1990 Houston Astros season

Offseason

• December 6, 1989: Bill Gullickson was signed as a free agent by the Astros.
• December 19, 1989: Dan Schatzeder was signed as a free agent by the Astros.
• March 13, 1990: Dave Silvestri and a player to be named later were traded by the Astros to the New York Yankees for Orlando Miller. The Astros completed the deal by sending Daven Bond (minors) to the Yankees on June 11.

Regular season

Summary

April

Hosting the Cincinnati Reds for Opening Day on April 9—also the event for the 25th anniversary since the opening of the Astrodome—the Astros built a 4–2 lead in the bottom of the second inning. However, Cincinnati came back to drop the Astros, 8–4. The most pain went to first baseman Glenn Davis, who was hit by pitch three times, which tied a major-league record. Right-hander Mike Scott made his fourth Opening Day start, joining Larry Dierker and J. R. Richard (five) to have done so as the starting pitcher. Shortstop Rafael Ramírez attained his fourth bout of four hits as a member of the Astros.

May

On May 17, Houston outfielder Eric Anthony launched the first-ever home run by a member of the home team into the upper reserve seating at the Astrodome, a monster blast in the eighth inning during a 5–4 win over the Chicago Cubs. Ken Oberkfell cranked a sacrifice fly in the eleventh inning to score Ken Caminiti for the game-winning run. Anthony's drive came off Mike Bielecki. The only previous home run that had landed in the first upper deck was launched by Bernie Carbo of the Reds in 1970.

On May 26, the Cubs hosted the Astros at Wrigley Field for their first doubleheader since July 7, 1979. The Astros swept, led by Glenn Davis homering thrice over the two games to tie a club record for a doubleheader, set by Román Mejías, on May 6, 1962, against the Milwaukee Braves. Davis was 6-for-9 with 9 runs batted in (RBI). In the opener, Mike Scott (2–5) tossed his first complete game of the season. Jim Deshaies (2–2) started the second contest and allowed six hits over innings to earn the win, while Larry Andersen closed out the final innings for his second save.

June

Astros slugger Glenn Davis connected for three home runs and five runs batted in (RBI) in one game on June 1. That was nearly enough offense for Houston, who managed just two additional hits, though they worked six walks. Davis homered in each of the fourth, sixth, and eighth innings. San Francisco scored thrice in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game, 4–4. Davis' final shot gave the Astros the lead, 5–4; however, in the bottom of the eighth, Will Clark singled home Brett Butler to tie the score. In the bottom of the 12th, Greg Litton . It was the second time that he had hit three home runs in a game during his career, and the fourth time overall by a Houston Astro.

Mike Scott's 15-strikeout game

Mike Scott tossed both a career-best 10-inning complete game and 15 strikeouts on June 8, a three-hitter which was his 12th complete game of three hits or fewer. After exchanging shutout ball with Tom Browning for nine innings, the Cincinnati Reds broke through in the top of the 10th inning on an RBI single. by Todd Benzinger to score Barry Larkin. During the bottom of the tenth, Ken Caminiti whiffed against Randy Myers before Eric Anthony drew a base on balls, who was replaced by Louie Meadows. Rafael Ramírez singled on ground ball to left. One out later, Glenn Wilson smoked a walk-off home run to right fieldfor a 3–1 Houston win. Scott's (3–6) effort earned a game score of 96.

In the bottom of the first, Scott struck out the side, all swinging, He followed that up by registering a pair of whiffs in each of the next two frames. Scott retired each hitter during the initial rotation through the order while peppering 26 of the first 30 offerings for strikes. This performance eclipsed the previous career high of 14 attained three times (twice in 1986, September 14, and Game 1 of the National League Championship Series, and June 15, 1987).

September

On September 21, Houston turned the sixth triple play in club history, doing so in the bottom of the fourth inning against the Atlanta Braves. During the bottom of the fourth, David Justice and Jim Presley opened with consecutive singles off Jim Deshaies. Francisco Cabrera hit a grounder to Ken Caminiti, who made the forceout at third, rifled to Dave Rohde at second, who relayed to Mike Simms at first to complete the play. During the top of the sixth, Eric Anthony slugged a three-run home run. The Braves came back to tie the game, 3–3, during the bottom of the ninth. However, Simms slugged the game-winning home run for Houston in the top of the tenth.

Performance overview

The Astros concluded the season with a 75–87 record, tied for fourth place with the San Diego Padres, and 16 games behind the division- and World Series-champion Reds. A decline by 11 wins from the year prior, the 87 losses were the most for Houston since 1978.

The Astros played in 27 extra-inning games, tying a league record.

Danny Darwin led the National League in earned run average (2.21 ERA), to become the third Houston Astro within the previous five years to attain the ERA title, following Scott in 1986 (2.22) and Nolan Ryan in 1987 (2.76). This was the fifth ERA title overall in franchise history. Darwin, who made 31 of 48 total appearances out of the bullpen, also led the major leagues in walks plus hits per inning pitched (1.027 WHIP).

Left fielder Franklin Stubbs set a club record for home runs by a left-handed batter, with 23.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

• April 3, 1990: Roger Mason was released by the Houston Astros.
• August 21, 1990: Signed outfielder Bobby Abreu as amateur free agent.
• August 30, 1990: Pitcher Larry Andersen was traded by the Astros to the Boston Red Sox for third baseman Jeff Bagwell.
• August 30, 1990: Bill Doran was traded by the Houston Astros to the Cincinnati Reds for players to be named later.
• September 10, 1990: Dan Schatzeder was traded by the Astros to the New York Mets for Nick Davis (minors) and Steve LaRose (minors).
• September 7, 1990: Butch Henry was sent by the Cincinnati Reds to the Houston Astros to complete an earlier deal made on August 30, 1990. Catcher Terry McGriff was also sent by the Cincinnati Reds to complete the deal.

Roster

Game log

Regular season

Detailed records

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

;Career honors

;Annual awards

• Fred Hartman Award for Long and Meritorious Service to Baseball: Allen Russell
• Houston-Area Major League Player of the Year: Doug Drabek (PIT)
• Houston Astros Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award: Danny Darwin
• Lou Gehrig Memorial Award: Glenn Davis
• MLB All-Star—Reserve pitcher: Dave Smith
• NL Player of the Week:
  • April 15—Craig Biggio
  • September 16—Bill Doran
  • September 30—Franklin Stubbs
• NL Pitcher of the Month —July: Danny Darwin

;NL batting leaders

• Caught stealing: Eric Yelding (25—led MLB)
• Hit by pitch: Glenn Davis (8)

;NL pitching leaders

• Bases on balls per nine innings pitched (BB/9): Danny Darwin (1.7—led MLB)
• Earned run average (ERA): Danny Darwin (2.21)
• Games pitched: Juan Agosto (82—led MLB)
• Walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP): Danny Darwin (1.027—led MLB)

Minor league system

Notes

References

References

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2. "Dan Schatzeder stats, height, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com.
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