2001 Houston Astros
National League Central Champions
LeagueNational League
DivisionCentral
BallparkEnron Field
CityHouston, Texas
Record93–69 (.574)
Divisional place1st
OwnersDrayton McLane, Jr.
General managersGerry Hunsicker
ManagersLarry Dierker
TelevisionKNWS-TV
FSN Southwest
(Bill Brown, Jim Deshaies, Bill Worrell)
RadioKTRH
(Milo Hamilton, Alan Ashby)
KXYZ
(Francisco Ernesto Ruiz, Alex Treviño)
← 2000 Seasons 2002 →

The 2001 Houston Astros season was the 40th season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise in Houston, Texas.

For the fourth time in five seasons, the Astros won the National League Central title, having won 93 games, tied with the St. Louis Cardinals, by virtue of beating them in the final game of the year on October 7, winning the season series 9–7 (after the season had been stopped for ten days due to the September 11 attacks)..[1] In addition to the win, Shane Reynolds became the seventh Astro to win 100 games and the first since Mike Scott in 1989.[2]

Offseason

Regular season

With a triple on May 7 against the Chicago Cubs, first baseman Jeff Bagwell achieved the 700th extra base hit of his career.[5]

On June 8, the first interleague game between the Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers took place at The Ballpark at Arlington, part of a rivalry known as the Lone Star Series. The Astros won the game by a score of 5-4.[6] The team that would win the most games between the two in a season would be awarded the Silver Boot.

For the second time in his career, Bagwell reached seven runs batted in (RBI) in a game – the second time he tied the club record – against the Kansas City Royals on July 7.[5] Over four successive games from July 8–13, Bagwell homered and totaled five home runs in that span.[7]

In a contest at Enron Field against the St. Louis Cardinals on July 18, Bagwell hit for the cycle. He went 4-for-5 with a BB and five RBI as the Astros won, 17–11.[8][9] He was the NL Player of the Month that July after batting .333 with nine HR, breaking his own club record with 36 RBI in a month, exceeding 34 RBI in August 2000.[5]

While hitting his 32nd HR on August 19, 2001, against Pittsburgh, Bagwell collected his 100th RBI. It was the sixth consecutive season he reached at least 30 HR and 100 RBI, making him the eighth player in MLB history to achieve such a streak, and the only Houston player to do so. Five days later, also against Pittsburgh, he scored his 100th run, joining Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, and Babe Ruth as the only players in MLB history with six consecutive seasons of 30 homers, 100 RBI and 100 runs scored. On September 30 at Chicago, Bagwell walked for his 100th of the season, thus making him the only player in MLB history register six consecutive seasons of at least 30 HR, 100 RBI, 100 runs scored, and 100 walks.[5]

On October 4, Barry Bonds hit his 70th home run of the season off Houston pitcher Wilfredo Rodríguez to tie Mark McGwire's single season home run record.[10]

Standings

NL Central 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
Houston Astros 93 69 0.574 — 44–37 49–32
St. Louis Cardinals 93 69 0.574 — 54–28 39–41
Chicago Cubs 88 74 0.543 5 48–33 40–41
Milwaukee Brewers 68 94 0.420 25 36–45 32–49
Cincinnati Reds 66 96 0.407 27 27–54 39–42
Pittsburgh Pirates 62 100 0.383 31 38–43 24–57


Record vs. opponents

2001 National League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]
Team ARI ATL CHC CIN COL FLA HOU LAD MIL MON NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL AL
Arizona — 5–2 6–3 5–1 13–6 4–2 2–4 10–9 3–3 3–3 3–3 3–4 4–2 12–7 10–9 2–4 7–8
Atlanta 2–5 — 4–2 4–2 4–2 9–10 3–3 2–5 3–3 13–6 10–9 10–9 5–1 3–3 4–2 3–3 9–9
Chicago 3–6 2–4 — 13–4 3–3 3–3 8–9 4–2 8–9 3–3 4–2 4–2 10–6 2–4 3–3 9–8 9–6
Cincinnati 1–5 2–4 4–13 — 3–6 4–2 6–11 4–2 6–10 4–2 4–2 2–4 9–8 2–4 4–2 7–10 4–11
Colorado 6–13 2–4 3–3 6–3 — 4–2 2–4 8–11 5–1 3–4 4–3 2–4 2–4 9–10 9–10 6–3 2–10
Florida 2–4 10–9 3–3 2–4 2–4 — 3–3 2–5 4–2 12–7 7–12 5–14 4–2 3–4 2–4 3–3 12–6
Houston 4–2 3–3 9–8 11–6 4–2 3–3 — 2–4 12–5 6–0 3–3 3–3 9–8 3–6 3–3 9–7 9–6
Los Angeles 9–10 5–2 2–4 2–4 11–8 5–2 4–2 — 5–1 2–4 2–4 3–3 7–2 9–10 11–8 3–3 6–9
Milwaukee 3–3 3–3 9–8 10–6 1–5 2–4 5–12 1–5 — 4–2 3–3 3–3 6–11 1–5 5–4 7–10 5–10
Montreal 3–3 6–13 3–3 2–4 4–3 7–12 0–6 4–2 2–4 — 8–11 9–10 5–1 3–3 2–5 2–4 8–10
New York 3–3 9–10 2–4 2–4 3–4 12–7 3–3 4–2 3–3 11–8 — 11–8 4–2 1–5 3–4 1–5 10–8
Philadelphia 4–3 9–10 2–4 4–2 4–2 14–5 3–3 3–3 3–3 10–9 8–11 — 5–1 5–2 3–3 2–4 7–11
Pittsburgh 2–4 1–5 6–10 8–9 4–2 2–4 8–9 2–7 11–6 1–5 2–4 1–5 — 2–4 1–5 3–14 8–7
San Diego 7–12 3–3 4–2 4–2 10–9 4–3 6–3 10–9 5–1 3–3 5–1 2–5 4–2 — 5–14 1–5 6–9
San Francisco 9–10 2–4 3–3 2–4 10–9 4–2 3–3 8–11 4–5 5–2 4–3 3–3 5–1 14–5 — 4–2 10–5
St. Louis 4–2 3–3 8–9 10–7 3–6 3–3 7–9 3–3 10–7 4–2 5–1 4–2 14–3 5–1 2–4 — 8–7


