# 2003 Houston Astros season

The 2003 Houston Astros season was the 42nd season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise in Houston, Texas.

## Regular season

During a 3–2 loss to the Montreal Expos on April 26, first baseman Jeff Bagwell's infield single gave him 2,000 hits for his career, joining Craig Biggio as the only Astros players to achieve this mark.
On June 11, six Astros pitchers combined to throw a no-hitter against the New York Yankees, establishing a major league record for most pitchers contributing to a no-hitter. The six were Roy Oswalt, Pete Munro, Kirk Saarloos, Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel and Billy Wagner. It was the first no-hitter against the Yankees in 45 years.
Playing the Cincinnati Reds on July 20, Bagwell hit two home runs for the 400th of his career Archived February 25, 2016, at the Wayback Machine off Danny Graves, becoming the 35th player in MLB history to do so.
ESPN's "The List" ranked Bagwell and Biggio as the second- and third-most underrated athletes of the top four North American professional sports leagues in an August publication.

### Standings
#### National League Central

vteNL Central :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Chicago Cubs | 88 | 74 | .543 | — | 44‍–‍37 | 44‍–‍37 |
| Houston Astros | 87 | 75 | .537 | 1 | 48‍–‍33 | 39‍–‍42 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 85 | 77 | .525 | 3 | 48‍–‍33 | 37‍–‍44 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 75 | 87 | .463 | 13 | 39‍–‍42 | 36‍–‍45 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 69 | 93 | .426 | 19 | 35‍–‍46 | 34‍–‍47 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 68 | 94 | .420 | 20 | 31‍–‍50 | 37‍–‍44 |

#### Record vs. opponents

2003 National League recordvte Source: :
| Team | AZ | ATL | CHC | CIN | COL | FLA | HOU | LA | MIL | MTL | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL | AL |
| Arizona | — | 2–5 | 2–4 | 7–2 | 10–9 | 2–5 | 5–1 | 10–9 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 9–10 | 5–14 | 3–3 | 11–4 |
| Atlanta | 5–2 | — | 4–2 | 3–3 | 6–0 | 9–10 | 5–1 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 12–7 | 11–8 | 9–10 | 7–2 | 6–1 | 2–4 | 4–2 | 10–5 |
| Chicago | 4–2 | 2–4 | — | 10–7 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 9–7 | 2–4 | 10–6 | 3–3 | 5–1 | 1–5 | 10–8 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 8–9 | 9–9 |
| Cincinnati | 2–7 | 3–3 | 7–10 | — | 4–2 | 2–4 | 5–12 | 2–4 | 8–10 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 5–4 | 5–11 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 9–7 | 7–5 |
| Colorado | 9–10 | 0–6 | 3–3 | 2–4 | — | 4–2 | 2–4 | 7–12 | 5–1 | 3–4 | 2–5 | 2–4 | 3–6 | 12–7 | 7–12 | 4–2 | 9–6 |
| Florida | 5–2 | 10–9 | 2–4 | 4–2 | 2–4 | — | 1–5 | 2–5 | 7–2 | 13–6 | 12–7 | 13–6 | 2–4 | 5–1 | 1–5 | 3–3 | 9–6 |
| Houston | 1–5 | 1–5 | 7–9 | 12–5 | 4–2 | 5–1 | — | 4–2 | 9–8 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 10–6 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 11–7 | 11–7 |
| Los Angeles | 9–10 | 2–4 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 12–7 | 5–2 | 2–4 | — | 4–2 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 2–5 | 5–1 | 8–11 | 6–13 | 4–2 | 11–7 |
| Milwaukee | 3–3 | 2–4 | 6–10 | 10–8 | 1–5 | 2–7 | 8–9 | 2–4 | — | 0–6 | 6–3 | 4–2 | 10–7 | 5–1 | 1–5 | 3–13 | 5–7 |
| Montreal | 2–4 | 7–12 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 4–3 | 6–13 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 6–0 | — | 14–5 | 8–11 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 7–0 | 1–5 | 9–9 |
| New York | 2–4 | 8–11 | 1–5 | 4–2 | 5–2 | 7–12 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 3–6 | 5–14 | — | 7–12 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 1–5 | 5–10 |
| Philadelphia | 2–4 | 10–9 | 5–1 | 4–5 | 4–2 | 6–13 | 4–2 | 5–2 | 2–4 | 11–8 | 12–7 | — | 2–4 | 4–3 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 8–7 |
| Pittsburgh | 3–3 | 2–7 | 8–10 | 11–5 | 6–3 | 4–2 | 6–10 | 1–5 | 7–10 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 4–2 | — | 4–2 | 2–4 | 7–10 | 5–7 |
| San Diego | 10–9 | 1–6 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 7–12 | 1–5 | 3–3 | 11–8 | 1–5 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 3–4 | 2–4 | — | 5–14 | 2–4 | 8–10 |
| San Francisco | 14–5 | 4–2 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 12–7 | 5–1 | 4–2 | 13–6 | 5–1 | 0–7 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 14–5 | — | 5–1 | 10–8 |
| St. Louis | 3–3 | 2–4 | 9–8 | 7–9 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 7–11 | 2–4 | 13–3 | 5–1 | 5–1 | 2–4 | 10–7 | 4–2 | 1–5 | — | 10–8 |

### Notable transactions

* May 1, 2003: Julio Lugo was designated for assignment, and then released 10 days later after "hitting his wife in the face and slamming her head on a car hood" outside of Minute Maid Park.
* June 3, 2003: Josh Anderson was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 4th round of the 2003 amateur draft. Player signed June 13, 2003.
* August 21, 2003: Gregg Zaun was released by the Houston Astros.

### Roster
## Players 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 | Brad Ausmus | 143 | 450 | 103 | .229 | 4 | 47 |
| 1B | Jeff Bagwell | 160 | 605 | 168 | .278 | 39 | 100 |
| 2B | Jeff Kent | 130 | 505 | 150 | .297 | 22 | 93 |
| SS | Adam Everett | 128 | 387 | 99 | .256 | 8 | 51 |
| 3B | Morgan Ensberg | 127 | 385 | 112 | .291 | 25 | 60 |
| LF | Lance Berkman | 153 | 538 | 155 | .288 | 25 | 93 |
| CF | Craig Biggio | 153 | 628 | 166 | .264 | 15 | 62 |
| RF | Richard Hidalgo | 141 | 514 | 159 | .309 | 28 | 88 |

#### 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 |
| Geoff Blum | 123 | 420 | 110 | .262 | 10 | 52 |
| Orlando Merced | 123 | 212 | 49 | .231 | 3 | 26 |
| José Vizcaíno | 91 | 189 | 47 | .249 | 3 | 26 |
| Gregg Zaun | 59 | 120 | 26 | .217 | 1 | 13 |
| Brian Hunter | 56 | 98 | 23 | .235 | 0 | 13 |
| Julio Lugo | 22 | 65 | 16 | .246 | 0 | 2 |
| Eric Bruntlett | 31 | 54 | 14 | .259 | 1 | 4 |
| Raúl Chávez | 19 | 37 | 10 | .270 | 1 | 4 |
| Colin Porter | 24 | 32 | 6 | .188 | 0 | 0 |
| Jason Lane | 18 | 27 | 8 | .296 | 4 | 10 |
| Mitch Meluskey | 12 | 9 | 1 | .111 | 0 | 2 |
| Dave Matranga | 6 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 1 | 1 |
| Tripp Cromer | 3 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 1 |

### Pitching
#### Starters

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Wade Miller | 33 | 187.1 | 14 | 13 | 4.13 | 161 |
| Tim Redding | 33 | 176.0 | 10 | 14 | 3.68 | 116 |
| Jeriome Robertson | 32 | 160.2 | 15 | 9 | 5.10 | 99 |
| Roy Oswalt | 21 | 127.1 | 10 | 5 | 2.97 | 108 |
| Ron Villone | 19 | 106.2 | 6 | 6 | 4.13 | 91 |
| Jonathan Johnson | 4 | 15.1 | 0 | 1 | 5.87 | 7 |
| Brian Moehler | 3 | 13.2 | 0 | 0 | 7.90 | 5 |
| Rodrigo Rosario | 2 | 8.0 | 1 | 0 | 1.13 | 6 |

#### 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 |
| Jared Fernández | 12 | 38.1 | 3 | 3 | 3.99 | 19 |
| Scott Linebrink | 9 | 31.2 | 1 | 1 | 4.26 | 17 |

#### 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 |
| Billy Wagner | 78 | 1 | 4 | 44 | 1.78 | 105 |
| Brad Lidge | 78 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 3.60 | 97 |
| Octavio Dotel | 76 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 2.48 | 97 |
| Ricky Stone | 65 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 3.69 | 47 |
| Peter Munro | 40 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 4.67 | 27 |
| Kirk Saarloos | 36 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4.93 | 43 |
| Mike Gallo | 32 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 16 |
| Dan Miceli | 23 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.10 | 20 |
| Nate Bland | 22 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5.75 | 18 |
| Rick White | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.72 | 17 |
| Brandon Puffer | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.14 | 10 |
| Bruce Chen | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.00 | 8 |
| Kirk Bullinger | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.75 | 5 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | New Orleans Zephyrs | Pacific Coast League | Chris Maloney |
| AA | Round Rock Express | Texas League | Jackie Moore |
| A | Salem Avalanche | Carolina League | John Massarelli |
| A | Lexington Legends | South Atlantic League | Russ Nixon |
| A-Short Season | Tri-City ValleyCats | New York–Penn League | Iván DeJesús |
| Rookie | Martinsville Astros | Appalachian League | Jorge Orta |