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)
1998 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 Trevino)
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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	GB	Pct.
Houston Astros	102	60	.630	--
Chicago Cubs	90	73	.552	12.5
St. Louis Cardinals	83	79	.512	19.0
Cincinnati Reds	77	85	.475	25.0
Milwaukee Brewers	74	88	.457	28.0
Pittsburgh Pirates	69	93	.426	33.0

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 Guillen. 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 Jose Lima 52 Mike Magnante 46 Trevor 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 24 Mike Cubbage 21 Dave Engle  8 Matt Galante 16 Tom McCraw 48 Vern Ruhle

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 References 1998 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.). Durham, N.C.: Baseball America. ISBN 978-1-932391-17-6.  Preceded by Houston Astros 1997 NL Central Championship Season 1998 Succeeded by Houston Astros 1999