1985 Houston Astros season

Last updated

1985  Houston Astros
League National League
Division West
Ballpark The Astrodome
City Houston, Texas
Record83–79 (.512)
Divisional place3rd—tied
Owners John McMullen
General managers Al Rosen
Dick Wagner
Managers Bob Lillis
Television KTXH
HSE
Radio KTRH
(Gene Elston, Milo Hamilton, Larry Dierker, Jim Durham, Jerry Trupiano)
  1984 Seasons 1986  

The 1985 Houston Astros season was the 24th season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 21st as the Astros, 24th in the National League (NL), 17th in the NL West division, and 21st at the Astrodome. The Astros entered the season as having tied for second place in the NL West with an 80–82 record and 12 games behind the division-champion and NL pennant-winning San Diego Padres.

Contents

On April 5, Nolan Ryan made his second Opening Day start for Houston, who hosted the Los Angeles Dodgers and won, 2–1. In the amateur draft, Houston's first round selection was outfielder Cameron Drew at 12th overall.

Left fielder José Cruz and Ryan each represented the Astros at the MLB All-Star Game and played for the National League. This was the second career selection for Cruz and seventh for Ryan.

In September, Dick Wagner became the ninth general manager in franchise history, replacing Al Rosen.

The Astros concluded the season with an 83–79 record, tying for third place with San Diego in the NL West, and 12 games behind Los Angeles, the division-winners.

Offseason

Regular season

Summary

Astros infielder Jim Pankovits posted a career day on May 19, leading a 7–3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. He collected up four hits, including a home run and two doubles. [2]

On May 29, Pankovits broke 3-all tie by crushing a grand slam in the seventh versus the Pittsburgh Pirates. Starter Nolan Ryan got the win, locking down a 7–3 decision for the Houston Astros. [3]

On June 9, Joe Niekro was the winning pitcher after tossing a two-hit shutout versus the San Francisco Giants. The 138th of his career, Niekro took over the lead in franchise history. In spite of the strong effort against the Giants, he had failed in six previous attempts to secure this win. [4]

Nolan Ryan surrendered the only walk-off home run of his career on July 1 at Jack Murphy Stadium. Pitching into extra innings for the first time as Astro with a 5–5 score, former Astros catcher Bruce Bochy hit the game-winner in the 10th inning, also his first career walk-off home run. [5]

On July 11, Ryan's strikeout of Danny Heep of the New York Mets was 4,000th of his career.

On July 27, the Astros lost to the Mets, 164, despite not allowing a single earned run in the game. [6]

Season standings

NL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Los Angeles Dodgers 9567.58648334734
Cincinnati Reds 8972.55347344238
Houston Astros 8379.5121244373942
San Diego Padres 8379.5121244373942
Atlanta Braves 6696.4072932493447
San Francisco Giants 62100.3833338432457

Record vs. opponents


Sources:
TeamATLCHCCINHOULADMTLNYMPHIPITSDSFSTL
Atlanta 5–77–118–105–133–92–1010–26–67–1110–83–9
Chicago 7–55–65–75–77–114–1413–513–58–46–64–14
Cincinnati 11–76–511–77–118–44–87–59–39–912–65–7
Houston 10–87–57–116–126–64–84–86–612–615–36–6
Los Angeles 13–57–511–712–67–57–54–88–48–1011–77–5
Montreal 9–311–74–86–65–79–98–109–85–77–511–7
New York 10–214–48–48–45–79–911–710–87–58–48–10
Philadelphia 2-105–135–78–48–410–87–1111–75–76–68–10
Pittsburgh 6–65–133–96–64–88–98–107–114–83–93–15
San Diego 11–74–89–96–1210–87–55–77–58–412–64–8
San Francisco 8–106–66–123–157–115–74–86–69–36–122–10
St. Louis 9–314–47–56–65–77–1110–810–815–38–410–2

Notable transactions

Roster

1985 Houston Astros
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

OutfieldersManager

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

PosPlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
C Mark Bailey 11433288.2651045
1B Glenn Davis 10035095.2712064
2B Bill Doran 148578166.2871459
SS Craig Reynolds 107379103.272432
3B Phil Garner 135463124.268651
LF José Cruz 141544163.300979
CF Kevin Bass 150539145.2691668
RF Jerry Mumphrey 130444123.277861

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
Denny Walling 11934593.270745
Dickie Thon 8425163.251629
Terry Puhl 5719455.284223
Alan Ashby 6518953.280825
Jim Pankovits 7517242.244414
Enos Cabell 6014335.245214
Harry Spilman 44669.13614
Tim Tolman 31436.14028
John Mizerock 15389.23706
Ty Gainey 13376.16200
Germán Rivera 13367.19402
Bert Peña 20298.27604
Chris Jones 31255.20001
Eric Bullock 18257.28002

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Bob Knepper 37241.015133.55131
Nolan Ryan 35232.010123.80209
Mike Scott 36221.21883.29137
Joe Niekro 32213.09123.72117
Mark Knudson 211.0029.004

Other pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Ron Mathis 2370.0356.0434
Jeff Heathcock 1456.1313.3625
Charlie Kerfeld 1144.1424.0630

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

PlayerGWLSVERASO
Dave Smith 6495272.2740
Frank DiPino 543764.0349
Bill Dawley 495323.5648
Jeff Calhoun 442542.5447
Julio Solano 202203.4817
Mike Madden 130004.2616
Mark Ross 80214.853
Jim Deshaies 20000.002

Awards and achievements

Awards
NL pitching leaders

Minor league system

LevelTeamLeagueManager
AAA Tucson Toros Pacific Coast League Jimmy Johnson
AA Columbus Astros Southern League Carlos Alfonso
A Osceola Astros Florida State League Dave Cripe
A Asheville Tourists South Atlantic League Fred Hatfield
A-Short Season Auburn Astros New York–Penn League Bob Hartsfield
Rookie GCL Astros Gulf Coast League Julio Linares

References

  1. Manuel Lee at Baseball Reference
  2. Schwartzberg, Seth (May 19, 2025). "Today in Astros history—May 18–19". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation . Retrieved August 26, 2025.
  3. Schwartzberg, Seth (May 29, 2025). "Today in Astros history - May 29". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved July 25, 2025.
  4. Schwartzberg, Seth (June 9, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 9". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
  5. O'Neill, Shawn (July 5, 2025). "Nolan Ryan allowed one walk-off HR: This legendary manager hit it". MLB.com. Retrieved July 5, 2025.
  6. "Houston Astros at New York Mets box score and play by play". Baseball-Reference.com . July 27, 1985. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
  7. Mike Simms at Baseball Reference
  8. "Brad Gulden Stats".
  9. Jim Deshaies at Baseball Reference