1987 Houston Astros season

1987  Houston Astros
The Astrodome during a baseball game in 1987.
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	The Astrodome
City	Houston, Texas
Record	76–86 (.469)
Divisional place	3rd
Owners	John McMullen
General managers	Dick Wagner
Managers	Hal Lanier
Television	KTXH HSE
Radio	KTRH (Bill Brown, Milo Hamilton, Larry Dierker, Dave Hofferth, Bill Worrell) KXYZ (Orlando Sánchez-Diago, Rolando Becerra)
←  1986 Seasons 1988  →

The 1987 Houston Astros season was the 26th season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 23rd as the Astros, 26th in the National League (NL), 19th in the NL West division, and 23rd at the Astrodome, The Astros entered the season as defending NL West division champions with a 96–66 record; however, the season ended with a 4-games-to-2 defeat to the New York Mets in the 1986 National League Championship Series (NLCS).

The season began for Houston on April 6 hosting Los Angeles Dodgers. Pitcher Mike Scott made the first of his five consecutive Opening Day starts for the Astros, who won, 4–3. In the amateur draft, the Astros selected catcher Craig Biggio in the first round, at 22nd overall, and Darryl Kile in the 30th round.

Scott represented the Astros at the MLB All-Star Game, his second career selection, where he was the starting pitcher for the National League. On September 9, right-hander Nolan Ryan recorded the 4,500th strikeout of his career.

The Astros concluded the season with a 76–86 record and in third place in the NL West, 14 games behind the division champion San Francisco Giants. Ryan led the major leagues in strikeouts (270), in hits per nine innings pitched (6.5), and the National League in earned run average (2.76 ERA), among other categories. Ryan's ERA and strikeout titles were the second consecutive each won by a Houston pitcher, with following Scott in 1986 (2.22 ERA and 303 strikeouts).

Offseason

• October 24, 1986: Matt Keough was released by the Astros. ^[1]
• October 24, 1986: John Mizerock was released by the Houston Astros. ^[2]
• November 16, 1986: Rocky Childress was purchased by the Astros from the Philadelphia Phillies. ^[3]

Regular season

Summary

Opening Day starting lineup ^{[4] [5]}

19	Bill Doran	2B
28	Billy Hatcher	CF
25	José Cruz	LF
27	Glenn Davis	1B
17	Kevin Bass	RF
14	Alan Ashby	C
12	Craig Reynolds	SS
3	Phil Garner	3B
33	Mike Scott	P
Venue:	Astrodome • HOU 4,	LAD 3

On May 1, Nolan Ryan belted a home run off Charlie Puleo of the Atlanta Braves. ^[6]

On June 27, Kevin Bass became the first player in Astros history to connect for four extra base hits in one game, including two doubles, one triple, and one home run to overshoot hitting for the cycle (rather, the "cycle plus one"). This led a 6–5 win over the San Francisco Giants. ^[7]

Astros' Opening Day starter Mike Scott was also named the NL starter for the All-Star Game hosted at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum. He tossed two scoreless innings. ^[8] For the first time, an All-Star Game was scoreless past five innings. It remained so until the top of the 13th when Tim Raines tripled home Ozzie Virgil Jr. and Hubie Brooks.

Astros rookies provided the key roles in a July 16 walk-off win over the Philadelphia Phillies, including third baseman Ken Caminiti, who made his major league debut. His defensive prowess immediately electrified the Astrodome crowd. In the first inning, he pegged an off-balance throw to retire Charlie Hayes, and in the second, an acrobatic catch to snag a line drive off the bat of Lance Parrish. At the plate, Caminiti went 2-for-4, including is first major league triple and, in the seventh inning, his first home run, off starter Kevin Gross, deep to center that tied the contest, 1–1. In the top of the ninth, fellow rookie Gerald Young made two dramatic catches in center field to save runs and keep the scored tied. Caminiti drew a base on balls in the bottom of the ninth, and with one out, Young singled to score him as the game-winner and 2–1 win. Astros hitters drew 10 walks while Houston's Danny Darwin (6–6) tossed a four-hit complete game gem, staying through all the way through to become the winning pitcher. ^{[9] [10]}

On August 31, 1987, Billy Hatcher of the Astros was batting against the Chicago Cubs when his bat broke and pieces flew down the third base line. Cubs third baseman Keith Moreland saw cork, and Hatcher was subsequently suspended for 10 games. He later claimed that he was using reliever Dave Smith's bat, who had allowed him to select one from his bat rack, and not his own. ^[11]

