1991 Houston Astros season

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Wikipedia

1991 Houston Astros
LeagueNational League
DivisionWest
BallparkThe Astrodome
CityHouston, Texas
Record65–97 (.401)
Divisional place6th
OwnersJohn McMullen
General managersBill Wood
ManagersArt Howe
TelevisionKTXH
HSE
RadioKPRC (AM)
(Bill Brown, Milo Hamilton, Larry Dierker, Vince Controneo, Bill Worrell, Enos Cabell)
KXYZ
(Orlando Sánchez-Diago, Rolando Becerra)
← 1990 Seasons 1992 →

The 1991 Houston Astros season was the 30th season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 27th as the Astros, 30th in the National League (NL), 23rd in the NL West division, and 27th at the Astrodome. The Astros entered the season with a 75–87 record, in fourth place in the NL West and 16 games behind the division- and World Series-champion Cincinnati Reds.

The season began for Houston on April 8 against Cincinnati at Riverfront Stadium, where they were defeated, 6–2. Pitcher Mike Scott made the fifth of five consecutive Opening Day starts for the Astros. In the amateur draft, the Astros received four first round picks—including pitcher John Burke at sixth overall—and three supplemental picks. Catcher Craig Biggio and pitcher Pete Harnisch represented the Astros at the MLB All-Star Game. It was the second career selection for Biggio, and the only career selection for Harnisch.

The Astros concluded the regular season with a 65–97 record, in last place and 29 games behind the NL West division-champion and NL pennant-winning Atlanta Braves, and worst record in the National League. At the time, the 97 losses tied the 1965 and 1975 clubs for the most in franchise history, and was surpassed by the 2011 club.

First baseman Jeff Bagwell won the NL Rookie of the Year Award, becoming the first Astro to win this award. Bagwell and Al Osuna (pitcher) were also recognized as the The Sporting News NL Rookies of the Year.[a] Additionally, four Astros were selected for the 1991 Topps All-Star Rookie Team, including Bagwell, Osuna (left-handed pitcher), Andújar Cedeño (shortstop), and Luis Gonzalez (outfielder).

Offseason

Regular season

Summary

After surrendering three runs and the lead in the top-half of the ninth inning on June 6, the Astros rallied against the Montreal Expos to win, 9–8. Luis Gonzalez and Ken Caminiti each hit run batted in (RBI)-doubles to spark the walk-off comeback.[3]

Standings

NL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Atlanta Braves 9468 .580 — 48‍–‍33 46‍–‍35
Los Angeles Dodgers 9369 .574 1 54‍–‍27 39‍–‍42
San Diego Padres 8478 .519 10 42‍–‍39 42‍–‍39
San Francisco Giants 7587 .463 19 43‍–‍38 32‍–‍49
Cincinnati Reds 7488 .457 20 39‍–‍42 35‍–‍46
Houston Astros 6597 .401 29 37‍–‍44 28‍–‍53

Record vs. opponents

1991 National League record

Sources:
Team ATL CHC CIN HOU LAD MTL NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL
Atlanta —6–611–713–57–115–79–35–79–311–79–99–3
Chicago 6–6—4–89–32–1010–711–68–107–114–86–610–8
Cincinnati 7–118–4—9–96–126–65–79–32–108–1010–84–8
Houston 5–133–99–9—8–102–107–57–54–86–129–95–7
Los Angeles 11–710–212–610–8—5–77–57–57–510–88–106–6
Montreal 7–57–106–610–27–5—4–144–146–126–67–57–11
New York 3–96–117–55–75–714–4—11–76–127–56–67–11
Philadelphia 7-510–83–95–75–714–47–11—6–129–36–66–12
Pittsburgh 3–911–710–28–45–712–612–612–6—7–57–511–7
San Diego 7–118–410–812–68–106–65–73–95–7—11–79–3
San Francisco 9–96–68–109–910–85–76–66–65–77–11—4–8
St. Louis 3–98–108–47–56–611–711–712–67–113–98–4—

Roster

1991 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

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
CCraig Biggio149546161.295446
1BJeff Bagwell156554163.2941582
2BCasey Candaele151461121.262450
3BKen Caminiti152574145.2531380
SSEric Yelding7827667.243120
LFLuis Gonzalez137473120.2541369
CFSteve Finley159596170.285854
RFTuffy Rhodes4413629.213112

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
Andújar Cedeño6725161.243936
Rafael Ramírez10123355.236120
Gerald Young10814231.218111
Mark Davidson8514227.190215
Mike Simms4912325.203316
Eric Anthony3911818.15317
Andy Mota279017.18916
Javier Ortiz478323.27715
Kenny Lofton207415.20300
Ken Oberkfell537016.229014
Mark McLemore21619.14802
José Tolentino445414.25916
Carl Nichols205110.19601
Dave Rohde29415.12200
Scott Servais16376.16206
Tony Eusebio10192.10500
Gary Cooper9164.25002

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
Pete Harnisch33216.21292.70172
Mark Portugal32168.110124.49120
Jim Deshaies28161.05124.9898
Jimmy Jones26135.1684.3988
Ryan Bowen1471.2645.1549
Chris Gardner524.2124.0112
Jeff Juden418.0026.0011
Brian Williams212.0013.754
Mike Scott27.00212.863

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
Darryl Kile37153.27113.69100
Xavier Hernandez3263.0274.7155

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
Al Osuna7176123.4268
Curt Schilling563583.8171
Dwayne Henry523223.1951
Jim Corsi470503.7153
Jim Clancy300352.7833
Mike Capel251333.0323
Rob Mallicoat240213.8618
Dean Wilkins721111.254

Awards and honors

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Tucson Toros Pacific Coast League Bob Skinner
AA Jackson Generals Texas League Rick Sweet
A Osceola Astros Florida State League Sal Butera
A Burlington Astros Midwest League Tim Tolman
A Asheville Tourists South Atlantic League Frank Cacciatore
A-Short Season Auburn Astros New York–Penn League Steve Dillard
Rookie GCL Astros Gulf Coast League Julio Linares

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Tucson

References

Footnotes
  1. 1 2 From 1961–2003, The Sporting News declared one rookie position player and one rookie pitcher from each league, the NL and the American League (AL), for this award.
    Sources
    1. ↑ Bill Gullickson at Baseball Reference
    2. ↑ Curt Schilling at Baseball Reference
    3. ↑ Schwartzberg, Seth (June 6, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 6". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
    4. ↑ "MLB Players of the Week Awards". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 9, 2025.