1998 Houston Astros season

1998 Houston Astros
1998 NL Central Champions
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1962)
Central Division (since 1994)
Location
The Astrodome (since 1965)
Houston, Texas (since 1962)
Results
Record	102–60 (.630)
Divisional place	1st
Other information
Owner(s)	Drayton McLane, Jr.
General manager(s)	Gerry Hunsicker
Manager(s)	Larry Dierker
Local television	KNWS-TV Fox Sports Southwest (Bill Brown, Jim Deshaies)
Local radio	KILT (AM) (Milo Hamilton, Alan Ashby) KXYZ (Francisco Ernesto Ruiz, Alex Treviño)
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The 1998 Houston Astros season marked their second consecutive trip to the postseason. It was the only time in history that the Astros had over 100 wins in a season. The Astros won their second consecutive National League Central title.

Offseason

• December 22, 1997: Rob Butler signed as a Free Agent with the Houston Astros.

Regular season

Season standings

NL Central	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Houston Astros	102	60	0.630	—	55–26	47–34
Chicago Cubs	90	73	0.552	12½	51–31	39–42
St. Louis Cardinals	83	79	0.512	19	48–34	35–45
Cincinnati Reds	77	85	0.475	25	39–42	38–43
Milwaukee Brewers	74	88	0.457	28	38–43	36–45
Pittsburgh Pirates	69	93	0.426	33	40–40	29–53

Record vs. opponents

1998 National League Records Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]
Team	ARI	ATL	CHC	CIN	COL	FLA	HOU	LAD	MIL	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL	AL
Arizona	—	1–8	5–7	4–5	6–6	6–2	4–5	4–8	6–3	2–7	4–5	2–7	6–3	3–9	5–7	2–7	5–8
Atlanta	8–1	—	3–6	7–2	5–3	7–5	4–5	8–1	7–2	6–6	9–3	8–4	7–2	5–4	7–2	6–3	9–7
Chicago	7–5	6–3	—	6–5	7–2	7–2	4–7	4–5	6–6	7–2	4–5	3–6	8–3	5–4	7–3	4–7	5–8
Cincinnati	5–4	2–7	5–6	—	4–5	9–0	3–8	5–4	6–5	8–1	3–6	4–5	5–7	1–11	2–7	8–3	7-6
Colorado	6–6	3–5	2–7	5–4	—	6–3	6–5	6–6	4–7	7–2	3–6	5–4	5–4	5–7	7–5	3–6	4–8
Florida	2–6	5–7	2–7	0–9	3–6	—	3–6	4–5	0–9	5–7	5–7	6–6	3–6	4–5	0–9	4–5	8–8
Houston	5–4	5–4	7–4	8–3	5–6	6-3	—	3–6	9–2	7–2	5–4	7–2	9–2	5–4	6–3	5–7	10–4
Los Angeles	8–4	1–8	5–4	4–5	6–6	5–4	6–3	—	5–4	5–4	3–5	5–4	7–5	5–7	6–6	4–5	8–5
Milwaukee	3–6	2–7	6–6	5–6	7–4	9–0	2–9	4–5	—	6–3	1–8	4–5	6–5	3–6	5–4	3–8	8–6
Montreal	7–2	6–6	2–7	1–8	2–7	7–5	2–7	4–5	3–6	—	8–4	5–7	2–7	4–4	3–6	3–6	6–10
New York	5–4	3–9	5–4	6–3	6–3	7–5	4–5	5–3	8–1	4–8	—	8–4	4–5	4–5	4–5	6–3	9–7
Philadelphia	7-2	4–8	6–3	5–4	4–5	6–6	2–7	4–5	5–4	7–5	4–8	—	8–1	1–8	2–6	3–6	7–9
Pittsburgh	3–6	2–7	3–8	7–5	4–5	6–3	2–9	5–7	5–6	7–2	5–4	1–8	—	5–4	2–7	6–5	6–7
San Diego	9–3	4–5	4–5	11–1	7–5	5–4	4–5	7–5	6–3	4–4	5–4	8–1	4–5	—	8–4	6–3	6–7
San Francisco	7–5	2–7	3–7	7–2	5–7	9–0	3–6	6–6	4–5	6–3	5–4	6–2	7–2	4–8	—	7–5	8–5
St. Louis	7–2	3–6	7–4	3–8	6–3	5-4	7–5	5–4	8–3	6–3	3–6	6–3	5–6	3–6	5–7	—	4–9

Notable Transactions

July 31, 1998: Randy Johnson was traded by the Seattle Mariners to the Houston Astros for a player to be named later, Freddy Garcia, and Carlos Guillén. The Houston Astros sent John Halama (October 1, 1998) to the Seattle Mariners to complete the trade.

Roster

1998 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers 38 Sean Bergman 51 José Cabrera 50 Scott Elarton 23 Mike Grzanich 54 John Halama 10 Mike Hampton 44 Reggie Harris 19,43 Doug Henry 51 Randy Johnson 42 José Lima 52 Mike Magnante 46 Trever Miller 47 C. J. Nitkowski 39 Jay Powell 37 Shane Reynolds 43 Bob Scanlan 41 Pete Schourek 13 Billy Wagner		Catchers 11 Brad Ausmus 20 Tony Eusebio  4 Mitch Meluskey Infielders  5 Jeff Bagwell 17 Sean Berry  7 Craig Biggio 27 Tim Bogar 12 Ricky Gutiérrez 36 Jack Howell  9 Russ Johnson 29 J. R. Phillips 28 Bill Spiers		Outfielders 18 Moisés Alou 14 Derek Bell 35 Dave Clark  3 Carl Everett 15 Richard Hidalgo 22 Pete Incaviglia 39 Ray Montgomery Other batters 31 Daryle Ward		Manager 49 Larry Dierker Coaches 25 José Cruz (first base) 24 Mike Cubbage (third base) 21 Dave Engle (bullpen)  8 Matt Galante (bench) 16 Tom McCraw (hitting) 48 Vern Ruhle (pitching)

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

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

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

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

National League Divisional Playoffs

Main article: 1998 National League Division Series

Houston Astros vs. San Diego Padres

San Diego wins the series, 3-1

Game	Home	Score	Visitor	Score	Date	Series
1	Houston	1	San Diego	2	September 29	1-0 (SD)
2	Houston	5	San Diego	4	October 1	1-1
3	San Diego	2	Houston	1	October 3	2-1 (SD)
4	San Diego	6	Houston	1	October 4	3-1 (SD)

Awards and Records

• Larry Dierker, National League Manager of the Year

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	New Orleans Zephyrs	Pacific Coast League	John Tamargo
AA	Jackson Generals	Texas League	Jim Pankovits
A	Kissimmee Cobras	Florida State League	Manny Acta
A	Quad Cities River Bandits	Midwest League	Mike Rojas
Short-Season A	Auburn Doubledays	New York–Penn League	Lyle Yates
Rookie	GCL Astros	Gulf Coast League	Julio Linares

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: New Orleans; LEAGUE CO-CHAMPIONS: Auburn

External links

• 1998 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference