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1989 Houston Astros season

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1989 Houston Astros
LeagueNational League
DivisionWest
BallparkThe Astrodome
CityHouston, Texas
Record86–76 (.531)
Divisional place3rd
OwnersJohn McMullen
General managersBill Wood
ManagersArt Howe
TelevisionKTXH
HSE
RadioKTRH
(Bill Brown, Milo Hamilton, Larry Dierker, Bruce Gietzen, Bill Worrell, Enos Cabell)
KXYZ
(Orlando Sánchez-Diago, Rolando Becerra)
← 1988
1990 →

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.

On April 4, 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

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Regular season

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Summary

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April—May

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Opening Day starting lineup
No. Name Pos.
2 Gerald Young CF
16 Rafael Ramírez SS
28 Billy Hatcher LF
27 Glenn Davis 1B
17 Kevin Bass RF
19 Bill Doran 2B
11 Ken Caminiti 3B
4 Craig Biggio  C
33 Mike Scott P
Venue: Astrodome • HOU 10, ATL 3[9][10]

For the third consecutive season, right-hander Mike Scott, the 1986 NL Cy Young Award winner, handled the Opening Day start for Houston, while Art Howe made his managerial debut. The Astros hosted the Atlanta Braves to commence the 25th season of baseball at the Astrodome. The Braves, meanwhile, countered with Zane Smith, to make his first Opening Day start. During the first three frames, Scott allowed no runs while inducing four whiffs, all swinging. In the bottom of the second inning Glenn Davis struck the Astros' first home run of the season, 425 feet (130 m) deep to left-center field. Next, Kevin Bass and Ken Caminiti each singled, then Scott singled in both in for a 3–0 lead. Misplayed chances on the part of the Braves during the third inning keyed three more runs as the Astros built a 6–0 lead. The Braves scored twice in the fourth, and during the fifth, Scott struck out the side, but not before the Tommy Gregg homered to cut the Astros' lead to 6–3. Larry Andersen relieved Scott and tossed a scoreless top of the eighth inning to earn the hold, while the Astros bats struck for four more run in the bottom of the eighth to raise the lead to 10–3. Dave Smith pitched a scoreless ninth, appearing in his third consecutive Opening Day.[8]

From May 7 to May 31, the Astros established a club record with a 10-game winning streak on the road.[11]

Taking a no-hit bid into the eighth inning on May 19, Mike Scott surrendered a single to Glenn Wilson. This was the only hit by the Pittsburgh Pirates as Scott led the Astros to a 3–0 win, also the third one-hit complete game of Scott's career.[12] Along with his no-hitter in 1986, this performance signaled the fourth successive campaign for Scott having pitched either a no-hit or a one-hit shutout,[13] a club record for most games of those criteria.[a][14]

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.[15]

June

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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,[16] 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,[17] 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.[18] Their tenth consecutive win (May 26–June 4), this tied another club record.[11]

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.[19]

Mike Scott concluded June with a 6–1 win–loss record (W–L), 2.20 earned run average, three complete games, 26 strikeouts, 15 bases on balls, and .209 batting average against.[20] Hence, Scott was recognized as NL Pitcher of the Month to become the first Astro to receive the award since Nolan Ryan for May 1984.[21]

August—September

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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.[22]

On August 20, Kevin Bass hit a walk-off grand slam off Chicago Cubs closer Mitch Williams, the second of a switch-hit, two home-run bout for Bass.[23] The slam secured an 8–4 win at the Astros; moreover, this was the first of two grand slams on the season by Bass that either secured a win or tied the game. In an all-round performance, Bass was 3-for-5 with 5 RBI.[24] This was a club-record third switch-hit, multi-homer, performance for Bass, and, at the time, the only Astro to have generated more than one.[b][23]

Infielder Rafael Ramírez led a near-Astros victory over the Cubs on August 29, when he set a club record with 7 runs batted in (RBI). He homered twice, including a grand slam, to power Houston to a 9–0 lead. However, the Astros wasted Ramírez' landmark day and the lead. The Cubs came all the way back to tie the game, and in the tenth inning, Dwight Smith singled off Dave Smith for the game-winning RBI and 10–9 final score. Houston slipped to five games behind San Francisco in the NL West division title race.[12] Ramírez' performance surpassed Román Mejías' record 6 RBI, which he set in the first-ever game in franchise history, April 10, 1962, which also took place against the Cubs.[25]

Mike Scott earned his 100th victory as an Astro on September 9 at the Astrodome, notching a three-hitter as Houston topped San Francisco, the NL West-division leader, 5–1. The win closed the Astros' gap to five games behind the Giants. Scott (19–8) struck out seven with 37,711 fans in attendance.[26] He surrendered just two base on balls and earned a game score of 82. The Astros scored twice in the bottom if the first. Kevin Bass singled home Gerald Young. Glenn Wilson also singled off Giants starter Kelly Downs to score Bass.[27]

Performance overview

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The Astros concluded the season with a 86–76 record, in third place, and six games behind the division- and NL pennant-winning San Francisco Giants.[28] An increase in wins by 4 from the year prior, it was the fourth time in club history that the Astros had won 86 games or more.[29]

Meanwhile, Mike Scott became the fourth pitcher in club history to win 20 games in a single season,[11] which led the National League. Scott became the second Astros pitcher to lead the league, following Joe Niekro in 1979 (21).[30] Houston's other prior moundsmen who had breached the 20-win threshold included Larry Dierker (1969) and J. R. Richard (1976).[31] Scott also attained his third campaign as an 18-game or higher winner, second in club history only to Richard, with four (1976–1979).[c][32] Scott (1986) joined Richard (1978 and 1979) as Houston Astros who were 20-game winners and members of the 300 strikeout club,[31][33] and as earned run average (ERA) leaders (Scott, 1986; Richard, 1979).[31][34] Scott (September 25, 1986) also joined Dierker (July 9, 1976) as the only Astros to have won 20 contests and hurled a no-hitter.[31][35] As the club's first Cy Young Award winner in 1986,[36] Scott also became the first pitcher in franchise history to have claimed 20 victories in one campaign,[31] fired a no-hitter,[35] won an ERA title,[34] and joined the 300-strikeout club.[33]

Glenn Davis launched a career-best 34 home runs,[11] which, as his third campaign with upward of 30 home runs (previously, 1986 and 1988), set a franchise record.[d][37][38]

Catcher Craig Biggio won his first career Silver Slugger Award, the fifth overall in club history, and the first at the position.[39]

Standings

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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

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1989 National League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
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

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Roster

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1989 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

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Player stats

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Batting

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Starters by position

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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

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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

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Starting pitchers

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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

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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

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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

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Awards
NL batting leaders
NL pitching leaders
NL defensive leaders[47]

Minor league system

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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

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Notes

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  1. ^ Number of games in a career player meets criteria, in shutouts, playing for HOU, in the regular season, requiring hits allowed ≤ 1, sorted by descending instances.
  2. ^ Bass had produced the two most-recent such outings, on August 3 and September 2, 1987. Ken Caminiti had the next for Houston, on July 3, 1994.
  3. ^ Number of seasons player meets criteria, playing for HOU, in the regular season, requiring wins ≥ 18, sorted by descending instances.
  4. ^ Surpassed Jimmy Wynn, who slugged 37 home runs in 1967 and another 33 in 1969.

References

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  1. ^ "Astros give Bob Watson front-office job". Los Angeles Times. November 23, 1988. Retrieved October 5, 2025.
  2. ^ "Mark Portugal stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 22, 2025.
  3. ^ "Bob Forsch stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  4. ^ "Rick Rhoden stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  5. ^ "Dan Schatzeder stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 25, 2025.
  6. ^ "Roger Mason stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 25, 2025.
  7. ^ "Carl Nichols stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  8. ^ a b Weiner, Steven C. (April 4, 1989). "Astros, Mike Scott win season opener over Braves at the Dome". Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). Retrieved January 31, 2026.
  9. ^ "Atlanta Braves (3) vs Houston Astros (10) box score". Baseball Almanac. April 4, 1989. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
  10. ^ "1989 Houston Astros uniform numbers". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
  11. ^ a b c d e "Astros history – Timeline". MLB.com. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
  12. ^ a b Hulsey, Bob. "This date in Astros history". Astros Daily. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
  13. ^ "Top performances for Mike Scott". Retrosheet. Retrieved December 28, 2025.
  14. ^ "Player pitching game stats finder–baseball". Stathead. Sports Reference. Retrieved January 18, 2026.
  15. ^ Schwartzberg, Seth (May 27, 2025). "Today in Astros history - May 27". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved July 29, 2025.
  16. ^ Schwartzberg, Seth (June 4, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 4". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved July 9, 2025.
  17. ^ Crowe, Jerry (June 5, 1989). "For Dodgers, it's a long lost weekend: In 13 innings, Astros finish 4-game sweep". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 9, 2025.
  18. ^ Thompson, Joseph (September 25, 2018). "June 4, 1989: 'Don't you ever play nine-inning games?': Astros win again in extras". Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved August 9, 2025.
  19. ^ Schwartzberg, Seth (June 13, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 13". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  20. ^ "Mike Scott 1989 pitching splits". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 18, 2026.
  21. ^ a b "Major League Baseball Pitchers of the Month". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
  22. ^ Youung, Matt (June 27, 2025). "Astros win fifth straight, clubbing their way past NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved June 30, 2025.
  23. ^ a b "Home runs from both sides of the plate in one game". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved December 1, 2025.
  24. ^ McTaggart, Brian. "Game to Remember: Kevin Bass". MLB.com. Retrieved August 26, 2025.
  25. ^ "Houston Colt .45s 11, Chicago Cubs 2 box score". Retrosheet. April 10, 1962. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved April 17, 2009.
  26. ^ Newberry, Kevin (September 9, 1989). "He's great again: Scott's 3-hitter narrows gap to 5". Houston Post. Retrieved January 31, 2026.
  27. ^ "San Francisco Giants (1) vs Houston Astros (3) box score". Baseball-Reference.com. September 9, 1989. Retrieved January 31, 2026.
  28. ^ "1989 National League team statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 14, 2025.
  29. ^ "Houston Astros team history & encyclopedia". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 14, 2025.
  30. ^ "Yearly league leaders & records for wins". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 15, 2025.
  31. ^ a b c d e Hulsey, Bob (November 29, 2019). "Houston Astros 20-game winners". Astros Daily. Retrieved September 28, 2025.
  32. ^ "Player pitching season & career stats finder–baseball". Stathead. Sports Reference. Retrieved January 17, 2026.
  33. ^ a b "300-strikeout seasons (1901–2014)". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  34. ^ a b "MLB ERA year-by-year leaders". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  35. ^ a b "Official no-hitters in Major League Baseball". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved December 3, 2025.
  36. ^ "Cy Young Award". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  37. ^ "Player profile—Glenn Davis". Astros Daily. Retrieved November 9, 2025.
  38. ^ "Jim Wynn stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 14, 2025.
  39. ^ a b "Silver Slugger Award". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
  40. ^ "Greg Gross stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  41. ^ Troy Afenir at Baseball Reference
  42. ^ "Jeff Juden stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 14, 2025.
  43. ^ "1989 Houston Astros Roster by Baseball Almanac".
  44. ^ a b McTaggart, Brian (December 21, 2009). "Bourn highlights Astros' awards season". MLB.com. Archived from the original on December 8, 2010. Retrieved October 23, 2025.
  45. ^ "MLB Players of the Week Awards". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
  46. ^ "Mike Scott stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  47. ^ "1989 National League fielding leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
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