2007 Houston Astros season

2007 Houston Astros
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1962)
Central Division (since 1994)
Location
Minute Maid Park (since 2000)
Houston, Texas (since 1962)
Results
Record	73–89 (.451)
Divisional place	4th
Other information
Owner(s)	Drayton McLane, Jr.
General manager(s)	Tim Purpura, Tal Smith, Ed Wade
Manager(s)	Phil Garner Cecil Cooper
Local television	FSN Houston KNWS-TV (Ch. 51) 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' 2007 season began with the team trying to take the NL Central title back from the World Series winners, the St. Louis Cardinals, after the Cardinals won it in 2006. They will have to do so without Jeff Bagwell, who retired after the Astros declined option on his contract for 2007, as well as pitchers Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens, who both filed for free agency on November 6. To make up for losing those key players, they signed pitcher Woody Williams, and traded with the Colorado Rockies for Jason Jennings, and Miguel Asencio. The largest offseason move the Astros made was signing outfielder Carlos Lee to a 6-year contract worth $100 million, the most in franchise history.

Offseason

On January 3, the Astros reported that infielder Mark Loretta would sign a contract worth $2.5 million.

On January 12, the Astros signed veteran outfielder Richard Hidalgo to a Minor League Contract. Hidalgo spent his first 8 seasons with the Astros before working with the Mets then the Rangers. He was released on March 24 after a subpar Spring Training.

Regular season

Astros' outfielder Orlando Palmeiro, Opening Day, 2007

Season summary

On April 28, the Astros purchased the contract of Hunter Pence, the organization's top prospect from Triple-A affiliate, and made his debut that night where he got his first career hit and run scored.

By May 2007, the Astros had suffered one of their worst losing streaks since the 1995 season with 10 losses in a row, losing 4-3 to the Cincinnati Reds on May 30. The Astros were just one loss shy of tying their worst skid in franchise history, before snapping that streak the next day, also against the Reds.

On June 12, the Astros beat the Oakland Athletics for the first time in team history.

On June 28, second baseman Craig Biggio became the 27th player to accrue 3000 career hits. On the same night in the bottom of the 11th inning Carlos Lee hit a towering walk-off grand slam to win the game for the Astros.

On July 24, Craig Biggio announced that he would be retiring at the end of the 2007 season, his 20th season with the club (and a franchise record). He hit a grand slam in that night's game which broke a 3-3 tie and led to an Astros win.

On July 28, the Astros traded RHP Dan Wheeler to Tampa Bay for right-handed slugger 3B Ty Wigginton and cash considerations. He is now signed through 2009. On July 29, long time and former All-Star third baseman Morgan Ensberg was designated for assignment to make room for newly acquired Wigginton.

On August 26, former first baseman Jeff Bagwell's number 5 was officially retired after a 15-year career with the Astros.

On August 27, manager Phil Garner and General Manager Tim Purpura were relieved of their duties. Cecil Cooper and Tal Smith were named as interim replacements, respectively.

On September 17, in a 6-0 loss to the Brewers the Astros were officially eliminated from the 2007 playoffs.

On September 20, Ed Wade was named as the new General Manager of the Astros. He made his first move as GM by trading Jason Lane to the Padres on September 24.

On September 30, Craig Biggio retired, ending a 20-year career with the Astros.

Season standings

National League Central

NL Central	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Chicago Cubs	85	77	0.525	—	44–37	41–40
Milwaukee Brewers	83	79	0.512	2	51–30	32–49
St. Louis Cardinals	78	84	0.481	7	43–38	35–46
Houston Astros	73	89	0.451	12	42–39	31–50
Cincinnati Reds	72	90	0.444	13	39–42	33–48
Pittsburgh Pirates	68	94	0.420	17	37–44	31–50