Transactions

Roster

2001 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

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
C Brad Ausmus 128 422 98 .232 5 34
1B Jeff Bagwell 161 600 173 .288 39 130
2B Craig Biggio 155 617 180 .292 20 70
SS Julio Lugo 140 513 135 .263 10 37
3B Vinny Castilla 122 445 120 .270 23 82
LF Lance Berkman 156 577 191 .331 34 126
CF Richard Hidalgo 146 512 141 .275 19 80
RF Moisés Alou 136 513 170 .331 27 108

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
José Vizcaíno 107 256 71 .277 1 14
Daryle Ward 95 213 56 .263 9 39
Tony Eusebio 59 154 39 .253 5 14
Orlando Merced 94 137 36 .263 6 29
Chris Truby 48 136 28 .206 8 23
Charlie Hayes 31 50 10 .200 0 4
Glen Barker 70 24 2 .083 0 1
Scott Servais 11 16 6 .375 0 0
Mendy López 10 15 4 .267 1 3
Bill Spiers 4 3 1 .333 0 0
Adam Everett 9 3 0 .000 0 0
Keith Ginter 1 1 0 .000 0 0

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
Wade Miller 32 212.0 16 8 3.40 183
Shane Reynolds 28 182.2 14 11 4.34 102
Roy Oswalt 28 141.2 14 3 2.73 144
Scott Elarton 20 109.2 4 8 7.14 76
Pedro Astacio 4 28.2 2 1 3.14 19
Tony McKnight 3 18.0 1 0 4.00 10
Carlos Hernández 3 17.2 1 0 1.02 17
Brian Powell 1 3.0 0 1 18.00 3

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
Dave Mlicki 19 86.2 7 3 5.09 49
Ron Villone 31 68.0 5 7 5.56 65
Tim Redding 13 55.2 3 1 5.50 55
José Lima 14 53.0 1 2 7.30 41
Kent Bottenfield 13 52.0 2 5 6.40 39

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
Billy Wagner 64 2 5 39 2.73 79
Mike Jackson 67 5 3 4 4.70 46
Nelson Cruz 66 3 3 2 4.15 75
Octavio Dotel 61 7 5 2 2.66 145
Jay Powell 35 2 2 0 3.72 28
Mike Williams 25 4 0 0 4.03 16
Wayne Franklin 11 0 0 0 6.75 9
Scott Linebrink 9 0 0 0 2.61 9
Joe Slusarski 8 0 1 0 9.00 6
Ricky Stone 6 0 0 0 2.35 4
Jim Mann 4 0 0 0 3.38 5
Wilfredo Rodríguez 2 0 0 0 15.00 3

National League Divisional Playoffs

Main article: 2001 National League Division Series

Houston Astros vs. Atlanta Braves

Atlanta wins the series, 3-0

Game Home Score Visitor Score Date Series
1 Houston 4 Atlanta 7 October 9 1-0 (ATL)
2 Houston 0 Atlanta 1 October 10 2-0 (ATL)
3 Atlanta 6 Houston 2 October 12 3-0 (ATL)

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA New Orleans Zephyrs Pacific Coast League Tony Peña
AA Round Rock Express Texas League Jackie Moore
A Michigan Battle Cats Midwest League John Massarelli
A Lexington Legends South Atlantic League Joe Cannon
A-Short Season Pittsfield Astros New York–Penn League Iván DeJesús
Rookie Martinsville Astros Appalachian League Jorge Orta

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Lexington; LEAGUE CO-CHAMPIONS: New Orleans

References

  1. ^ "Who won the NL Central in 2001?". August 17, 2016.
  2. ^ "Big Days in Astros History - October 7, 2001 - Astros clinch NL Central".
  3. ^ a b Charlie Hayes Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  4. ^ "Kent Bottenfield Stats".
  5. ^ a b c d "Jeff Bagwell player page bio". MLB.com. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
  6. ^ "Box Score of Game played on Friday, June 8, 2001 at the Ballpark in Arlington".
  7. ^ "Homers power Astro victory". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. July 14, 2001. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
  8. ^ Duarte, Joseph (July 18, 2001). "Astros outslug Cards: Bagwell hits for cycle". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
  9. ^ "Houston Astros 17, St. Louis Cardinals 11: Game played on Wednesday, July 18, 2001 (N) at Enron Field". Retrosheet (retrosheet.org). Retrieved February 17, 2016.
  10. ^ Baseball's Top 100: The Game's Greatest Records, p.10, Kerry Banks, 2010, Greystone Books, Vancouver, BC, ISBN 978-1-55365-507-7
  11. ^ "Kirk Saarloos Stats".

External links

National League Central champions
2001 MLB season by team
Houston Astros
Categories