1992 Houston Astros season
| 1992 Houston Astros | ||
|---|---|---|
| League | National League | |
| Division | West | |
| Ballpark | The Astrodome | |
| City | Houston, Texas | |
| Record | 81–81 (.500) | |
| Divisional place | 4th | |
| Owners | John McMullen | |
| General managers | Bill Wood | |
| Managers | Art Howe | |
| Television | KTXH HSE | |
| Radio | KPRC (AM) (Bill Brown, Milo Hamilton, Larry Dierker, Vince Controneo, Bill Worrell, Enos Cabell) KXYZ (Orlando Sánchez-Diago, Rolando Becerra) | |
| ||
The 1992 Houston Astros season was the 31st season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 28th as the Astros, 31st in the National League (NL), 24th in the NL West division, and 28th at the Astrodome, The Astros entered the season as having finished in last place in the NL West with a 65–97 record—tied for the worst record in club history at the time—and 29 games behind.
The season began for Houston on April 7 in which they hosted the Atlanta Braves, and were defeated, 2–0. Pete Harnisch was the Astros' Opening Day starting pitcher. The Astros' first round draft pick in the amateur draft was third baseman Phil Nevin, at first overall. Nevin was the Astros' second number-one overall pick, following Floyd Bannister in 1976.
Pitcher Doug Jones and second baseman Craig Biggio represented the Astros at the MLB All-Star Game, This was the third career selection for Jones, and second for Biggio, who was previously selected as a catcher.
Due to the Republican National Convention being hosted at the Astrodome from August 17–20, the Astros played 26 consecutive road games from July 27 through August 23, going 12–14 on the road trip. The club played in all National League cities except Montreal, New York City, and Pittsburgh.
Following the road trip, the Astros won 25 of their final 38 games to finish at .500 (81–81) and in fourth place in the NL West, an improvement of 16 games from the year before. Hence, the 1992 season was the start of the longest period of consistent regular-season success in franchise history, where they finished at .500 or above in each of 15 of 17 seasons through 2008, and made the playoffs six times.
The Astros won six games on walk-off home runs, the most of any MLB team in 1992.