1995 Houston Astros season

Offseason

• December 28, 1994: Ken Caminiti, Andújar Cedeño, Steve Finley, Roberto Petagine, Brian Williams and a player to be named later were traded by the Astros to the San Diego Padres for Derek Bell, Doug Brocail, Ricky Gutiérrez, Pedro A. Martínez, Phil Plantier, and Craig Shipley. The Astros completed the deal by sending Sean Fesh (minors) to the Padres on May 1, 1995.

Regular season

Summary

April—May

;Opening Day starting lineup

Catcher Tony Eusebio cranked his first career grand slam on May 19, in the bottom of the seventh off Reid Cornelius. This punctuated a 10-2 triumph over the Montreal Expos. Earlier in the contest, young pitcher Pedro Martinez yielded a home run to Jeff Bagwell, his third of the season.

With the score tied 1–1 on May 20, Expos pitcher Jeff Shaw walked in Craig Biggio for the game-winning run as Houston won, 2–1.

June

Greg Swindell got a run batted in (RBI)-double on June 5 to bring the Astros back against the Florida Marlins. Meanwhile, Biggio delivered a three-run, walk-off home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to secure a 6–5 Houston win.

On June 16, the Astros outlasted the New York Mets in a 16-inning thriller to win, 7-5. Houston had gained the lead two separate times in extra innings, first in the 12th and again in the 15th. The Astros recaptured the lead for good after loading the bases for Jeff Bagwell.

Bagwell crushed his 100th career home run on June 20, launching a Gil Heredia offering over the left field wall at Olympic Stadium in the top of the seventh inning. The solo home run extended Houston's lead to 5–2 over the Montreal Expos.

Derek Bell had four hits on June 23 against the Chicago Cubs, while the Astros tied the game 2–2 in the bottom of the ninth. Bell's fourth hit came in the 12th inning, where he delivered the game-winning RBI for a 3–2 Astros win.

On June 28, Eusebio launched his career grand slam and second of the season, during the bottom of the eighth inning at the Astrodome,

MLB All-Star Game

Second baseman Craig Biggio was selected to the starting lineup for the National League at the MLB All-Star game, where he slugged a home run, the first Astro to hit a home run in the All-Star Game since César Cedeño in the 1976 Classic. The first Houston Astros All-Star starter at any position since pitcher Mike Scott in 1987, Biggio joined Joe Morgan as Astros second basemen to be elected as starters. However, it was Biggio who became first in club history to be in the All-Star starting lineup at second base.

Rest of July—October

Left-hander Billy Wagner landed his major league debut on September 13, facing a single batter during the one and only major league appearance of the season for the man who bore jersey number 13. Wagner entered during the bottom of the sixth at Shea Stadium and faced and retired Rico Brogna on fly ball to center field. The Mets ran away with this one, 10–5. Damon Buford took Astros starter Mike Hampton (9–7) deep twice. Future Astros Carl Everett and Jeff Kent also feasted on mistake offerings, taking them deep.

The Astros took the chase for MLB's first-ever Wild Card since the conclusion of the players' strike to the final day of the regular season, and finished as runners-up to the Colorado Rockies for the NL title by one game. Thus, they made their closest bid to their first playoff berth in nine seasons.

Performance overview

With a final record of 76–68, this Astros club produced the fourth consecutive arc since 1992 with a record of at least .500—unprecedented in any prior instance in franchise history—while also matching the 1979, 1980, 1981 clubs with three successive winning campaigns, the longest to that point in franchise history. Not losing momentum, Houston surpassed this franchise record the following year, and would continue to intervene to extend this new record through the 1999 campaign.

Biggio was recognized with both the Silver Slugger and Gold Glove Awards for the second consecutive year, becoming the first Astros player with both awards over successive campaigns, and the first Astro to win either award for the position at second base. Having won the Silver Slugger at catcher in 1989, Biggio took over the lead for total Silver Sluggers won in club history, with three. He joined José Cruz (1983 and 1984) as just the second Astro to win the Silver Slugger in consecutive years. Biggio became the first Astro since César Cedeño (1975 and 1976) to win consecutive Gold Glove Awards, while also joining Cedeño and Doug Rader as the third Astro with multiple Gold Gloves (5 each).

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

• July 2, 1995: Johan Santana was signed as an amateur free agent by the Astros.
• July 19, 1995: Phil Plantier was traded by the Astros to the San Diego Padres for Rich Loiselle and Jeff Tabaka.
• August 10, 1995: The Astros traded a player to be named later to the Detroit Tigers for Mike Henneman. The Astros completed the deal by sending Phil Nevin to the Tigers on August 15.

