1999 Houston Astros season

1999  Houston Astros
National League Central Champions
Final Astros regular season game (in the Astrodome) on October 3, 1999
League	National League
Division	Central
Ballpark	Astrodome
City	Houston, Texas
Record	97–65 (.599)
Divisional place	1st
Owners	Drayton McLane, Jr.
General managers	Gerry Hunsicker
Managers	Larry Dierker
Television	KNWS-TV Fox Sports Southwest (Bill Brown, Jim Deshaies)
Radio	KTRH (Milo Hamilton, Alan Ashby) KXYZ (Francisco Ernesto Ruiz, Alex Treviño)
←  1998 Seasons 2000  →

The 1999 Houston Astros season was the 38th season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise in Houston, Texas. The Astros won their third consecutive National League Central title on the final day of playing regular season games in the Astrodome on October 3. This was the first time they had made the postseason in three straight seasons; they would not do so again until 2019. It was the 35th and final season playing in the Astrodome as their home ballpark. ^[1]

Offseason

• November 17, 1998: Ken Caminiti was signed as a free agent by the Astros. ^[2]
• January 19, 1999: Ryan Thompson was signed as a free agent by the Astros. ^[3]
• January 21, 1999: Alex Diaz was signed as a free agent by the Astros. ^[4]

Regular season

New stadium

Exterior of Minute Maid Park

In 1999, the Astros played their final season in the Astrodome as their new stadium was being prepared for play to begin in the 2000 season. The ballpark was first named as Enron Field on April 9, 1999, with naming rights sold to the Houston energy and financial trading company in a 30-year, $100 million deal. Astros management faced a public relations nightmare when the energy corporation went bankrupt in the midst of one of the biggest corporate scandals in American history in 2001, and they bought back the remainder of Enron's thirty years of naming rights for $2.1 million, renaming the ballpark as Astros Field on February 7, 2002. The field was unofficially known as "The Field Formerly Known As Enron" by fans and critics alike, in the wake of the Enron scandal. On June 5, 2002, Houston-based Minute Maid, the fruit-juice subsidiary of Coca-Cola, acquired the naming rights to the stadium for 28 years at a price exceeding $100 million.

Based on its downtown location next to the old Union Station buildings, one of the suggested names (and nicknames) is the Ballpark at Union Station, or the BUS. During its days as Enron Field, it was also dubbed "Ten-Run" or "Home Run" Field due to its cozy left-field dimensions. In keeping with this theme while paying homage to its current sponsor, the nickname "The Juice Box" is colloquially used today.

Overview

On April 21, Jeff Bagwell hit three home runs in a 10–3 win against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, his second career three-home run game. The second home run allowed him to surpass Jimmy Wynn as the Astros' all-time home run leader at 224 and he tied a career-high in one game with six runs batted in (RBI). ^[5] He produced another three-home run game on June 9 against the Chicago White Sox. He was also a grand slam short of hitting for the "home run cycle," with a solo home run, a three-run home run, and a two-run home run, respectively. ^[6] The two three-home run games made him the only player to accomplish this feat at two different stadiums in Chicago in the same season. ^[7]

On August 20, Bagwell walked a major-league record six times in a 16-inning game against the Florida Marlins. ^{[8] [9]}

Season standings

v t e NL Central	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Houston Astros	97	65	0.599	—	50–32	47–33
Cincinnati Reds	96	67	0.589	1½	45–37	51–30
Pittsburgh Pirates	78	83	0.484	18½	45–36	33–47
St. Louis Cardinals	75	86	0.466	21½	38–42	37–44
Milwaukee Brewers	74	87	0.460	22½	32–48	42–39
Chicago Cubs	67	95	0.414	30	34–47	33–48

Record vs. opponents

1999 National League record v t e Source: NL Standings Head-to-Head
Team	AZ	ATL	CHC	CIN	COL	FLA	HOU	LA	MIL	MTL	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL	AL
Arizona	—	4–5	7–2	1–8	6–7	8–1	5–4	7–6	5–4	6–3	7–2	8–1	5–2	11–2	9–3	4–4	7–8
Atlanta	5–4	—	2–5	8–1	5–4	9–4	6–1	5–4	5–2	9–4	9–3	8–5	6–3	5–4	4–5	8–1	9–9
Chicago	2–7	5–2	—	5–8	4–5	6–3	3–9	2–7	6–6	2–5	3–6	2–7	7–6	6–3	1–7	7–5	6–9
Cincinnati	8–1	1–8	8–5	—	7–2	6–1	9–4	4–3	6–6	4–3	5–5	6–3	7–6	6–3	4–5	8–4	7-8
Colorado	7–6	4–5	5–4	2–7	—	5–4	2–6	8–5	6–3	6–3	4–5	5–4	2–7	4–9	4–9	4–5	4–8
Florida	1–8	4–9	3–6	1–6	4–5	—	2–7	7–2	5–4	8–4	3–10	2–11	3–4	3–6	4–5	3–4	11–7
Houston	4–5	1–6	9–3	4–9	6–2	7-2	—	6–3	8–5	7–2	4–5	6–1	5–7	8–1	5–4	5–7	12–3
Los Angeles	6–7	4–5	7–2	3–4	5–8	2–7	3–6	—	7–2	5–4	4–4	6–3	3–6	3–9	8–5	3–6	8–7
Milwaukee	4–5	2–5	6–6	6–6	3–6	4–5	5–8	2–7	—	5–4	2–5	5–4	8–4	3–5	4–5	7–6	8–6
Montreal	3–6	4–9	5–2	3–4	3–6	4–8	2–7	4–5	4–5	—	5–8	6–6	3–6	5–3	4–5	5–4	8–10
New York	2–7	3–9	6–3	5–5	5–4	10–3	5–4	4–4	5–2	8–5	—	6–6	7–2	7–2	7–2	5–2	12–6
Philadelphia	1-8	5–8	7–2	3–6	4–5	11–2	1–6	3–6	4–5	6–6	6–6	—	3–4	6–3	2–6	4–5	11–7
Pittsburgh	2–5	3–6	6–7	6–7	7–2	4–3	7–5	6–3	4–8	6–3	2–7	4–3	—	3–6	4–5	7–5	7–8
San Diego	2–11	4–5	3–6	3–6	9–4	6–3	1–8	9–3	5–3	3–5	2–7	3–6	6–3	—	5–7	2–7	11–4
San Francisco	3–9	5–4	7–1	5–4	9–4	5–4	4–5	5–8	5–4	5–4	2–7	6–2	5–4	7–5	—	6–3	7–8
St. Louis	4–4	1–8	5–7	4–8	5–4	4–3	7–5	6–3	6–7	4–5	2–5	5–4	5–7	7–2	3–6	—	7–8

Notable transactions

• August 3, 1999: Josh Dimmick (minors) was traded by the Astros to the Minnesota Twins for George Williams. ^[10]
• August 31, 1999: Alex Diaz was released by the Astros. ^[4]

Roster

1999 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers 38 Sean Bergman 51 José Cabrera 50 Scott Elarton 10 Mike Hampton 19 Doug Henry 44,45 Chris Holt 42 José Lima 47 Jeff McCurry 46 Trever Miller 52 Wade Miller 39 Jay Powell 37 Shane Reynolds 58 Joe Slusarski 13 Billy Wagner 53 Brian Williams		Catchers  6 Paul Bako 20 Tony Eusebio 17 Randy Knorr 21 Mitch Meluskey Infielders  5 Jeff Bagwell  7 Craig Biggio 27 Tim Bogar 11 Ken Caminiti 12 Ricky Gutiérrez  4 Carlos Hernández 36 Jack Howell  9 Russ Johnson 28 Bill Spiers		Outfielders 29 Glen Barker 14 Derek Bell 22 Lance Berkman 1,2 Alex Diaz  3 Carl Everett 15 Richard Hidalgo 38 Stan Javier 23 Matt Mieske 35 Ryan Thompson 31 Daryle Ward		Manager 49 Larry Dierker Coaches 25 José Cruz (first base) 24 Mike Cubbage (third base)  8 Matt Galante (bench) 16 Tom McCraw (hitting) 48 Vern Ruhle (pitching) 30 John Tamargo (bullpen)

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	Tony Eusebio	103	323	88	.272	4	33
1B	Jeff Bagwell	162	562	171	.304	42	126
2B	Craig Biggio	160	639	188	.294	16	73
SS	Tim Bogar	106	309	74	.239	4	31
3B	Ken Caminiti	78	273	78	.286	13	56
LF	Richard Hidalgo	108	383	87	.227	15	56
CF	Carl Everett	123	464	151	.325	25	108
RF	Derek Bell	128	509	120	.236	12	66

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
Bill Spiers	127	393	113	.288	4	39
Ricky Gutiérrez	85	268	70	.261	1	25
Paul Bako	73	215	55	.256	2	17
Russ Johnson	83	156	44	.282	5	23
Daryle Ward	64	150	41	.273	8	30
Matt Mieske	54	109	31	.284	5	22
Lance Berkman	34	93	22	.237	4	15
Glen Barker	81	73	21	.288	1	11
Stan Javier	20	64	21	.328	0	4
Alex Diaz	30	50	11	.220	1	7
Jack Howell	37	33	7	.212	1	1
Mitch Meluskey	10	33	7	.212	1	3
Randy Knorr	13	30	5	.167	0	0
Ryan Thompson	12	20	4	.200	1	5
Carlos Hernández	16	14	2	.143	0	1

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
Mike Hampton	35	246.1	22	4	3.58	177
José Lima	34	239.0	21	10	2.90	187
Shane Reynolds	34	231.2	16	14	3.85	197
Chris Holt	32	164.0	5	13	4.66	115
Sean Bergman	19	99.0	4	6	5.36	38

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
Scott Elarton	42	124.0	9	5	3.48	121
Wade Miller	5	10.1	0	1	9.58	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
Billy Wagner	66	4	1	39	1.57	124
Jay Powell	67	5	4	4	4.32	77
Brian Williams	50	2	1	0	4.41	53
Trever Miller	47	3	2	1	5.07	37
Doug Henry	35	2	3	2	4.65	36
José Cabrera	26	4	0	0	2.15	28
Jeff McCurry	5	0	1	0	15.75	3
Joe Slusarski	3	0	0	0	0.00	3

National League Divisional Playoffs

Main article: 1999 National League Division Series

Atlanta Braves vs. Houston Astros

Atlanta wins series, 3-1

Game	Score	Date
1	Houston 6, Atlanta 1	October 5
2	Atlanta 5, Houston 1	October 6
3	Atlanta 5, Houston 3 (12 innings)	October 8
4	Atlanta 7, Houston 5	October 9

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	New Orleans Zephyrs	Pacific Coast League	Tony Peña
AA	Jackson Generals	Texas League	Jim Pankovits
A	Kissimmee Cobras	Florida State League	Manny Acta
A	Michigan Battle Cats	Midwest League	Al Pedrique
A-Short Season	Auburn Doubledays	New York–Penn League	Lyle Yates
Rookie	Martinsville Astros	Appalachian League	Brad Wellman

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Martinsville

References

1. "October 3, 1999: Astros clinch third consecutive NL Central title in Astrodome's last regular-season game – Society for American Baseball Research".
2. Ken Caminiti at Baseball-Reference
3. Ryan Thompson at Baseball-Reference
4. Alex Diaz at Baseball-Reference
5. "Bagwell is at his best with three homers". Los Angeles Times . Associated Press. April 22, 1999. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
6. "Baseball time in Arlington: The penultimate killing of the year". Bbtia.com. September 28, 2011. Archived from the original on October 4, 2011. Retrieved November 8, 2011.
7. Kamka, Chris (April 12, 2015). "Thomas, Bagwell share 2005 World Series connection". Comcast SportsNet Chicago. Archived from the original on March 1, 2016. Retrieved February 12, 2016.
8. de Jesús Ortíz, José (November 26, 2002). "Bagwell turns to weight room to regain shoulder strength". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved March 20, 2016.
9. "Jeff Bagwell 1999 batting game log". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
10. George Williams at Baseball-Reference

External links

• 1999 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference