1994 Houston Astros season

1994 Houston Astros
League	National League
Division	Central
Ballpark	The Astrodome
City	Houston, Texas
Record	66–49 (.574)
Divisional place	1st
Owners	Drayton McLane, Jr.
General managers	Bob Watson
Managers	Terry Collins
Television	KTXH
Radio	KPRC (AM) (Bill Brown, Milo Hamilton, Larry Dierker, Vince Controneo, Bill Worrell, Enos Cabell) KXYZ (Francisco Ernesto Ruiz, Danny Gonzalez)
Seasons

The Houston Astros' 1994 season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Houston Astros attempting to win the inaugural season of the National League Central; they finished in second place. First baseman Jeff Bagwell was a unanimous selection for the National League Most Valuable Player Award. Despite nearly the last two months of the being cancelled due to the 1994–95 strike, Bagwell set a then-club record for home runs with 39 and a club record for batting average (.368) and slugging percentage (.750).

Offseason

• November 27, 1993: Xavier Hernandez was traded by the Astros to the New York Yankees for Andy Stankiewicz and Domingo Jean.
• December 2, 1993: Doug Jones and Jeff Juden were traded by Astros to the Philadelphia Phillies for Mitch Williams.
• December 10, 1993: Eric Anthony was traded by the Astros to the Seattle Mariners for Mike Felder and Mike Hampton.
• January 26, 1994: Sid Bream was signed as a free agent by the Astros.

Regular season

On June 24, Jeff Bagwell hit three home runs against the Los Angeles Dodgers at the Astrodome – two in the same inning – in a 16–4 rout, becoming the first Astro since Glenn Davis in 1990 to do so. He was the NL Player of the Week for consecutive weeks on June 19 and June 26 and the NL Player of the Month for June, his second career monthly award.

Overview of Jeff Bagwell's unanimous Most Valuable Player Award season

Bagwell finished the 1994 season playing in 110 games and batting .368 with a .750 SLG, 1.201 OPS, 39 HR, 116 RBI, 104 runs scored, 300 total bases and 213 adjusted OPS (OPS+) in 400 at-bats. He led the major leagues in SLG, OPS+, RBI, and total bases, and the NL in runs scored and OPS, but fell short of winning the batting Triple Crown, finishing second for the batting title to Tony Gwynn, who, after batting .394, had the highest average in the major leagues since Ted Williams in 1941. Bagwell finished second in HR to Matt Williams, who hit 43. Bagwell set the record for the fewest plate appearances in a season with at least 100 runs and RBI and became the first National Leaguer to finish first or second in batting average, home runs, RBI, and runs scored since Willie Mays in 1955. His .750 SLG at the time ranked as the seventh-best ever – it still ranks as the 11th best single-season mark in Major League history – and was the highest by a National Leaguer since Rogers Hornsby in 1925 (.756). He unanimously won the NL Most Valuable Player Award, becoming the fourth player in National League history to be unanimously voted the award, and the first Astros player to win the award. Bagwell also won his first Silver Slugger Award and Rawlings Gold Glove Award, and Player of the Year Awards from the Associated Press, Baseball Digest, and USA Today Baseball Weekly.

At the time, in National League history, the 213 OPS+ trailed only Hornsby's 1924 season (222 OPS+) for the second-highest ever; as of 2015, it was tied for 24th highest of all time in all major league seasons, and was the eighth highest among all not by Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth or Williams. Bagwell generated a .383 Isolated Power (ISO) mark, the 16th-highest in history. Twelve of the 15 higher seasons belonged to Bonds, Ruth, and Mark McGwire. Seven of the ten seasons that exceeded his .750 SLG belonged to Bonds and Ruth. Bagwell's 10.26 at bats per home run (AB/HR) ratio is the 25th-best in history. The 1.2009 OPS is the 20th-highest in history; 13 of the seasons that are higher belong to Bonds, Ruth and Williams. The 116 RBI in 110 games qualified for the 13th-highest ratio in history.

Projecting Bagwell's totals to 162 games and 650 plate appearances, he was on pace to amass 47 doubles, 57 home runs, 170 RBI, 22 stolen bases, 95 walks, 216 hits, along with .451 OBP, .750 SLG, and 1.201 OPS. When leading off an inning, he batted .460, .514 OBP, .990 SLG, 1.504 OPS, 14 HR, nine doubles and a triple. He also hit 23 home runs in 56 games at the Astrodome, setting a record that stood for the stadium that was famed to be pitcher-friendly until the Astros moved out following the 1999 season. Bagwell's other totals in the Astrodome that season included a .373 batting average, 54 runs scored, 58 RBI, .816 SLG and 1.275 OPS. In 125 plate appearances against left-handed pitching, he batted .457 with 20 BB, 18 HR and 11 doubles for a .544 OBP, 1.095 SLG and 1.639 OPS. He set single-season club records for batting average, SLG, OPS, OPS+, AB/HR, and offensive win percentage (.858), and also for home runs, breaking Wynn's 27-year-old record, and RBI, breaking Bob Watson's record he had set 17 years earlier – later which he again both subsequently broke.

By Friday, August 12, the Astros had compiled a 66-49 record through 115 games. They were trailing the Cincinnati Reds by half a game for the NL Central Division lead and the Atlanta Braves by 2.5 games in the 1994 NL Wildcard Race. They had scored 602 runs (5.23 per game) and had allowed 503 runs (4.37 per game).

Offensively, the Astros led the Majors in doubles during the strike-shortened season (252) intentional walks (58) and sacrifice hits (73).

Game log

1994 Regular Season Game Log (66-49) (Home: 37-22; Road: 29-27)
April (13-10) (Home: 7-5; Road: 6-5) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Report 1 April 4 Expos 6-5 (12 inn.) Edens (1-0) Shaw (0-1) 43,440 1-0 Boxscore 2 April 5 Expos 1-5 Hill (1-0) Drabek (0-1) 16,227 1-1 Boxscore 3 April 6 Expos 3-9 Rueter (1-0) Kile (0-1) 17,180 1-2 Boxscore 4 April 8 Mets 5 April 9 Mets 6 April 10 Mets 7 April 12 @ Marlins 8 April 13 @ Marlins 9 April 14 @ Marlins 10 April 15 @ Mets 11 April 16 @ Mets 12 April 17 @ Mets 13 April 19 @ Cubs 14 April 20 @ Cubs 15 April 22 @ Cardinals 16 April 23 @ Cardinals 17 April 24 @ Cardinals 18 April 25 Pirates 19 April 26 Pirates 20 April 27 Cubs 21 April 28 Cubs 22 April 29 Cardinals 23 April 30 Cardinals
May (16-12) (Home: 8-5; Road: 8-7) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Report 24 May 1 Cardinals 25 May 3 @ Pirates 26 May 4 @ Pirates 27 May 5 @ Reds 28 May 6 @ Reds 29 May 7 @ Reds 30 May 8 @ Reds 31 May 9 @ Dodgers 32 May 10 @ Dodgers 33 May 11 @ Dodgers 34 May 13 Rockies 35 May 14 Rockies 36 May 15 Rockies 37 May 16 Giants 38 May 17 Giants 39 May 18 Giants 40 May 19 Padres 41 May 20 Padres 42 May 21 Padres 43 May 22 Padres 44 May 24 @ Braves 45 May 25 @ Braves 46 May 26 @ Braves 47 May 27 @ Phillies 48 May 28 @ Phillies 49 May 29 @ Phillies 50 May 30 Marlins 51 May 31 Marlins
June (14-13) (Home: 8-6; Road: 6-7) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Report 52 June 1 Marlins 53 June 3 Phillies 54 June 4 Phillies 55 June 5 Phillies 56 June 6 @ Expos 5-10 Henry (3-0) Swindell (5-2) Wetteland (8) 14,322 32-24 Boxscore 57 June 7 @ Expos 2-3 Heredia (2-2) Veres (2-3) Wetteland (9) 17,283 32-25 Boxscore 58 June 8 @ Expos 9-2 Williams (3-2) Fassero (4-4) 17,289 33-25 Boxscore 59 June 10 Braves 60 June 11 Braves 61 June 12 Braves 62 June 13 @ Giants 63 June 14 @ Giants 64 June 15 @ Giants 65 June 16 @ Giants 66 June 17 @ Padres 67 June 18 @ Padres 68 June 19 @ Padres 69 June 20 @ Rockies 70 June 21 @ Rockies 71 June 22 @ Rockies 72 June 24 Dodgers 73 June 25 Dodgers 74 June 26 Dodgers 75 June 27 Reds 76 June 28 Reds 77 June 29 Reds 78 June 30 Cubs
July (16-11) (Home: 7-3; Road: 9-8) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Report 79 July 1 Cubs 80 July 2 Cubs 81 July 3 Cubs 82 July 4 @ Cardinals 83 July 5 @ Cardinals 84 July 6 @ Cardinals 85 July 7 @ Cubs 86 July 8 @ Cubs 87 July 9 @ Cubs 88 July 10 @ Cubs All-Star Break: NL def. AL at Three Rivers Stadium, 8–7 (10) 89 July 14 @ Pirates 90 July 15 @ Pirates 91 July 16 @ Pirates 92 July 17 @ Pirates 93 July 18 Cardinals 94 July 19 Cardinals 95 July 20 Cardinals 96 July 21 Pirates 97 July 22 Pirates 98 July 23 Pirates 99 July 24 Pirates 100 July 25 @ Reds 101 July 26 @ Reds 102 July 27 @ Reds 103 July 29 @ Dodgers 104 July 30 @ Dodgers 105 July 31 @ Dodgers
August (7-3) (Home: 7-3) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Report 106 August 1 Rockies 107 August 2 Rockies 108 August 3 Rockies 109 August 4 Rockies 110 August 5 Giants 111 August 6 Giants 112 August 7 Giants 113 August 9 Padres 114 August 10 Padres 115 August 11 Padres

Legend
Astros win	Astros loss	All-Star Game	Game postponed

Season standings

NL Central

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	66	48	.579	—	37‍–‍22	29‍–‍26
Houston Astros	66	49	.574	½	37‍–‍22	29‍–‍27
Pittsburgh Pirates	53	61	.465	13	32‍–‍29	21‍–‍32
St. Louis Cardinals	53	61	.465	13	23‍–‍33	30‍–‍28
Chicago Cubs	49	64	.434	16½	20‍–‍39	29‍–‍25

Division leaders

Team	W	L	Pct.
Montreal Expos	74	40	.649
Cincinnati Reds	66	48	.579
Los Angeles Dodgers	58	56	.509

Wild Card team	W	L	Pct.	GB
Atlanta Braves	68	46	0.597	—
Houston Astros	66	49	0.574	21⁄2
New York Mets	55	58	0.487	121⁄2
San Francisco Giants	55	60	0.478	131⁄2
Philadelphia Phillies	54	61	0.470	141⁄2
St. Louis Cardinals	53	61	0.465	15
Pittsburgh Pirates	53	61	0.465	15
Colorado Rockies	53	64	0.453	161⁄2
Florida Marlins	51	64	0.444	171⁄2
Chicago Cubs	49	64	0.434	181⁄2
San Diego Padres	47	70	0.402	221⁄2

Record vs. opponents

1994 National League record Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	COL	FLA	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	4–2	5–5	8–2	8–4	3–3	6–0	4–5	5–4	6–3	3–9	6–1	5–1	5–7
Chicago	2–4	—	5–7	6–6	4–5	4–8	3–3	2–4	1–4	1–6	5–5	6–3	5–4	5–5
Cincinnati	5–5	7–5	—	4–4	7–5	4–6	3–6	4–2	2–4	4–2	9–3	8–2	7–2	2–2–1
Colorado	2–8	6–6	4–4	—	3–9	5–5	4–6	4–2	5–1	2–4	2–3	5–5	3–7	8–4
Florida	4–8	5–4	5–7	9–3	—	2–4	3–3	2–7	6–4	4–6	1–6	5–1	2–4	3–7
Houston	3–3	8–4	6–4	5–5	4–2	—	1–8	2–4	3–3	5–1	8–4	5–5	8–2	8–4
Los Angeles	0–6	3–3	6–3	6–4	3–3	8–1	—	3–9	6–6	7–5	3–3	6–4	5–5	2–4
Montreal	5–4	4–2	2–4	2–4	7–2	4–2	9–3	—	4–3	5–4	8–2	12–0	5–7	7–3
New York	4–5	4–1	4–2	1–5	4–6	3–3	6–6	3–4	—	4–6	4–5	6–6	6–6	6–3
Philadelphia	3-6	6–1	2–4	4–2	6–4	1–5	5–7	4–5	6–4	—	5–4	4–8	4–8	4–3
Pittsburgh	9–3	5–5	3–9	3–2	6–1	4–8	3–3	2–8	5–4	4–5	—	3–3	1–5	5–5
San Diego	1–6	3–6	2–8	5–5	1–5	5–5	4–6	0–12	6–6	8–4	3–3	—	5–2	4–2
San Francisco	1–5	4–5	2–7	7–3	4–2	2–8	5–5	7–5	6–6	8–4	5–1	2–5	—	2–4
St. Louis	7–5	5–5	2–2–1	4–8	7–3	4–8	4–2	3–7	3–6	3–4	5–5	2–4	4–2	—

Notable transactions

• May 2, 1994: Mike Simms was signed as a free agent by the Astros.
• May 31, 1994: Mitch Williams was released by the Astros.
• June 2, 1994: Tony Mounce was drafted by the Astros in the 7th round of the 1994 Major League Baseball draft

Roster

1994 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers 15 Doug Drabek 46 Tom Edens 38 Mike Hampton 27 Pete Harnisch 35 John Hudek 59 Todd Jones 57 Darryl Kile 52 Ross Powell 37 Shane Reynolds 21 Greg Swindell 43 Dave Veres 53 Brian Williams 99 Mitch Williams		Catchers 20 Tony Eusebio  9 Scott Servais  6 Eddie Taubensee Infielders  5 Jeff Bagwell  7 Craig Biggio 31 Sid Bream 11 Ken Caminiti 10 Andújar Cedeño  3 Chris Donnels 24 Orlando Miller 29 Roberto Petagine  4 Andy Stankiewicz		Outfielders 17 Kevin Bass 28,51 Mike Felder 12 Steve Finley 26 Luis Gonzalez 19 Brian Hunter 18 James Mouton 22 Mike Simms 28 Milt Thompson		Manager  2 Terry Collins Coaches 48 Matt Galante (third base) 55 Steve Henderson (hitting) 56 Ben Hines (first base)  1 Julio Linares (bench) 30 Mel Stottlemyre (pitching)

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	Scott Servais	78	251	49	.195	9	41
1B	Jeff Bagwell	110	400	147	.368	39	116
2B	Craig Biggio	114	437	139	.318	6	56
SS	Andújar Cedeño	98	342	90	.263	9	49
3B	Ken Caminiti	111	406	115	.283	18	75
LF	Luis Gonzalez	112	392	107	.273	8	67
CF	Steve Finley	94	373	103	.276	11	33
RF	James Mouton	99	310	76	.245	2	16

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
Kevin Bass	82	203	63	.310	6	35
Tony Eusebio	55	159	47	.296	5	30
Mike Felder	58	117	28	.239	0	13
Chris Donnels	54	86	23	.267	3	5
Sid Bream	46	61	21	.344	0	7
Andy Stankiewicz	37	54	14	.259	1	5
Orlando Miller	16	40	13	.325	2	9
Brian Hunter	6	24	6	.250	0	0
Milt Thompson	9	21	6	.286	1	3
Mike Simms	6	12	1	.083	0	0
Ed Taubensee	5	10	1	.100	0	0
Roberto Petagine	8	7	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
Doug Drabek	23	164.2	12	6	2.84	121
Greg Swindell	24	148.1	8	9	4.37	74
Darryl Kile	24	147.2	9	6	4.57	105
Pete Harnisch	17	95.0	8	5	5.40	62

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
Shane Reynolds	33	124.0	8	5	3.05	110
Brian Williams	20	78.1	6	5	5.74	49

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
John Hudek	42	0	2	16	2.97	34
Todd Jones	48	5	2	5	2.72	63
Mike Hampton	44	2	1	0	3.70	24
Tom Edens	39	4	1	1	4.50	38
Dave Veres	32	3	3	1	2.41	28
Mitch Williams	25	1	4	6	7.65	21
Ross Powell	12	0	0	0	1.23	5

Statistical achievements

National League individual leaders

Batting

• Adjusted on-base plus slugging: Jeff Bagwell (213)
• Doubles: Craig Biggio (44)
• On-base plus slugging: Jeff Bagwell (1.201)
• Runs batted in: Jeff Bagwell (116)
• Runs scored: Jeff Bagwell (104)
• Slugging percentage: Jeff Bagwell (.750)
• Stolen bases: Craig Biggio (39)
• Total bases: Jeff Bagwell (300)

Pitching

• Bases on balls allowed: Darryl Kile (82)

Records

• Adjusted on-base plus slugging for Houston Astros: Jeff Bagwell (213)
• Batting average for Houston Astros: Jeff Bagwell (.368)
• Home runs hit at Astrodome in a season: Jeff Bagwell (23)
• On-base plus slugging for Houston Astros: Jeff Bagwell (1.201)

Awards and honors

• Major League Baseball All-Stars:
  • Jeff Bagwell (1B)
  • Craig Biggio (2B)
  • Ken Caminiti (3B)
  • Doug Drabek (P)
• National League Most Valuable Player: Jeff Bagwell
• National League Pitcher of the Month Award: Doug Drabek (May)
• National League Player of the Month Award: 2× Jeff Bagwell (June & July)
• Rawlings Gold Glove Award:
  • Jeff Bagwell (1B)
  • Craig Biggio (2B)
• Silver Slugger Award:
  • Jeff Bagwell (1B)
  • Craig Biggio (2B)
• Sporting News Player of the Year Award: Jeff Bagwell

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Tucson Toros	Pacific Coast League	Rick Sweet
AA	Jackson Generals	Texas League	Sal Butera
A	Osceola Astros	Florida State League	Tim Tolman
A	Quad Cities River Bandits	Midwest League	Steve Dillard
A-Short Season	Auburn Astros	New York–Penn League	Manny Acta
Rookie	GCL Astros	Gulf Coast League	Bobby Ramos

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: GCL Astros

External links

• 1994 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference