola Astros Florida State League Tim Tolman
A Quad Cities River Bandits Midwest League Steve Dillard
A-Short Season Auburn Astros New York–Penn League Manny Acta
Rookie GCL Astros Gulf Coast League Bobby Ramos

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: GCL Astros

References
  1. Andy Stankiewicz at Baseball Reference
  2. Mitch Williams at Baseball Reference
  3. Eric Anthony at Baseball Reference
  4. Sid Bream at Baseball Reference
  5. Marbach, Jason (November 3, 2015). "The greatest seasons in Astros history: Jeff Bagwell, 1994". SB Nation The Crawfish Boxes. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  6. Goldstein, Richard (June 16, 2014). "Tony Gwynn, Hall of Fame batting champion, dies at 54 of cancer". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 17, 2014. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
  7. Hulsey, Bob (August 5, 1994). "Bagwell caps MVP season". www.astrosdaily.com. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  8. "The Ballplayers – Jeff Bagwell". Baseball Library. Archived from the original on April 28, 2007. Retrieved November 27, 2008.
  9. Erion, Greg (September 17, 2015). "Jeff Bagwell". Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  10. "Jeff Bagwell player page bio". MLB.com. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
  11. Campbell, Steve (January 25, 2012). "Best individual seasons in Astros history? The envelopes, please". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved February 12, 2016.
  12. Thomas, Jr., Robert McG. (October 28, 1994). "Bagwell's latest stat: All the M.V.P. votes". The New York Times. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
  13. "Jeff Bagwell 1994 batting splits". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  14. https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/1994.shtml
  15. https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/MLB/1994.shtml
  16. Mike Simms at Baseball Reference
  17. Tony Mounce at Baseball Reference
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