1988 Houston Astros season

1988 Houston Astros
1988 Houston Astros
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	The Astrodome
City	Houston, Texas
Record	82–80 (.506)
Divisional place	5th
Owners	John McMullen
General managers	Bill Wood
Managers	Hal Lanier
Television	KTXH; HSE
Radio	KTRH; (Bill Brown, Milo Hamilton, Larry Dierker, Bruce Gietzen, Bill Worrell); KBUC; (Orlando Sánchez-Diago, Rolando Becerra)
	Seasons
	Seasons

The 1987 Houston Astros season was the 27th season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 24th as the Astros, 27th in the National League (NL), 20th in the NL West division, and 24rd at The Astrodome.

It was the final season with Nolan Ryan as an Astro, as he left for the Texas Rangers in the offseason.

Offseason

October 13, 1987: Ronn Reynolds was released by the Houston Astros.^[1]
December 8, 1987: Ed Whited was traded by the Houston Astros with Mike Stoker (minors) to the Atlanta Braves for Rafael Ramirez and cash. ^[2]
January 8, 1988: Joaquín Andújar was signed as a free agent by the Astros.^[3]
March 10, 1988: Ernie Camacho was signed as a free agent by the Astros.^[4]
March 25, 1988: Robbie Wine was traded by the Astros to the Texas Rangers for Mike Loynd.^[5]

Notable transactions

July 23, 1988: Mark Bailey was traded by the Astros to the Montreal Expos for Casey Candaele.^[6]
August 31, 1988: Denny Walling was traded by the Astros to the St. Louis Cardinals for Bob Forsch.^[7]

Draft picks

June 1, 1988: 1988 Major League Baseball draft
- Dave Silvestri was drafted by the Astros in the 2nd round. Player signed October 18, 1988.^[8]
- Kenny Lofton was drafted by the Astros in the 17th round. Lofton signed on June 16, 1988.^[9]

Miscellaneous

This roster of pitchers had 8 career no-hitters with 5 (at the time) by Nolan Ryan, 2 by Bob Forsch, and 1 by Mike Scott.

Regular season

Summary

Craig Biggio made his major league debut at catcher on June 26 in a 6–0 win over the San Francisco Giants. Though he went hitless, Biggio stole second base and scored Houston's final run.^[10]

Roster

1988 Houston Astros

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

22 Hal Lanier

Coaches

8 Yogi Berra (Bench)
10 Gene Clines (Hitting)
48 Matt Galante (First Base)
54 Marc Hill (Bullpen)
15 Denis Menke (Third Base)
55 Les Moss (Pitching)

Game log

Regular season

Legend
	Astros win
	Astros loss
	Postponement
	Eliminated from playoff race
Bold	Astros team member

1988 regular season game log: 82–80 (Home: 44–37; Away: 38–43)^[11]

April: 14–7 (Home: 10–3; Away: 4–4)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Record
1	April 5	Padres	6–3	1–0
2	April 6	Padres	5–1	2–0
3	April 8	@ Reds	8–3 (16)	3–0
4	April 9	@ Reds	4–5	3–1
5	April 10	@ Reds	12–3	4–1
6	April 12	@ Braves	8–3	5–1
7	April 13	@ Braves	4–0	6–1
8	April 14	Reds	9–3	7–1
9	April 15	Reds	2–4 (10)	7–2
10	April 16	Reds	2–8	7–3
11	April 17	Reds	5–3	8–3
12	April 19	Braves	4–5	8–4
13	April 20	Braves	1–0	9–4
14	April 21	Braves	8–0	10–4
15	April 22	@ Padres	1–3	10–5
16	April 23	@ Padres	0–4	10–6
17	April 24	@ Padres	0–3	10–7
18	April 26	Phillies	3–1	11–7
19	April 27	Phillies	3–2 (10)	12–7
20	April 29	Expos	6–4	13–7
21	April 30	Expos	3–0	14–7	=