Record vs. opponents

2007 National League Records Source: [1]
Team	ARI	ATL	CHC	CIN	COL	FLA	HOU	LAD	MIL	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL	WSH	AL
Arizona	—	4–2	4–2	2–4	8–10	6–1	5–2	8–10	2–5	3–4	5–1	5–4	10–8	10–8	4–3	6–1	8–7
Atlanta	2–4	—	5–4	1–6	4–2	10–8	3–3	4–3	5–2	9–9	9–9	5–1	5–2	4–3	3–4	11–7	4–11
Chicago	2–4	4–5	—	9–9	5–2	0–6	8–7	2–5	9–6	2–5	3–4	8–7	3–5	5–2	11–5	6–1	8–4
Cincinnati	4–2	6–1	9–9	—	2–4	4–3	4–11	2–4	8–7	2–5	2–4	9–7	2–4	4–3	6–9	1–6	7-11
Colorado	10–8	2–4	2–5	4–2	—	3–3	3–4	12–6	4–2	4–2	4–3	4–3	11–8	10–8	3–4	4–3	10–8
Florida	1–6	8–10	6–0	3–4	3–3	—	2–3	4–3	2–5	7–11	9–9	3–4	3–4	1–6	2–4	8–10	9–9
Houston	2–5	3–3	7–8	11–4	4–3	3-2	—	4–3	5–13	2–5	3–3	5–10	4–3	2–4	7–9	2–5	9–9
Los Angeles	10–8	3–4	5–2	4–2	6–12	3–4	3–4	—	3–3	5–5	4–2	5–2	8–10	10–8	3–3	5–1	5–10
Milwaukee	5–2	2–5	6–9	7–8	2–4	5–2	13–5	3–3	—	2–4	3–4	10–6	2–5	4–5	7–8	4–2	8–7
New York	4–3	9–9	5–2	5–2	2–4	11–7	5–2	5–5	4–2	—	6–12	4–2	2–4	4–2	5–2	9–9	8–7
Philadelphia	1-5	9–9	4–3	4–2	3–4	9–9	3–3	2–4	4–3	12–6	—	4–2	4–3	4–4	6–3	12–6	8–7
Pittsburgh	4–5	1–5	7–8	7–9	3–4	4–3	10–5	2–5	6–10	2–4	2–4	—	1–6	4–2	6–12	4–2	5–10
San Diego	8–10	2–5	5–3	4–2	8–11	4–3	3–4	10–8	5–2	4–2	3–4	6–1	—	14–4	3–4	4–2	6–9
San Francisco	8–10	3–4	2–5	3–4	8–10	6–1	4–2	8–10	5–4	2–4	4–4	2–4	4–14	—	4–1	3–4	5–10
St. Louis	3–4	4–3	5–11	9–6	4–3	4-2	9–7	3–3	8–7	2–5	3–6	12–6	4–3	1–4	—	1–5	6–9
Washington	1–6	7–11	1–6	6–1	3–4	10-8	5–2	1–5	2–4	9–9	6–12	2–4	2–4	4–3	5–1	—	9–9

Roster

2007 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers 37 Matt Albers 41 Brandon Backe 58 Dave Borkowski 38 Travis Driskill 71 Juan Gutiérrez 23 Jason Jennings 54 Brad Lidge 62 Mark McLemore 47 Trever Miller 36 Brian Moehler 44 Roy Oswalt 65 Troy Patton 52 Felipe Paulino 50 Chad Qualls 63 Stephen Randolph 51 Wandy Rodríguez 43 Chris Sampson 59 Dennis Sarfate 35 Dan Wheeler 21 Rick White 29 Woody Williams		Catchers 11 Brad Ausmus 13 Eric Munson 55 Humberto Quintero 46 J. R. Towles Infielders 17 Lance Berkman 7 Craig Biggio  4 Eric Bruntlett 2 Chris Burke 14 Morgan Ensberg 28 Adam Everett 26 Mike Lamb 8 Mark Loretta 10 Cody Ransom 21 Ty Wigginton		Outfielders 20 Josh Anderson 16 Jason Lane 45 Carlos Lee 19 Orlando Palmeiro  9 Hunter Pence 30 Luke Scott		Manager  3 Phil Garner Coaches  6 Mark Bailey (bullpen) 27 Sean Berry (hitting) 15 Cecil Cooper (bench) 25 José Cruz (first base) 29 Doug Mansolino (third base) 31 Dave Wallace (pitching)

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

Awards

On October 27, Craig Biggio received the Roberto Clemente Award.

On November 9, MLB announced the winners of the 2007 Silver Slugger Award. Carlos Lee was one of the winners in the outfield of the National League.

Farm system

See also: Minor league baseball

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

External links

• Game Logs:

1st Half: Houston Astros Game Log on ESPN.com

2nd Half: Houston Astros Game Log on ESPN.com

• Batting Statistics: Los Houston Astros Batting Stats on ESPN.com
• Pitching Statistics: Houston Astros Pitching Stats on ESPN.com