# 1999 Houston Astros season

The 1999 Houston Astros season was the 38th season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise in Houston, Texas. The Astros won their third consecutive National League Central title on the final day of playing regular season games in the Astrodome on October 3. This was the first time they had made the postseason in three straight seasons; they would not do so again until 2019. It was the 35th and final season playing in the Astrodome as their home ballpark.

## Offseason

* November 17, 1998: Ken Caminiti was signed as a free agent by the Astros.
* January 19, 1999: Ryan Thompson was signed as a free agent by the Astros.
* January 21, 1999: Alex Diaz was signed as a free agent by the Astros.

## Regular season
### New stadium

In 1999, the Astros played their final season in the Astrodome as their new stadium was being prepared for play to begin in the 2000 season. The ballpark was first named as Enron Field on April 9, 1999, with naming rights sold to the Houston energy and financial trading company in a 30-year, $100 million deal. Astros management faced a public relations nightmare when the energy corporation went bankrupt in the midst of one of the biggest corporate scandals in American history in 2001, and they bought back the remainder of Enron's thirty years of naming rights for $2.1 million, renaming the ballpark as Astros Field on February 7, 2002. The field was unofficially known as "The Field Formerly Known As Enron" by fans and critics alike, in the wake of the Enron scandal. On June 5, 2002, Houston-based Minute Maid, the fruit-juice subsidiary of Coca-Cola, acquired the naming rights to the stadium for 28 years at a price exceeding $100 million.
Based on its downtown location next to the old Union Station buildings, one of the suggested names (and nicknames) is the Ballpark at Union Station, or the BUS. During its days as Enron Field, it was also dubbed "Ten-Run" or "Home Run" Field due to its cozy left-field dimensions. In keeping with this theme while paying homage to its current sponsor, the nickname "The Juice Box" is colloquially used today.

### Overview

On April 21, Jeff Bagwell hit three home runs in a 10–3 win against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, his second career three-home run game. The second home run allowed him to surpass Jimmy Wynn as the Astros' all-time home run leader at 224 and he tied a career-high in one game with six runs batted in (RBI). He produced another three-home run game on June 9 against the Chicago White Sox. He was also a grand slam short of hitting for the "home run cycle," with a solo home run, a three-run home run, and a two-run home run, respectively. The two three-home run games made him the only player to accomplish this feat at two different stadiums in Chicago in the same season.
On August 20, Bagwell walked a major-league record six times in a 16-inning game against the Florida Marlins.

### Season standings

vteNL Central :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Houston Astros | 97 | 65 | .599 | — | 50‍–‍32 | 47‍–‍33 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 96 | 67 | .589 | 1½ | 45‍–‍37 | 51‍–‍30 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 78 | 83 | .484 | 18½ | 45‍–‍36 | 33‍–‍47 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 75 | 86 | .466 | 21½ | 38‍–‍42 | 37‍–‍44 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 74 | 87 | .460 | 22½ | 32‍–‍48 | 42‍–‍39 |
| Chicago Cubs | 67 | 95 | .414 | 30 | 34‍–‍47 | 33‍–‍48 |

### Record vs. opponents

1999 National League recordvte Source: NL Standings Head-to-Head :
| Team | AZ | ATL | CHC | CIN | COL | FLA | HOU | LA | MIL | MTL | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL | AL |
| Arizona | — | 4–5 | 7–2 | 1–8 | 6–7 | 8–1 | 5–4 | 7–6 | 5–4 | 6–3 | 7–2 | 8–1 | 5–2 | 11–2 | 9–3 | 4–4 | 7–8 |
| Atlanta | 5–4 | — | 2–5 | 8–1 | 5–4 | 9–4 | 6–1 | 5–4 | 5–2 | 9–4 | 9–3 | 8–5 | 6–3 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 8–1 | 9–9 |
| Chicago | 2–7 | 5–2 | — | 5–8 | 4–5 | 6–3 | 3–9 | 2–7 | 6–6 | 2–5 | 3–6 | 2–7 | 7–6 | 6–3 | 1–7 | 7–5 | 6–9 |
| Cincinnati | 8–1 | 1–8 | 8–5 | — | 7–2 | 6–1 | 9–4 | 4–3 | 6–6 | 4–3 | 5–5 | 6–3 | 7–6 | 6–3 | 4–5 | 8–4 | 7–8 |
| Colorado | 7–6 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 2–7 | — | 5–4 | 2–6 | 8–5 | 6–3 | 6–3 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 2–7 | 4–9 | 4–9 | 4–5 | 4–8 |
| Florida | 1–8 | 4–9 | 3–6 | 1–6 | 4–5 | — | 2–7 | 7–2 | 5–4 | 8–4 | 3–10 | 2–11 | 3–4 | 3–6 | 4–5 | 3–4 | 11–7 |
| Houston | 4–5 | 1–6 | 9–3 | 4–9 | 6–2 | 7–2 | — | 6–3 | 8–5 | 7–2 | 4–5 | 6–1 | 5–7 | 8–1 | 5–4 | 5–7 | 12–3 |
| Los Angeles | 6–7 | 4–5 | 7–2 | 3–4 | 5–8 | 2–7 | 3–6 | — | 7–2 | 5–4 | 4–4 | 6–3 | 3–6 | 3–9 | 8–5 | 3–6 | 8–7 |
| Milwaukee | 4–5 | 2–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 3–6 | 4–5 | 5–8 | 2–7 | — | 5–4 | 2–5 | 5–4 | 8–4 | 3–5 | 4–5 | 7–6 | 8–6 |
| Montreal | 3–6 | 4–9 | 5–2 | 3–4 | 3–6 | 4–8 | 2–7 | 4–5 | 4–5 | — | 5–8 | 6–6 | 3–6 | 5–3 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 8–10 |
| New York | 2–7 | 3–9 | 6–3 | 5–5 | 5–4 | 10–3 | 5–4 | 4–4 | 5–2 | 8–5 | — | 6–6 | 7–2 | 7–2 | 7–2 | 5–2 | 12–6 |
| Philadelphia | 1–8 | 5–8 | 7–2 | 3–6 | 4–5 | 11–2 | 1–6 | 3–6 | 4–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | — | 3–4 | 6–3 | 2–6 | 4–5 | 11–7 |
| Pittsburgh | 2–5 | 3–6 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 7–2 | 4–3 | 7–5 | 6–3 | 4–8 | 6–3 | 2–7 | 4–3 | — | 3–6 | 4–5 | 7–5 | 7–8 |
| San Diego | 2–11 | 4–5 | 3–6 | 3–6 | 9–4 | 6–3 | 1–8 | 9–3 | 5–3 | 3–5 | 2–7 | 3–6 | 6–3 | — | 5–7 | 2–7 | 11–4 |
| San Francisco | 3–9 | 5–4 | 7–1 | 5–4 | 9–4 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 5–8 | 5–4 | 5–4 | 2–7 | 6–2 | 5–4 | 7–5 | — | 6–3 | 7–8 |
| St. Louis | 4–4 | 1–8 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–4 | 4–3 | 7–5 | 6–3 | 6–7 | 4–5 | 2–5 | 5–4 | 5–7 | 7–2 | 3–6 | — | 7–8 |

### Notable transactions

* August 3, 1999: Josh Dimmick (minors) was traded by the Astros to the Minnesota Twins for George Williams.
* August 31, 1999: Alex Diaz was released by the Astros.

### 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 | Tony Eusebio | 103 | 323 | 88 | .272 | 4 | 33 |
| 1B | Jeff Bagwell | 162 | 562 | 171 | .304 | 42 | 126 |
| 2B | Craig Biggio | 160 | 639 | 188 | .294 | 16 | 73 |
| SS | Tim Bogar | 106 | 309 | 74 | .239 | 4 | 31 |
| 3B | Ken Caminiti | 78 | 273 | 78 | .286 | 13 | 56 |
| LF | Richard Hidalgo | 108 | 383 | 87 | .227 | 15 | 56 |
| CF | Carl Everett | 123 | 464 | 151 | .325 | 25 | 108 |
| RF | Derek Bell | 128 | 509 | 120 | .236 | 12 | 66 |

#### 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 |
| Bill Spiers | 127 | 393 | 113 | .288 | 4 | 39 |
| Ricky Gutiérrez | 85 | 268 | 70 | .261 | 1 | 25 |
| Paul Bako | 73 | 215 | 55 | .256 | 2 | 17 |
| Russ Johnson | 83 | 156 | 44 | .282 | 5 | 23 |
| Daryle Ward | 64 | 150 | 41 | .273 | 8 | 30 |
| Matt Mieske | 54 | 109 | 31 | .284 | 5 | 22 |
| Lance Berkman | 34 | 93 | 22 | .237 | 4 | 15 |
| Glen Barker | 81 | 73 | 21 | .288 | 1 | 11 |
| Stan Javier | 20 | 64 | 21 | .328 | 0 | 4 |
| Alex Diaz | 30 | 50 | 11 | .220 | 1 | 7 |
| Jack Howell | 37 | 33 | 7 | .212 | 1 | 1 |
| Mitch Meluskey | 10 | 33 | 7 | .212 | 1 | 3 |
| Randy Knorr | 13 | 30 | 5 | .167 | 0 | 0 |
| Ryan Thompson | 12 | 20 | 4 | .200 | 1 | 5 |
| Carlos Hernández | 16 | 14 | 2 | .143 | 0 | 1 |

### 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 Hampton | 35 | 246.1 | 22 | 4 | 3.58 | 177 |
| José Lima | 34 | 239.0 | 21 | 10 | 2.90 | 187 |
| Shane Reynolds | 34 | 231.2 | 16 | 14 | 3.85 | 197 |
| Chris Holt | 32 | 164.0 | 5 | 13 | 4.66 | 115 |
| Sean Bergman | 19 | 99.0 | 4 | 6 | 5.36 | 38 |

#### 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 |
| Scott Elarton | 42 | 124.0 | 9 | 5 | 3.48 | 121 |
| Wade Miller | 5 | 10.1 | 0 | 1 | 9.58 | 8 |

#### 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 | 66 | 4 | 1 | 39 | 1.57 | 124 |
| Jay Powell | 67 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4.32 | 77 |
| Brian Williams | 50 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4.41 | 53 |
| Trever Miller | 47 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5.07 | 37 |
| Doug Henry | 35 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4.65 | 36 |
| José Cabrera | 26 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2.15 | 28 |
| Jeff McCurry | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15.75 | 3 |
| Joe Slusarski | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 |

## National League Divisional Playoffs
### Atlanta Braves vs. Houston Astros

Atlanta wins series, 3-1
| Game | Score | Date |
| 1 | Houston 6, Atlanta 1 | October 5 |
| 2 | Atlanta 5, Houston 1 | October 6 |
| 3 | Atlanta 5, Houston 3 (12 innings) | October 8 |
| 4 | Atlanta 7, Houston 5 | October 9 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | New Orleans Zephyrs | Pacific Coast League | Tony Peña |
| AA | Jackson Generals | Texas League | Jim Pankovits |
| A | Kissimmee Cobras | Florida State League | Manny Acta |
| A | Michigan Battle Cats | Midwest League | Al Pedrique |
| A-Short Season | Auburn Doubledays | New York–Penn League | Lyle Yates |
| Rookie | Martinsville Astros | Appalachian League | Brad Wellman |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Martinsville