2002 Houston Astros season

Last updated

2002  Houston Astros
League National League
Division Central
Ballpark Astros Field
City Houston, Texas
Record84–78 (.519)
Divisional place2nd
Owners Drayton McLane, Jr.
General managers Gerry Hunsicker
Managers Jimy Williams
Television KNWS-TV
FSN Southwest
(Bill Brown, Jim Deshaies, Bill Worrell)
Radio KTRH
(Milo Hamilton, Alan Ashby)
KXYZ
(Francisco Ernesto Ruiz, Alex Treviño)
←  2001 Seasons 2003  →

The 2002 Houston Astros season was the 41st season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 38th as the Astros, 41st in the National League (NL), ninth in the NL Central division, and third at Astros Park, renamed Minute Maid Park during the season. The Astros entered the season as defending NL Central division champions for the fourth time with a 93–69 record; however, their season ended in defeat in the National League Division Series (NLDS) to the Atlanta Braves for the third time.

Contents

The 2002 season was the first for Jimy Williams as manager, the 15th in franchise history, having replaced Larry Dierker. Opening Day for Houston occurred on April 2 in which they hosted the Milwaukee Brewers, who won, 9–3. Wade Miller was the Astros' Opening Day starting pitcher. On April 8, Craig Biggio became the fifth player and on the sixth occasion in franchise history to hit for the cycle. The Astros' first round draft pick in the amateur draft was pitcher Derick Grigsby, 29th overall. On June 5, the Astros announced a new agreement reached with Minute Maid for the naming rights to their stadium, rebranding it from Astros Field to Minute Maid Park.

Outfielder Lance Berkman represented the Astros and played for the National League at the MLB All-Star Game, his second career selection. Harry Kalas, who broadcast for Houston from 1965 to 1970, was recognized for his work by the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Berkman became the second Astro to lead the league in runs batted in (RBI), collecting 128.

The Astros concluded the season with an 84–78 record, in second place in the NL Central division, and 13 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals. The Astros ranked third in the NL Wild Card race, trailing the eventual NL-champion San Francisco Giants by 11+1⁄2 games. However, this was the ninth winning season in the previous 10 for Houston—with 2000 being the exception—continuing an unprecedented period of success. Additionally, it was the eighth time in nine seasons since moving to the NL Central that the Astros had finished in either first or second place.

Following the season, catcher Brad Ausmus won the second Gold Glove Award of his career.

Offseason

Regular season

Summary

On April 8 versus the Colorado Rockies, second baseman Craig Biggio became the fifth Houston Astro to hit for the cycle, and sixth time in franchise history. He singled, then tripled and connected for a home run off starter Denny Neagle within the first four innings. In the sixth, Neagle issued an intentional base on balls to Biggio, but Biggio, batting again in the eighth, stroked a double to complete the cycle. When his son, Cavan, replicated the feat in 2019 as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays, they became the second father–son duo in major league history to hit for the cycle, following Gary (1980) and Daryle Ward (2004) [2] The younger Ward and elder Biggio were teammates when Craig hit for the cycle (though not in the starting lineup together); [3] in fact, Ward was a member of the Astros in his first five major league seasons, from 1998—2002. [4]

Accompanied with a celebration of fireworks and a locomotive steaming across the tracks beyond the left field wall carting oranges, on June 5, the Astros rechristened their stadium as Minute Maid Park. The organization announced a naming rights deal they had reached with Minute Maid, a beverage company based in Sugar Land, a suburb of Houston, since 1960. Per owner Drayton McLane, the agreement covered 28 years and was worth $100 million. The Astros had also considered proposals from other Houston-area companies, including Conoco Inc., Landry's Seafood Restaurants Inc., and Gallery Furniture. [5]

Former Astros pitcher Darryl Kile, then playing for the St. Louis Cardinals, was found dead in his Chicago hotel room on June 22, 2002. [6] That same day, the bereaved Astros won in his memory against the Seattle Mariners, with first baseman Jeff Bagwell delivering the game-winning run batted in (RBI) in the 12th inning. [7]

Inserted to pinch hit on June 27, Gregg Zaun had the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning and connected for the walk-off grand slam, sealing a 7–4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Lance Berkman and Brad Ausmus also belted home runs for Houston. [8]

From August 10–24, Bagwell produced a season-high 15-game hitting streak, marking the 12th consecutive season with at least one double-digit hit streak, a club record, and second to Roberto Alomar with 14 among all then-active players. In September, he batted .343 with 11 multi-hit games. [9]

Prior a contest against the San Diego Padres on August 27, Bagwell met with 11-year-old bone cancer patient named Stephen Rael, who asked him to hit a home run for him. Bagwell replied, "I'm going to try, but I'm not Babe Ruth." In the fifth inning, he hit a pitch from Mike Bynum over the left field wall. Bagwell pointed to the child in the stands as he rounded third base. Bagwell later commented, "I hit the home run, and he felt it was for him. I'm glad for that. It made it special." [10]

Standings

National League Central

NL Central
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
St. Louis Cardinals 9765.599—52‍–‍2945‍–‍36
Houston Astros 8478.5191347‍–‍3437‍–‍44
Cincinnati Reds 7884.4811938‍–‍4340‍–‍41
Pittsburgh Pirates 7289.44724½38‍–‍4234‍–‍47
Chicago Cubs 6795.4143036‍–‍4531‍–‍50
Milwaukee Brewers 56106.3464131‍–‍5025‍–‍56

