1985 Houston Astros season

Offseason

• December 3, 1984: Manuel Lee was drafted from the Astros by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1984 rule 5 draft.

Regular season

Summary

Opening Day

On April 9, Houston celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Opening of the Astrodome, where they hosted the Los Angeles Dodgers and won, 2–1, in front of a crowd of 42,876. Nolan Ryan made his second Opening Day start for the Astros, opposite Fernando Valenzuela, as both hurlers sought to reestablish dominance. Ryan's full power had been usurped by injury—he was limited to innings pitched, a 12–11 win–loss record and "only" 197 strikeouts—while Valenzuela slumped to a 12–17 record. The gala featured celebrities, events and guests. Micky Mantle, who hit the first-ever home run at Astrodome during an exhibition game with the New York Yankees on same date in 1965, was honored. Sprinter Carl Lewis tossed the ceremonial first pitch. It also featured the return of shortstop Dickie Thon after almost exactly one year, who had been ominously struck in the temple by a pitch from Mike Torrez, resulting in an orbital fracture and an absence for the remainder of the season.

One "guest" not invited onto the field was Morganna, dubbed "The Kissing Bandit," who leapt over the wall during the first inning and ran to the mound. Upon spotting her, Ryan obliged, taking to one knee with arms opened wide, and reportedly said, "Hurry up, Morganna! The cops are right behind you!" Morganna bent to kiss Ryan on the check, then zipped to Thon and gave him a peck as well, before reaching the Dodgers' dugout, where members of Houston's Finest awaited.

After play resumed, the Dodgers opened the scoring during the top of the second inning. Mike Marshall doubled with one out, and Sid Bream singled him home. Ryan was unstoppable after that, retiring 16 of the next 17 batters faced prior to Frank DiPino taking over for the eighth. During the bottom of the third inning, Thon singled, advanced when Dodgers catcher Mike Scioscia threw wildly in a pickoff attempt, and scored to tie the game 1–1 when Phil Garner singled. The next inning, the Astros took the lead for good. Bill Doran doubled with one out. Ryan then hit a ground ball to second baseman Mariano Duncan, which Duncan misplayed, allowing Doran to race home for the go-ahead tally, 2–1, also the game's final score.

May

Astros infielder Jim Pankovits posted a career day on May 19, leading a 7–3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. He collected up four hits, including a home run and two doubles.

On May 29, Pankovits broke 3-all tie by crushing a grand slam in the seventh versus the Pittsburgh Pirates. Starter Nolan Ryan got the win, locking down a 7–3 decision for the Houston Astros. Each Astros starter had at least one hit, save for Terry Puhl. Denny Walling and Phil Garner both doubled. Ryan struck out eight over seven innings.

June

On June 9, Joe Niekro was the winning pitcher after tossing a two-hit shutout versus the San Francisco Giants. The 138th of his career, Niekro took over the lead in franchise history. In spite of the strong effort against the Giants, he had failed in six previous attempts to secure this win.

July

Nolan Ryan surrendered the only walk-off home run of his career on July 1 at Jack Murphy Stadium. Pitching into extra innings for the first time as Astro with a 5–5 score, former Astros catcher Bruce Bochy hit the game-winner in the 10th inning, also his first career walk-off home run.

Kevin Bass launched two solo home runs on July 5 to pace a 4–2 victory over the Montreal Expos. José Cruz drove home the other two runs to establish a new franchise record for runs batted in (783 RBI), later broken by Jeff Bagwell.

Nolan Ryan's 4,000th strikeout

On July 11, Ryan fanned Danny Heep of the New York Mets in the top of the sixth inning for the 4,000th of his career. Ryan became the first pitcher in major league history to reach this milestone.

In the top of the fifth, Ryan froze Darryl Strawberry and Gary Carter on called punchouts for the final two outs of the frame, ticking his total up to 3,999. The moment prompted chants of "Ryan... Ryan... Ryan" from the fans.

In the bottom of the sixth, Bass homered to give Houston a 3–1 advantage. However, in the seventh, the Mets, benefiting from Astros' defensive miscues, parlayed that into two unearned runs, eventually sending the contest into extra innings. Center fielder Ty Gainey made a long sprint for a Lenny Dykstra fly ball only to drop that for a two-base error. Keith Hernandez bounced a grounder to Ryan, but Ryan lost the battle in a rundown with Dykstra, who took third, while Hernandez glided into second on the play. Strawberry then smacked a sacrifice fly and Carter followed with a run-scoring single to tie the contest, 3–3.

In the second inning, Ryan executed his trademark by whiffing Sid Fernandez and Rafael Santana. Carter and Heep followed with singles, and a wild pitch advanced both baserunners, presenting a chance for things to spiral. A bloop double by Howard Johnson plated New York's first run. Dykstra bounded out to second to stay the threat.

Wildness returned for Ryan in the third, who walked the bases loaded via Fernandez, Strawberry and Carter. This time, he found a more expedient escape when Heep grounded into a double play.

