1992 Houston Astros season

1992 Houston Astros
LeagueNational League
DivisionWest
BallparkThe Astrodome
CityHouston, Texas
Record81–81 (.500)
Divisional place4th
OwnersJohn McMullen
General managersBill Wood
ManagersArt Howe
TelevisionKTXH
HSE
RadioKPRC (AM)
(Bill Brown, Milo Hamilton, Larry Dierker, Vince Controneo, Bill Worrell, Enos Cabell)
KXYZ
(Orlando Sánchez-Diago, Rolando Becerra)
Seasons

The 1992 Houston Astros season was the 31st season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 28th as the Astros, 31st in the National League (NL), 24th in the NL West division, and 28th at the Astrodome, The Astros entered the season with a 65–97 record and in last place in the NL West, 29 games behind the division-champion and NL pennant-winning Atlanta Braves.

The season began for Houston on April 7 in which they hosted Atlanta, but were defeated, 2–0. Pete Harnisch was the Astros' Opening Day starting pitcher. The Astros' first round draft pick in the amateur draft was third baseman Phil Nevin, at first overall. Nevin was the Astros' second number-one overall pick, following Floyd Bannister in 1976.

Pitcher Doug Jones and second baseman Craig Biggio represented the Astros at the MLB All-Star Game, This was the third career selection for Jones, and second for Biggio, who was previously selected as a catcher. Broadcaster Milo Hamilton, who began calling games for the Astros in 1985, was recognized for his work with the Ford C. Frick Award by the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Due to the Republican National Convention being hosted at the Astrodome from August 17–20, the Astros played 26 consecutive road games from July 27 through August 23, going 12–14 on the road trip. The club played in all National League cities except Montreal, New York City, and Pittsburgh.

In their first game back at The Astrodome on August 25 following the 28-day road trip, shortstop Andújar Cedeño hit for the cycle, the fourth in club history. The Astros won 25 of their final 38 games following the long road trip to finish at .500 (81–81), in fourth place in the NL West and 17 games behind the Braves, who repeated as division champions and NL pennant winners. This represented a 16-game improvement from the year prior for Houston. Hence, the 1992 season was the start of the longest period of consistent regular-season success in franchise history, where they finished at .500 or above in each of 15 of 17 seasons through 2008, and made the playoffs six times.

The Astros won six games on walk-off home runs, the most of any MLB team in 1992.[1]

Offseason

Regular season

Summary

On June 14, outfielder Pete Incaviglia tied a club record with 7 runs batted in (RBI) to lead a 15–7 victory over the San Francisco Giants. He homered twice and hit a run-scoring double.

The Astros' Jones duo of Jimmy and Doug combined to deliver a 1–0 shutout of the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 20. Jimmy tossed the first 8 innings to earn the win, while Doug closed the final three outs for the save.[6] On June 21, Butch Henry and Doug Jones combined on another shutout of Los Angeles, en route to 2–0 win and series sweep. The two contests were the last of 20 consecutive innings in which Houston held Los Angeles scoreless. Incaviglia's two-run home run accounted for all the scoring in the game.[7] On June 28, with the Dodgers hosting the Astros, the Landers earthquake in nearly San Bernadino County struck in the morning of the game. The Astros lost, 8–2. Meanwhile, Ken Caminiti led the Astros with four hits.[8]

In their first game back at The Astrodome on August 25 following the 28-day road trip, shortstop Andújar Cedeño hit for the cycle, the fourth in club history. With the Astros hosting the St. Louis Cardinals, Cedeño's first hit was a triple, he homered in the seventh inning, doubled in the 11th inning and got the single off Les Smith in the 13th inning. It was the first cycle for an Astros player since Bob Watson accomplished the feat on June 24, 1977, and the final one for the Astros at The Astrodome. The next Astros cycle was by teammate Jeff Bagwell in 2001.[9]

Season standings

NL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Atlanta Braves 98 64 .605 — 51‍–‍30 47‍–‍34
Cincinnati Reds 90 72 .556 8 53‍–‍28 37‍–‍44
San Diego Padres 82 80 .506 16 45‍–‍36 37‍–‍44
81 81 .500 17 47‍–‍34 34‍–‍47
San Francisco Giants 72 90 .444 26 42‍–‍39 30‍–‍51
Los Angeles Dodgers 63 99 .389 35 37‍–‍44 26‍–‍55

Record vs. opponents

1992 National League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team ATL CHC CIN HOU LAD MTL NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL
Atlanta — 10–2 9–9 13–5 12–6 4–8 7–5 6–6 7–5 13–5 11–7 6–6
Chicago 2–10 — 5–7 8–4 6–6 7–11 9–9 9–9 8–10 5–7 8–4 11–7
Cincinnati 9–9 7–5 — 10–8 11–7 5–7 7–5 7–5 6–6 11–7 10–8 7–5
5–13 4–8 8–10 — 13–5 8–4 5–7 8–4 6–6 7–11 12–6 5–7
Los Angeles 6–12 6–6 7–11 5–13 — 4–8 5–7 5–7 5–7 9–9 7–11 4–8
Montreal 8–4 11–7 7–5 4–8 8–4 — 12–6 9–9 9–9 8–4 5–7 6–12
New York 5–7 9–9 5–7 7–5 7–5 6–12 — 6–12 4–14 4–8 10–2 9–9
Philadelphia 6-6 9–9 5–7 4–8 7–5 9–9 12–6 — 5–13 3–9 3–9 7–11
Pittsburgh 5–7 10–8 6–6 6–6 7–5 9–9 14–4 13–5 — 5–7 6–6 15–3
San Diego 5–13 7–5 7–11 11–7 9–9 4–8 8–4 9–3 7–5 — 11–7 4–8
San Francisco 7–11 4–8 8–10 6–12 11–7 7–5 2–10 9–3 6–6 7–11 — 5–7
St. Louis 6–6 7–11 5–7 7–5 8–4 12–6 9–9 11–7 3–15 8–4 7–5 —


Notable transactions

Roster

1992 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

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 Eddie Taubensee 104 297 66 .222 5 28
1B Jeff Bagwell 162 586 160 .273 18 96
2B Craig Biggio 162 613 170 .277 6 39
3B Ken Caminiti 135 506 149 .294 13 62
SS Andújar Cedeño 71 220 38 .173 2 13
LF Luis Gonzalez 122 387 94 .243 10 55
CF Steve Finley 162 607 177 .292 5 55
RF Eric Anthony 137 440 105 .239 19 80

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
Pete Incaviglia 113 349 93 .266 11 44
Casey Candaele 135 320 68 .213 1 18
Scott Servais 77 205 49 .239 0 15
Rafael Ramírez 73 176 44 .250 1 13
Juan Guerrero 79 125 25 .200 1 14
Gerald Young 74 76 14 .184 0 4
Chris Jones 54 63 12 .190 1 4
Ernie Riles 39 61 16 .262 1 4
Benny Distefano 52 60 14 .233 0 7
Eddie Tucker 20 50 6 .120 0 3
Mike Simms 15 24 6 .250 1 3
Eric Yelding 9 8 2 .250 0 0
Tuffy Rhodes 5 4 0 .000 0 0
Denny Walling 3 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
Pete Harnisch 34 206.2 9 10 3.70 164
Butch Henry 28 165.2 6 9 4.02 96
Jimmy Jones 25 139.1 10 6 4.07 69
Darryl Kile 22 125.1 5 10 3.95 90
Mark Portugal 18 101.1 6 3 2.66 62
Brian Williams 16 96.1 7 6 3.92 54
Ryan Bowen 11 33.2 0 7 10.96 22

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
Willie Blair 29 78.2 5 7 4.00 48
Shane Reynolds 8 25.1 1 3 7.11 10
Rich Scheid 7 12.0 0 1 6.00 8

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 Jones 80 11 8 36 1.85 93
Joe Boever 81 3 6 2 2.51 67
Xavier Hernandez 77 9 1 7 2.11 96
Al Osuna 66 6 3 0 4.23 37
Rob Murphy 59 3 1 0 4.04 42
Rob Mallicoat 23 0 0 0 7.23 20

Awards and achievements

Awards
NL batting leaders
NL pitching leaders

Minor league system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Tucson Toros Pacific Coast League Bob Skinner
AA Jackson Generals Texas League Rick Sweet
A Osceola Astros Florida State League Sal Butera
A Burlington Astros Midwest League Steve Curry
A Asheville Tourists South Atlantic League Tim Tolman
A-Short Season Auburn Astros New York–Penn League Steve Dillard
Rookie GCL Astros Gulf Coast League Julio Linares

References

  1. ^ "Team batting event finder: 1992, all teams, home runs, walk-off". Baseball Reference. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  2. ^ Kenny Lofton at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Joe Boever at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Ernest Riles at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ Denny Walling at Baseball Reference
  6. ^ Schwartzberg, Seth (June 20, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 20". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved June 20, 2025.
  7. ^ Schwartzberg, Seth (June 21, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 21". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  8. ^ Schwartzberg, Seth (June 28, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 28". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
  9. ^ Young, Matt (July 22, 2024). "Details behind each player who has hit for the cycle in Astros franchise history". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved July 12, 2025.
  10. ^ Curt Schilling at Baseball Reference
  11. ^ "MLB Players of the Week Awards". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 10, 2025.
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