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

• Associated Press (AP) All-Star—Second base: Craig Biggio
• Baseball Digest Rookie All-Star—Outfielder: Brian L. Hunter
• ESPY Award Best Breakthrough Athlete: Jeff Bagwell
• ESPY Award Best Major League Baseball Player: Jeff Bagwell
• Fred Hartman Award for Long and Meritorious Service to Baseball: Larry Dierker
• Gold Glove Award at second base: Craig Biggio
• Houston-Area Major League Player of the Year: Jay Buhner (SEA)
• Houston Astros Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award: Craig Biggio
• Houston Astros Rookie of the Year: Brian L. Hunter
• MLB All-Star Game—Starting second baseman: Craig Biggio
• NL Player of the Week
  • May 21—Craig Biggio
  • July 2—Derek Bell
  • July 30—Doug Drabek
• Silver Slugger Award at second base: Craig Biggio
• The Sporting News NL All-Star—Second base: Craig Biggio
• Topps All-Star Rookie Team—Shortstop: Orlando Miller

League leaders

;NL batting leaders

• Hit by pitch: Craig Biggio (22*—led MLB*)
• Plate appearances: Craig Biggio (673*—led MLB*)
• Runs scored: Craig Biggio (123*—led MLB*)

;NL pitching leaders

• Games started: Doug Drabek (31)

Minor league system

;Awards

• Baseball America First Team Minor League All-Star—Starting pitcher: Donne Wall
• Pacific Coast League All-Star:
  • Second baseman—Dave Hajek
  • Pitcher—Donne Wall
• Pacific Coast League Most Valuable Player Award (PCL MVP): Donne Wall, P
• Texas League All-Star—Pitcher: Billy Wagner
• Triple-A All-Star—Pitcher: Donne Wall

References

;Footnotes

;Sources

References

1. "Ken Caminiti stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
2. (April 26, 1995). "Houston Astros (10) vs San Diego Padres (2) box score". [[Baseball Almanac]].
3. "1995 Houston Astros uniform numbers". Baseball-Reference.com.
4. "Tony Eusebio career home runs". Baseball-Reference.com.
5. (May 19, 1995). "Montreal Expos (2) vs Houston Astros (10) box score". Baseball-Reference.com.
6. Schwartzberg, Seth. (May 20, 2025). "Today in Astros history - May 20". [[SB Nation]].
7. Schwartzberg, Seth. (June 5, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 5". SB Nation.
8. Schwartzburg, Seth. (June 16, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 16". SB Nation.
9. "Jeff Bagwell career home runs". Baseball-Reference.com.
10. Schwartzberg, Seth. (June 23, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 23". SB Nation.
11. (June 28, 1995). "St. Louis Cardinals (0) vs Houston Astros (9) box score". Baseball-Reference.com.
12. "Astros history – Timeline". [[MLB.com]].
13. Schwartzberg, Seth. (June 25, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 25". SB Nation.
14. "Houston Astros All-Star player register". Baseball-Refererence.com.
15. "Billy Wagner stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com.
16. (September 13, 1995). "Houston Astros (5) vs New York Mets (10) box score". Baseball-Reference.com.
17. "Houston Astros team history & encyclopedia". Baseball-Reference.com.
18. "Silver and Gold Club: MLB players who won Silver Slugger and Gold Glove in same year". Baseball Almanac.
19. "MLB Silver Slugger Award winners—National League". Baseball-Reference.com.
20. "MLB Gold Glove Award winners—National League". Baseball-Reference.com.
21. "Johan Santana stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com.
22. "Phil Plantier stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com.
23. "Mike Henneman stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com.
24. "Associated Press All-Star Awards & Teams". Baseball Almanac.
25. "The 2001 ESPY Awards—ESPN Awards past winners". [[ESPN.com]].
26. McTaggart, Brian. (December 21, 2009). "Bourn highlights Astros' awards season". MLB.com.
27. "Gold Glove second basemen". Baseball Almanac.
28. "MLB Players of the Week Awards". Baseball-Reference.com.
29. "Silver Slugger Award". Baseball Almanac.
30. "Craig Biggio stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com.
31. "Baseball American 1st Team Minor League All-Star award history". The Baseball Cube.
32. "Pacific Coast League All-Stars". The Baseball Cube.
33. "Houston Astros Minor League Player of the Year". The Baseball Cube.
34. "Texas League All-Stars". The Baseball Cube.
35. "Triple-A All-Stars". The Baseball Cube.