In the fourth, Ryan fanned Fernandez for the 3.997th of his career. In the bottom of the frame, Phil Garner singled and Glenn Davis also singled to score Garner and extend a hitting streak to six games.

Dickie Thon batted to a 7-for-14 hike spanning his previous three games. Dave Smith (5–3) tossed the final three innings, all scoreless, to pick up the victory.

In the 12th inning, Thon singled, and advanced on Smith's sacrifice hit. and the first by an Astro on the season. With that hit, Doran had collected eight hits in ten at bats.

Ryan's 11 strikeouts represented a season high, putting him 96 ahead of Steve Carlton, who was on the disabled list (DL) at the time due to a rotator cuff strain.

Rest of July

The Astros played to an eventful series against the Mets at Shea Stadium. On July 25, rookie slugger Glenn Davis smashed the only inside-the-park home run of his major league career, off Dwight Gooden in the top of the seventh. Gooden (15–3), in spite of yielding another bomb to catcher Mark Bailey polished off a masterful complete game performance which led New York to a 6–3 win. Errors by Baily and Jerry Mumphrey cost the Astros of a different outcome. Upstart Mike Scott fell to 9–5. He yielded five runs in six innings, with two being earned. Scott's earned run average (ERA) stood at 2.80.

On July 27, the Astros lost to the Mets, 16–4, despite not allowing a single earned run in the game.

On July 31, Mike Scott connected for his first major league home run while batting. The shot was off Tom Browning of the Cincinnati Reds during the top of the fifth inning at Riverfront Stadium. On the mound, the Reds swatted 10 hits off the righty but Scott (10–5) limited the damage to two runs over seven frames to lead a 9–2 Houston victory. Rookie first baseman Glenn Davis paced the offense with his eighth home run of the year and drove in four. Catcher John Mizerock's first double cleared the bases in the top of sixth for Houston.

August

The Astros romped on the Cardinals on August 20, 17–2, at the Astrodome to the backdrop of a screening of Jaws on the Diamond Vision scoreboard, Catcher Mark Bailey launched a grand slam while Dickie Thon added a triple, home run and 4 RBI to lead the 19-hit charge. Bailey, Glenn Davis and Terry Puhl collected three hits each,

September—October

From September 11–19, Houston posted a season-high nine-game winning streak.

José Cruz reached the 2,000 career hits plateau on September 15, to become the first player to do so in Astros' uniform. His 1,702nd safety with Houston, Cruz' first 298 arrived as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals. The milestone hit, a single during the fourth inning off LaMarr Hoyt, drove home Denny Walling to tie the score, 1–1. In the bottom of the eighth, Glenn Davis cranked a tie-breaking home run which provided the margin in a 2–1 Astros triumph over the San Diego Padres. Davis' home run, his 15th, actuated another milestone that broke the club record for home runs by a rookie, set by Joe Morgan in 1965.

Meanwhile, on September 15, in a deal with the New York Yankees, the Astros swapped veteran right-hander Joe Niekro for rookie southpaw Jim Deshaies.

On October 5, catcher Alan Ashby slugged his second career grand slam, and first in an Astros uniform. His drive came off Ed Wojna of the Padres in the top of the second to break a scoreless tie and cap a 9–3 Astros win. Each starter except leadoff hitter Bill Doran logged at least one hit, including pitcher Nolan Ryan, with two. José Cruz doubled and homered. Phil Garner had three hits and three runs scored. Ryan (10–12) cruised over 7 innings with seven hits, two runs allowed, and eight strikeouts to earn his 10th win on the penultimate day of the regular season. This was a 15th consecutive season Ryan had attained double-figures in victories.

Performance overview

First baseman Glenn Davis established a club record for rookies by hitting 20 home runs, doing so over 100 games played. Davis led the Astros in home runs though he ranked ninth in total appearances.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

• June 3, 1985: Mike Simms was drafted by the Astros in the 6th round of the 1985 Major League Baseball draft.
• June 12, 1985: Brad Gulden was purchased by the Houston Astros from the Cincinnati Reds.
• September 15, 1985: Joe Niekro was traded by the Astros to the New York Yankees for Jim Deshaies and players to be named later. The New York Yankees completed the deal by sending Neder Horta (minors) to the Astros on September 24 and Dody Rather (minors) to the Astros on January 11, 1986.

Roster

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

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Awards and achievements

Grand slams

Awards

• Baseball Digest Rookie All-Star—First baseman: Glenn Davis
• Fred Hartman Long and Meritorious Service to Baseball: Donald Davidson
• Houston Astros Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award: Bill Doran
• MLB All-Star Game:
  • Reserve outfielder—José Cruz
  • Reserve pitcher—Nolan Ryan
• Topps All-Star Rookie Team—First baseman: Glenn Davis

League leaders

;NL pitching leaders

• Wild pitches: Joe Niekro (21*—led MLB*)

Minor league system

Notes

References

References

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