# 1987 Houston Astros season

The 1987 Houston Astros season was the 26th season for the Houston Astros, a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 23rd as the Astros, 19th in the National League West, and 23rd at The Astrodome. It involved the Houston Astros attempting to win the National League West.

## Offseason

* October 24, 1986: Matt Keough was released by the Astros.
* October 24, 1986: John Mizerock was released by the Houston Astros.
* November 16, 1986: Rocky Childress was purchased by the Astros from the Philadelphia Phillies.

## Regular season

* May 1, 1987: Pitcher Nolan Ryan hit a home run off of Atlanta Braves pitcher Charlie Puleo.
* August 31, 1987: Astros batter Billy Hatcher was batting against the Chicago Cubs when he broke his bat and it flew down the third base line. Cubs third baseman Keith Moreland saw cork, and Hatcher was suspended for 10 games. Later on, Hatcher claimed that he was using pitcher Dave Smith's bat, and not his own.
* September 9, 1987: Nolan Ryan struck out Mike Aldrete for the 4500th strikeout in his career.

### Season standings

vteNL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| San Francisco Giants | 90 | 72 | .556 | — | 46‍–‍35 | 44‍–‍37 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 84 | 78 | .519 | 6 | 42‍–‍39 | 42‍–‍39 |
| Houston Astros | 76 | 86 | .469 | 14 | 47‍–‍34 | 29‍–‍52 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 73 | 89 | .451 | 17 | 40‍–‍41 | 33‍–‍48 |
| Atlanta Braves | 69 | 92 | .429 | 20½ | 42‍–‍39 | 27‍–‍53 |
| San Diego Padres | 65 | 97 | .401 | 25 | 37‍–‍44 | 28‍–‍53 |

### Record vs. opponents

1987 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 6–5 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 3–9 |
| Chicago | 5–6 | — | 6–6 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 4–14 | 9–3 | 5–7 | 6–12 |
| Cincinnati | 10–8 | 6–6 | — | 13–5 | 10–8 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 12–6 | 7–11 | 4–8 |
| Houston | 10–8 | 4–8 | 5–13 | — | 12–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 5–13 | 10–8 | 5–7 |
| Los Angeles | 12–6 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 6–12 | — | 3–9 | 6–6 | 2–10 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 10–8 | 3–9 |
| Montreal | 9–3 | 8–10 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 9–3 | — | 8–10 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 9–3 | 5–7 | 11–7 |
| New York | 5–7 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 10–8 | — | 13–5 | 12–6 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 9–9 |
| Philadelphia | 5-7 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 10–2 | 8–10 | 5–13 | — | 11–7 | 8–4 | 2–10 | 8–10 |
| Pittsburgh | 5–7 | 14–4 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–11 | 6–12 | 7–11 | — | 8–4 | 6–6 | 7–11 |
| San Diego | 12–6 | 3–9 | 6–12 | 13–5 | 7–11 | 3–9 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 4–8 | — | 5–13 | 4–8 |
| San Francisco | 10–8 | 7–5 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 7–5 | 3–9 | 10–2 | 6–6 | 13–5 | — | 7–5 |
| St. Louis | 9–3 | 12–6 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 8–4 | 5–7 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 2, 1987: Jeff Calhoun was traded by the Houston Astros to the Philadelphia Phillies for Ronn Reynolds.
* June 2, 1987: 1987 Major League Baseball draft
** Craig Biggio was drafted by the Astros in the 1st round (22nd pick). Player signed June 8, 1987.
** Darryl Kile was drafted by the Astros in the 30th round. Player signed May 18, 1988.
* June 2, 1987: Eric Bullock was traded by the Astros to the Minnesota Twins for Clay Christiansen.

### 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 | Alan Ashby | 125 | 386 | 111 | .288 | 14 | 63 |
| 1B | Glenn Davis | 151 | 578 | 145 | .251 | 27 | 93 |
| 2B | Bill Doran | 162 | 625 | 177 | .283 | 16 | 79 |
| 3B | Denny Walling | 110 | 325 | 92 | .283 | 5 | 33 |
| SS | Craig Reynolds | 135 | 374 | 95 | .254 | 4 | 28 |
| LF | José Cruz | 126 | 365 | 88 | .241 | 11 | 38 |
| CF | Billy Hatcher | 141 | 564 | 167 | .296 | 11 | 63 |
| RF | Kevin Bass | 157 | 592 | 168 | .284 | 19 | 85 |

#### 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 |
| Gerald Young | 71 | 274 | 88 | .321 | 1 | 15 |
| Ken Caminiti | 63 | 203 | 50 | .246 | 3 | 23 |
| Terry Puhl | 90 | 122 | 28 | .230 | 2 | 15 |
| Phil Garner | 43 | 112 | 25 | .223 | 3 | 15 |
| Ronn Reynolds | 38 | 102 | 17 | .167 | 1 | 7 |
| Chuck Jackson | 35 | 71 | 15 | .211 | 1 | 6 |
| Dickie Thon | 32 | 66 | 14 | .212 | 1 | 3 |
| Mark Bailey | 35 | 64 | 13 | .203 | 0 | 3 |
| Jim Pankovits | 50 | 61 | 14 | .230 | 1 | 8 |
| Bert Peña | 21 | 46 | 7 | .152 | 0 | 0 |
| Dale Berra | 19 | 45 | 8 | .178 | 0 | 2 |
| Davey Lopes | 47 | 43 | 10 | .233 | 1 | 6 |
| Robbie Wine | 14 | 29 | 3 | .103 | 0 | 0 |
| Ty Gainey | 18 | 24 | 3 | .125 | 0 | 1 |
| Buddy Biancalana | 18 | 24 | 1 | .042 | 0 | 0 |
| Troy Afenir | 10 | 20 | 6 | .300 | 0 | 1 |
| Paul Householder | 14 | 12 | 1 | .083 | 0 | 1 |
| Ty Waller | 11 | 6 | 1 | .167 | 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 |
| Mike Scott | 36 | 247.2 | 16 | 13 | 3.23 | 233 |
| Nolan Ryan | 34 | 211.2 | 8 | 16 | 2.76 | 270 |
| Danny Darwin | 33 | 195.2 | 9 | 10 | 3.59 | 134 |
| Bob Knepper | 33 | 177.2 | 8 | 17 | 5.27 | 76 |
| Jim Deshaies | 26 | 152.0 | 11 | 6 | 4.62 | 104 |

#### 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 |
| Manny Hernández | 6 | 21.2 | 0 | 4 | 5.40 | 12 |
| Rob Mallicoat | 4 | 6.2 | 0 | 0 | 6.75 | 4 |

#### 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 | 50 | 2 | 3 | 24 | 1.65 | 73 |
| Larry Andersen | 67 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 3.45 | 94 |
| Dave Meads | 45 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 5.55 | 32 |
| Rocky Childress | 32 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2.98 | 26 |
| Juan Agosto | 27 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2.63 | 6 |
| Aurelio López | 26 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4.50 | 21 |
| Charlie Kerfeld | 21 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6.67 | 17 |
| Jeff Heathcock | 19 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3.16 | 15 |
| Julio Solano | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.65 | 12 |
| Ron Mathis | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.25 | 8 |

## 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 | Ken Bolek |
| A | Asheville Tourists | South Atlantic League | Keith Bodie |
| A-Short Season | Auburn Astros | New York–Penn League | Gary Tuck |
| Rookie | GCL Astros | Gulf Coast League | Julio Linares |