1987 Houston Astros season

1987 Houston Astros
The Astrodome during a baseball game in 1987.
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1962)
Western Division (since 1969)
Location
The Astrodome (since 1965)
Houston, Texas (since 1962)
Results
Record	76–86 (.469)
Divisional place	3rd
Other information
Owner(s)	John McMullen
General manager(s)	Dick Wagner
Manager(s)	Hal Lanier
Local television	KTXH HSE
Local radio	KTRH (Bill Brown, Milo Hamilton, Larry Dierker, Dave Hofferth, Bill Worrell) KXYZ (Orlando Sánchez-Diago, Rolando Becerra)
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The Houston Astros' 1987 season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Houston Astros attempting to win the National League West.

Offseason

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

Regular season

• May 1, 1987: Pitcher Nolan Ryan hit a home run off of Atlanta Braves pitcher Charlie Puleo.^[3]
• 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.^[4] 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.^[5]

Season standings

NL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
San Francisco Giants	90	72	0.556	—	46–35	44–37
Cincinnati Reds	84	78	0.519	6	42–39	42–39
Houston Astros	76	86	0.469	14	47–34	29–52
Los Angeles Dodgers	73	89	0.451	17	40–41	33–48
Atlanta Braves	69	92	0.429	20½	42–39	27–53
San Diego Padres	65	97	0.401	25	37–44	28–53

Record vs. opponents

1987 National League Records 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.^[6]
• 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.^[7]
  • Darryl Kile was drafted by the Astros in the 30th round. Player signed May 18, 1988.^[8]
• June 2, 1987: Eric Bullock was traded by the Astros to the Minnesota Twins for Clay Christiansen.^[9]

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	Ashby, AlanAlan Ashby	125	386	111	.288	14	63
1B	Davis, GlennGlenn Davis	151	578	145	.251	27	93
2B	Doran, BillBill Doran	162	625	177	.283	16	79
3B	Walling, DennyDenny Walling	110	325	92	.283	5	33
SS	Reynolds, CraigCraig Reynolds	135	374	95	.254	4	28
LF	Cruz, JoséJosé Cruz	126	365	88	.241	11	38
CF	Hatcher, BillyBilly Hatcher	141	564	167	.296	11	63
RF	Bass, KevinKevin 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
Peña, BertBert Peña	21	46	7	.152	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
Ryan, NolanNolan Ryan	34	211.2	8	16	2.76	270

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
Hernández, MannyManny Hernández	6	21.2	0	4	5.40	12

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
Smith, DaveDave Smith	50	2	3	24	1.65	73
Childress, RockyRocky Childress	32	1	2	0	2.98	26

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Tucson Toros	Pacific Coast League	Bob Didier
AA	Columbus Astros	Southern League	Tom Weidenbauer
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

References

1. Matt Keough at Baseball-Reference
2. Rocky Childress at Baseball-Reference
3. Nolan Ryan Home Run Log (Batting) – Baseball-Reference PI
4. http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/cheaters/ballplayers.html
5. The Nolan Ryan Express | The Strikeout King | smackbomb.com/nolanryan
6. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/reynoro02.shtml
7. Craig Biggio at Baseball-Reference
8. Darryl Kile at Baseball-Reference
9. Eric Bullock at Baseball-Reference

External links

• 1987 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference