1989 Houston Astros season

The 1989 Houston Astros season was the 28th season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 25th as the Astros, 28th in the National League (NL), 21st in the NL West division, and 25th at The Astrodome. The Astros entered the season having completed an 82–80 record, in fifth place and 12+1⁄2 games behind the division-champion and World Series-winning Los Angeles Dodgers.

1989 Houston Astros
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	The Astrodome
City	Houston, Texas
Record	86–76 (.531)
Divisional place	3rd
Owners	John McMullen
General managers	Bill Wood
Managers	Art Howe
Television	KTXH HSE
Radio	KTRH (Bill Brown, Milo Hamilton, Larry Dierker, Bruce Gietzen, Bill Worrell, Enos Cabell) KXYZ (Orlando Sánchez-Diago, Rolando Becerra)
← 1988 Seasons 1990 →

On April 8, pitcher Mike Scott made his third consecutive Opening Day start for Houston, who hosted the Atlanta Braves and won, 10–3. The season was best remembered for the Astros winning 16 of 17 games in late May through mid June. During the amateur draft, the Astros selected pitcher Jeff Juden at 12th overall and Todd Jones (27th) in the first round, outfielder Brian Hunter in the second round, and pitcher Shane Reynolds in the third round.

Scott and first baseman Glenn Davis were selected to the MLB All-Star Game and played for the National League, the second career selection for both.

The Astros concluded the season with an 86–76 record, in third place and six games behind the division champion and NL pennant-winning San Francisco Giants. Scott led the NL in wins (20), while, following the season, catcher Craig Biggio received his first career Silver Slugger Award.

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

Summary

On May 27, Houston trailed heading into the bottom of the ninth, until infielder Glenn Davis connected for a two-out, two-run game-tying home run to take the game in extra innings. In the 12th, the Astros won on a walk-off when Rafael Ramírez singled home Davis.^[7]

The final two games of four-game set on June 3 and 4 against the Los Angeles Dodgers took so many extra innings that by themselves the lasted a span of four games. A 22-inning marathon unfolded at The Astrodone on June 3, taking seven hours and 14 minutes. This ended with a 5–4 Astros win when Ramírez' single grazed the glove of left-hander Fernando Valenzuela, who was filling in at first base, for the game-winning RBI,^[8] which was the longest game in major league history. The ninth consecutive win for the Astros, they pulled to 1+1⁄2 games behind the NL West-leading San Francisco Giants, while concluding at 2:50 AM. First pitch for the series finale was just 10 hours later at 1 PM. For the first time at the Astrodome, two grand slams were hit, including one by the Dodgers' Mike Scioscia in top of the first inning, while the Astros' Louie Meadows answered in the fifth, also his first home of the season. The game remained tied,^[9] and in the top of the 13th, Astros ace Mike Scott, who made his first relief appearance since 1985, tossed a scoreless inning. In the bottom of the 13th inning, Scott hit for himself and drove in Ramírez on sacrifice fly for the walk-off run, securing a 7–6 win and four-game sweep of the Dodgers.^[10]

On June 13, right fielder Terry Puhl played his 1,403rd game to pass Jack Graney for most all-time in the major leagues among Canadian-born players.^[11]

Reliever Dave Smith established an Astros club record by converting each of the first 21 save opportunities to start the season. This record stood until 2025, when Josh Hader extended his streak to 22.^[12]

Standings

• v
• t
• e

NL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
San Francisco Giants	92	70	.568	—	53‍–‍28	39‍–‍42
San Diego Padres	89	73	.549	3	46‍–‍35	43‍–‍38
Houston Astros	86	76	.531	6	47‍–‍35	39‍–‍41
Los Angeles Dodgers	77	83	.481	14	44‍–‍37	33‍–‍46
Cincinnati Reds	75	87	.463	17	38‍–‍43	37‍–‍44
Atlanta Braves	63	97	.394	28	33‍–‍46	30‍–‍51

Record vs. opponents

1989 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MTL	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.^[13]
• April 6, 1989: Troy Afenir was traded by the Astros to the Oakland Athletics for Matt Sinatro.^[14]
• 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.^[15]

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

^[16]

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
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

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
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
Mark Davidson	33	65	13	.200	1	5
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

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
Mike Scott	33	229.0	20	10	3.10	172
Jim Deshaies	34	225.2	15	10	2.91	153
Jim Clancy	33	147.0	7	14	5.08	91
Bob Knepper	22	113.0	4	10	5.89	45
Mark Portugal	20	108.0	7	1	2.75	86
Rick Rhoden	20	96.2	2	6	4.28	41

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
Bob Forsch	37	108.1	4	5	5.32	40
José Canó	6	23.0	1	1	5.09	8

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
Dave Smith	52	3	4	25	2.64	31
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
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

Awards and achievements

Awards

• MLB All-Star Game:
  • Reserve infielder—Glenn Davis
  • Reserve pitcher—Mike Scott
• National League (NL) Pitcher of the Month^[17] —May: Mike Scott
• NL Player of the Week^[18]
  • July 16: Glenn Davis
  • August 20: Kevin Bass
• Silver Slugger Award at catcher: Craig Biggio

NL batting leaders

• Caught stealing: Gerald Young (25—led MLB)

NL pitching leaders

• Wins: Mike Scott (20)

NL defensive leaders^[19]

• Stolen bases allowed as catcher: Craig Biggio (140)
• Errors as shortstop: Rafael Ramírez (30)
• Outfield assists: Gerald Young (15)
• Putouts as outfielder: Gerald Young (412)
• Double plays turned as outfielder: Gerald Young (5)
• Total zone runs as third baseman: Ken Caminiti (23)

Minor league system

See also: Minor League Baseball

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

See also

• Texas portal
• Baseball portal

• List of Major League Baseball annual wins leaders