1998 Houston Astros season

1998 Houston Astros
1998 NL Central Champions
Division	Central Division
Ballpark	Astrodome
City	Houston, Texas
Record	102–60 (.630)
Owners	Drayton McLane, Jr.
Managers	Larry Dierker
Television	KNWS-TV Fox Sports Southwest (Bill Brown, Jim Deshaies)
Radio	KILT (AM) (Milo Hamilton, Alan Ashby) KXYZ (Francisco Ernesto Ruiz, Alex Treviño)
Seasons

The 1998 Houston Astros season marked their second consecutive trip to the postseason. They won a club-record 102 games (until the 2018 team broke it with 103 wins), the first time in club history with at least 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

First baseman Jeff Bagwell hit his first career grand slam while tying a career-high six runs batted in (RBI) against Cincinnati on September 9 in a 13–7 victory. It was his 218th career home run, making his streak the then-longest among active players without a grand slam.

Season standings

NL Central	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Houston Astros	102	60	0.630	—	55–26	47–34
Chicago Cubs	90	73	0.552	12½	51–31	39–42
St. Louis Cardinals	83	79	0.512	19	48–34	35–45
Cincinnati Reds	77	85	0.475	25	39–42	38–43
Milwaukee Brewers	74	88	0.457	28	38–43	36–45
Pittsburgh Pirates	69	93	0.426	33	40–40	29–53

Record vs. opponents

1998 National League record Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]
Team	AZ	ATL	CHC	CIN	COL	FLA	HOU	LA	MIL	MTL	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL	AL
Arizona	—	1–8	5–7	4–5	6–6	6–2	4–5	4–8	6–3	2–7	4–5	2–7	6–3	3–9	5–7	2–7	5–8
Atlanta	8–1	—	3–6	7–2	5–3	7–5	4–5	8–1	7–2	6–6	9–3	8–4	7–2	5–4	7–2	6–3	9–7
Chicago	7–5	6–3	—	6–5	7–2	7–2	4–7	4–5	6–6	7–2	4–5	3–6	8–3	5–4	7–3	4–7	5–8
Cincinnati	5–4	2–7	5–6	—	4–5	9–0	3–8	5–4	6–5	8–1	3–6	4–5	5–7	1–11	2–7	8–3	7-6
Colorado	6–6	3–5	2–7	5–4	—	6–3	6–5	6–6	4–7	7–2	3–6	5–4	5–4	5–7	7–5	3–6	4–8
Florida	2–6	5–7	2–7	0–9	3–6	—	3–6	4–5	0–9	5–7	5–7	6–6	3–6	4–5	0–9	4–5	8–8
Houston	5–4	5–4	7–4	8–3	5–6	6-3	—	3–6	9–2	7–2	5–4	7–2	9–2	5–4	6–3	5–7	10–4
Los Angeles	8–4	1–8	5–4	4–5	6–6	5–4	6–3	—	5–4	5–4	3–5	5–4	7–5	5–7	6–6	4–5	8–5
Milwaukee	3–6	2–7	6–6	5–6	7–4	9–0	2–9	4–5	—	6–3	1–8	4–5	6–5	3–6	5–4	3–8	8–6
Montreal	7–2	6–6	2–7	1–8	2–7	7–5	2–7	4–5	3–6	—	8–4	5–7	2–7	4–4	3–6	3–6	6–10
New York	5–4	3–9	5–4	6–3	6–3	7–5	4–5	5–3	8–1	4–8	—	8–4	4–5	4–5	4–5	6–3	9–7
Philadelphia	7-2	4–8	6–3	5–4	4–5	6–6	2–7	4–5	5–4	7–5	4–8	—	8–1	1–8	2–6	3–6	7–9
Pittsburgh	3–6	2–7	3–8	7–5	4–5	6–3	2–9	5–7	5–6	7–2	5–4	1–8	—	5–4	2–7	6–5	6–7
San Diego	9–3	4–5	4–5	11–1	7–5	5–4	4–5	7–5	6–3	4–4	5–4	8–1	4–5	—	8–4	6–3	6–7
San Francisco	7–5	2–7	3–7	7–2	5–7	9–0	3–6	6–6	4–5	6–3	5–4	6–2	7–2	4–8	—	7–5	8–5
St. Louis	7–2	3–6	7–4	3–8	6–3	5-4	7–5	5–4	8–3	6–3	3–6	6–3	5–6	3–6	5–7	—	4–9

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 Guillén. The Houston Astros sent John Halama (October 1, 1998) to the Seattle Mariners to complete the trade.

Game Log

Legend
	Astros win
	Astros loss
	Postponement
Bold	Astros team member

1998 Game Log
March/April (17–10) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Streak 1 March 31 Giants 4–9 0–1 L1 2 April 1 Giants 7–6 1–1 W1 3 April 2 Giants 2–9 1–2 L1 4 April 3 Rockies 15–2 2–2 W1 5 April 4 Rockies 3–5 2–3 L1 6 April 5 Rockies 6–2 3–3 W1 7 April 6 Rockies 13–4 4–3 W2 8 April 7 @ Giants 4–5 4–4 L1 9 April 8 @ Giants 6–3 5–4 W1 10 April 9 @ Giants 3–1 6–4 W2 11 April 10 @ Dodgers 2–7 6–5 L1 12 April 11 @ Dodgers 6–2 7–5 W1 13 April 12 @ Dodgers 6–7 7–6 L1 14 April 13 @ Dodgers 1–3 7–7 L2 15 April 15 @ Reds 1–4 7–8 L3 16 April 16 @ Reds 7–4 8–8 W1 17 April 17 Expos 5–3 9–8 W2 18 April 18 Expos 4–3 10–8 W3 19 April 19 Expos 4–5 10–9 L1 20 April 21 @ Mets 6–0 11–9 W1 21 April 22 @ Mets 7–10 11–10 L1 22 April 24 @ Expos 8–4 12–10 W1 23 April 25 @ Expos 4–3 13–10 W2 24 April 26 @ Expos 15–0 14–10 W3 25 April 27 @ Mets 4–3 15–10 W4 26 April 28 Mets 4–3 16–10 W5 27 April 29 Mets 6–1 17–10 W6
May (16–12) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Streak 28 May 1 @ Phillies 12–5 18–10 W7 29 May 2 @ Phillies 4–1 19–10 W8 30 May 3 @ Phillies 3–5 19–11 L1 31 May 5 @ Cubs 10–5 20–11 W1 32 May 6 @ Cubs 0–2 20–12 L1 33 May 8 @ Brewers 1–4 20–13 L2 34 May 9 @ Brewers 11–6 21–13 W1 35 May 10 @ Brewers 7–1 22–13 W2 36 May 11 Marlins 5–2 23–13 W3 37 May 12 Marlins 4–2 24–13 W4 38 May 13 Pirates 1–0 25–13 W5 39 May 14 Pirates 2–7 25–14 L1 40 May 15 Braves 2–3 25–15 L2 41 May 16 Braves 3–2 26–15 W1 42 May 17 Braves 8–1 27–15 W2 43 May 18 Braves 0–4 27–16 L1 44 May 19 @ Expos 2–4 27–17 L2 45 May 20 @ Expos 4–3 28–17 W1 46 May 21 @ Expos 6–0 29–17 W2 47 May 22 Padres 6–9 29–18 L1 48 May 23 Padres 4–3 30–18 W1 49 May 24 Padres 5–2 31–18 W2 50 May 25 Dodgers 3–4 31–19 L1 51 May 26 Dodgers 13–2 32–19 W1 52 May 27 Dodgers 1–3 32–20 L1 53 May 29 @ Rockies 7–6 33–20 W1 54 May 30 @ Rockies 3–6 33–21 L1 55 May 31 @ Rockies 57 33–22 L2
June (17–10) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Streak 56 June 2 @ Padres 4–3 34–22 W1 = 57 June 3 @ Padres 8–2 35–22 W2 58 June 4 @ Padres 1–5 35–23 L1 59 June 5 Royals 0–3 35–24 L2 60 June 6 Royals 6–0 36–24 W1 61 June 7 Royals 7–1 37–24 W2 62 June 8 @ Tigers 9–5 38–24 W3 63 June 9 @ Tigers 5–3 39–24 W4 64 June 10 @ Tigers 10–3 40–24 W5 65 June 12 @ Reds 1–8 40–25 L1 66 June 13 @ Reds 4–7 40–26 L2 67 June 14 @ Reds 6–3 41–26 W1 68 June 15 @ Reds 13–2 42–26 W2 69 June 16 Cardinals 4–9 42–27 L1 70 June 17 Cardinals 6–5 43–27 W1 71 June 18 Cardinals 6–7 43–28 L1 72 June 19 Reds 4–2 44–28 W1 73 June 20 Reds 9–8 45–28 W2 74 June 21 Reds 3–1 46–28 W3 75 June 22 Twins 3–5 46–29 L1 76 June 23 Twins 9–0 47–29 W1 77 June 24 @ Rockies 6–8 47–30 L1 78 June 25 @ Rockies 5–6 47–31 L2 79 June 26 @ Indians 2–4 47–32 L3 80 June 27 @ Indians 9–5 48–32 W1 81 June 28 @ Indians 12–3 49–32 W2 82 June 30 White Sox 17–2 50–32 W3
July (15–12) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Streak 83 July 1 White Sox 10–4 51–32 W4 84 July 2 White Sox 3–4 51–33 L1 85 July 3 Dbacks 6–5 52–33 W1 86 July 4 Dbacks 4–7 52–34 L1 87 July 5 Dbacks 5–2 53–34 W1 88 July 9 @ Cardinals 5–4 54–34 W2 89 July 10 @ Cardinals 3–6 54–35 L1 90 July 11 @ Cardinals 3–4 54–36 L2 91 July 12 @ Cardinals 4–6 54–37 L3 92 July 13 @ Dbacks 3–5 54–38 L4 93 July 14 @ Dbacks 4–2 55–38 W1 94 July 15 @ Dbacks 8–9 55–39 L1 95 July 17 Giants 10–7 56–39 W1 96 July 18 Giants 7–2 57–39 W2 97 July 19 Giants 4–3 58–39 W3 98 July 20 Rockies 10–9 59–39 W4 99 July 21 Rockies 0–5 59–40 L1 100 July 22 @ Dodgers 4–6 59–41 L2 101 July 23 @ Dodgers 8–6 60–41 W1 102 July 24 @ Padres 2–1 61–41 W2 103 July 25 @ Padres 5–6 61–42 L1 104 July 26 @ Padres 4–5 61–43 L2 105 July 27 Marlins 9–1 62–43 W1 106 July 28 Marlins 7–3 63–43 W2 107 July 29 Marlins 10–6 64–43 W3 108 July 30 Marlins 3–4 64–44 L1 109 July 31 @ Pirates 7–4 65–44 W1
August (22–7) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Streak 110 August 1 @ Pirates 2–1 66–44 W2 111 August 2 @ Pirates 6–2 67–44 W3 112 August 3 @ Marlins 3–11 67–45 L1 113 August 4 @ Marlins 9–5 68–45 W1 114 August 5 @ Marlins 3–5 68–46 L1 115 August 7 Phillies 9–0 69–46 W1 116 August 8 Phillies 7–6 70–46 W2 117 August 9 Phillies 11–2 71–46 W3 118 August 10 Brewers 5–2 72–46 W4 119 August 11 Brewers 6–5 73–46 W5 120 August 12 Brewers 3–0 74–46 W6 121 August 13 Brewers 6–2 75–46 W7 122 August 14 Cubs 4–6 75–47 L1 123 August 15 Cubs 5–4 76–47 W1 124 August 16 Cubs 1–2 76–48 L1 125 August 17 @ Phillies 0–4 76–49 L2 126 August 18 @ Phillies 8–2 77–49 W1 127 August 19 @ Phillies 4–3 78–49 W2 128 August 20 @ Brewers 5–6 78–50 L1 129 August 21 @ Brewers 5–2 79–50 W1 130 August 22 @ Cubs 8–3 80–50 W2 131 August 23 @ Cubs 13–3 81–50 W3 132 August 24 @ Cubs 12–3 82–50 W4 133 August 25 Braves 3–2 83–50 W5 134 August 26 Braves 2–6 83–51 L1 135 August 28 Pirates 2–0 84–51 W1 136 August 29 Pirates 6–3 85–51 W2 137 August 30 Pirates 11–4 86–51 W3 138 August 31 @ Braves 4–3 87–51 W4
August (15–9) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Streak 139 September 1 @ Braves 4–6 87–52 L1 140 September 2 @ Braves 4–2 88–52 W1 141 September 4 @ Dbacks 1–3 88–53 L1 142 September 5 @ Dbacks 6–5 89–53 W1 143 September 6 @ Dbacks 10–1 90–53 W2 144 September 7 Reds 1–0 91–53 W3 145 September 8 Reds 13–7 92–53 W4 146 September 9 Brewers 6–2 93–53 W5 147 September 10 Brewers 7–1 94–53 W6 148 September 11 Cardinals 8–2 95–53 W7 149 September 12 Cardinals 3–2 96–53 W8 150 September 13 Cardinals 2–3 96–54 L1 151 September 14 Mets 4–7 96–55 L2 152 September 15 Mets 6–5 97–55 W1 153 September 15 Mets 4–8 97–56 L1 154 September 16 Mets 3–4 97–57 L2 155 September 18 @ Pirates 5–2 98–57 W1 156 September 19 @ Pirates 1–7 98–58 L1 157 September 20 @ Pirates 2–0 99–58 W1 158 September 22 @ Cardinals 0–4 99–59 L1 159 September 23 @ Cardinals 7–1 100–59 W1 160 September 25 Cubs 6–2 101–59 W2 161 September 26 Cubs 2–3 101–60 L1 162 September 27 Cubs 4–3 102–60 W1

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 José Lima 52 Mike Magnante 46 Trever 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 (first base) 24 Mike Cubbage (third base) 21 Dave Engle (bullpen)  8 Matt Galante (bench) 16 Tom McCraw (hitting) 48 Vern Ruhle (pitching)

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
C	Brad Ausmus	128	412	111	.269	6	45
1B	Jeff Bagwell	147	540	164	.304	34	111
2B	Craig Biggio	160	646	210	.325	20	88
SS	Ricky Gutiérrez	141	491	128	.261	2	46
3B	Bill Spiers	123	384	105	.273	4	43
LF	Moisés Alou	159	584	182	.312	38	124
CF	Carl Everett	133	467	138	.296	15	76
RF	Derek Bell	156	630	198	.314	22	108

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
Sean Berry	102	299	94	.314	13	52
Richard Hidalgo	74	211	64	.303	7	35
Tony Eusebio	66	182	46	.253	1	36
Tim Bogar	79	156	24	.154	1	8
Dave Clark	93	131	27	.206	0	4
J.R. Phillips	36	58	11	.190	2	9
Jack Howell	24	38	11	.289	1	7
Pete Incaviglia	13	16	2	.125	0	2
Russ Johnson	8	13	3	.231	0	0
Mitch Meluskey	8	8	2	.250	0	0
Ray Montgomery	6	5	2	.400	0	0
Daryle Ward	4	3	1	.333	0	0

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
Shane Reynolds	35	233.1	19	8	3.51	209
José Lima	33	233.1	16	8	3.70	169
Mike Hampton	32	211.2	11	7	3.36	137
Sean Bergman	31	172	12	9	3.72	100
Randy Johnson	11	84.1	10	1	1.28	116
Pete Schourek	15	80	7	6	4.50	59
John Halama	6	32.1	1	1	5.85	21

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

N/A

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
Doug Henry	59	8	2	2	3.04	59
Billy Wagner	58	4	3	30	2.70	97
Mike Magnante	48	4	7	2	4.88	39
C.J. Nitkowski	43	3	3	3	3.77	44
Trever Miller	37	2	0	1	3.04	30
Jay Powell	29	3	3	4	2.38	38
Scott Elarton	28	2	1	2	3.32	56
Bob Scanlan	27	0	1	0	3.08	9
Reggie Harris	6	0	0	0	6.00	2
José Cabrera	3	0	0	0	8.31	1
Mike Grzanich	1	0	0	0	18.00	1

National League Divisional Playoffs

Main article: 1998 National League Division Series

Houston Astros vs. San Diego Padres

The Astros season ended by defeat in four games to the San Diego Padres in the National League Division Series, including losing two starts against Kevin Brown – one of the league's highest-accomplished pitchers that year – both by a 2–1 score. As the Game 1 starter opposing Randy Johnson, Brown allowed no runs in eight innings and struck out 16 Astros, a career-high, and second to that point in MLB playoff history only to Bob Gibson's 17-strikeout performance in the 1968 World Series. Bagwell, Derek Bell, and Craig Biggio combined for six hits in 51 at bats in this series.

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
A-Short Season	Auburn Doubledays	New York–Penn League	Lyle Yates
Rookie	GCL Astros	Gulf Coast League	Julio Linares

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: New Orleans; LEAGUE CO-CHAMPIONS: Auburn

External links

• 1998 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference