1995 Houston Astros season
| 1995 Houston Astros | ||
|---|---|---|
| League | National League | |
| Division | Central | |
| Ballpark | The Astrodome | |
| City | Houston, Texas | |
| Record | 76–68 (.528) | |
| Divisional place | 2nd | |
| Owners | Drayton McLane, Jr. | |
| General managers | Bob Watson | |
| Managers | Terry Collins | |
| Television | KTXH Prime Sports Southwest | |
| Radio | KPRC (AM) (Bill Brown, Milo Hamilton, Larry Dierker, Vince Controneo, Bill Worrell) KXYZ (Francisco Ernesto Ruiz, Danny Gonzalez) | |
| ||
The 1995 Houston Astros season was the 34th season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 31st as the Astros, 34th in the National League (NL), second in the NL Central division, and 31st at The Astrodome. The Astros entered the season with a 66–49 record, a second-place finish and 1⁄2 game out of first place to the Cincinnati Reds, prior to the cancellation of the remaining 47 games of the regular season and entire playoffs as a response to the players' strike.
The strike continued to impact the start of the 1995 season, leading to further cancellation of the first 18 games of the regular season. The season began for Houston on April 26 at Jack Murphy Stadium, where pitcher Doug Drabek made his second Opening Day start for the Astros, who defeated the San Diego Padres, 10–2.
Second baseman Craig Biggio was selected to represent the Astros at the MLB All-Star game, his fourth career selection. The Astros' first round draft pick in the amateur draft was pitcher Tony McKnight, at 22nd overall.
With a 76–68 finish and 9 games out of first place behind Cincinnati in the NL Central, the Astros secured their third consecutive season with a winning record—an unprecedented feat for the organization at the time—and a second-consecutive finish as high as second place. The Astros were also runners-up in the NL Wild Card race, trailing the Colorado Rockies by 1 game.
Following the season, Biggio earned his third career Silver Slugger Award while shortstop Orlando Miller was selected to the Topps All-Star Rookie Team.
Offseason
- December 28, 1994: Ken Caminiti, Andújar Cedeño, Steve Finley, Roberto Petagine, Brian Williams and a player to be named later were traded by the Astros to the San Diego Padres for Derek Bell, Doug Brocail, Ricky Gutiérrez, Pedro A. Martínez, Phil Plantier, and Craig Shipley. The Astros completed the deal by sending Sean Fesh (minors) to the Padres on May 1, 1995.[1]
Regular season
Summary
- Opening Day starting lineup[2]
Craig Biggio 2b
Luis Gonzalez lf
Jeff Bagwell 1b
Derek Bell cf
Phil Plantier rf
Dave Magadan 3b
Scott Servais c
Orlando Miller ss
Doug Drabek P
Greg Swindell got a run batted in (RBI)-double on June 5 to bring the Astros back against the Florida Marlins. Meanwhile, Craig Biggio delivered a three-run, walk-off home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to secure a 6–5 Houston win.[3]
On June 16, the Astros outlasted the New York Mets in a 16-inning thriller to win, 7-5. Houston had gained the lead two separate times in extra innings, first in the 12th and again in the 15th. The Astros recaptured the lead for good after loading the bases for Jeff Bagwell.[4]
Derek Bell had four hits on June 23 against the Chicago Cubs, and the Astros tied the game 2–2 in the bottom of the ninth. Bell's fourth hit came in the 12th inning, where he delivered the game-winning RBI for a 3–2 Astros win.[5]
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds | 85 | 59 | .590 | — | 44–28 | 41–31 |
| 76 | 68 | .528 | 9 | 36–36 | 40–32 | |
| Chicago Cubs | 73 | 71 | .507 | 12 | 34–38 | 39–33 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 62 | 81 | .434 | 22½ | 39–33 | 23–48 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 58 | 86 | .403 | 27 | 31–41 | 27–45 |
Record vs. opponents
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | COL | FLA | HOU | LAD | MTL | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta | — | 8–4 | 8–5 | 9–4 | 10–3 | 6–6 | 5–4 | 9–4 | 5–8 | 7–6 | 4–2 | 5–2 | 7–1 | 7–5 | |||
| Chicago | 4–8 | — | 3–7 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 3–5 | 4–3 | 6–1 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 9–4 | |||
| Cincinnati | 5–8 | 7–3 | — | 5–7 | 6–6 | 12–1 | 4–3 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 8–5 | 3–6 | 3–3 | 8–5 | |||
| Colorado | 4–9 | 7–6 | 7–5 | — | 5–7 | 4–4 | 4–9 | 7–1 | 5–4 | 4–2 | 8–4 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 5–7 | |||
| Florida | 3–10 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 7–5 | — | 8–4 | 3–7 | 6–7 | 7–6 | 6–7 | 5–8 | 3–2 | 5–3 | 4–3 | |||
| 6–6 | 8–5 | 1–12 | 4–4 | 4–8 | — | 3–2 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 7–4 | 5–3 | 9–4 | ||||
| Los Angeles | 4–5 | 5–7 | 3–4 | 9–4 | 7–3 | 2–3 | — | 7–5 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 7–5 | |||
| Montreal | 4–9 | 5–3 | 4–8 | 1–7 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 5–7 | — | 7–6 | 8–5 | 4–4 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 4–3 | |||