Record vs. opponents

2002 National League record

Source: MLB Standings Grid – 2002

TeamAZATLCHCCINCOLFLAHOULADMILMTLNYMPHIPITSDSFSTLAL
Arizona —3–34–26–014–55–13–39–104–24–25–24–34–212–78–112–411–7
Atlanta 3–3—4–24–24–311–83–32–45–113–612–711–73–33–33–3–15–115–3
Chicago 2–42–4—5–124–24–28–112–47–103–31–52–410–92–43–36–126–6
Cincinnati 0–62–412–5—3–35–16–114–213–61–52–42–411–75–12–48–112–10
Colorado 5–143–42–43–3—5–23–37–123–34–23–33–34–211–88–122–47–11
Florida 1–58–112–41–52–5—3–33–34–210–98–1110–94–25–14–34–210–8
Houston 3–33–311–811–63–33–3—3–310–83–34–23–311–64–21–56–135–7
Los Angeles 10–94–24–22–412–73–33–3—5–15–24–24–34–210–98–112–412–6
Milwaukee 2–41–510–76–133–32–48–101–5—2–41–51–54–155–11–57–102–10
Montreal 2–46–133–35–12–49–103–32–54–2—11–811–83–33–44–23–312–6
New York 2–57–125–14–23–311–82–42–45–18–11—9–101–43–40–63–310–8
Philadelphia 3–47–114–24–23–39–103–33–45–18–1110–9—2–42–43–34–210–8
Pittsburgh 2–43–39–107–112–42–46–112–415–43–34–14–2—2–42–46–113–9
San Diego 7–123–34–21–58–111–52–49–101–54–34–34–24–2—5–141–58–10
San Francisco 11–83–3–13–34–211–83–45–111–85–12–46–03–34–214–5—2–48–10
St. Louis 4–21–512–611–84–22–413–64–210–73–33–32–411–65–14–2—8–4

Roster

2002 Houston Astros
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

OutfieldersManager

Coaches

Players 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 Brad Ausmus 130447115.257650
1B Jeff Bagwell 158571166.2913198
2B Craig Biggio 145577146.2531558
SS Julio Lugo 8832284.261835
3B Geoff Blum 130368104.2831052
LF Daryle Ward 136453125.2761272
CF Lance Berkman 158578169.29242128
RF Richard Hidalgo 11438891.2351548

Other batters

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

PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
José Vizcaíno 125406123.303537
Orlando Merced 12325172.287630
Brian Hunter 9820154.269320
Gregg Zaun 7618541.222324
Morgan Ensberg 4913232.242319
Adam Everett 408817.19304
Jason Lane 446920.290410
Mark Loretta 216628.42428
Alan Zinter 39446.13623
Barry Wesson 15204.20001
Keith Ginter 751.20000
Raúl Chávez 241.25000

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Roy Oswalt 35233.01993.01208
Wade Miller 26164.21543.28144
Carlos Hernández 23111.0754.3893
Kirk Saarloos 1785.1676.0154
Shane Reynolds 1374.0364.8647

Other pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Dave Mlicki 2286.04105.3457
Peter Munro 1980.2553.5745
Tim Redding 1873.1365.4063

Relief pitchers

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

PlayerGWLSVERASO
Billy Wagner 7042352.5238
Octavio Dotel 836461.85118
Ricky Stone 783313.6163
Pedro Borbón Jr. 563215.5039
Brandon Puffer 553304.4348
Nelson Cruz 432604.4861
Scott Linebrink 220007.0324
Jim Mann 170104.0919
Tom Gordon 150203.3217
T.J. Mathews 120003.4413
Jeriome Robertson 110206.526
Brad Lidge 61006.2312
Hipólito Pichardo 101081.000

Awards and achievements

Career honors
Annual awards
NL batting leaders

See also

Minor league system

LevelTeamLeagueManager
AAA New Orleans Zephyrs Pacific Coast League Chris Maloney
AA Round Rock Express Texas League Jackie Moore
A Michigan Battle Cats Midwest League John Massarelli
A Lexington Legends South Atlantic League Joe Cannon
A-Short Season Tri-City ValleyCats New York–Penn League Iván DeJesús
Rookie Martinsville Astros Appalachian League Jorge Orta

References

  1. ↑ Gregg Zaun Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  2. ↑ Young, Matt (July 22, 2024). "Details behind each player who has hit for the cycle in Astros franchise history". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved July 12, 2025.
  3. ↑ "Houston Astros vs Colorado Rockies box score". Baseball-Reference.com . April 8, 2002. Retrieved July 12, 2025.
  4. ↑ "Daryle Ward stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 12, 2025.
  5. ↑ "Name that park: For Astros, it's Minute Maid". ESPN.com . Associated Press. June 5, 2002. Retrieved August 31, 2025.
  6. ↑ "BASEBALL; Coroner verifies the cause of Kile's death as natural". The New York Times . Associated Press. July 17, 2002. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
  7. ↑ Schwarzberg, Seth (June 22, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 22". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation . Retrieved June 22, 2025.
  8. ↑ Schwartzberg, Seth (June 27, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 27". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved June 27, 2025.
  9. ↑ "Jeff Bagwell player page bio". MLB.com . Retrieved February 28, 2016.
  10. ↑ Murphy, Michael (August 29, 2002). "Young patient makes wish, and Bagwell delivers: A homer for Stephen". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved August 24, 2025.
  11. ↑ "Houston Astros Player of the Year". The Baseball Cube. Retrieved August 24, 2025.
  12. ↑ "MLB Players of the Week Awards". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 28, 2025.
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