Two years earlier, Hampton had won 22 games and finished second in voting for the Cy Young Award as a member of the Houston Astros, while Neagle had been a 20-game winner in 1997 for the Atlanta Braves and had won fifteen games in 2000.

The Astros again finished in fourth place the next year under new manager Preston Gomez.

The Astros finished in third place again in 1977 with a record of 81 – 81.

The Astros finished with their best record to that point at 89 – 73 and 1½ games behind the NL winner Reds.

The Astros finished 61 – 49 overall, which would have been third in the division behind the Reds and the Dodgers.

The Astros finished fourth in the west, but new talent was starting to appear.

The Astros finished third in the National League West.

The Astros finished in second place.

The Astros finished in fourth place in 1985.

The Astros finished with a record of 76-86.

The 2011 season was the worst in franchise history, as the Astros finished 56-106.

The Astros finished with a record of 56-106, the worst single-season record in franchise history.

In 1984, Atlanta slipped to 80-82 the following season but, again finished runner-up in the division ( tied with Houston Astros ).

Williams finished second in the voting for the National League Most Valuable Player Award that year behind first baseman, Jeff Bagwell, of the Houston Astros.

In 2004, Hernández started his rehabilitation with the New Orleans Zephyrs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Astros, and finished with the big club with a 1 – 3 mark and a 6. 43 ERA in nine starts.

In his first campaign with the Cardinals, in 1996, La Russa clinched the National League's Central Division title ( and also finished National League Runner-Up ), a feat his club repeated in 2000, 2001, 2002 ( his fourth Manager of the Year award ), 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2009 ( the Cardinals also tied for the National League Central crown with the Houston Astros in 2001 ).

Wagner began 1996, once again in the minor leagues as a starting pitcher, but he finished the season by becoming a relief pitcher for the Astros.

During his 15-year career, Thon spent two seasons with the Angels ( 1979 – 1980 ), seven seasons with the Houston Astros ( 1981 – 1987 ), one season with the San Diego Padres ( 1988 ), three seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies ( 1989 – 1991 ), one season with the Texas Rangers ( 1992 ), and finished his career with the Milwaukee Brewers ( 1993 ).

While a member of the Houston Astros in the late 1980s, he finished three times in the top ten in National League MVP balloting (, & ).

He finished the year with a 12 – 10 record for the Astros, who finished with a franchise-worst 64 – 97 record.

Despite this, he finished the game with a 13-strikeout performance in a 2 – 1 Astros victory.

Richard finished fifth in the league in walks allowed, with his first sub-100 total since he became a mainstay starter with the Astros.

That year, the Astros finished. 500 ( 81-81 ) for the first time in club history, and Wilson struck out 235 batters ( his career best in a brief career ) in 225 innings in fashioning a 16 – 12 record.

* Requiring the Houston Astros to move to the American League ( 2013 ), as a condition of the sale of the team to Jim Crane, resulting in an odd number of teams in each league and interleague play throughout the season

They led the Wild Card by 1. 5 games over San Francisco and Houston on September 25, and both of those teams lost that day, giving the Cubs a chance at increasing the lead to a commanding 2. 5 games with only eight games remaining in the season, but reliever LaTroy Hawkins blew a save to the Mets, and the Cubs lost the game in extra innings, a defeat that seemingly deflated the team, as they proceeded to drop 6 of their last 8 games as the Astros won the Wild Card.

On May 24, Kazuo Matsui, former Rockies second baseman during the 2007 championship season, was resigned to the club following his unconditional release from the Houston Astros.

With new manager Grady Hatton the Astros started the 1966 season strong.

As the season came to a close, the Astros found themselves again in ninth place and with a winning percentage below. 500.

The Astros ' batting average was up by 19 points compared to the season before.

Cesar Cedeno led the club with 81 RBIs and the league with 40 doubles, but batted just. 264 and had 102 strikeouts in his second season with the Astros.

The 1975 season was the introduction of the Astros new uniforms.

The Astros played. 500 ball under Virdon in the last 34 games of the season.

The 1979 season would prove to be a big turnaround in Astros history.

The Astros were playing great baseball throughout the season.

The Astros and Reds battled the final month of the season.

The Astros held a three game lead over the Dodgers with three games left in the season against the Dodgers.

Before the 1983 season, the Astros traded Danny Heep to the Mets for pitcher Mike Scott, a 28-year-old who had struggled with New York.

Prior to the start of the season the Astros acquired outfielder Billy Hatcher from the Cubs for Jerry Mumphrey.

With their season on the line, the Astros would nonetheless rally for two runs to come to within 7 – 6.

In the 1998 season, the Astros set a team record with 102 victories.

Final Astros regular season game ( in the Astrodome ) on October 3, 1999

Watson would leave the Astros after the 1995 season to become general manager of the New York Yankees and helped to lead the Yankees to a World Championship in 1996.

Roger Clemens, who had retired after the season with the New York Yankees, agreed to join former teammate Pettitte on the Astros for 2004.

The Astros enjoyed a 46 – 26 record in the second half of the season under Garner and earned the NL wild card spot.

The Astros won a wild card berth on the final day of the regular season, becoming the first team since the world champion 1914 Boston Braves to qualify for the postseason after being 15 games under. 500.

A dramatic season end included wins in 10 of their last 12 games, but the Astros missed a playoff appearance when they lost the final game of the season to the Atlanta Braves.