Pitcher Darryl Kile ( who died in 2002 ) signed as a free agent in the offseason, struggled in Colorado, going 13 – 17 with a 5. 20 ERA — a far cry from his numbers the prior year as a member of the Houston Astros, when he went 19 – 7 with a 2. 57 ERA.

Major losses were all to free agency ( second baseman Kaz Matsui went to the Houston Astros and pitcher Josh Fogg went to the Cincinnati Reds ).

The NLCS game six win was sixteen innings long, the longest playoff game in history until the Braves and Astros went 18 innings in 2005.

Closer Robb Nen had pitched despite a damaged shoulder, an injury which eventually ended his career ( retired ), and Jeff Kent was not re-signed ( he went to play for the Houston Astros ).

The Padres went on to defeat the Houston Astros in the 1998 NLDS, 3 games to 1, behind solid pitching by Brown, Sterling Hitchcock and Hoffman, and home runs by Greg Vaughn, Wally Joyner and Jim Leyritz ( who homered in 3 of the 4 games ).

Caminiti, a free agent went to the Houston Astros.

In the 1980 NLCS versus the Philadelphia Phillies, Ryan pitched well in Game 2, leaving the game tied 2 – 2 in the seventh ( having contributed to both Astros runs with a run scored following a walk, and a sacrifice bunt leading to a run ) but again got a no decision in a game that went extra innings.

* Bill Virdon, former outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals, later went on to be manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees, Houston Astros and Montreal Expos

Astros management faced a public relations nightmare when the energy corporation went bankrupt in the midst of one of the biggest corporate scandals in American history in 2001, and they bought back the remainder of Enron's thirty years of naming rights for $ 2. 1 million, rechristening the ballpark as Astros Field on February 7, 2002.

The Astros went on to win the game 7 – 4.

The broken kneecap forced Morgan out of the lineup for 40 games, during which the Astros went 11-29 ( for a. 275 winning percentage ).

Power-hitting Lee May, All-Star second baseman Tommy Helms, and outfielder / pinch hitter Jimmy Stewart went to the Astros.

At the beginning of the regular season, he went 0 for 10 in a 24-inning affair with the Houston Astros that saw his batting average go from. 313 to. 192.

He faced the Mets for the first time in his career on April 24, and went two for three with a walk and a run scored in the Astros ' 4-2 victory.

In the 1986 post-season, Aguilera went on to pitch five scoreless innings in relief against the Houston Astros in the NLCS.

The game went into extra innings, but the Astros ' good fortune turned sour when Jim Edmonds, who hit 42 home runs in the regular season, hit a walk-off homer in the bottom of the twelfth, sending the series to a Game 7 showdown.

After defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3 games to 1, in the National League Division Series, and the Houston Astros, 4 games to 3, in the NLCS, they went to the World Series for the first time since 1987, where they played the Boston Red Sox, but were swept.

The Cincinnati Reds won the National League West division by games over both the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Houston Astros, then defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates, three games to two, in the National League Championship Series, marking the first year in which an LCS series in either league went the full five games since divisional play was introduced in 1969.

* The Astros went from 15-30 to the 2005 World Series.

Oswalt was ejected from the game, as the Astros went on to lose, eleven to six.

In his last start of the season against the Astros, he went 7. 0 innings letting up one earned run with 7 strikeouts, with that encouraging start he gave the Mets more certainty that he can return to his ' 07 form in the 2010 season.

He got his first start two days later against the Houston Astros, but went 0-for-4.

The MVP award has been given to a player on the losing team twice, in 1986 to Mike Scott of the Houston Astros and in 1987 to Jeff Leonard of the San Francisco Giants.

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.

Grass would not grow in the new park, since the roof panels had been painted to reduce the glare that was causing players on both the Astros and the visiting teams to miss routine pop flies.

Long hair and loud colors were starting to appear on team uniforms, including the Astros '.

Cedeno also led the Astros with a. 320 batting average, 55 stolen bases and made spectacular plays on the field.

The uniform was so different from what other teams wore that the Astros wore it both at home and on the road until 1980.

Ford Motor Credit Company was still in control of the team and was looking to sell the Astros, but they were not going to spend money on better players.

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

The " Astros " font on the team logo was changed to a more aggressive one, and the team's traditional star logo was changed to a stylized, " flying " star with an open left end.

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

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

After being booed at the 2004 All-Star Game held in Houston, manager Jimy Williams was fired and replaced by Phil Garner, a star on the division-winning 1986 Astros.

Though he had asserted a desire to remain with the Astros, Beltrán signed a long-term contract with the New York Mets on January 9, 2005.

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.

On October 31, the Astros declined a contract option on Jeff Bagwell for 2007, ending his 15-year Astros career and leading to his retirement.

On December 27, the Astros came to terms on a deal with All-star, Gold Glove winner Darin Erstad.

On the other side of the roster, the Astros would start without Kazuo Matsui, who was on a minor league rehab assignment after a spring training injury.

Bench was the Reds ' catcher on April 30, 1969 when Maloney pitched a no hitter against the Houston Astros.

However, the Brewers were eliminated from postseason contention on Spetember 30, a 7-0 loss to the Houston Astros.

In a memorable NLCS, with four of the five games going into extra innings, they fell behind 2 – 1 but battled back to squeeze past the Houston Astros on a tenth-inning, game-winning hit by center fielder Garry Maddox, and the city celebrated its first pennant in 30 years.

Clemens chose to come out of retirement, signing a one-year deal with his adopted hometown Houston Astros on January 12,, joining close friend and former Yankees teammate Andy Pettitte.

The Astros declined arbitration to Clemens on December 7,, which prevented them from re-signing him before May 1,.

The Astros, Rangers, Red Sox, and Yankees expressed an interest in signing him, but Clemens implied that he was finally retiring after his Team USA was eliminated by Mexico in the second round from the 2006 World Baseball Classic on March 16, 2006.