1989 Houston Astros season

Offseason

• November 22, 1988: Hired former first baseman/outfielder Bob Watson as assistant general manager. Watson, who had most recently served as hitting coach for the Oakland Athletics, played for Houston from 1966 to 1979.
• 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.
• December 21, 1988: Bob Forsch was signed as a free agent by the Astros.
• 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.
• January 30, 1989: Dan Schatzeder was signed as a free agent by the Astros.
• February 16, 1989: Roger Mason was signed as a free agent with the Houston Astros.
• March 31, 1989: Dave Johnson and Victor Hithe (minors) were traded by the Astros to the Baltimore Orioles for Carl Nichols.
• April 3, 1989: Signed right-hander Mike Scott to a two-year extension—including incentives—worth up to $4.75 million.

Regular season

Summary

April—May

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 ft 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.

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

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. 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, a club record for most games of those criteria.

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.

June

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, which was the longest game in major league history. The ninth consecutive win for the Astros, they pulled to 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, 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. Their tenth consecutive win (May 26–June 4), this tied another club record.

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.

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. 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.

August—September

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.

On August 20, Kevin Bass hit a walk-off grand slam off Chicago Cubs closer Mitch Williams, the first of two grand slams on the season by Bass that either secured a win or tied the game. This one secured an 8–4 win at the Astros. The slam capped an all-round performance that day for Bass, as he was 3-for-5 with 5 RBI, including an earlier home run which game him home runs from both sides of the plate.

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. 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.

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. 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.

Performance overview

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. 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.

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

Glenn Davis launched a career-best 34 home runs,

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

Standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

• April 5, 1989: Greg Gross was signed as a free agent with the Houston Astros.
• April 6, 1989: Troy Afenir was traded by the Astros to the Oakland Athletics for Matt Sinatro.
• 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.

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

;Awards

• Fred Hartman Award for Long and Meritorious Service to Baseball: Vivian Smith
• Houston-Area Major League Player of the Year: Nolan Ryan (TEX)
• Houston Astros Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award: Mike Scott
• MLB All-Star Game:
  • Reserve infielder—Glenn Davis
  • Reserve pitcher—Mike Scott
• National League (NL) Pitcher of the Month—May: Mike Scott
• NL Player of the Week
  • May 21: Bill Doran
  • July 16: Glenn Davis
  • July 30: Craig Biggio
  • August 20: Kevin Bass
• Silver Slugger Award at catcher: Craig Biggio
• The Sporting News NL All-Star—P: Mike Scott

;NL batting leaders:

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

;NL pitching leaders

• Wins: Mike Scott (20)

;NL defensive leaders

• 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

Notes

References

References

1. (November 23, 1988). "Astros give Bob Watson front-office job". [[Los Angeles Times]].
2. "Mark Portugal stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
3. "Bob Forsch stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com.
4. "Rick Rhoden stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com.
5. "Dan Schatzeder stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com.
6. "Roger Mason stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com.
7. "Carl Nichols stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com.
8. Weiner, Steven C.. (April 4, 1989). "Astros, Mike Scott win season opener over Braves at the Dome". [[Society for American Baseball Research]] (SABR).
9. (April 4, 1989). "Atlanta Braves (3) vs Houston Astros (10) box score". [[Baseball Almanac]].
10. "1989 Houston Astros uniform numbers". Baseball-Reference.com.
11. "Astros history – Timeline". [[MLB.com]].
12. Hulsey, Bob. "This date in Astros history". Astros Daily.
13. "Top performances for Mike Scott". [[Retrosheet]].
14. "Player pitching game stats finder–baseball". [[Sports Reference]].
15. Schwartzberg, Seth. (May 27, 2025). "Today in Astros history - May 27". [[SB Nation]].
16. Schwartzberg, Seth. (June 4, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 4". SB Nation.
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]].
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]].
19. Schwartzberg, Seth. (June 13, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 13". SB Nation.
20. "Mike Scott 1989 pitching splits". Baseball-Reference.com.
21. "Major League Baseball Pitchers of the Month". Baseball-Reference.com.
22. Youung, Matt. (June 27, 2025). "Astros win fifth straight, clubbing their way past NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs". [[Houston Chronicle]].
23. McTaggart, Brian. "Game to Remember: Kevin Bass". MLB.com.
24. (April 10, 1962). "Houston Colt .45s 11, Chicago Cubs 2 box score". [[Retrosheet]].
25. Newberry, Kevin. (September 9, 1989). "He's great again: Scott's 3-hitter narrows gap to 5". [[Houston Post]].
26. (September 9, 1989). "San Francisco Giants (1) vs Houston Astros (3) box score". Baseball-Reference.com.
27. "1989 National League team statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
28. "Houston Astros team history & encyclopedia". Baseball-Reference.com.
29. "Yearly league leaders & records for wins". Baseball-Reference.com.
30. Hulsey, Bob. (November 29, 2019). "Houston Astros 20-game winners"%2C%201980%20(20)). Astros Daily.
31. "Player pitching season & career stats finder–baseball". Sports Reference.
32. "300-strikeout seasons (1901–2014)". Baseball-Reference.com.
33. "Cy Young Award". Baseball Almanac.
34. "Jim Wynn stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com.
35. "Silver Slugger Award". Baseball Almanac.
36. "Greg Gross stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com.
37. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/a/afenitr01.shtml Troy Afenir] at ''Baseball Reference''
38. "Jeff Juden stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com.
39. "1989 Houston Astros Roster by Baseball Almanac".
40. McTaggart, Brian. (December 21, 2009). "Bourn highlights Astros' awards season". MLB.com.
41. "MLB Players of the Week Awards". Baseball-Reference.com.
42. "Mike Scott stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com.
43. "1989 National League fielding leaders". Baseball-Reference.com.