1993 Houston Astros season

1993 Houston Astros
1993 Houston Astros
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	The Astrodome
City	Houston, Texas
Record	85–77 (.525)
Divisional place	3rd
Owners	John McMullen, Drayton McLane, Jr.
General managers	Bill Wood
Managers	Art Howe
Television	KTXH ; HSE
Radio	KPRC (AM) ; (Bill Brown, Milo Hamilton, Larry Dierker, Vince Controneo, Bill Worrell, Enos Cabell); KXYZ ; (Francisco Ernesto Ruiz, Manny Lopez)

Last updated October 28, 2025

The 1993 Houston Astros season was the 32nd season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 29th as the Astros, 32nd in the National League (NL), 25th in the NL West division, and 29th at The Astrodome, The Astros entered the season as having finished in fourth place in the NL West with an 81–81 record, 17 games behind the two-time defending division-champion and NL pennant-winning Atlanta Braves.

The Astros concluded the season with an 85–77 record, an improvement of six games from the season prior, in third place and 19 games behind first-place Atlanta, who repeated as division champions for a third consecutive season. Hence, it was the start of the longest period of consistency of winning seasons for Houston, doing so in 14 of a span of 16 seasons through 2008, while claiming a playoff berth six times. It was also the start of an unprecedented seven consecutive winning seasons for the Astros, through the 1999 season.

This was the final of five seasons with Art Howe as manager, among other significant changes. It was also the final season that the Astros wore their "tequila sunrise" rainbow uniforms. As part of the league's playoff expansion by re-introducing the Division Series, it was the final time the Astros occupied the NL West division and would move to the newly-commissioned NL Central the following season.

Offseason

October 5, 1992: Denny Walling was released by the Astros.^[1]
November 17, 1992: Butch Henry was drafted by the Colorado Rockies from the Houston Astros as the 36th pick in the 1992 MLB expansion draft.^[2]
December 1, 1992: Doug Drabek was signed as a free agent by the Astros.^[3]
December 4, 1992: Greg Swindell was signed as a free agent by the Astros.^[4]
January 5, 1993: Jack Daugherty was signed as a free agent by the Astros.^[5]
January 27, 1993: Signed right-handed pitcher Manuel Barrios as an international free agent.^[6]
February 1, 1993: Jim Lindeman signed as a free agent by the Astros.^[7]

Regular season

Summary

April—May

Opening Day starting lineup^[8]^[9]

7	Craig Biggio	2B
12	Steve Finley	CF
5	Jeff Bagwell	1B
24	Eric Anthony	RF
11	Ken Caminiti	3B
26	Luis Gonzalez	LF
17	Andújar Cedeño	SS
6	Eddie Taubensee	C
15	Doug Drabek	P
Venue:	Astrodome • PHI 3,	HOU 1

Astros starter Doug Drabek crushed the game-winning home run off reliever Pedro Martínez on May 16, a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh inning. He helped himself to his fourth win of the season as Houston prevailed over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Drabek stuck out nine and allowed both runs as earned on the way to tossing 7+2⁄3 solid innings.^[10]^[11]

June

In the Astros' first-ever road trip to face the Colorado Rockies on June 12, they took a 7–0 lead only to wind up losing the game, 14–11.^[12]

On June 22, Jeff Bagwell homered, doubled, and singled, driving in two runs in a 5–1 victory over Los Angeles. He also scored twice, including stealing home. Meanwhile, each run the Astros scored was unearned.^[13]

July

Pitcher Darryl Kile tossed his first career shutout and belted his first home run on July 3, to lead the win over the St. Louis Cardinals and run his record to 9–1. By games' end, he had added to a 23+1⁄3 scoreless innings streak.^[14]

September

Opposite the 39-year-old Frank Tanana, the 24-year-old Kile no-hit the New York Mets on September 8, leading a 7–1 Astros win. Ken Caminiti hit his 12th home run in the bottom of the second inning. In the bottom of the fifth, Andújar Cedeño also hit a blast off Tanana for his seventh of the season. This was the sixth no-hitter thrown by Houston at the Astrodome and the ninth overall in franchise history^[14] It was the first by an Astros pitcher since Mike Scott no-hit the San Francisco Giants on September 25, 1986.

Pete Harnisch fired a one-hitter of the San Diego Padres on September 17 to lead a 3–0 Astros win. The lone hit for the Padres arrived via a bunt single by Jarvis Brown. However, controversy ensued as to whether the play should have been officially scored as an error charged to Chris Donnels. Donnels, meanwhile, atoned for the blemish with a two-run double to provide the offensive support.^[15]

Performance overview and aftermath

The Astros concluded the 1993 interval with a final record of 85–77, in third place, and 19 games trailing the first-place Atlanta Braves. The seventh time in club history that Houston had won at least 85 games, it was 13th time finishing the complete season in third place or higher.^[a] With an improvement by 4 wins, this was the second consecutive year that the Astros produced a record of .500 or better, and would continue to do so 15 times over a span of 17 seasons through 2008 to produce an era by far with the most consistency through that point in franchise history. Additionally, this Astros squad embarked on seven successive campaigns each with both a winning record and finish no lower than third place through 1999, both achievements ultimately arranging club records.^[16]

Harnisch led the National League in hits per nine innings surrendered (7.070 H/9) for the second time in three seasons (also 1991) as a member of Houston's staff. This was the 11th occasion in club history a Houston pitcher had led the league; Nolan Ryan in 1987 was the Astros' most recent league leader.^[17]

Conversely, the 1993 campaigned signified the end of other eras. Concurrent with Major League Baseball's second round of playoff expansion since 1969, the league commissioned one new Central division each for both the American and National leagues beginning the following season. Hence, the Astros, among 10 teams reshuffled, would no longer occupy the NL West and instead assumed position as charter members of the NL Central division starting in 1994.^[16] The league's expansion further included reintroduction of the Division Series—previously held as a one-time event during the 1981 playoffs—and the installation of the Wild Card playoff qualifier for each league. Second, locally for the Astros, manager Art Howe was fired and replaced by Terry Collins for the next season.^[18]

Season standings

v
t
e
NL West
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Atlanta Braves	104	58	.642	—	51‍–‍30	53‍–‍28
San Francisco Giants	103	59	.636	1	50‍–‍31	53‍–‍28
Houston Astros	85	77	.525	19	44‍–‍37	41‍–‍40
Los Angeles Dodgers	81	81	.500	23	41‍–‍40	40‍–‍41
Cincinnati Reds	73	89	.451	31	41‍–‍40	32‍–‍49
Colorado Rockies	67	95	.414	37	39‍–‍42	28‍–‍53
San Diego Padres	61	101	.377	43	34‍–‍47	27‍–‍54

Record vs. opponents

1993 National League record Source: MLB Standings Grid – 1993 v t e
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	COL	FLA	HOU	LAD	MTL	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	7–5	10–3	13–0	7–5	8–5	8–5	7–5	9–3	6–6	7–5	9–4	7–6	6–6
Chicago	5–7	—	7–5	8–4	6–7	4–8	7–5	5–8–1	8–5	7–6	5–8	8–4	6–6	8–5
Cincinnati	3–10	5–7	—	9–4	7–5	6–7	5–8	4–8	6–6	4–8	8–4	9–4	2–11	5–7
Colorado	0–13	4–8	4–9	—	7–5	11–2	7–6	3–9	6–6	3–9	8–4	6–7	3–10	5–7
Florida	5–7	7–6	5–7	5–7	—	3–9	5–7	5–8	4–9	4–9	6–7	7–5	4–8	4–9
Houston	5–8	8–4	7–6	2–11	9–3	—	9–4	5–7	11–1	5–7	7–5	8–5	3–10	6–6
Los Angeles	5–8	5–7	8–5	6–7	7–5	4–9	—	6–6	8–4	2–10	8–4	9–4	7–6	6–6
Montreal	5–7	8–5–1	8–4	9–3	8–5	7–5	6–6	—	9–4	6–7	8–5	10–2	3–9	7–6
New York	3–9	5–8	6–6	6–6	9–4	1–11	4–8	4–9	—	3–10	4–9	5–7	4–8	5–8
Philadelphia	6-6	6–7	8–4	9–3	9–4	7–5	10–2	7–6	10–3	—	7–6	6–6	4–8	8–5
Pittsburgh	5–7	8–5	4–8	4–8	7–6	5–7	4–8	5–8	9–4	6–7	—	9–3	5–7	4–9
San Diego	4–9	4–8	4–9	7–6	5–7	5–8	4–9	2–10	7–5	6–6	3–9	—	3–10	7–5
San Francisco	6–7	6–6	11–2	10–3	8–4	10–3	6–7	9–3	8–4	8–4	7–5	10–3	—	4–8
St. Louis	6–6	5–8	7–5	7–5	9–4	6–6	6–6	6–7	8–5	5–8	9–4	5–7	8–4	—

Notable transactions

June 3, 1993: Billy Wagner was drafted by the Astros in the 1st round (12th pick) of the 1993 Major League Baseball draft. Player signed June 22, 1993.^[19]
July 12, 1993: Jack Daugherty was traded by the Astros to the Cincinnati Reds for Steve Carter.^[5]

Roster

1993 Houston Astros

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

18 Art Howe

Coaches

54 Bob Cluck (pitching)
48 Matt Galante (third base)
42 Rudy Jaramillo (hitting)
14 Ed Ott (bench)
52 Tom Spencer (first base)

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	94	288	72	.250	9	42
1B	Jeff Bagwell	142	535	171	.320	20	88
2B	Craig Biggio	155	610	175	.287	21	64
3B	Ken Caminiti	143	543	142	.262	13	75
SS	Andújar Cedeño	149	505	143	.283	11	56
LF	Luis Gonzalez	154	540	162	.300	15	72
CF	Steve Finley	142	545	145	.266	8	44
RF	Eric Anthony	145	486	121	.249	15	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
Scott Servais	85	258	63	.244	11	32
Kevin Bass	111	229	65	.284	3	37
Chris Donnels	88	179	46	.257	2	24
Chris James	65	129	33	.256	6	19
Casey Candaele	75	121	29	.240	1	7
José Uribe	45	53	13	.245	0	3
Rick Parker	45	45	15	.333	0	4
Eddie Tucker	9	26	5	.192	0	3
Jim Lindeman	9	23	8	.348	0	0
Mike Brumley	8	10	3	.300	0	2
Jack Daugherty	4	3	1	.333	0	0
Tuffy Rhodes	5	2	0	.000	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
Doug Drabek	34	237.2	9	18	3.79	157
Pete Harnisch	33	217.2	16	9	2.98	185
Mark Portugal	33	208.0	18	4	2.77	131
Greg Swindell	31	190.1	12	13	4.16	124
Darryl Kile	32	171.2	15	8	3.51	141

Other pitchers