 History
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Enron Field opens on March 30, 2000 before an exhibition game with the New York Yankees...a record 3,056,139 fans passed through the turnstiles during the Astros' inaugural season at this new ballpark. |
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| 2000 |
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History was made as the doors of sparkling-new Enron Field opened for the first time on March 30 before an exhibition game with the New York Yankees...a record 3,056,139 fans passed through the turnstiles during the Astros' inaugural season at their new ballpark...Houston finished the season at 72-90 to mark the club's first sub-.500 season since 1991...Jeff Bagwell set single-season franchise records with 47 homers and 152 runs scored...Bagwell ended the 2000 season having logged 310 career homers and became only the 87th major leaguer to reach the 300-homer plateau...the Astros set franchise records with 249 homers, 900 RBI and 938 runs scored...Tony Eusebio set a franchise record with a 24-game hitting streak that lasted nearly two months...Shane Reynolds was named to the All-Star team, marking his first career selection to the Mid-Summer Classic. |
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| 2001 |
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The 2001 season went right down to the wire as the Astros clinched their fourth division title in five years with a 9-2 win over the Cardinals on October 7 in St. Louis...Craig Biggio became the first player in franchise history to log 2,000 hits and enters the 2002 season with 2,149 hits during his 14-year career...after toiling around the .500 mark with a 33-33 record on June 17, went on to finish the year at a 59-36 (.621) clip to edge the Cardinals for the division title...Major League Baseball announced that the Astros were awarded the 2004 All-Star Game...Moises Alou, Billy Wagner and Lance Berkman represented the Astros at the 72nd Mid-Summer Classic...Jeff Bagwell became the sixth player in MLB history to have 30 homers, 100 RBI and 100 runs scored in six straight seasons...after being swept by Atlanta in the NLDS, manager Larry Dierker resigned and was replaced by former Red Sox skipper Jimy Williams...upon the conclusion of the season, utility infielder Bill Spiers announced his retirement...the Astros were named Organization of the Year by SportsTicker, Topps, Baseball America and Baseball Weekly...Brad Ausmus received a Gold Glove award for defensive excellence at his position. |
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| 2002 |
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By Houston standards, the 2002 season was a disappointment after the Astros finished with an 84-78 record, good for only second place in the NL Central division, behind the St. Louis Cardinals. Despite staying in the division race until the final two weeks of the season, the Astros wound up 13 games behind the Cardinals. However, that season was anything but forgettable. The Wade Miller-Roy Oswalt arsenal combined to go 34-13 on the year while stringing together 12 and nine-game winning streaks, respectively. ...Astros hurlers threw 10 shutouts in Houston to contribute to a 47-34 home record. ...on April 8, Craig Biggio hit for the cyle in Colorado, becoming the fifth player in franchise history to accomplish the feat. ...in May, the Astros retired Larry Dierker's No. 49 in a pregame ceremony. ....Lance Berkman represented the Astros at the 2002 All-Star game. ...Houston 's downtown ballpark was renamed Minute Maid Park when the Astros announced an agreement with the local beverage giant for naming rights on June 5. ...Berkman finished third in MVP voting and led the NL in RBIs. ...Brad Ausmus won his second consecutive Gold Glove award. |
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| 2003 |
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The Astros were favorites to win the NL Central title to start the season behind young aces Wade Miller and Roy Oswalt and new acquisition Jeff Kent. But injuries intervened and Houston ended the season in second place, one game behind the Chicago Cubs. ...Craig Biggio made his second career position move and served as the club's primary center fielder. ...on June 11 at Yankee Stadium, six Astros pitchers combined to no-hit the Yankees for the 8-0 win: Roy Oswalt, Pete Munro, Kirk Saarloos, Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel and Billy Wanger. ...it was the first time in Major League history that a team used five or more pitchers in a no-hitter. ...Biggio recorded his club-record 500th double on July 10 ....Wagner recorded a careeer-high and franchise record 44 saves and represented the team at the All-Star Game. ...Jeriome Robertson set the franchise record for a rookie with 15 wins, the most of all ML rookies. ...Richard Hidalgo was named team MVP and led the Majors with 22 outfield assists. |
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| 2004 |
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The
2004 campaign began and ended with great expectations, with plenty of trying times in between. A season that started with so much promise turned into a mediocre effort that resulted in a .500 record at the All-Star break, leading to the dismissal of manager Jimy Williams. Three weeks after Phil Garner took over the managerial duties, the Astros began an unprecedented 36-10 run that leapfrogged them over five teams en route to the National League Wild Card. The Astros won their first postseason series in franchise history when they topped the Atlanta Braves, three games to two, in the Division Series. Despite being decimated by injuries that left them with only two proven starters -- Roy Oswalt and Roger Clemens (who won his seventh Cy Young Award) -- the Astros received valiant efforts from a slew of players who helped lead the team to the seventh game of the National League Championship Series. The Astros' historic run ended with a 5-2 Game 7 loss to the Cardinals, one game shy of their first-ever World Series berth.
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| 2005 |
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The Astros began the year
with a list of problems that suggested this was going to be
a long, and likely unsuccessful, season. Lance Berkman was out
for a month following offseason knee surgery. Jeff Bagwell struggled
through a painful first month before deciding it was time to
go on the disabled list. Nearly one-third of the roster was
hit with everything from the flu to pneumonia to upper respiratory
infections that swept through the Astros' clubhouse. But
the Astros recovered from their abysmal start to go 74-43 the
rest of the year -- a .632 winning percentage over four months.
The Astros advanced to the World Series for the first time in franchise history after defeating the Cardinals four games to two in a rematch of the 2004 NLCS. The White Sox went on to sweep the Astros in four games to claim their first World Series since 1917. The Astros won the Wild Card for the second season in a row, finishing in second place in the NL Central division with a record of 89-73. The club started the season with a 2-21 record on the road, and overcame a 15-30 start on May 24 to become the first team since the 1914 Boston Braves to make the postseason after falling to 15 games below .500. |
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| 2006 |
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In a thrilling finish to the season, the Astros spent the final two weeks chasing first-place St. Louis by winning 10 of the last 12 games. The club finished 82-80, in second place, 1 1/2 games behind the eventual World Champions, giving Houston its sixth consecutive winning season. Trailing the Cardinals by 8 1/2 games on Sept. 20, the Astros picked up eight game in eight days and moved to within a half-game of first place with three to play. But Houston would lose two out of three in Atlanta and miss the playoffs for the first time since 2003. The end of the season was similar to the club's hot start n April. The Astros won 19 of the first 28 games, which represents the best start in franchise history.
Lance Berkman made his fourth All-Star appearance and set the single-season franchise record with 136 RBIs. Roger Clemens returned for a third season on June 22 and finished 7-6 with a 2.30 ERA. Willy Taveras logged a 30-game hitting streak from July 27-Aug. 27, eclipsing Jeff Kent's franchise-best 25-game hitting streak in 2004. Roy Oswalt won the ERA crown with a 2.98 mark, while winning 15 games. He was the runner-up in the NL Cy Young Award voting. Adam Everett recorded the fourth-best fielding percentage by a shortstop in Major League history, holding down a .990 mark at the position.
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