1992 Houston Astros season

The 1992 Houston Astros season was the 31st season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 28th as the Astros, 31st in the National League (NL), 24th in the NL West division, and 28th at the Astrodome, The Astros entered the season with a 65–97 record and in last place in the NL West, 29 games behind the division-champion and NL pennant-winning Atlanta Braves.

1992 Houston Astros
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	The Astrodome
City	Houston, Texas
Record	81–81 (.500)
Divisional place	4th
Owners	John McMullen
General managers	Bill Wood
Managers	Art Howe
Television	KTXH HSE
Radio	KPRC (AM) (Bill Brown, Milo Hamilton, Larry Dierker, Vince Controneo, Bill Worrell, Enos Cabell) KXYZ (Orlando Sánchez-Diago, Rolando Becerra)
← 1991 Seasons 1993 →

The season began for Houston on April 7 in which they hosted Atlanta, but were defeated, 2–0. Pete Harnisch was the Astros' Opening Day starting pitcher. The Astros' first round draft pick in the amateur draft was third baseman Phil Nevin, at first overall. Nevin was the Astros' second number-one overall pick, following Floyd Bannister in 1976.

Pitcher Doug Jones and second baseman Craig Biggio represented the Astros at the MLB All-Star Game, This was the third career selection for Jones, and second for Biggio, who was previously selected as a catcher. Broadcaster Milo Hamilton, who began calling games for the Astros in 1985, was recognized for his work with the Ford C. Frick Award by the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Due to the Republican National Convention being hosted at the Astrodome from August 17–20, the Astros played 26 consecutive road games from July 27 through August 23, going 12–14 on the road trip. The club played in all National League cities except Montreal, New York City, and Pittsburgh.

In their first game back at The Astrodome on August 25 following the 28-day road trip, shortstop Andújar Cedeño hit for the cycle, the fourth in club history. The Astros won 25 of their final 38 games following the long road trip to finish at .500 (81–81), in fourth place in the NL West and 17 games behind the Braves, who repeated as division champions and NL pennant winners. This represented a 16-game improvement from the year prior for Houston. Hence, the 1992 season was the start of the longest period of consistent regular-season success in franchise history, where they finished at .500 or above in each of 15 of 17 seasons through 2008, and made the playoffs six times.

The Astros won six games on walk-off home runs, the most of any MLB team in 1992.^[1]

Offseason

• December 10, 1991: Kenny Lofton and Dave Rohde were traded by the Astros to the Cleveland Indians for Willie Blair and Eddie Taubensee.^[2]
• January 27, 1992: Joe Boever was signed as a free agent by the Astros.^[3]
• January 27, 1992: Ernest Riles was signed as a free agent by the Astros.^[4]
• January 27, 1992: Denny Walling was signed as a free agent by the Astros.^[5]

Regular season

Summary

On June 14, outfielder Pete Incaviglia tied a club record with 7 runs batted in (RBI) to lead a 15–7 victory over the San Francisco Giants. He homered twice and hit a run-scoring double.

The Astros' Jones duo of Jimmy and Doug combined to deliver a 1–0 shutout of the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 20. Jimmy tossed the first 8 innings to earn the win, while Doug closed the final three outs for the save.^[6] On June 21, Butch Henry and Doug Jones combined on another shutout of Los Angeles, en route to 2–0 win and series sweep. The two contests were the last of 20 consecutive innings in which Houston held Los Angeles scoreless. Incaviglia's two-run home run accounted for all the scoring in the game.^[7] On June 28, with the Dodgers hosting the Astros, the Landers earthquake in nearly San Bernadino County struck in the morning of the game. The Astros lost, 8–2. Meanwhile, Ken Caminiti led the Astros with four hits.^[8]

In their first game back at The Astrodome on August 25 following the 28-day road trip, shortstop Andújar Cedeño hit for the cycle, the fourth in club history. With the Astros hosting the St. Louis Cardinals, Cedeño's first hit was a triple, he homered in the seventh inning, doubled in the 11th inning and got the single off Les Smith in the 13th inning. It was the first cycle for an Astros player since Bob Watson accomplished the feat on June 24, 1977, and the final one for the Astros at The Astrodome. The next Astros cycle was by teammate Jeff Bagwell in 2001.^[9]

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

NL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Atlanta Braves	98	64	.605	—	51‍–‍30	47‍–‍34
Cincinnati Reds	90	72	.556	8	53‍–‍28	37‍–‍44
San Diego Padres	82	80	.506	16	45‍–‍36	37‍–‍44
Houston Astros	81	81	.500	17	47‍–‍34	34‍–‍47
San Francisco Giants	72	90	.444	26	42‍–‍39	30‍–‍51
Los Angeles Dodgers	63	99	.389	35	37‍–‍44	26‍–‍55

Record vs. opponents

1992 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MTL	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	10–2	9–9	13–5	12–6	4–8	7–5	6–6	7–5	13–5	11–7	6–6
Chicago	2–10	—	5–7	8–4	6–6	7–11	9–9	9–9	8–10	5–7	8–4	11–7
Cincinnati	9–9	7–5	—	10–8	11–7	5–7	7–5	7–5	6–6	11–7	10–8	7–5
Houston	5–13	4–8	8–10	—	13–5	8–4	5–7	8–4	6–6	7–11	12–6	5–7
Los Angeles	6–12	6–6	7–11	5–13	—	4–8	5–7	5–7	5–7	9–9	7–11	4–8
Montreal	8–4	11–7	7–5	4–8	8–4	—	12–6	9–9	9–9	8–4	5–7	6–12
New York	5–7	9–9	5–7	7–5	7–5	6–12	—	6–12	4–14	4–8	10–2	9–9
Philadelphia	6-6	9–9	5–7	4–8	7–5	9–9	12–6	—	5–13	3–9	3–9	7–11
Pittsburgh	5–7	10–8	6–6	6–6	7–5	9–9	14–4	13–5	—	5–7	6–6	15–3
San Diego	5–13	7–5	7–11	11–7	9–9	4–8	8–4	9–3	7–5	—	11–7	4–8
San Francisco	7–11	4–8	8–10	6–12	11–7	7–5	2–10	9–3	6–6	7–11	—	5–7
St. Louis	6–6	7–11	5–7	7–5	8–4	12–6	9–9	11–7	3–15	8–4	7–5	—

Notable transactions

• April 2, 1992: Curt Schilling was traded by the Astros to the Philadelphia Phillies for Jason Grimsley.^[10]

Roster

1992 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers 41 Willie Blair 54 Joe Boever 46 Ryan Bowen 27 Pete Harnisch 50 Butch Henry 31 Xavier Hernandez 23 Doug Jones 37 Jimmy Jones 57 Darryl Kile 56 Rob Mallicoat 47 Rob Murphy 29 Al Osuna 51 Mark Portugal 38 Shane Reynolds 49 Rich Scheid 53 Brian Williams		Catchers  9 Scott Servais  6 Eddie Taubensee 20 Eddie Tucker Infielders  5 Jeff Bagwell  7 Craig Biggio 11 Ken Caminiti  1 Casey Candaele 17 Andújar Cedeño 19 Juan Guerrero 16 Rafael Ramírez 10 Ernest Riles 15 Eric Yelding		Outfielders 21 Eric Anthony 30 Benny Distefano 12 Steve Finley 26 Luis Gonzalez 28 Pete Incaviglia 24 Chris Jones  4 Tuffy Rhodes 22 Mike Simms  2 Gerald Young Other batters 25 Denny Walling		Manager 18 Art Howe Coaches 54 Bob Cluck (pitching) 48 Matt Galante (third base) 42 Rudy Jaramillo (hitting) 14 Ed Ott (bench) 52 Tom Spencer (first base)

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	Eddie Taubensee	104	297	66	.222	5	28
1B	Jeff Bagwell	162	586	160	.273	18	96
2B	Craig Biggio	162	613	170	.277	6	39
3B	Ken Caminiti	135	506	149	.294	13	62
SS	Andújar Cedeño	71	220	38	.173	2	13
LF	Luis Gonzalez	122	387	94	.243	10	55
CF	Steve Finley	162	607	177	.292	5	55
RF	Eric Anthony	137	440	105	.239	19	80

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
Pete Incaviglia	113	349	93	.266	11	44
Casey Candaele	135	320	68	.213	1	18
Scott Servais	77	205	49	.239	0	15
Rafael Ramírez	73	176	44	.250	1	13
Juan Guerrero	79	125	25	.200	1	14
Gerald Young	74	76	14	.184	0	4
Chris Jones	54	63	12	.190	1	4
Ernie Riles	39	61	16	.262	1	4
Benny Distefano	52	60	14	.233	0	7
Eddie Tucker	20	50	6	.120	0	3
Mike Simms	15	24	6	.250	1	3
Eric Yelding	9	8	2	.250	0	0
Tuffy Rhodes	5	4	0	.000	0	0
Denny Walling	3	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
Pete Harnisch	34	206.2	9	10	3.70	164
Butch Henry	28	165.2	6	9	4.02	96
Jimmy Jones	25	139.1	10	6	4.07	69
Darryl Kile	22	125.1	5	10	3.95	90
Mark Portugal	18	101.1	6	3	2.66	62
Brian Williams	16	96.1	7	6	3.92	54
Ryan Bowen	11	33.2	0	7	10.96	22

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
Willie Blair	29	78.2	5	7	4.00	48
Shane Reynolds	8	25.1	1	3	7.11	10
Rich Scheid	7	12.0	0	1	6.00	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
Doug Jones	80	11	8	36	1.85	93
Joe Boever	81	3	6	2	2.51	67
Xavier Hernandez	77	9	1	7	2.11	96
Al Osuna	66	6	3	0	4.23	37
Rob Murphy	59	3	1	0	4.04	42
Rob Mallicoat	23	0	0	0	7.23	20

Awards and achievements

Awards

• Ford C. Frick Award: Milo Hamilton
• MLB All-Star Game:
  • Reserve pitcher—Doug Jones
  • Reserve infielder—Craig Biggio
• National League (NL) Player of the Week^[11]
  • June 28—Ken Caminiti
  • October 4—Steve Finley

NL batting leaders

• Games played: 162—tied
  • Jeff Bagwell
  • Craig Biggio
  • Steve Finley
• Plate appearances: Craig Biggio (721)
• Sacrifice flies: Jeff Bagwell (13—led MLB)

NL pitching leaders

• Games finished: Doug Jones (70—led MLB)
• Games played: Joe Boever (81—led MLB)

Minor league system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Tucson Toros	Pacific Coast League	Bob Skinner
AA	Jackson Generals	Texas League	Rick Sweet
A	Osceola Astros	Florida State League	Sal Butera
A	Burlington Astros	Midwest League	Steve Curry
A	Asheville Tourists	South Atlantic League	Tim Tolman
A-Short Season	Auburn Astros	New York–Penn League	Steve Dillard
Rookie	GCL Astros	Gulf Coast League	Julio Linares