1983 Houston Astros season
1983 Houston Astros | ||
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League | National League | |
Division | West | |
Ballpark | Astrodome | |
City | Houston, Texas | |
Record | 85–77 (.525) | |
Divisional place | 3rd | |
Owners | John McMullen | |
General managers | Al Rosen | |
Managers | Bob Lillis | |
Television | KTXH HSE | |
Radio | KRBE (Gene Elston, Dewayne Staats, Larry Dierker) | |
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The 1983 Houston Astros season was the 22nd season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 19th as the Astros, 22nd in the National League (NL), 15th in the NL West division, and 19th at The Astrodome.
Shortstop Dickie Thon and pitcher Bill Dawley each represented the Astros at the MLB All-Star Game and played for the National League, the first career selection for both.
Offseason
- December 10, 1982: Danny Heep was traded by the Astros to the New York Mets for Mike Scott.[1]
- January 11, 1983: Troy Afenir was drafted by the Astros in the 1st round (11th pick) of the 1983 Major League Baseball draft (secondary phase).[2]
- March 31, 1983: Alan Knicely was traded by the Astros to the Cincinnati Reds for Bill Dawley and Tony Walker.[3]
Regular season
Summary
On April 17, Nolan Ryan struck out Andre Dawson for the 3500th strikeout in his career.[4]
On April 27, Ryan struck out Brad Mills[Note 1] of the Expos to break Walter Johnson's all time mark for strikeouts in a career. Mills was the 3,509th strikeout of Ryan's career.[4]
On June 4, Alan Ashby homered twice, doubled and had six runs batted in (RBI) to back Mike Scott, who earned his first win as a Houston Astro. The final score was 13–0 over the Cincinnati Reds.[5]
Shortstop Dickie Thon homered twice off San Diego Padres starter Eric Show on June 17. This generated enough offense for Ryan, as he struck out six in a 4–1 win. Ryan also ended the contest just one strikeout behind Philadelphia Phillies starter Steve Carlton for the all-time strikeout race.[6]
Season standings
Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Los Angeles Dodgers | 91 | 71 | .562 | — | 48–32 | 43–39 |
Atlanta Braves | 88 | 74 | .543 | 3 | 46–34 | 42–40 |
85 | 77 | .525 | 6 | 46–36 | 39–41 | |
San Diego Padres | 81 | 81 | .500 | 10 | 47–34 | 34–47 |
San Francisco Giants | 79 | 83 | .488 | 12 | 43–38 | 36–45 |
Cincinnati Reds | 74 | 88 | .457 | 17 | 36–45 | 38–43 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] | |||||||||||||||||
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Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MTL | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL | |||||
Atlanta | — | 5–7 | 12–6 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 7–5 | |||||
Chicago | 7–5 | — | 4–8 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 5–13 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 10–8 | |||||
Cincinnati | 6–12 | 8–4 | — | 5–13 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 6–6 | |||||
7–11 | 7–5 | 13–5 | — | 6–12 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 12–6 | 2–10 | ||||||
Los Angeles | 11–7 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 12–6 | — | 7–5 | 7–5 | 11–1 | 6–6 | 6–12–1 | 5–13 | 9–3 | |||||
Montreal | 5–7 | 11–7 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 5–7 | — | 8–10 | 8–10–1 | 8–10 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–9 | |||||
New York | 4–8 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 10–8 | — | 6–12 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 6–12 | |||||
Philadelphia | 5-7 | 13–5 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 1–11 | 10–8–1 | 12–6 | — | 11–7 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 14–4 | |||||
Pittsburgh | 6–6 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 7–11 | — | 9–3 | 6–6 | 10–8 | |||||
San Diego | 9–9 | 7–5 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 12–6–1 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 3–9 | — | 11–7 | 6–6 | |||||
San Francisco | 9–9 | 8–4 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 13–5 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 7–11 | — | 4–8 | |||||
St. Louis | 5–7 | 8–10 | 6–6 | 10–2 | 3–9 | 9–9 | 12–6 | 4–14 | 8–10 | 6–6 | 8–4 | — |
Notable transactions
- June 6, 1983: Robbie Wine was drafted by the Astros in the 1st round (8th pick) of the 1983 Major League Baseball draft.[7]
- June 17, 1983: Danny Boone was released by the Astros.[8]
Roster
1983 Houston Astros | |||||||||
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Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
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Manager
Coaches
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Game log
Regular season
1983 regular season game log: 85–77 (home: 46–36; away: 39–41) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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April: 8–14 (home: 5–10; away: 3–4)
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May: 14–14 (home: 7–7; away: 7–7)
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June: 15–11 (home: 10–3; away: 5–8)
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July: 15–11 (home: 10–6; away: 5–5)
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August: 18–12 (home: 8–4; away: 10–8)
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September: 14–14 (home: 7–6; away: 7–8)
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Legend: = Win = Loss = Postponement Bold = Astros team member |
Player stats
= Indicates team leader |
= Indicates league leader |
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 |
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C | Alan Ashby | 87 | 275 | 63 | .229 | 8 | 34 |
1B | Ray Knight | 145 | 507 | 154 | .304 | 9 | 70 |
2B | Bill Doran | 154 | 535 | 145 | .271 | 8 | 39 |
SS | Dickie Thon | 154 | 619 | 177 | .286 | 20 | 79 |
3B | Phil Garner | 154 | 567 | 135 | .238 | 14 | 79 |
LF | José Cruz | 160 | 594 | 189 | .318 | 14 | 92 |
CF | Omar Moreno | 97 | 405 | 98 | .242 | 0 | 25 |
RF | Terry Puhl | 137 | 465 | 136 | .292 | 8 | 44 |
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 |
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Kevin Bass | 88 | 195 | 46 | .236 | 2 | 18 |
Tony Scott | 80 | 186 | 42 | .226 | 2 | 17 |
Jerry Mumphrey | 44 | 143 | 48 | .336 | 1 | 17 |
Denny Walling | 100 | 135 | 40 | .296 | 3 | 19 |
Craig Reynolds | 65 | 98 | 21 | .214 | 1 | 6 |
Luis Pujols | 40 | 87 | 17 | .195 | 0 | 12 |
John Mizerock | 33 | 85 | 13 | .153 | 1 | 10 |
Harry Spilman | 42 | 78 | 13 | .167 | 1 | 9 |
George Bjorkman | 29 | 75 | 17 | .227 | 2 | 14 |
Tim Tolman | 43 | 56 | 11 | .196 | 2 | 10 |
Scott Loucks | 7 | 14 | 3 | .214 | 0 | 0 |
Bert Peña | 4 | 8 | 1 | .125 | 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 |
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Joe Niekro | 38 | 263.2 | 15 | 14 | 3.48 | 152 |
Bob Knepper | 35 | 203.2 | 6 | 13 | 3.19 | 125 |
Nolan Ryan | 29 | 196.1 | 14 | 9 | 2.98 | 183 |
Mike Scott | 24 | 145.0 | 10 | 6 | 3.72 | 73 |
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 |
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Mike LaCoss | 38 | 138.0 | 5 | 7 | 4.43 | 53 |
Vern Ruhle | 41 | 114.2 | 8 | 5 | 3.69 | 43 |
Mike Madden | 28 | 94.2 | 9 | 5 | 3.14 | 44 |
Jeff Heathcock | 6 | 28.0 | 2 | 1 | 3.21 | 12 |
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 |
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Frank DiPino | 53 | 3 | 4 | 20 | 2.65 | 67 |
Bill Dawley | 48 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 2.82 | 60 |
Dave Smith | 42 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 3.10 | 41 |
Frank LaCorte | 37 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5.06 | 48 |
Julio Solano | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6.00 | 3 |
Awards and honors
- Ray Knight, Hutch Award[9]
Farm system
References
- Footnotes
- ^ Mills later managed the Astros from 2010 to 2012.
- Sources
- ^ Danny Heep at Baseball Reference
- ^ Troy Afenir at Baseball Reference
- ^ Alan Knicely at Baseball Reference
- ^ a b "The Nolan Ryan Express | The Strikeout King". smackbomb.com/nolanryan. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
- ^ Schwartzberg, Seth (June 4, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 4". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved July 9, 2025.
- ^ Schwartzberg, Seth (June 17, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 17". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved June 27, 2025.
- ^ Robbie Wine at Baseball Reference
- ^ Danny Boone at Baseball Reference
- ^ "Hutch Award | Baseball Almanac".