On September 9, Ryan struck out Mike Aldrete for the 4,500th strikeout in his career. ^[12] The final out of the seventh inning in fantastic outing for "The Express," Ryan fanned 16 total that day to lead a 4–2 victory over San Francisco. At the plate, he contributed two hits of his own, including one that drove in the first run of the contest. Building on another dominant season, Ryan ended the day leading the NL in earned run average (2.76 ERA) and strikeouts (226), though his win–loss record stood at 8–15. Speaking on the performance, Ryan predicted that this "old dog" would not reach strikeout number 5,000. ^[13]

Nolan Ryan concluded the season having maintained his major league lead in numerous pitching categories, including 270 strikeouts, 6.548 hits per nine innings (H/9), 11.480 strikeouts per nine innings (K/9), 2.47 fielding independent pitching (FIP), and 3.103 strikeout-to-walk ratio (K/BB), ^[14] He also finished as the National League ERA leader at 2.76, earning the distinction as the first Houston Astro to win two ERA titles. It was the fourth occasion that an Astros pitcher led the NL in ERA, following J. R. Richard (2.71 in 1979), himself (1.69 in 1981), and Mike Scott the year before (2.22). ^[15] Scott concluded the 1987 season as NL runner-up in strikeouts (233), tied for third in wins (16), and seventh with a 3.23 ERA. ^[16] Ryan also joined Richard (303 in 1978 and 313 in 1979) and Scott (306 in 1986) as the third Astros pitcher to lead the NL strikeouts. ^[17] As league leader in strikeouts and ERA, Ryan contributed the third season in which an Astros pitcher claimed two-thirds of the pitching Triple Crown (Richard in 1979 and Scott in 1986). ^{[a] [18]}

Houston finished the season with the third-highest attendance total in baseball (1,909,902). ^[8]

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

NL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
San Francisco Giants	90	72	.556	—	46‍–‍35	44‍–‍37
Cincinnati Reds	84	78	.519	6	42‍–‍39	42‍–‍39
Houston Astros	76	86	.469	14	47‍–‍34	29‍–‍52
Los Angeles Dodgers	73	89	.451	17	40‍–‍41	33‍–‍48
Atlanta Braves	69	92	.429	20½	42‍–‍39	27‍–‍53
San Diego Padres	65	97	.401	25	37‍–‍44	28‍–‍53

Record vs. opponents

1987 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MTL	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	6–5	8–10	8–10	6–12	3–9	7–5	7–5	7–5	6–12	8–10	3–9
Chicago	5–6	—	6–6	8–4	6–6	10–8	9–9	8–10	4–14	9–3	5–7	6–12
Cincinnati	10–8	6–6	—	13–5	10–8	6–6	7–5	5–7	4–8	12–6	7–11	4–8
Houston	10–8	4–8	5–13	—	12–6	7–5	6–6	6–6	6–6	5–13	10–8	5–7
Los Angeles	12–6	6–6	8–10	6–12	—	3–9	6–6	2–10	6–6	11–7	10–8	3–9
Montreal	9–3	8–10	6–6	5–7	9–3	—	8–10	10–8	11–7	9–3	5–7	11–7
New York	5–7	9–9	5–7	6–6	6–6	10–8	—	13–5	12–6	8–4	9–3	9–9
Philadelphia	5–7	10–8	7–5	6–6	10–2	8–10	5–13	—	11–7	8–4	2–10	8–10
Pittsburgh	5–7	14–4	8–4	6–6	6–6	7–11	6–12	7–11	—	8–4	6–6	7–11
San Diego	12–6	3–9	6–12	13–5	7–11	3–9	4–8	4–8	4–8	—	5–13	4–8
San Francisco	10–8	7–5	11–7	8–10	8–10	7–5	3–9	10–2	6–6	13–5	—	7–5
St. Louis	9–3	12–6	8–4	7–5	9–3	7–11	9–9	10–8	11–7	8–4	5–7	—

Notable transactions

• April 2, 1987: Jeff Calhoun was traded by the Houston Astros to the Philadelphia Phillies for Ronn Reynolds. ^[19]
• June 2, 1987: 1987 Major League Baseball draft
  • Craig Biggio was drafted by the Astros in the 1st round (22nd pick). Player signed June 8, 1987. ^[20]
  • Darryl Kile was drafted by the Astros in the 30th round. Player signed May 18, 1988. ^[21]
• June 2, 1987: Eric Bullock was traded by the Astros to the Minnesota Twins for Clay Christiansen. ^[22]

Roster

1987 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers 49 Juan Agosto 47 Larry Andersen 50 Rocky Childress 44 Danny Darwin 43 Jim Deshaies 31 Jeff Heathcock 38 Manny Hernández 37 Charlie Kerfeld 39 Bob Knepper 35 Aurelio López 56 Rob Mallicoat 13 Ron Mathis 53 Dave Meads 34 Nolan Ryan 33 Mike Scott 45 Dave Smith 52 Julio Solano		Catchers  9 Troy Afenir 14 Alan Ashby  6 Mark Bailey 30 Ronn Reynolds  7 Robbie Wine Infielders  4 Dale Berra  3 Buddy Biancalana 11 Ken Caminiti 27 Glenn Davis 19 Bill Doran  3 Phil Garner 23 Chuck Jackson 20 Jim Pankovits  1 Bert Peña 12 Craig Reynolds 10 Dickie Thon 29 Denny Walling		Outfielders 17 Kevin Bass 25 José Cruz 24 Ty Gainey 28 Billy Hatcher 26 Paul Householder 15 Davey Lopes 21 Terry Puhl 30 Ty Waller  2 Gerald Young		Manager 22 Hal Lanier Coaches  8 Yogi Berra 48 Matt Galante 16 Denis Menke 55 Les Moss 18 Gene Tenace

Game log

Regular season

Legend
	Astros win
	Astros loss
	Postponement
	Eliminated from playoff race
Bold	Astros team member

1987 regular season game log: 76–86 (Home: 47–34; Away: 29–52) [23]
April: 12–9 (Home: 9–3; Away: 3–6) # Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak
May: 12–15 (Home: 6–7; Away: 6–8) # Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak
June: 16–11 (Home: 9–4; Away: 7–7) # Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak
July: 10–17 (Home: 3–9; Away: 7–8) # Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak — July 14 7:30 p.m. CDT 58th All-Star Game in Oakland, CA
August: 15–14 (Home: 11–2; Away: 4–12) # Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak
September: 9–18 (Home: 7–7; Away: 2–11) # Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak
October: 2–2 (Home: 2–2; Away: 0–0) # Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak

Detailed records

National League Opponent W L WP RS RA NL East Div Total NL West Houston Astros Div Total Season Total

Month Games Won Lost Win % RS RA April May June July August September October Total Games Won Lost Win % RS RA Home Away Total

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	Alan Ashby	125	386	111	.288	14	63
1B	Glenn Davis	151	578	145	.251	27	93
2B	Bill Doran	162	625	177	.283	16	79
3B	Denny Walling	110	325	92	.283	5	33
SS	Craig Reynolds	135	374	95	.254	4	28
LF	José Cruz	126	365	88	.241	11	38
CF	Billy Hatcher	141	564	167	.296	11	63
RF	Kevin Bass	157	592	168	.284	19	85

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
Gerald Young	71	274	88	.321	1	15
Ken Caminiti	63	203	50	.246	3	23
Terry Puhl	90	122	28	.230	2	15
Phil Garner	43	112	25	.223	3	15
Ronn Reynolds	38	102	17	.167	1	7
Chuck Jackson	35	71	15	.211	1	6
Dickie Thon	32	66	14	.212	1	3
Mark Bailey	35	64	13	.203	0	3
Jim Pankovits	50	61	14	.230	1	8
Bert Peña	21	46	7	.152	0	0
Dale Berra	19	45	8	.178	0	2
Davey Lopes	47	43	10	.233	1	6
Robbie Wine	14	29	3	.103	0	0
Ty Gainey	18	24	3	.125	0	1
Buddy Biancalana	18	24	1	.042	0	0
Troy Afenir	10	20	6	.300	0	1
Paul Householder	14	12	1	.083	0	1
Ty Waller	11	6	1	.167	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
Mike Scott	36	247.2	16	13	3.23	233
Nolan Ryan	34	211.2	8	16	2.76	270
Danny Darwin	33	195.2	9	10	3.59	134
Bob Knepper	33	177.2	8	17	5.27	76
Jim Deshaies	26	152.0	11	6	4.62	104

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
Manny Hernández	6	21.2	0	4	5.40	12
Rob Mallicoat	4	6.2	0	0	6.75	4

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
Dave Smith	50	2	3	24	1.65	73
Larry Andersen	67	9	5	5	3.45	94
Dave Meads	45	5	3	0	5.55	32
Rocky Childress	32	1	2	0	2.98	26
Juan Agosto	27	1	1	2	2.63	6
Aurelio López	26	2	1	1	4.50	21
Charlie Kerfeld	21	0	2	0	6.67	17
Jeff Heathcock	19	4	2	1	3.16	15
Julio Solano	11	0	0	0	7.65	12
Ron Mathis	8	0	1	0	5.25	8

Awards and achievements

Awards

• MLB All-Star Game—Starting pitcher: Mike Scott
• NL Player of the Week: ^[24]
  • April 12—José Cruz
  • June 21—Mike Scott
  • July 19—Ken Caminiti
  • August 23—Bill Doran

NL batting leaders ^[25]

• Games played: Bill Doran (162)

NL pitching leaders ^{[14] [16]}

• Earned run average (ERA): Nolan Ryan (2.76)
• Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP): Nolan Ryan (2.47—led MLB)
• Games started: Mike Scott (36)
• Hits per nine innings pitched (H/9): Nolan Ryan (6.5—led MLB)
• Losses: Bob Knepper (17)
• Strikeout-to-walk ratio (K/BB): Nolan Ryan (3.10—led MLB)
• Strikeouts: Nolan Ryan (276—led MLB)
• Strikeouts per nine innings pitched (K/9): Nolan Ryan (11.5—led MLB)

Minor league system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Tucson Toros	Pacific Coast League	Bob Didier
AA	Columbus Astros	Southern League	Tom Wiedenbauer
A	Osceola Astros	Florida State League	Ken Bolek
A	Asheville Tourists	South Atlantic League	Keith Bodie
A-Short Season	Auburn Astros	New York–Penn League	Gary Tuck
Rookie	GCL Astros	Gulf Coast League	Julio Linares

See also

• Texas portal
• Baseball portal

• List of Major League Baseball All-Star Game starting pitchers
• List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders
• List of Major League Baseball annual strikeout leaders
• List of Major League Baseball career strikeout leaders

References

Footnotes

1. Comprising leading the league in each of wins, strikeouts and ERA.

Sources

1. "Matt Keough". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
2. "John Mizerock: Career Statistics". Baseball Reference. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
3. "Rocky Childress". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
4. "Los Angeles Dodgers (3) vs Houston Astros (4) box score". Baseball Almanac . April 6, 1987. Retrieved September 23, 2025.
5. "1987 Houston Astros uniform numbers". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 23, 2025.
6. "Nolan Ryan career batting home runs". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
7. Schwartzberg, Seth (June 27, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 27". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation . Retrieved June 27, 2025.
8. "Astros history – Timeline". MLB.com . Retrieved August 30, 2025.
9. Thompson, Joseph (September 25, 2018). "July 16, 1987: 'You gotta like these kids': Astros rookies play big role in walk-off win". Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). Retrieved September 23, 2025.
10. "Philadelphia Phillies (1) vs Houston Astros (2) box score". Baseball-Reference.com. July 16, 1987. Retrieved September 23, 2025.
11. Page 2 staff (August 10, 2005). "Biggest cheaters in baseball". ESPN.com . Retrieved September 10, 2024.
12. "The Nolan Ryan Express | The Strikeout King | Milestone strikeouts". Smackbomb. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
13. Hulsey, Bob. "This date in Astros history". Astros Daily. Retrieved September 7, 2025.
14. "1987 Major League pitching leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 4, 2025.
15. "Yearly league leaders & records for earned run average". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 15, 2025.
16. "1987 National League pitching leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 4, 2025.
17. "Yearly league leaders & records for strikeouts". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 15, 2025.
18. "Triple Crown of pitching". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
19. "Ronn Reynolds Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
20. "Craig Biggio". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
21. "Darryl Kile". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
22. "Eric Bullock". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
23. "1987 Houston Astros Schedule & Results". Baseball Reference . Retrieved May 7, 2025.
24. "MLB Players of the Week Awards". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 9, 2025.
25. "1987 National League batting leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 4, 2025.

External links

• 1987 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference