1997 Houston Astros season

1997 Houston Astros
1997 NL Central Champions
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1962)
Western Division 1969–1993 Central Division (since 1994)
Location
Astrodome (since 1965)
Houston, Texas (since 1962)
Results
Record	84–78 (.519)
Divisional place	1st
Other information
Owner(s)	Drayton McLane, Jr.
General manager(s)	Gerry Hunsicker
Manager(s)	Larry Dierker
Local television	KTXH Fox Sports Southwest (Bill Brown, Jim Deshaies)
Local radio	KILT (AM) (Milo Hamilton, Vince Controneo) KXYZ (Francisco Ernesto Ruiz, Alex Treviño)
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The 1997 Houston Astros season was a season in American baseball. The Houston Astros won their first-ever National League Central division title, giving them their first playoff berth in 11 years.

Offseason

December 2, 1996: Pat Listach signed as a Free Agent with the Houston Astros.^[1]

Regular season

The 1,000 hit of Jeff Bagwell's career was a home run on May 20 against Calvin Maduro, one of his two that game, in a 9–5 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.^[2]

Season standings

NL Central	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Houston Astros	84	78	0.519	—	46–35	38–43
Pittsburgh Pirates	79	83	0.488	5	43–38	36–45
Cincinnati Reds	76	86	0.469	8	40–41	36–45
St. Louis Cardinals	73	89	0.451	11	41–40	32–49
Chicago Cubs	68	94	0.420	16	42–39	26–55

Record vs. opponents

1997 National League Records Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	COL	FLA	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL	AL
Atlanta	—	9–2	9–2	5–6	4–8	7–4	6–5	10–2	5–7	10–2	5–6	8–3	7–4	8–3	7–5
Chicago	2–9	—	7–5	2–9	2–9	3–9	5–6	4–7	6–5	6–5	7–5	6–5	5–6	4–8	9–6
Cincinnati	2–9	5–7	—	5–6	5–6	5–7	6–5	6–5	2–9	8–3	8–4	5–6	4–7	6–6	9–6
Colorado	6–5	9–2	6–5	—	7–4	5–6	5–7	7–4	6–5	4–7	4–7	4–8	4–8	7–4	9–7
Florida	8–4	9–2	6–5	4–7	—	7–4	7–4	7–5	4–8	6–6	7–4	5–6	5–6	5–6	12–3
Houston	4–7	9–3	7–5	6–5	4–7	—	7–4	8–3	7–4	4–7	6–6	6–5	3–8	9–3	4–11
Los Angeles	5–6	6–5	5–6	7–5	4–7	4–7	—	7–4	6–5	10–1	9–2	5–7	6–6	5–6	9–7
Montreal	2–10	7–4	5–6	4–7	5–7	3–8	4–7	—	5–7	6–6	5–6	8–3	6–5	6–5	12–3
New York	7–5	5–6	9–2	5–6	8–4	4–7	5–6	7–5	—	7–5	7–4	5–6	3–8	9–2	7–8
Philadelphia	2-10	5–6	3–8	7–4	6–6	7–4	1–10	6–6	5–7	—	5–6	7–4	3–8	6–5	5–10
Pittsburgh	6–5	5–7	4–8	7–4	4–7	6–6	2–9	6–5	4–7	6–5	—	5–6	8–3	9–3	7–8
San Diego	3–8	5–6	6–5	8–4	6–5	5–6	7–5	3–8	6–5	4–7	6–5	—	4–8	5–6	8–8
San Francisco	4–7	6–5	7–4	8–4	6–5	8–3	6–6	5–6	8–3	8–3	3–8	8–4	—	3–8	10–6
St. Louis	3–8	8–4	6–6	4–7	6–5	3-9	6–5	5–6	2–9	5–6	3–9	6–5	8–3	—	8–7

Opening Day starters

• Bobby Abreu
• Brad Ausmus
• Jeff Bagwell
• Derek Bell
• Sean Berry
• Craig Biggio
• Luis Gonzalez
• Pat Listach
• Shane Reynolds^[3]

Notable transactions

• June 3, 1997: 1997 Major League Baseball draft
  • Lance Berkman was drafted by the Astros in the 1st round (16th pick) . Player signed June 4, 1997.^[4]
  • Eric Byrnes was drafted by the Astros in the 4th round, but did not sign.^[5]
• July 1, 1997: Pat Listach was released by the Astros.^[1]
• July 27, 1997: Josías Manzanillo was signed as a Free Agent with the Houston Astros.^[6]

Roster

1997 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers 55 Manuel Barrios 51 José Cabrera 50 Sid Fernandez 59 Ramón García 54 Tommy Greene 10 Mike Hampton 54 Oscar Henríquez 45 Chris Holt 35 John Hudek 57 Darryl Kile 42 José Lima 52 Mike Magnante 41 Tom Martin 43 Blas Minor 37 Shane Reynolds 31 Russ Springer 21 Greg Swindell 13 Billy Wagner 56 Donne Wall		Catchers 11 Brad Ausmus 20 Tony Eusebio  9 Randy Knorr  4 Tony Peña Infielders  5 Jeff Bagwell 17 Sean Berry  7 Craig Biggio 27 Tim Bogar 12 Ricky Gutiérrez 19 Russ Johnson  4 Pat Listach  2 Luis Rivera 28 Bill Spiers		Outfielders 53 Bobby Abreu 14 Derek Bell 21 Chuck Carr 26 Luis Gonzalez 22 Thomas Howard 39 Ray Montgomery  6 James Mouton 29 J. R. Phillips 29 Ken Ramos		Manager 49 Larry Dierker Coaches  8 Alan Ashby (bullpen) 25 José Cruz (first base) 16 Tom McCraw (hitting) 48 Vern Ruhle (pitching) 18 Bill Virdon (bench) 24 Mike Cubbage (third base)

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
CF	Carr, ChuckChuck Carr	63	192	53	.276	4	17

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

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

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

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

National League Divisional Playoffs

The Atlanta Braves defeated the Houston Astros, three games to none.

Game	Home	Score	Visitor	Score	Date	Series
1	Atlanta	2	Houston	1	September 30	1-0 (ATL)
2	Atlanta	13	Houston	3	October 1	2-0 (ATL)
3	Houston	1	Atlanta	4	October 3	3-0 (ATL)

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	New Orleans Zephyrs	American Association	Steve Swisher and Matt Galante
AA	Jackson Generals	Texas League	Dave Engle
A	Kissimmee Cobras	Florida State League	John Tamargo
A	Quad Cities River Bandits	Midwest League	Manny Acta
A-Short Season	Auburn Doubledays	New York–Penn League	Mike Rojas
Rookie	GCL Astros	Gulf Coast League	Bobby Ramos

References

1. Pat Listach at Baseball-Reference
2. "Bagwell's 1,000th hit leads Astros, 9–5". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. May 20, 1997. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
3. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1997&t=HOU
4. Lance Berkman at Baseball-Reference
5. Eric Byrnes at Baseball-Reference
6. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/manzajo01.shtml

External links

• 1997 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference