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.

1987 Houston Astros
The Astrodome during a baseball game in 1987.
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	The Astrodome
City	Houston, Texas
Record	76–86 (.469)
Divisional place	3rd
Owners	John McMullen
General managers	Dick Wagner
Managers	Hal Lanier
Television	KTXH HSE
Radio	KTRH (Bill Brown, Milo Hamilton, Larry Dierker, Dave Hofferth, Bill Worrell) KXYZ (Orlando Sánchez-Diago, Rolando Becerra)
← 1986 Seasons 1988 →

Offseason

• October 24, 1986: Matt Keough was released by the Astros.^[1]
• October 24, 1986: John Mizerock was released by the Houston Astros.^[2]
• November 16, 1986: Rocky Childress was purchased by the Astros from the Philadelphia Phillies.^[3]

Regular season

• May 1, 1987: Pitcher Nolan Ryan hit a home run off of Atlanta Braves pitcher Charlie Puleo.^[4]
• 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.^[5] 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.^[6]

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

NL 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 record v t e 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.^[7]
• 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.^[8]
  • Darryl Kile was drafted by the Astros in the 30th round. Player signed May 18, 1988.^[9]
• June 2, 1987: Eric Bullock was traded by the Astros to the Minnesota Twins for Clay Christiansen.^[10]

Roster

1987 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers 49 Juan Agosto 47 Larry Andersen 50 Rocky Childress 44 Danny Darwin 43 Jim Deshaies 31 Jeff Heathcock 38 Manny Hernández 37 Charlie Kerfeld 39 Bob Knepper 35 Aurelio López 56 Rob Mallicoat 13 Ron Mathis 53 Dave Meads 34 Nolan Ryan 33 Mike Scott 45 Dave Smith 52 Julio Solano		Catchers  9 Troy Afenir 14 Alan Ashby  6 Mark Bailey 30 Ronn Reynolds  7 Robbie Wine Infielders  4 Dale Berra  3 Buddy Biancalana 11 Ken Caminiti 27 Glenn Davis 19 Bill Doran  3 Phil Garner 23 Chuck Jackson 20 Jim Pankovits  1 Bert Peña 12 Craig Reynolds 10 Dickie Thon 29 Denny Walling		Outfielders 17 Kevin Bass 25 José Cruz 24 Ty Gainey 28 Billy Hatcher 26 Paul Householder 15 Davey Lopes 21 Terry Puhl 30 Ty Waller  2 Gerald Young		Manager 22 Hal Lanier Coaches  8 Yogi Berra 48 Matt Galante -- Denis Menke 55 Les Moss 18 Gene Tenace

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

See also: Minor League Baseball

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