2002 Houston Astros season

2002 Houston Astros
LeagueNational League
DivisionCentral
BallparkAstros Field
CityHouston, Texas
Record84–78 (.519)
Divisional place2nd
OwnersDrayton McLane, Jr.
General managersGerry Hunsicker
ManagersJimy Williams
TelevisionKNWS-TV
FSN Southwest
(Bill Brown, Jim Deshaies, Bill Worrell)
RadioKTRH
(Milo Hamilton, Alan Ashby)
KXYZ
(Francisco Ernesto Ruiz, Alex Treviño)
Seasons

The 2002 Houston Astros season was the 41st season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 38th as the Astros, 41st in the National League (NL), ninth in the NL Central division, and third at Astros Park, renamed Minute Maid Park the following year. The Astros entered the season as defending NL Central division champions for the fourth time with a 93–69 record; however, their season ended in defeat in the National League Division Series (NLDS) to the Atlanta Braves for the third time.

The 2002 season was the first for Jimy Williams as manager, the 15th in franchise history, having replaced Larry Dierker.

Opening Day for Houston occurred on April 2 in which they hosted the Milwaukee Brewers, who won, 9–3. Wade Miller was the Astros' Opening Day starting pitcher. On April 8, Craig Biggio became the fifth player and on the sixth occasion in franchise history to hit for the cycle. The Astros' first round draft pick in the amateur draft was pitcher Derick Grigsby, 29th overall.

Outfielder Lance Berkman represented the Astros and played for the National League at the MLB All-Star Game, his second career selection. Harry Kalas, who broadcast for Houston from 1965 to 1970, was recognized for his work by the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Berkman became the second Astro to lead the league in runs batted in (RBI), collecting 128.

The Astros concluded the season with an 84–78 record, in second place in the NL Central division, and 13 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals. The Astros ranked third in the NL Wild Card race, trailing the eventual NL-champion San Francisco Giants by 11+1⁄2 games. However, this was the ninth winning season in the previous 10 for Houston—with 2000 being the exception—continuing an unprecedented period of success. Additionally, it was the eighth time in nine seasons since moving to the NL Central that the Astros had finished in either first or second place.

Following the season, catcher Brad Ausmus won the second Gold Glove Award of his career.

Offseason

Regular season

Overview

On April 8 versus the Colorado Rockies, second baseman Craig Biggio became the fifth Houston Astro to hit for the cycle, and sixth time in franchise history. He singled, then tripled and connected for a home run off starter Denny Neagle within the first four innings. In the sixth, Neagle issued an intentional base on balls to Biggio, but Biggio, batting again in the eighth, stroked a double to complete the cycle. When his son, Cavan, replicated the feat in 2019 as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays, they became the second father–son duo in major league history to hit for the cycle, following Gary (1980) and Daryle Ward (2004)[2] The younger Ward and elder Biggio were teammates when Craig hit for the cycle (though not in the starting lineup together);[3] in fact, Ward was a member of the Astros in his first five major league seasons, from 1998—2002.[4]

Former Astros pitcher Darryl Kile, then playing for the St. Louis Cardinals, was found dead in his Chicago hotel room on June 22, 2002.[5] That same day, the bereaved Astros won in his memory against the Seattle Mariners, with first baseman Jeff Bagwell delivering the game-winning run batted in (RBI) in the 12th inning.[6]

Inserted to pinch hit on June 27, Gregg Zaun had the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning and connected for the walk-off grand slam, sealing a 7–4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Lance Berkman and Brad Ausmus also belted home runs for Houston.[7]

From August 10–24, Bagwell produced a season-high 15-game hitting streak, marking the 12th consecutive season with at least one double-digit hit streak, a club record, and second to Roberto Alomar with 14 among all then-active players. In September, he batted .343 with 11 multi-hit games.[8]

Standings

National League Central

NL Central
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
St. Louis Cardinals 97 65 .599 — 52‍–‍29 45‍–‍36
84 78 .519 13 47‍–‍34 37‍–‍44
Cincinnati Reds 78 84 .481 19 38‍–‍43 40‍–‍41
Pittsburgh Pirates 72 89 .447 24½ 38‍–‍42 34‍–‍47
Chicago Cubs 67 95 .414 30 36‍–‍45 31‍–‍50
Milwaukee Brewers 56 106 .346 41 31‍–‍50 25‍–‍56


Record vs. opponents

2002 National League record

Source: MLB Standings Grid – 2002

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


Roster

2002 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Players 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 130 447 115 .257 6 50
1B Jeff Bagwell 158 571 166 .291 31 98
2B Craig Biggio 145 577 146 .253 15 58
SS Julio Lugo 88 322 84 .261 8 35
3B Geoff Blum 130 368 104 .283 10 52
LF Daryle Ward 136 453 125 .276 12 72
CF Lance Berkman 158 578 169 .292 42 128
RF Richard Hidalgo 114 388 91 .235 15 48

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
José Vizcaíno 125 406 123 .303 5 37
Orlando Merced 123 251 72 .287 6 30
Brian Hunter 98 201 54 .269 3 20
Gregg Zaun 76 185 41 .222 3 24
Morgan Ensberg 49 132 32 .242 3 19
Adam Everett 40 88 17 .193 0 4
Jason Lane 44 69 20 .290 4 10
Mark Loretta 21 66 28 .424 2 8
Alan Zinter 39 44 6 .136 2 3
Barry Wesson 15 20 4 .200 0 1
Keith Ginter 7 5 1 .200 0 0
Raúl Chávez 2 4 1 .250 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
Roy Oswalt 35 233.0 19 9 3.01 108
Wade Miller 26 164.2 15 4 3.28 144
Carlos Hernández 23 111.0 7 5 4.38 93
Kirk Saarloos 17 85.1 6 7 6.01 54
Shane Reynolds 13 74.0 3 6 4.86 47

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitching; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Dave Mlicki 22 86.0 4 10 5.34 57
Peter Munro 19 80.2 5 5 3.57 45
Tim Redding 18 73.1 3 6 5.40 63

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
Billy Wagner 70 4 2 35 2.52 38
Octavio Dotel 83 6 4 6 1.85 118
Ricky Stone 78 3 3 1 3.61 63
Pedro Borbón Jr. 56 3 2 1 5.50 39
Brandon Puffer 55 3 3 0 4.43 48
Nelson Cruz 43 2 6 0 4.48 61
Scott Linebrink 22 0 0 0 7.03 24
Jim Mann 17 0 1 0 4.09 19
Tom Gordon 15 0 2 0 3.32 17
T.J. Mathews 12 0 0 0 3.44 13
Jeriome Robertson 11 0 2 0 6.52 6
Brad Lidge 6 1 0 0 6.23 12
Hipólito Pichardo 1 0 1 0 81.00 0

Awards and achievements

See also

Minor league system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA New Orleans Zephyrs Pacific Coast League Chris Maloney
AA Round Rock Express Texas League Jackie Moore
A Michigan Battle Cats Midwest League John Massarelli
A Lexington Legends South Atlantic League Joe Cannon
A-Short Season Tri-City ValleyCats New York–Penn League Iván DeJesús
Rookie Martinsville Astros Appalachian League Jorge Orta

References

  1. ^ Gregg Zaun Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ "Houston Astros vs Colorado Rockies box score". Baseball-Reference.com. April 8, 2002. Retrieved July 12, 2025.
  4. ^ "Daryle Ward stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 12, 2025.
  5. ^ "BASEBALL; Coroner verifies the cause of Kile's death as natural". The New York Times. Associated Press. July 17, 2002. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
  6. ^ Schwarzberg, Seth (June 22, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 22". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved June 22, 2025.
  7. ^ Schwartzberg, Seth (June 27, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 27". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved June 27, 2025.
  8. ^ "Jeff Bagwell player page bio". MLB.com. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
1st Half: Houston Astros Game Log on ESPN.com
2nd Half: Houston Astros Game Log on ESPN.com
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