1994 Houston Astros season

Last updated

1994  Houston Astros
League National League
Division Central
Ballpark The Astrodome
City Houston, Texas
Record66–49 (.574)
Divisional place2nd
Owners Drayton McLane, Jr.
General managers Bob Watson
Managers Terry Collins
Television KTXH
Radio KPRC (AM)
(Bill Brown, Milo Hamilton, Larry Dierker, Vince Controneo, Bill Worrell, Enos Cabell)
KXYZ
(Francisco Ernesto Ruiz, Danny Gonzalez)
←  1993 Seasons 1995  →

The 1994 Houston Astros season was the 33rd season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 30th as the Astros, 33rd in the National League (NL), first in the inaugural season of the NL Central division, and 30th at The Astrodome. The Astros entered the season with an 85–77 record, third-place finish in the NL West division, and 19 games behind the three-time defending division-champion Atlanta Braves.

Contents

The 1994 season was the first for Terry Collins as manager, the 12th in franchise history, succeeding Art Howe. On April 4, pitcher Pete Harnisch made his second Opening Day start for the Astros, who hosted the Montreal Expos and prevailed, 6–5, in extra innings. During the amateur draft, the Astros received three first round picks, including catcher Ramón Castro at 17th overall, pitcher Scott Elarton (25th), and shortstop Russ Johnson (30th).

Five Astros represented the club for the National League at the MLB All-Star Game: first baseman Jeff Bagwell, second baseman Craig Biggio, third baseman Ken Caminiti, and pitchers Doug Drabek and John Hudek. For Biggio, it was the his third career selection, and the first for each of the remaining four.

The Astros finished the season with 66–49 record—just 1⁄2 game behind the first-place Cincinnati Reds—for their closest to first place since 1986. Houston also trailed Atlanta by 2+1⁄2 games for second place in MLB's first-ever Wild Card race. However, on August 12, all regular season games were suspended as a response to the players' strike, and the season was ultimately cancelled, removing nearly all of the final two months. The 1994 playoffs were cancelled as well, and the start of the 1995 season was delayed.

In spite of the shortened season, Bagwell set the major league record for fewest plate appearances to reach both 100 runs scored and 100 runs batted in (RBI), ranked second in the NL in batting (.368), third in home runs (39) and led the major leagues with 116 RBI. Thus, he became the unanimous selection for the NL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, the first Astro to win an MVP. Bagwell and Biggio also won the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Awards for their respective positions.

Offseason

Regular season

Summary

While hurling an 8–0 shutout of the Atlanta Braves on May 24, starting pitcher Doug Drabek turned in an all-round game, including going the distance on the mound. At the plate, Drabek matched the three hits surrendered by getting three of his own while collecting two runs batted in (RBI). [6]

On June 24, Jeff Bagwell hit three home runs against the Los Angeles Dodgers at the Astrodome – two in the same inning – in a 16–4 rout, becoming the first Astro since Glenn Davis in 1990 to do so. [7] Nine of the runs came in the sixth inning. [8] He was the NL Player of the Week for consecutive weeks on June 19 and June 26 and the NL Player of the Month for June, his second career monthly award. [7]

During a 12–4 win over the San Francisco Giants on August 4, Bagwell broke Houston single-season club records for home runs, total bases and RBI. [9]

Performance overview

Bagwell finished the 1994 season playing in 110 games and batting .368 with a .750 SLG, 1.201 OPS, 39 HR, 116 RBI, 104 runs scored, 300 total bases and 213 adjusted OPS (OPS+) in 400 at-bats. He led the major leagues in SLG, OPS+, RBI, and total bases, and the NL in runs scored and OPS, but fell short of winning the batting Triple Crown, finishing second for the batting title to Tony Gwynn, who, after batting .394, had the highest average in the major leagues since Ted Williams in 1941. [10] Bagwell finished second in HR to Matt Williams, who hit 43. [11] Bagwell set the record for the fewest plate appearances in a season with at least 100 runs and RBI and became the first National Leaguer to finish first or second in batting average, home runs, RBI, and runs scored since Willie Mays in 1955. [12] His .750 SLG at the time ranked as the seventh-best ever [13] – it still ranks as the 11th best single-season mark in Major League history – and was the highest by a National Leaguer since Rogers Hornsby in 1925 (.756). He unanimously won the NL Most Valuable Player Award, becoming the fourth player in National League history to be unanimously voted the award, and the first Astros player to win the award. [7] Bagwell also won his first Silver Slugger Award and Rawlings Gold Glove Award, and Player of the Year Awards from the Associated Press, Baseball Digest, and USA Today Baseball Weekly. [14]

At the time, in National League history, the 213 OPS+ trailed only Hornsby's 1924 season (222 OPS+) for the second-highest ever; [15] as of 2015, it was tied for 24th highest of all time in all major league seasons, and was the eighth highest among all not by Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth or Williams. Bagwell generated a .383 Isolated Power (ISO) mark, the 16th-highest in history. Twelve of the 15 higher seasons belonged to Bonds, Ruth, and Mark McGwire. Seven of the ten seasons that exceeded his .750 SLG belonged to Bonds and Ruth. Bagwell's 10.26 at bats per home run (AB/HR) ratio is the 25th-best in history. The 1.2009 OPS is the 20th-highest in history; 13 of the seasons that are higher belong to Bonds, Ruth and Williams. [7] The 116 RBI in 110 games qualified for the 13th-highest ratio in history. [16]

Projecting Bagwell's totals to 162 games and 650 plate appearances, he was on pace to amass 47 doubles, 57 home runs, 170 RBI, 22 stolen bases, 95 walks, 216 hits, along with .451 OBP, .750 SLG, and 1.201 OPS. When leading off an inning, he batted .460, .514 OBP, .990 SLG, 1.504 OPS, 14 HR, nine doubles and a triple. He also hit 23 home runs in 56 games at the Astrodome, setting a record that stood for the stadium that was famed to be pitcher-friendly until the Astros moved out following the 1999 season. [7] Bagwell's other totals in the Astrodome that season included a .373 batting average, 54 runs scored, 58 RBI, .816 SLG and 1.275 OPS. In 125 plate appearances against left-handed pitching, he batted .457 with 20 BB, 18 HR and 11 doubles for a .544 OBP, 1.095 SLG and 1.639 OPS. [17] He set single-season club records for batting average, SLG, OPS, OPS+, AB/HR, and offensive win percentage (.858), and also for home runs, breaking Wynn's 27-year-old record, and RBI, breaking Bob Watson's record he had set 17 years earlier – later which he again both subsequently broke. [11]

By Friday, August 12, the Astros had compiled a 66-49 record through 115 games. They were trailing the Cincinnati Reds by half a game for the NL Central Division lead and the Atlanta Braves by 2.5 games in the 1994 NL Wildcard Race. They had scored 602 runs (5.23 per game) and had allowed 503 runs (4.37 per game). [18]

Offensively, the Astros led the Majors in doubles during the strike-shortened season (252) intentional walks (58) and sacrifice hits (73). [19]

Game log

1994 Regular Season Game Log (66-49) (Home: 37-22; Road: 29-27)
April (13-10) (Home: 7-5; Road: 6-5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordReport
1April 4 Expos 6-5 (12 inn.) Edens (1-0) Shaw (0-1)43,4401-0 Boxscore
2April 5 Expos 1-5 Hill (1-0) Drabek (0-1)16,2271-1 Boxscore
3April 6 Expos 3-9 Rueter (1-0) Kile (0-1)17,1801-2 Boxscore
4April 8 Mets
5April 9 Mets
6April 10 Mets
7April 12@ Marlins
8April 13@ Marlins
9April 14@ Marlins
10April 15@ Mets
11April 16@ Mets
12April 17@ Mets
13April 19@ Cubs
14April 20@ Cubs
15April 22@ Cardinals
16April 23@ Cardinals
17April 24@ Cardinals
18April 25 Pirates
19April 26 Pirates
20April 27 Cubs
21April 28 Cubs
22April 29 Cardinals
23April 30 Cardinals
May (16-12) (Home: 8-5; Road: 8-7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordReport
24May 1 Cardinals
25May 3@ Pirates
26May 4@ Pirates
27May 5@ Reds
28May 6@ Reds
29May 7@ Reds
30May 8@ Reds
31May 9@ Dodgers
32May 10@ Dodgers
33May 11@ Dodgers
34May 13 Rockies
35May 14 Rockies
36May 15 Rockies
37May 16 Giants
38May 17 Giants
39May 18 Giants
40May 19 Padres
41May 20 Padres
42May 21 Padres
43May 22 Padres
44May 24@ Braves
45May 25@ Braves
46May 26@ Braves
47May 27@ Phillies
48May 28@ Phillies
49May 29@ Phillies
50May 30 Marlins
51May 31 Marlins
June (14-13) (Home: 8-6; Road: 6-7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordReport
52June 1 Marlins
53June 3 Phillies
54June 4 Phillies
55June 5 Phillies
56June 6@ Expos 5-10 Henry (3-0) Swindell (5-2) Wetteland (8)14,32232-24 Boxscore
57June 7@ Expos 2-3 Heredia (2-2) Veres (2-3) Wetteland (9)17,28332-25 Boxscore
58June 8@ Expos 9-2 Williams (3-2) Fassero (4-4)17,28933-25 Boxscore
59June 10 Braves
60June 11 Braves
61June 12 Braves
62June 13@ Giants
63June 14@ Giants
64June 15@ Giants
65June 16@ Giants
66June 17@ Padres
67June 18@ Padres
68June 19@ Padres
69June 20@ Rockies
70June 21@ Rockies
71June 22@ Rockies
72June 24 Dodgers
73June 25 Dodgers
74June 26 Dodgers
75June 27 Reds
76June 28 Reds
77June 29 Reds
78June 30 Cubs
July (16-11) (Home: 7-3; Road: 9-8)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordReport
79July 1 Cubs
80July 2 Cubs
81July 3 Cubs
82July 4@ Cardinals
83July 5@ Cardinals
84July 6@ Cardinals
85July 7@ Cubs
86July 8@ Cubs
87July 9@ Cubs
88July 10@ Cubs
All-Star Break : NL def. AL at Three Rivers Stadium, 8–7 (10)
89July 14@ Pirates
90July 15@ Pirates
91July 16@ Pirates
92July 17@ Pirates
93July 18 Cardinals
94July 19 Cardinals
95July 20 Cardinals
96July 21 Pirates
97July 22 Pirates
98July 23 Pirates
99July 24 Pirates
100July 25@ Reds
101July 26@ Reds
102July 27@ Reds
103July 29@ Dodgers
104July 30@ Dodgers
105July 31@ Dodgers
August (7-3) (Home: 7-3)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordReport
106August 1 Rockies
107August 2 Rockies
108August 3 Rockies
109August 4 Rockies
110August 5 Giants
111August 6 Giants
112August 7 Giants
113August 9 Padres
114August 10 Padres
115August 11 Padres
Legend
Astros winAstros loss All-Star Game Game postponed

Season standings

NL Central
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Cincinnati Reds 6648.579—37‍–‍2229‍–‍26
Houston Astros 6649.574½37‍–‍2229‍–‍27
Pittsburgh Pirates 5361.4651332‍–‍2921‍–‍32
St. Louis Cardinals 5361.4651323‍–‍3330‍–‍28
Chicago Cubs 4964.43416½20‍–‍3929‍–‍25
Division leaders
Team W L Pct.
Montreal Expos 7440.649
Cincinnati Reds 6648.579
Los Angeles Dodgers 5856.509
Wild Card team W L Pct. GB
Atlanta Braves 68460.597—
Houston Astros 66490.57421⁄2
New York Mets 55580.487121⁄2
San Francisco Giants 55600.478131⁄2
Philadelphia Phillies 54610.470141⁄2
St. Louis Cardinals 53610.46515
Pittsburgh Pirates 53610.46515
Colorado Rockies 53640.453161⁄2
Florida Marlins 51640.444171⁄2
Chicago Cubs 49640.434181⁄2
San Diego Padres 47700.402221⁄2

Record vs. opponents

1994 National League record
Source: MLB Standings Grid – 1994
TeamATLCHCCINCOLFLAHOULADMTLNYMPHIPITSDSFSTL
Atlanta —4–25–58–28–43–36–04–55–46–33–96–15–15–7
Chicago 2–4—5–76–64–54–83–32–41–41–65–56–35–45–5
Cincinnati 5–57–5—4–47–54–63–64–22–44–29–38–27–22–2–1
Colorado 2–86–64–4—3–95–54–64–25–12–42–35–53–78–4
Florida 4–85–45–79–3—2–43–32–76–44–61–65–12–43–7
Houston 3–38–46–45–54–2—1–82–43–35–18–45–58–28–4
Los Angeles 0–63–36–36–43–38–1—3–96–67–53–36–45–52–4
Montreal 5–44–22–42–47–24–29–3—4–35–48–212–05–77–3
New York 4–54–14–21–54–63–36–63–4—4–64–56–66–66–3
Philadelphia 3-66–12–44–26–41–55–74–56–4—5–44–84–84–3
Pittsburgh 9–35–53–93–26–14–83–32–85–44–5—3–31–55–5
San Diego 1–63–62–85–51–55–54–60–126–68–43–3—5–24–2
San Francisco 1–54–52–77–34–22–85–57–56–68–45–12–5—2–4
St. Louis 7–55–52–2–14–87–34–84–23–73–63–45–52–44–2—

Notable transactions

Roster

1994 Houston Astros
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

OutfieldersManager

Coaches

Major League Baseball draft

Houston Astros 1994 MLB draft selections
Rd.PickPlayerPos.SchoolOriginSigned
117 Ramón Castro [Note 1] C Lino Padrón Rivera High School Flag of Puerto Rico.svg Y
25 Scott Elarton [Note 2] RHP Lamar High School Flag of Colorado.svg Y
30 Russ Johnson [Note 3] SS Louisiana State Flag of Louisiana.svg Y
380 Óscar Robles SS Montgomery High School Flag of Mexico.svg Y
7192 Tony Mounce LHP Kamiakin High School Flag of California.svg Y
Ref.: [22]

Statistics

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 Scott Servais 7825149.195941
1B Jeff Bagwell 110400147.36839116
2B Craig Biggio 114437139.318656
SS Andújar Cedeño 9834290.263949
3B Ken Caminiti 111406115.2831875
LF Luis Gonzalez 112392107.273867
CF Steve Finley 94373103.2761133
RF James Mouton 9931076.245216

Other batters

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

PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
Kevin Bass 8220363.310635
Tony Eusebio 5515947.296530
Mike Felder 5811728.239013
Chris Donnels 548623.26735
Sid Bream 466121.34407
Andy Stankiewicz 375414.25915
Orlando Miller 164013.32529
Brian Hunter 6246.25000
Milt Thompson 9216.28613
Mike Simms 6121.08300
Ed Taubensee 5101.10000
Roberto Petagine 870.00000

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Doug Drabek 23164.21262.84121
Greg Swindell 24148.1894.3774
Darryl Kile 24147.2964.57105
Pete Harnisch 1795.0855.4062

Other pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Shane Reynolds 33124.0853.05110
Brian Williams 2078.1655.7449

Relief pitchers

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

PlayerGWLSVERASO
John Hudek 4202162.9734
Todd Jones 485252.7263
Mike Hampton 442103.7024
Tom Edens 394114.5038
Dave Veres 323312.4128
Mitch Williams 251467.6521
Ross Powell 120001.235

Awards and achievements

National League individual leaders

Batting

  • Adjusted on-base plus slugging (OPS+): Jeff Bagwell (213)
  • Doubles: Craig Biggio (44)
  • On-base plus slugging (OPS): Jeff Bagwell (1.201)
  • Runs batted in (RBI): Jeff Bagwell (116)
  • Runs scored: Jeff Bagwell (104)
  • Slugging percentage (SLG): Jeff Bagwell (.750)
  • Stolen bases: Craig Biggio (39)
  • Total bases: Jeff Bagwell (300)

Pitching

  • Bases on balls allowed: Darryl Kile (82)
  • Wild pitches: Darryl Kile (10)

Franchise records

Awards

Minor league system

LevelTeamLeagueManager
AAA Tucson Toros Pacific Coast League Rick Sweet
AA Jackson Generals Texas League Sal Butera
A Osceola Astros Florida State League Tim Tolman
A Quad Cities River Bandits Midwest League Steve Dillard
A-Short Season Auburn Astros New York–Penn League Manny Acta
Rookie GCL Astros Gulf Coast League Bobby Ramos

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: GCL Astros

Awards

See also

References

Footnotes
  1. ↑ Became the first player to be drafted from Puerto Rico in the first round. Castro remained the highest-selected player drafted directly from high school in Puerto Rico until 2012, when Carlos Correa, also selected by Houston, became the first overall pick. [21]
  2. ↑ Compensation pick for loss of free agent Mark Portugal.
  3. ↑ Supplemental pick for loss of free agent Mark Portugal.
    Sources
    1. ↑ Staff and wire reports (November 18, 1993). "Collins named Astro manager". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved June 28, 2025.
    2. ↑ Andy Stankiewicz at Baseball Reference
    3. 1 2 Mitch Williams at Baseball Reference
    4. ↑ Eric Anthony at Baseball Reference
    5. ↑ Sid Bream at Baseball Reference
    6. ↑ Schwartzberg, Seth (May 24, 2025). "Today in Astros history - May 24". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation . Retrieved August 8, 2025.
    7. 1 2 3 4 5 Marbach, Jason (November 3, 2015). "The greatest seasons in Astros history: Jeff Bagwell, 1994". SB Nation The Crawfish Boxes. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
    8. ↑ Schwarzberg, Seth (June 24, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 24". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
    9. ↑ de Luna, Marcy (April 9, 2020). "Iconic Astrodome made its grand debut 55 years ago, became 'Eighth Wonder of the World'". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved August 18, 2025.
    10. ↑ Goldstein, Richard (June 16, 2014). "Tony Gwynn, Hall of Fame batting champion, dies at 54 of cancer". The New York Times . Archived from the original on August 27, 2014. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
    11. 1 2 Hulsey, Bob (August 5, 1994). "Bagwell caps MVP season". www.astrosdaily.com. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
    12. ↑ "Jeff Bagwell" . Retrieved November 27, 2008.
    13. ↑ Erion, Greg (September 17, 2015). "Jeff Bagwell". Society for American Baseball Research . Retrieved February 10, 2016.
    14. ↑ "Jeff Bagwell player page bio". MLB.com. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
    15. ↑ Campbell, Steve (January 25, 2012). "Best individual seasons in Astros history? The envelopes, please". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved February 12, 2016.
    16. ↑ Thomas, Robert McG. Jr. (October 28, 1994). "Bagwell's latest stat: All the M.V.P. votes". The New York Times. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
    17. ↑ "Jeff Bagwell 1994 batting splits". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
    18. ↑ "1994 National League Season Summary".
    19. ↑ "1994 Major League Baseball Season Summary".
    20. ↑ Mike Simms at Baseball Reference
    21. ↑ Walsh, Megan (July 3, 2012). "No. 1 pick brings spark back to Puerto Rican baseball with Astros' Kissimmee affiliate". Orlando Sentinel . Retrieved June 28, 2025.
    22. ↑ "1994 Houston Astros picks in the MLB June amateur draft". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
    23. ↑ "Associated Press All-Star Awards & Teams". Baseball Almanac . Retrieved July 19, 2025.
    24. ↑ "Houston Astros Minor League Player of the Year". The Baseball Cube. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
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