| New York | 8–5 | 3–4 | 5–7 | 4–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 6–7 | — | 7–6 | 4–3 | 6–7 | 5–8 | 3–4 | |||
| Philadelphia | 6-7 | 1–6 | 3–9 | 2–4 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 5–8 | 6–7 | — | 6–3 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 5–4 | |||
| Pittsburgh | 2–4 | 5–8 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 4–9 | 4–9 | 4–4 | 3–4 | 3–6 | — | 4–8 | 6–6 | 6–7 | |||
| San Diego | 2–5 | 7–5 | 6–3 | 4–9 | 2–3 | 4–7 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 8–4 | — | 6–7 | 7–5 | |||
| San Francisco | 1–7 | 7–5 | 3–3 | 5–8 | 3–5 | 3–5 | 5–8 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–6 | — | 7–6 | |||
| St. Louis | 5–7 | 4–9 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 3–4 | 4-9 | 5–7 | 3–4 | 4–3 | 4–5 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 6–7 | — | |||
Notable transactions
- July 2, 1995: Johan Santana was signed as an amateur free agent by the Astros.[6]
- July 19, 1995: Phil Plantier was traded by the Astros to the San Diego Padres for Rich Loiselle and Jeff Tabaka.[7]
- August 10, 1995: The Astros traded a player to be named later to the Detroit Tigers for Mike Henneman. The Astros completed the deal by sending Phil Nevin to the Tigers on August 15.[8]
Roster
| 1995 Houston Astros | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
Other batters
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Manager
Coaches
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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 | Tony Eusebio | 113 | 368 | 110 | .299 | 6 | 58 |
| 1B | Jeff Bagwell | 114 | 448 | 130 | .290 | 21 | 87 |
| 2B | Craig Biggio | 141 | 553 | 167 | .302 | 22 | 77 |
| SS | Orlando Miller | 92 | 324 | 85 | .262 | 5 | 36 |
| 3B | Dave Magadan | 127 | 348 | 109 | .313 | 2 | 51 |
| LF | Luis Gonzalez | 56 | 209 | 54 | .258 | 6 | 35 |
| CF | Brian Hunter | 78 | 321 | 97 | .302 | 2 | 28 |
| RF | Derek Bell | 112 | 452 | 151 | .334 | 8 | 86 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Mouton | 104 | 298 | 78 | .262 | 4 | 27 |
| Craig Shipley | 92 | 232 | 61 | .263 | 3 | 24 |
| Derrick May | 78 | 206 | 62 | .301 | 8 | 41 |
| John Cangelosi | 90 | 201 | 64 | .318 | 2 | 18 |
| Ricky Gutiérrez | 52 | 156 | 43 | .276 | 0 | 12 |
| Milt Thompson | 92 | 132 | 29 | .220 | 2 | 19 |
| Mike Simms | 50 | 121 | 31 | .256 | 9 | 24 |
| Scott Servais | 28 | 89 | 20 | .225 | 1 | 12 |
| Phil Plantier | 22 | 68 | 17 | .250 | 4 | 15 |
| Phil Nevin | 18 | 60 | 7 | .117 | 0 | 1 |
| Andy Stankiewicz | 43 | 52 | 6 | .115 | 0 | 7 |
| Rick Wilkins | 15 | 40 | 10 | .250 | 1 | 5 |
| Pat Borders | 11 | 35 | 4 | .114 | 0 | 0 |
| Chris Donnels | 19 | 30 | 9 | .300 | 0 | 2 |
| Jerry Goff | 12 | 26 | 4 | .154 | 1 | 3 |
| Mike Brumley | 18 | 18 | 1 | .056 | 1 | 2 |
| Eddie Tucker | 5 | 7 | 2 | .286 | 1 | 1 |
| Dave Hajek | 5 | 2 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shane Reynolds | 30 | 189.1 | 10 | 11 | 3.47 | 175 |
| Doug Drabek | 31 | 185.0 | 10 | 9 | 4.77 | 143 |
| Greg Swindell | 33 | 153.0 | 10 | 9 | 4.47 | 96 |
| Mike Hampton | 24 | 150.2 | 9 | 8 | 3.35 | 115 |
| Darryl Kile | 25 | 127.0 | 4 | 12 | 4.96 | 113 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doug Brocail | 36 | 77.1 | 6 | 4 | 4.19 | 39 |
| Donne Wall | 6 | 24.1 | 3 | 1 | 5.55 | 16 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Todd Jones | 68 | 6 | 5 | 15 | 3.07 | 96 |
| Dave Veres | 72 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2.26 | 94 |
| Jim Dougherty | 56 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4.92 | 49 |
| Dean Hartgraves | 40 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3.22 | 24 |
| Pedro Martínez | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.40 | 17 |
| Jeff Tabaka | 24 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.22 | 19 |
| Mike Henneman | 21 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 3.00 | 19 |
| John Hudek | 19 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 5.40 | 29 |
| Ross Powell | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.00 | 8 |
| Craig McMurtry | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7.84 | 4 |
| John Cangelosi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
| Billy Wagner | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
Farm system
References
- ^ Ken Caminiti at Baseball Reference
- ^ "Houston Astros (10) vs San Diego Padres (2) box score". Baseball Almanac. April 26, 1995. Retrieved July 8, 2025.
- ^ Schwartzberg, Seth (June 5, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 5". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved July 8, 2025.
- ^ Schwartzburg, Seth (June 16, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 16". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved June 16, 2025.
- ^ Schwartzberg, Seth (June 23, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 23". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
- ^ Johan Santana at Baseball Reference
- ^ Phil Plantier at Baseball Reference
- ^ Mike Henneman at Baseball Reference