May: 13–14 (Home: 7–5; Away: 6–9)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Box/ Streak
22	May 1	Expos	3–7 (14)	14–8
23	May 2	@ Phillies	1–7	14–9
24	May 3	@ Phillies	4–0	15–9
25	May 4	@ Mets	0–8	15–10
—	May 5	@ Mets	Postponed (rain); Makeup: July 1
26	May 6	@ Expos	5–6 (11)	15–11
27	May 7	@ Expos	3–4	15–12
28	May 8	@ Expos	7–2	16–12
29	May 9	Mets	6–2	17–12
30	May 10	Mets	2–5	17–13
31	May 11	Mets	8–9 (10)	17–14
32	May 13	Cubs	8–2	18–14
33	May 14	Cubs	3–1	19–14
34	May 15	Cubs	1–2	19–15
35	May 16	Pirates	9–2	20–15	W1
36	May 17	Pirates	3–2	21–15	W2
37	May 18	Pirates	4–2	22–15	W3
38	May 20	@ Cardinals	5–3	23–15
39	May 21	@ Cardinals	4–7 (11)	23–16
40	May 22	@ Cardinals	2–1	24–16
41	May 23	@ Pirates	3–0	25–16	W2
42	May 24	@ Pirates	4–5	25–17	L1
43	May 25	@ Pirates	3–4	25–18	L2
44	May 27	@ Cubs	2–3	25–19
45	May 28	@ Cubs	7–14	25–20
46	May 29	@ Cubs	7–1	26–20
47	May 30	Cardinals	5–4	27–20
48	May 31	Cardinals	7–9	27–21

June: 13–16 (Home: 7–7; Away: 6–9)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Record
49	June 1	Cardinals	2–3 (13)	27–22
50	June 3	@ Giants	8–4	28–22
51	June 4	@ Giants	2–8	28–23
52	June 5	@ Giants	3–9	28–24
53	June 6	@ Dodgers	10–4	29–24
54	June 7	@ Dodgers	5–2	30–24
55	June 8	@ Dodgers	1–11	30–25
56	June 9	@ Dodgers	2–4	30–26
57	June 10	Braves	3–10 (13)	30–27
58	June 11	Braves	5–4 (11)	31–27
59	June 12	Braves	5–0	32–27
60	June 13	Braves	6–5	33–27
61	June 14	@ Reds	1–7	33–28
62	June 15	@ Reds	3–5	33–29
63	June 16	@ Reds	7–4	34–29
64	June 17	@ Braves	3–4	34–30
65	June 17	@ Braves	5–6	34–31
66	June 18	@ Braves	14–7	35–31
67	June 19	@ Braves	6–4	36–31
68	June 20	Reds	1–2	36–32
69	June 21	Reds	3–1	37–32
70	June 22	Reds	5–1	38–32
71	June 24	Giants	0–11	38–33
72	June 25	Giants	1–4	38–34
73	June 26	Giants	6–0	39–34
74	June 27	Dodgers	0–4	39–35
75	June 28	Dodgers	4–3	40–35
76	June 29	Dodgers	0–2	40–36
77	June 30	@ Mets	6–12	40–37

July: 16–12 (Home: 6–5; Away: 10–7)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Record
78	July 1	@ Mets	2–3	40–38
79	July 1	@ Mets	6–5 (13)	41–38
80	July 2	@ Mets	2–7	41–39
81	July 3	@ Mets	0–5	41–40
82	July 4	Expos	4–7	41–41
83	July 5	Expos	3–4 (11)	41–42
84	July 6	Expos	2–4	41–43
85	July 8	Mets	4–2	42–43
86	July 9	Mets	6–3	43–43
87	July 10	Mets	6–5	44–43
88	July 14	@ Phillies	7–5	45–43
89	July 15	@ Phillies	5–2	46–43
90	July 16	@ Phillies	6–10	46–44
91	July 17	@ Phillies	4–10	46–45
92	July 18	@ Expos	6–1	47–45
93	July 19	@ Expos	4–3	48–45
94	July 20	@ Expos	3–2	49–45
95	July 21	Phillies	2–0	50–45
96	July 22	Phillies	5–3	51–45
97	July 23	Phillies	7–6	52–45
98	July 24	Phillies	4–6	52–46
99	July 26	@ Padres	1–5	52–47
100	July 27	@ Padres	4–1	53–47
101	July 28	@ Padres	3–2	54–47
102	July 29	@ Dodgers	3–1	55–47
103	July 30	@ Dodgers	14–6	56–47
104	July 31	@ Dodgers	1–6	56–48

August: 15–14 (Home: 9–8; Away: 6–6)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Box/ Streak
105	August 1	@ Giants	1–4	56–49
106	August 2	@ Giants	13–10	57–49
107	August 3	@ Giants	3–2	58–49
108	August 5	Dodgers	6–4	59–49
109	August 6	Dodgers	3–5	59–50
110	August 7	Dodgers	4–2	60–50
111	August 8	Dodgers	10–0	61–50
112	August 9	Giants	3–2	62–50
113	August 10	Giants	0–5	62–51
114	August 11	Giants	0–6	62–52
115	August 12	Padres	3–4	62–53
116	August 13	Padres	1–0	63–53
117	August 14	Padres	1–6	63–54
118	August 15	Padres	7–3	64–54
119	August 16	@ Cardinals	0–3	64–55
120	August 17	@ Cardinals	1–0	65–55
121	August 18	@ Cardinals	1–2	65–56
122	August 19	@ Pirates	5–1	66–56	W1
123	August 20	@ Pirates	1–2	66–57	L1
124	August 21	@ Pirates	2–1 (11)	67–57	W1
125	August 22	@ Cubs	9–7 (10)	68–57
126	August 23	@ Cubs	3–9	68–58
127	August 24	@ Cubs	2–3	68–59
128	August 26	Pirates	2–0	69–59	W1
129	August 27	Pirates	3–1	70–59	W2
130	August 28	Pirates	3–4	70–60	L1
131	August 29	Cubs	1–2 (11)	70–61
132	August 30	Cubs	7–4	71–61
133	August 31	Cubs	1–3	71–62

September: 11–16 (Home: 5–8; Away: 6–8)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Record
134	September 2	Cardinals	0–2	71–63
135	September 3	Cardinals	10–1	72–63
136	September 4	Cardinals	4–3	73–63
137	September 5	Reds	3–0	74–63
138	September 6	Reds	3–10	74–64
139	September 7	@ Dodgers	1–4	74–65
140	September 8	@ Dodgers	2–1	75–65
141	September 9	@ Giants	4–3 (12)	76–65
142	September 10	@ Giants	2–3	76–66
143	September 11	@ Giants	4–1	77–66
144	September 13	@ Reds	2–5	77–67
145	September 14	@ Reds	7–1	78–67
146	September 15	@ Reds	5–7	78–68
147	September 16	Giants	4–5	78–69
148	September 17	Giants	2–4	78–70
149	September 18	Giants	3–10	78–71
150	September 19	Dodgers	0–1	78–72
151	September 20	Dodgers	0–6	78–73
152	September 21	Braves	1–0	79–73
153	September 22	Braves	3–2	80–73
154	September 23	@ Padres	3–4 (12)	80–74
155	September 24	@ Padres	0–3	80–75
156	September 25	@ Padres	1–9	80–76
157	September 27	@ Braves	3–2 (10)	81–76
158	September 28	@ Braves	3–4 (17)	81–77
159	September 29	@ Braves	5–4	82–77
160	September 30	Padres	1–5	82–78

October: 0–2 (Home: 0–2; Away: 0–0)

#	Date	Time (CT)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak
161	October 1		Padres	3–6						82–79
162	October 2		Padres	1–5						82–80

Detailed records

National League
Opponent	W	L	WP	RS	RA
NL East
Chicago Cubs	5	7	0.417	51	51
Montreal Expos	6	6	0.500	49	44
New York Mets	5	7	0.417	48	66
Philadelphia Phillies	8	4	0.667	51	52
Pittsburgh Pirates	8	4	0.667	42	24
St. Louis Cardinals	6	6	0.500	41	38
Div Total	38	34	0.528	282	275
NL West
Atlanta Braves	13	5	0.722	87	60
Cincinnati Reds	9	9	0.500	82	72
Houston Astros
Los Angeles Dodgers	9	9	0.500	66	66
San Diego Padres	6	12	0.333	41	67
San Francisco Giants	7	11	0.389	59	91
Div Total	44	46	0.489	335	356
Season Total	82	80	0.506	617	631

Month	Games	Won	Lost	Win %	RS	RA
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
Total

Home
	Games	Won	Lost	Win %	RS	RA
Away
Total

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	Alan Ashby	73	227	54	.238	7	33
1B	Glenn Davis	152	561	152	.271	30	99
2B	Bill Doran	132	480	119	.248	7	53
3B	Buddy Bell	74	269	68	.253	7	37
SS	Rafael Ramírez	155	566	156	.276	6	59
LF	Billy Hatcher	145	530	142	.268	7	52
CF	Gerald Young	149	576	148	.257	0	37
RF	Kevin Bass	157	541	138	.255	14	72

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
Terry Puhl	113	234	71	.303	3	19
Alex Treviño	78	193	48	.249	2	13
Denny Walling	65	176	43	.244	1	20
Craig Reynolds	78	161	41	.255	1	14
Jim Pankovits	68	140	31	.221	2	12
Craig Biggio	50	123	26	.211	3	5
Chuck Jackson	46	83	19	.229	1	8
Ken Caminiti	30	83	15	.181	1	7
Steve Henderson	42	46	10	.217	0	5
Louie Meadows	35	42	8	.190	2	3
Casey Candaele	21	31	5	.161	0	1
John Fishel	19	26	6	.231	1	2
Mark Bailey	8	23	3	.130	0	0
Cameron Drew	7	16	3	.188	0	1
Harry Spilman	7	5	0	.000	0	0
Craig Smajstrla	8	3	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
Nolan Ryan	33	220.0	12	11	3.52	228
Mike Scott	32	218.2	14	8	2.92	190
Jim Deshaies	31	207.0	11	14	3.00	127
Bob Knepper	27	175.0	14	5	3.14	103
Bob Forsch	6	27.2	1	4	6.51	14

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
Danny Darwin	44	192.0	8	13	3.84	129
Joaquín Andújar	23	78.2	2	5	4.00	35

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
Dave Smith	51	4	5	27	2.67	38
Juan Agosto	75	10	2	4	2.26	33
Larry Andersen	53	2	4	5	2.94	66
Dave Meads	22	3	1	0	3.18	27
Jeff Heathcock	17	0	5	0	5.81	12
Ernie Camacho	13	0	3	1	7.64	13
Rocky Childress	11	1	0	0	6.17	24
Brian Meyer	8	0	0	0	1.46	10

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Tucson Toros	Pacific Coast League	Bob Didier
AA	Columbus Astros	Southern League	Tom Wiedenbauer
A	Osceola Astros	Florida State League	Keith Bodie
A	Asheville Tourists	South Atlantic League	Gary Tuck and Jim Coveney
A-Short Season	Auburn Astros	New York–Penn League	Frank Cacciatore
Rookie	GCL Astros	Gulf Coast League	Julio Linares

References

^ "Ronn Reynolds Stats".
^ "Ed Whited: Career Statistics". Baseball Reference. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
^ Joaquin Andújar page at Baseball Reference
^ Ernie Camacho page at Baseball Reference
^ Robbie Wine page at Baseball Reference
^ Casey Candaele page at Baseball Reference
^ Bob Forsch page at Baseball Reference
^ Dave Silvestri page at Baseball Reference
^ Kenny Lofton page at Baseball Reference
^ Schwartzberg, Seth (June 26, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 26". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved June 26, 2025.
^ "1988 Houston Astros Schedule & Results". Baseball Reference. Retrieved May 8, 2025.

External links

1988 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference

[1] "Ronn Reynolds Stats".

[2] "Ed Whited: Career Statistics". Baseball Reference. Retrieved January 25, 2018.

[3] Joaquin Andújar page at Baseball Reference

[4] Ernie Camacho page at Baseball Reference

[5] Robbie Wine page at Baseball Reference

[6] Casey Candaele page at Baseball Reference

[7] Bob Forsch page at Baseball Reference

[8] Dave Silvestri page at Baseball Reference

[9] Kenny Lofton page at Baseball Reference

[10] Schwartzberg, Seth (June 26, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 26". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved June 26, 2025.

[11] "1988 Houston Astros Schedule & Results". Baseball Reference. Retrieved May 8, 2025.

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