The Houston Astros are a professional baseball franchise based in Houston, Texas. They are a member of the American League West Division in Major League Baseball. The team joined MLB in 1962 as an expansion team named the Houston Colt .45s and changed their name to the Houston Astros in 1965. The team won their first NL Championship in 2005. Having first played in Colt Stadium (1962–1964), and later in The Astrodome, now known as the Reliant Astrodome (1965–1999), the Astros have played their home games at Minute Maid Park, which was first named The Ballpark at Union Station, since 2000.[1][2] The current manager is Joe Espada.
There have been 25 managers for the Astros franchise.[3] The team's first manager was Harry Craft, who managed for three seasons. Bill Virdon is the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular-season games managed (1066) and the most regular-season game wins (544). Dusty Baker is the franchise's all-time leader in career playoff games managed (53) and playoff games won (34). Salty Parker is the Astros' all-time leader for the highest regular-season winning percentage, as he has only managed one game, which he won. Of the managers who have managed a minimum of 162 games (one season), Baker has the highest regular-season winning percentage with .594.[3] Leo Durocher is the only Astros manager to have been elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Durocher and Baker each achieved their 2,000th managerial win with the Astros.[4] Garner, Hinch, and Baker are the only managers to have won league pennants with the franchise, Garner winning one in the National League in 2005, Hinch winning two in the American League in 2017 and 2019, and Baker winning two in 2021 and 2022. Larry Dierker is the only Astros manager to have had his uniform number retired by the Astros, with his uniform number 49 retired by the Astros in 2002.[5] Dierker is also the sixth manager in MLB history to win a division championship in his first season for the Astros in 1997.[5] Lanier and Dierker are the only managers to have won a Manager of the Year Award with the Astros, winning it in 1986 and 1998 respectively.[6] Grady Hatton, Lanier, Dierker, and Cooper have spent their entire managing careers with the Astros.
Key
edit| # | Number of managers[a] |
| GM | Regular-season games managed |
| W | Regular-season wins |
| L | Regular-season losses |
| Win% | Regular-season winning percentage |
| PGM | Playoff games managed |
| PW | Playoff wins |
| PL | Playoff losses |
| PWin% | Playoff winning percentage |
| * | Spent entire MLB managing career with the Colt .45s / Astros[3] |
| ** | Interim manager only[3] |
| *** | Acting manager during manager's medical leave of absence |
| † | Elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame as a manager[4] |
| § | Number retired by the Colt .45s / Astros franchise[5] |
Managers
editNote: Statistics are correct as of the end of the 2024 season.
| # | Image | Manager | Years | Games | Wins | Losses | Pct. | PA | PW | PWL | Pct. | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harry Craft | 1962–1964 | 471 | 191 | 280 | .406 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2 | Luman Harris | 1964–1965 | 175 | 70 | 105 | .400 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 3 | Grady Hatton* | 1966–1968 | 385 | 164 | 221 | .426 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 4 | Harry Walker | 1968–1972 | 708 | 355 | 353 | .501 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 5 | Salty Parker** | 1972 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 6 | Leo Durocher† | 1972–1973 | 193 | 98 | 95 | .508 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 7 | Preston Gómez | 1974–1975 | 289 | 128 | 161 | .443 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 8 | Bill Virdon | 1975–1982 | 1,066 | 544 | 522 | .510 | 10 | 4 | 6 | .400 | ||
| 9 | Bob Lillis | 1982–1985 | 537 | 276 | 261 | .514 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 10 | Hal Lanier* | 1986–1988 | 486 | 254 | 232 | .523 | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 | 1986 NL Manager of the Year[6] | |
| 11 | Art Howe | 1989–1993 | 810 | 392 | 418 | .484 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 12 | Terry Collins | 1994–1996 | 421 | 224 | 197 | .532 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 13 | Larry Dierker*§ | 1997–2001 | 810 | 448 | 362 | .553 | 14 | 2 | 12 | .143 | 1998 NL Manager of the Year[6] | |
| 14 | Matt Galante*** | 1999 | 27 | 13 | 14 | .481 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 15 | Jimy Williams | 2002–2004 | 412 | 215 | 197 | .522 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 16 | Phil Garner | 2004–2007 | 529 | 277 | 252 | .524 | 26 | 13 | 13 | .500 | 2005 NL championship | |
| 17 | Cecil Cooper* | 2007–2009 | 341 | 171 | 170 | .501 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 18 | Dave Clark** | 2009 | 13 | 4 | 9 | .308 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 19 | Brad Mills* | 2010–2012 | 445 | 171 | 274 | .384 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 20 | Tony DeFrancesco** | 2012 | 41 | 16 | 25 | .390 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 21 | Bo Porter* | 2013–2014 | 300 | 110 | 190 | .367 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 22 | Tom Lawless** | 2014 | 24 | 11 | 13 | .458 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 23 | A. J. Hinch | 2015–2019 | 810 | 481 | 329 | .594 | 50 | 28 | 22 | .560 | 2017 World Series Champion 2019 AL championship | |
| 24 | Dusty Baker | 2020–2023 | 546 | 320 | 226 | .586 | 53 | 34 | 19 | .642 | 2022 World Series Champion 2021 AL championship | |
| 25 | Joe Espada | 2024–present | 161 | 88 | 73 | .547 | — | — | — | — |
Notes
editReferences
edit- General
- "Astros All-Time Managers". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media, L.P. Archived from the original on 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2008-12-26.
- "Astros Year-by-year Results". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media, L.P. Archived from the original on 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2008-12-26.
- "Houston Astros History & Encyclopedia". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 2011-04-06. Retrieved 2008-12-26.
- Specific
- ^ "Astros History". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media, L.P. Archived from the original on 2008-12-19. Retrieved 2008-12-16.
- ^ "Front Office". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media, L.P. Archived from the original on 2019-04-26. Retrieved 2012-08-19.
- ^ a b c d "Houston Astros Managerial Register". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 2015-03-22. Retrieved 2015-03-04.
- ^ a b "Members of the Baseball Hall of Fame and Their Year of Induction". BaseballHallofFame.com. National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc. Archived from the original on 2008-12-06. Retrieved 2008-12-26.
- ^ a b c "Astros Retired Numbers". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media, L.P. Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2008-12-26.
- ^ a b c "Manager of the Year Award Winners". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 2000-09-25. Retrieved 2008-12-26.