2008 Houston Astros season

2008 Houston Astros
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record 86–75 (.534)
Divisional place 3rd
Other information
Owner(s) Drayton McLane, Jr.
General manager(s) Ed Wade
Manager(s) Cecil Cooper
Local television FSN Houston
KTXH (My 20)
Bill Brown, Jim Deshaies
Local radio KTRH
Milo Hamilton, Brett Dolan, Dave Raymond
KLAT (Spanish)
Stats ESPN.com
BB-reference
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The Houston Astros' 2008 season was the 47th season for the Houston Astros. The Astros attempted to return to the postseason, after missing the past two postseasons. This was the last season where the Astros finished the season above the .500 mark prior to the post season run in 2015.[1]

Off Season

On October 29, all six eligible Astros players filed for free agency. The list includes catcher Brad Ausmus, infielder Mike Lamb, infielder Mark Loretta, outfielder Orlando Palmeiro, left-handed reliever Trever Miller and right-handed reliever Brian Moehler.

On October 30, the Astros signed catcher Brad Ausmus to a 1-year, $2 million contract.

On November 8, The Astros acquired outfielder Michael Bourn, third baseman Michael Costanzo, and right-handed reliever Geoff Geary from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for right-handed pitcher Brad Lidge and infielder Eric Bruntlett. The announcement was made by Astros General Manager Ed Wade.[2]

On November 16, the Astros acquired right-handed reliever Óscar Villarreal from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for center fielder Josh Anderson. On the same day, the Astros also signed outfielder Yordany Ramirez as a free agent.

On November 20, the Astros signed free agent utilityman Geoff Blum to a one-year deal including a club option for a second year.

On November 26, the Astros signed free agent Relief Pitcher Doug Brocail to a one-year deal.

On November 30, the Astros and free agent Kazuo Matsui agreed to a 3-year, $16.5 million deal. Matsui played second base for the NL Champion Colorado Rockies in the 2007 season.[3]

On December 12, the Astros acquired shortstop Miguel Tejada from the Orioles for five players. The Astros traded outfielder Luke Scott, pitchers Matt Albers, Troy Patton and Dennis Sarfate and third baseman Mike Costanzo to Baltimore for Tejada. Adam Everett, the Astros shortstop at the time, had to deal with a double-whammy: not only did the Astros trade for Tejada, they also non-tendered Everett, leaving him without a team as of 11 p.m. CT.

On December 14, The Houston Astros' offseason of dealing continued on Friday when the club traded Chris Burke, Chad Qualls and Juan Gutiérrez to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for closer José Valverde.

In January, Brandon Backe, Ty Wigginton, and Dave Borkowski were signed to a one-year contract.

On February 20, Shawn Chacón signed a one-year deal.

On March 29, the Astros released Woody Williams.

On March 30, the contracts of OF José Cruz, Jr. and RHP Brian Moehler were purchased from Triple-A Round Rock.

Spring training

In spring training the Astros posted a 13–18 record culminating with a 9–4 win in the final spring training game at Minute Maid Park.

Regular season

March/April

After losing the first two games of the 2008 campaign, the Astros were trailing 5–6 the top of the 9th with 2 outs of game 3 against Hoffman, on April 2. The Astros put two on base when Pence hit a line drive off of Gonzalez's glove into right to tie it up. Berkman came up next and smashed a 3-run home run to deep center making it a 9–6 game. Valverde then closed out the Astros first '08 win.

Season standings

NL Central W L Pct. GB Home Road
Chicago Cubs 97 64 0.602 — 55–26 42–38
Milwaukee Brewers 90 72 0.556 7½ 49–32 41–40
Houston Astros 86 75 0.534 11 47–33 39–42
St. Louis Cardinals 86 76 0.531 11½ 46–35 40–41
Cincinnati Reds 74 88 0.457 23½ 43–38 31–50
Pittsburgh Pirates 67 95 0.414 30½ 39–42 28–53

Record vs. opponents

2008 National League Records

Source:
Team ARI ATL CHC CIN COL FLA HOU LAD MIL NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL WSH AL
Arizona – 3–5 2–4 2–4 15–3 2–7 4–2 8–10 2–5 3–3 3–4 4–3 10–8 11–7 3–4 4–2 6–9
Atlanta 5–3 – 0–6 3–3 4–3 10–8 3–3 4–2 3–6 11–7 4–14 2–5 5–1 2–5 2–5 6–12 8–7
Chicago 4–2 6–0 – 8–7 5–1 4–3 8–9 5–2 9–7 4–2 3–4 14–4 5–2 4–3 9–6 3–3 6–9
Cincinnati 4–2 3–3 7–8 – 1–5 6–2 3–12 1–7 10–8 3–4 3–5 6–9 4–3 5–1 5–10 4–3 9–6
Colorado 3–15 3–4 1–5 5–1 – 5–3 3–3 8–10 4–3 3–6 0–5 5–2 9–9 11–7 3–4 4–3 7–8
Florida 7–2 8–10 3–4 2–6 3–5 – 4–2 3–4 5–1 8–10 10–8 3–2 4–2 3–3 2–5 14–3 5–10
Houston 2–4 3–3 9–8 12–3 3–3 2–4 – 4–3 7–8 5–2 3–4 8–8 3–3 7–1 7–8 4–2 7–11
Los Angeles 10–8 2–4 2–5 7–1 10–8 4–3 3–4 – 4–2 3–4 4–4 5–2 11–7 9–9 2–4 3–3 5–10
Milwaukee 5–2 6–3 7–9 8–10 3–4 1–5 8–7 2–4 – 2–4 1–5 14–1 4–3 6–0 10–5 6–2 7–8
New York 3–3 7–11 2–4 4–3 6–3 10–8 2–5 4–3 4–2 – 11–7 4–3 2–5 5–1 4–3 12–6 9–6
Philadelphia 4–3 14–4 4–3 5–3 5–0 8–10 4–3 4–4 5–1 7–11 – 4–2 4–2 3–3 5–4 12–6 4–11
Pittsburgh 3–4 5–2 4–14 9–6 2–5 2–3 8–8 2–5 1–14 3–4 2–4 – 3–4 4–2 10–7 3–4 6–9
San Diego 8–10 1–5 2–5 3–4 9–9 2–4 3–3 7–11 3–4 5–2 2–4 4–3 – 5–13 1–6 5–1 3–15
San Francisco 7–11 5–2 3–4 1–5 7–11 3–3 1–7 9–9 0–6 1–5 3–3 2–4 13–5 – 4–3 7–0 6–12
St. Louis 4–3 5–2 6–9 10–5 4–3 5–2 8–7 4–2 5–10 3–4 4–5 7–10 6–1 3–4 – 5–1 7–8
Washington 2–4 12–6 3–3 3–4 3–4 3–14 2–4 3–3 2–6 6–12 6–12 4–3 1–5 0–7 1–5 – 8–10

Roster

2008 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

Game log

2008 Game Log

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

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

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Round Rock Express Pacific Coast League Dave Clark
AA Corpus Christi Hooks Texas League Luis Pujols
A Salem Avalanche Carolina League Jim Pankovits
A Lexington Legends South Atlantic League Gregg Langbehn
A-Short Season Tri-City ValleyCats New York–Penn League Pete Rancont
Rookie Greeneville Astros Appalachian League Rodney Linares

References

  1. ↑ http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on-baseball/25327531/houston-astros-make-playoffs-for-first-time-since-2005
  2. ↑ The Official Site of The Houston Astros: Official Info: Astros acquire Bourn, Costanzo, Geary from Philadelphia
  3. ↑ 9news.com Wolf, Jeffrey November 30, 2007

External links

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