2006 Houston Astros season

Last updated

2006  Houston Astros
League National League
Division Central
Ballpark Minute Maid Park
City Houston, Texas
Record82–80 (.506)
Divisional place2nd
Owners Drayton McLane, Jr.
General managers Tim Purpura
Managers Phil Garner
Television KNWS-TV
FSN Southwest
(Bill Brown, Jim Deshaies)
Radio KTRH
(Milo Hamilton, Dave Raymond, Brett Dolan)
KLAT
(Francisco Ernesto Ruiz, Alex Treviño)
Stats ESPN.com
Baseball Reference
←  2005 Seasons 2007  →

The 2006 Houston Astros season was the 45th season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 42nd as the Astros, 45th in the National League (NL), 13th in the NL Central division, and seventh at Minute Maid Park. They entered the season as the defending NL pennant winners for the first time, ultimately ending the season with a 4-games-to-0 loss in the World Series to the Chicago White Sox.

Contents

First baseman Lance Berkman and pitcher Roy Oswalt represented the Astros and played for the National League at the MLB All-Star Game. Phil Garner managed the National League. It the fourth career selection for Berkman and second for Oswalt.

On July 28, Luke Scott hit for the cycle, to become the first Astros rookie to do so, and for the seventh time overall in franchise history.

The 2006 Astros finished in second place in the NL Central with a record of 82–80, 1½ games behind the eventual World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals, after losing 3–1 on the road to the Atlanta Braves on the final day of the season. As a result, they missed the playoffs for the first time since 2003. It was their fifth-consecutive finish in second place in the division.

The 2006 season was the final season as members of the NL Central division that the Astros finished as high as second place; in fact, they had placed first or second in 12 of their first 13 seasons in the NL Central. It was also their 13th winning season over the previous 14, with the 2000 season being the lone exception in both cases.

Following the season, catcher Brad Ausmus won the third Gold Glove Award of his career and shortstop Adam Everett was a Fielding Bible Award winner. Meanwhile, Berkman placed third in the NL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award voting, and Oswalt was fourth for the NL Cy Young Award.

Regular season

Summary

On verse of losing their sixth consecutive game on May 28, Houston trailed the Pittsburgh Pirates 4–0 heading into the ninth inning. The tied the score thanks in part to two bases-loaded wallsk, and in the 10th inning, Preston Wilson hit the walk-off single to win the game for the Astros. [1]

The Astros and right-hander Roger Clemens agreed to terms on May 31 that brought him back to Houston for the final four months of the season. The total value of the contract amounted to $22 million. Clemens started 19 games and posted a 2.30 earned run average (ERA). [2]

On June 25, the Chicago White Sox nearly completed a comeback with Houston ahead, 9–2, after eight strong innings from Roy Oswalt. The Astros won, 10–9 in the 13th inning via an RBI triple from Adam Everett. Tadahito Iguchi, who belted a three-run home run, started the comeback for Chicago. [3]

Commencing July 27 versus the Cincinnati Reds, center fielder Willy Taveras amassed a 30-game hitting streak to set the Astros' franchise record, which surpassed Jeff Kent's 25-game streak accomplished in 2004. The streak ended on August 29 when Taveras went 0-for-3, including twice hit by pitch against the Milwaukee Brewers. During the streak, Taveras had a .349 batting average, .441 on-base percentage (OBP), and .867 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS). [4] [5]

On July 28, right fielder Luke Scott hit for the cycle, which spanned six at bats and 11 innings in an 8–7 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. In the fourth inning, Scott homered, then hit a triple onto Tal's Hill in the fifth, and doubled in the seventh. He grounded out in the ninth inning, but got the single in his final at bat in the 11th inning. Scott's cycle was the first-ever by an Astros rookie, and first by a Houston Astro since teammate Craig Biggio did so on April 8, 2002. [6]

Standings

National League Central

NL Central
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
St. Louis Cardinals 8378.516—49‍–‍3134‍–‍47
Houston Astros 8280.5061½44‍–‍3738‍–‍43
Cincinnati Reds 8082.4943½42‍–‍3938‍–‍43
Milwaukee Brewers 7587.4638½48‍–‍3327‍–‍54
Pittsburgh Pirates 6795.41416½43‍–‍3824‍–‍57
Chicago Cubs 6696.40717½36‍–‍4530‍–‍51

Record vs. opponents

2006 National League record

Source: MLB Standings Grid – 2006

TeamAZATLCHCCINCOLFLAHOULADMILNYMPHIPITSDSFSTLWASAL
Arizona —6–14–24–212–72–44–58–103–31–61–55–19–108–114–31–54–11
Atlanta 1–6—6–14–33–311–83–43–32–47–117–113–37–23–44–210–85–10
Chicago 2–41–6—10–92–42–47–84–28–83–32–56–90–72–411–82–44–11
Cincinnati 2–43–49–10—5–14–210–50–69–103–42–49–72–42–59–65–16-9
Colorado 7–123–34–21–5—3–34–24–152–41–53–43–310–910–82–78–011–4
Florida 4–28–114–22–43–3—3–41–57–08–116–135–23–33–31–511–79–9
Houston 5–44–38–75–102–44-3—3–310–52–42–413–33–31–59–74–47–11
Los Angeles 10–83–32–46–015–45–13–3—4–23–44–36–45–1313–60–74–25–10
Milwaukee 3–34–28–810–94–20–75–102–4—3–35–17–94–36–37–91–56–9
New York 6–111–73–34–35–111–84–24–33–3—11–85–45–23–34–212–66–9
Philadelphia 5-111–75–24–24–313–64–23–41–58–11—3–32–45–13–39–105–13
Pittsburgh 1–53–39–67–93–32–53–134–69–74–53–3—1–56–16–93–33–12
San Diego 10–92–77–04–29–103–33–313–53–42–54–25–1—7–124–25–17–8
San Francisco 11–84–34–25–28–103–35–16–133–63–31–51–612–7—1–41–58–7
St. Louis 3–42–48–116–97–25-17–97–09–72–43–39–62–44–1—4–35–10
Washington 5–18–104–21–50–87-114–42–45–16–1210–93–31–55–13–4—7–11

Transactions

Roster

2006 Houston Astros
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Player stats

Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases; BB = Walks; AVG = Batting average; SLG = Slugging percentage

PlayerGABRH2B3BHRRBISBBBAVGSLG
Craig Biggio 145548791353302162340.246.422
Lance Berkman 1525369516929045136398.315.621
Willy Taveras 149529831471951303334.278.338
Adam Everett 15051452123286659934.239.352
Brad Ausmus 13943937101161239345.230.285
Preston Wilson 10239040105222955622.269.405
Morgan Ensberg 127387679117123581101.235.463
Mike Lamb 126381701172231245235.307.475
Chris Burke 123366581012319401127.276.418
Jason Lane 11228844581001545149.201.392
Aubrey Huff 6822431561011338026.250.478
Luke Scott 6521431721961037230.336.621
Eric Munson 53141102860519011.199.348
Eric Bruntlett 73119113380010313.277.345
Orlando Palmeiro 10311912306101706.252.319
Humberto Quintero 112127200201.333.429
J.R. House 4900000000.000.000
Charlton Jimerson 17622001120.333.833
Joe McEwing 7600000000.000.000
Héctor Giménez 2200000000.000.000
Pitcher Totals162282113250215013.113.152
Team Totals162552173514072752717470879585.255.409

Source:

Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts

PlayerWLERAGGSSVIPHRERBBSO
Roy Oswalt 1582.9833320220.2220767338166
Andy Pettitte 14134.2036350214.123811410070178
Wandy Rodríguez 9105.6430240135.215496856398
Roger Clemens 762.3019190113.189342929102
Taylor Buchholz 6105.8922190113.010780743477
Fernando Nieve 334.204011096.18746454170
Chad Qualls 733.76810088.27638372856
Brad Lidge 155.287803275.069474436104
Dan Wheeler 352.52750971.15822202468
Dave Borkowski 324.69400071.07038372352
Russ Springer 113.47720059.24623231646
Trever Miller 233.02700150.24217171356
Jason Hirsh 346.0499044.24832302229
Brandon Backe 323.7788043.04318181819
Chris Sampson 212.12123034.025108515
Mike Gallo 126.06230016.128111177
Matt Albers 026.0042015.0171010711
Ezequiel Astacio 2011.126005.277766
Philip Barzilla 000.001000.110000
Team Totals82804.08162162421468.214257196664801160

Source:

Awards and achievements

Awards

See also

Minor league system

LevelTeamLeagueManager
AAA Round Rock Express Pacific Coast League Jackie Moore
AA Corpus Christi Hooks Texas League Dave Clark
A Salem Avalanche Carolina League Jim Pankovits
A Lexington Legends South Atlantic League Jack Lind
A-Short Season Tri-City ValleyCats New York–Penn League Gregg Langbehn
Rookie Greeneville Astros Appalachian League Iván DeJesús

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Corpus Christi

References

  1. ↑ Schwartzberg, Seth (May 28, 2025). "Today in Astros history - May 28". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation . Retrieved July 28, 2025.
  2. ↑ Schwartzberg, Seth (May 31, 2025). "Today in Astros history - May 31". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
  3. ↑ Schwartzberg, Seth (June 25, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 25". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
  4. ↑ Clack (May 8, 2012). "Astros History: A 30-game hitting streak in 2006". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved August 29, 2025.
  5. ↑ "Willy Taveras 2006 batting game logs". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 29, 2025.
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. ↑ "Cody Ransom Stats".
  8. ↑ "Aubrey Huff Stats".
  9. ↑ "Darryl Kile Award". Baseball Almanac . Retrieved July 20, 2025.
  10. ↑ "Houston Astros Player of the Year". The Baseball Cube. Retrieved August 24, 2025.
  11. ↑ "Major League Baseball Pitchers of the Month". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 12, 2025.
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