# 1994 Houston Astros season

The 1994 Houston Astros season was the 33rd season for the Houston Astros, a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 30th as the Astros, 26th in the National League West, and 30th at The Astrodome. 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)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordReport
1April 4Expos6-5 (12 inn.)Edens (1-0)Shaw (0-1)43,4401-0Boxscore
2April 5Expos1-5Hill (1-0)Drabek (0-1)16,2271-1Boxscore
3April 6Expos3-9Rueter (1-0)Kile (0-1)17,1801-2Boxscore
4April 8Mets
5April 9Mets
6April 10Mets
7April 12@ Marlins
8April 13@ Marlins
9April 14@ Marlins
10April 15@ Mets
11April 16@ Mets
12April 17@ Mets
13April 19@ Cubs
14April 20@ Cubs
15April 22@ Cardinals
16April 23@ Cardinals
17April 24@ Cardinals
18April 25Pirates
19April 26Pirates
20April 27Cubs
21April 28Cubs
22April 29Cardinals
23April 30Cardinals :
May (16-12) (Home: 8-5; Road: 8-7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordReport
24May 1Cardinals
25May 3@ Pirates
26May 4@ Pirates
27May 5@ Reds
28May 6@ Reds
29May 7@ Reds
30May 8@ Reds
31May 9@ Dodgers
32May 10@ Dodgers
33May 11@ Dodgers
34May 13Rockies
35May 14Rockies
36May 15Rockies
37May 16Giants
38May 17Giants
39May 18Giants
40May 19Padres
41May 20Padres
42May 21Padres
43May 22Padres
44May 24@ Braves
45May 25@ Braves
46May 26@ Braves
47May 27@ Phillies
48May 28@ Phillies
49May 29@ Phillies
50May 30Marlins
51May 31Marlins :
June (14-13) (Home: 8-6; Road: 6-7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordReport
52June 1Marlins
53June 3Phillies
54June 4Phillies
55June 5Phillies
56June 6@ Expos5-10Henry (3-0)Swindell (5-2)Wetteland (8)14,32232-24Boxscore
57June 7@ Expos2-3Heredia (2-2)Veres (2-3)Wetteland (9)17,28332-25Boxscore
58June 8@ Expos9-2Williams (3-2)Fassero (4-4)17,28933-25Boxscore
59June 10Braves
60June 11Braves
61June 12Braves
62June 13@ Giants
63June 14@ Giants
64June 15@ Giants
65June 16@ Giants
66June 17@ Padres
67June 18@ Padres
68June 19@ Padres
69June 20@ Rockies
70June 21@ Rockies
71June 22@ Rockies
72June 24Dodgers
73June 25Dodgers
74June 26Dodgers
75June 27Reds
76June 28Reds
77June 29Reds
78June 30Cubs :
July (16-11) (Home: 7-3; Road: 9-8)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordReport
79July 1Cubs
80July 2Cubs
81July 3Cubs
82July 4@ Cardinals
83July 5@ Cardinals
84July 6@ Cardinals
85July 7@ Cubs
86July 8@ Cubs
87July 9@ Cubs
88July 10@ Cubs
All-Star Break: NL def. AL at Three Rivers Stadium, 8–7 (10)
89July 14@ Pirates
90July 15@ Pirates
91July 16@ Pirates
92July 17@ Pirates
93July 18Cardinals
94July 19Cardinals
95July 20Cardinals
96July 21Pirates
97July 22Pirates
98July 23Pirates
99July 24Pirates
100July 25@ Reds
101July 26@ Reds
102July 27@ Reds
103July 29@ Dodgers
104July 30@ Dodgers
105July 31@ Dodgers :
August (7-3) (Home: 7-3)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordReport
106August 1Rockies
107August 2Rockies
108August 3Rockies
109August 4Rockies
110August 5Giants
111August 6Giants
112August 7Giants
113August 9Padres
114August 10Padres
115August 11Padres :
Legend :
| Astros win | Astros loss | All-Star Game | Game postponed |

### Season standings

vteNL 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 |
vteDivision 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 recordvte Sources: :
| 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
## 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

| 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