List of Houston Astros seasons
This is a list of seasons completed by the Houston Astros, originally known as the Houston Colt .45s, professional baseball franchise; they played in the National League from their inception in 1962 to the 2012 season; in 2013, the team was moved to the American League.
The Astros have completed 56 seasons in Major League Baseball, qualifying for the postseason eleven times and reaching the World Series three times (2005, 2017 and 2019). Established as an expansion franchise in 1962, the team's first winning season was in 1972. In 1980 the Astros made their first postseason appearance. From 1997–2005, the team made postseason appearances in six out of nine seasons. From 2006 to 2013 the franchise experienced a steady decline with consecutive 100-loss seasons in 2011, 2012 and 2013. In 2015 the team defeated the New York Yankees in the 2015 American League Wild Card Game. This was the Astros' first postseason appearance as an American League team, and first overall since 2005. It was also the Astros' first playoff win since Game 6 of the 2005 National League Championship Series. Houston would qualify for the playoffs again in 2017, defeating the Boston Red Sox in the 2017 American League Division Series and the New York Yankees in the 2017 American League Championship Series. The team would go on to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2017 World Series, winning the championship for the first time in team history. However, it was later revealed in the Houston Astros' sign stealing scandal that the Astros had cheated in some portions of the 2017 regular season. They are only team to have qualified for the World Series as a member of both leagues, and one of two to have qualified for the League Championship Series in both leagues (the Milwaukee Brewers are the other team to have the same distinction as far as the League Championship Series goes).
As of 2019, through 59 seasons of baseball, the Astros have recorded 33 seasons at .500 or better, 29 of which have been winning campaigns, and have qualified for the playoffs 14 times. They are only the second team in the history of Wild Card era baseball to play in four consecutive League Championship Series.
Regular season record-by-year
| World Series Champions (1903–present) † |
NL/AL Champions (1901–present)[1] * |
Division Champions (1969–present) ^ |
Wild Card Berth (1994–present) ¤ |
Winning Season |
A The Astros finished the season tied for first place with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Houston defeated the Dodgers, 7–1, in a one-game playoff to clinch the division title.[3]
B The 1981 Major League Baseball strike caused the season to be split into two halves. The Astros earned a berth in an expanded postseason tournament by finishing in first place in their division in the second half of the season. The Los Angeles Dodgers had finished the first half in first place to earn the division's other playoff berth.
C The 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike, which started on August 12, 1994, led to the cancellation of the playoffs and World Series.
D The 1994–95 MLB strike lasted until April 2, 1995, causing the shortening of the 1995 season to 144 games.
E In a rare occurrence, because he was traded mid-season, Zack Greinke technically won both his Gold Glove and DPOY Award in the NL, despite stats from the latter third of the season, which he spent with the Astros in the AL, also factoring into the awards. He also won a Silver Slugger; however, due to the designated hitter option, he had no offensive stats from the AL to factor into this award, so, unlike the others, it is not considered part of his Astros resume for the year.
Record by decade
The following table describes the Astros' MLB win–loss record by decade.
| Decade | Wins | Losses | Pct |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 555 | 739 | .429 |
| 1970s | 793 | 817 | .493 |
| 1980s | 819 | 750 | .522 |
| 1990s | 813 | 742 | .523 |
| 2000s | 832 | 787 | .514 |
| 2010s | 789 | 831 | .487 |
| 2020s | 29 | 31 | .483 |
| All-time | 4630 | 4697 | .496 |
These statistics are from Baseball-Reference.com's Houston Astros History & Encyclopedia,[4] and are current through 2020.
Postseason appearances
| Year | Wild Card Game/Series | LDS | LCS | World Series | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | None (Won NL West)[A] | Philadelphia Phillies | L (2–3) | ||||||||
| 1981 | None[B] | Los Angeles Dodgers | L (2–3) | ||||||||
| 1986 | None (Won NL West) | New York Mets | L (2–4) | ||||||||
| 1997 | None (Won NL Central) | Atlanta Braves | L (0–3) | ||||||||
| 1998 | None (Won NL Central) | San Diego Padres | L (1–3) | ||||||||
| 1999 | None (Won NL Central) | Atlanta Braves | L (1–3) | ||||||||
| 2001 | None (Won NL Central) | Atlanta Braves | L (0–3) | ||||||||
| 2004 | None (Won NL Wild Card) | Atlanta Braves | W (3–2) | St. Louis Cardinals | L (3–4) | ||||||
| 2005 | None (Won NL Wild Card) | Atlanta Braves | W (3–1) | St. Louis Cardinals | W (4–2) | Chicago White Sox | L (0–4) | ||||
| 2015 | New York Yankees W | Kansas City Royals | L (2–3) | ||||||||
| 2017 | Bye (Won AL West) | Boston Red Sox | W (3–1) | New York Yankees | W (4–3) | Los Angeles Dodgers | W (4–3) | ||||
| 2018 | Bye (Won AL West) | Cleveland Indians | W (3–0) | Boston Red Sox | L (1–4) | ||||||
| 2019 | Bye (Won AL West) | Tampa Bay Rays | W (3–2) | New York Yankees | W (4–2) | Washington Nationals | L (3–4) | ||||
| 2020 | Minnesota Twins | W (2–0) | Oakland Athletics | W (3–1) | Tampa Bay Rays | L (3–4) | |||||
Post-season record by year
This is the post-season record for the Astros.
| Year | Finish | Round | Opponent | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W/L | W | L | ||||
| 1980 | NL West Champions | NLCS | Philadelphia Phillies | Lost | 2 | 3 |
| 1981 | 2nd half NL West Champions | NLDS | Los Angeles Dodgers | Lost | 2 | 3 |
| 1986 | NL West Champions | NLCS | New York Mets | Lost | 2 | 4 |
| 1997 | NL Central Champions | NLDS | Atlanta Braves | Lost | 0 | 3 |
| 1998 | NL Central Champions | NLDS | San Diego Padres | Lost | 1 | 3 |
| 1999 | NL Central Champions | NLDS | Atlanta Braves | Lost | 1 | 3 |
| 2001 | NL Central Champions | NLDS | Atlanta Braves | Lost | 0 | 3 |
| 2004 | NL Wild Card Champions | NLDS | Atlanta Braves | Won | 3 | 2 |
| NLCS | St. Louis Cardinals | Lost | 3 | 4 | ||
| 2005 | National League Champions | NLDS | Atlanta Braves | Won | 3 | 1 |
| NLCS | St Louis Cardinals | Won | 4 | 2 | ||
| WS | Chicago White Sox | Lost | 0 | 4 | ||
| 2015 | AL Wild Card Champions | ALWC | New York Yankees | Won | 1 | 0 |
| ALDS | Kansas City Royals | Lost | 2 | 3 | ||
| 2017 | World Series Champions | ALDS | Boston Red Sox | Won | 3 | 1 |
| ALCS | New York Yankees | Won | 4 | 3 | ||
| WS | Los Angeles Dodgers | Won | 4 | 3 | ||
| 2018 | AL West Champions | ALDS | Cleveland Indians | Won | 3 | 0 |
| ALCS | Boston Red Sox | Lost | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2019 | American League Champions | ALDS | Tampa Bay Rays | Won | 3 | 2 |
| ALCS | New York Yankees | Won | 4 | 2 | ||
| WS | Washington Nationals | Lost | 3 | 4 | ||
| 2020 | American League West 2nd Place |
ALWC | Minnesota Twins | Won | 2 | 0 |
| ALDS | Oakland Athletics | Won | 3 | 1 | ||
| ALCS | Tampa Bay Rays | Lost | 3 | 4 | ||
| 14 | Totals | 12–13 | 57 | 62 | ||
Footnotes
- For lists of all National League pennant winners see National League pennant winners 1901-68, and National League Championship Series
- "Houston Astros year-by-year results". MLB.com. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
- "Houston Astros at Los Angeles Dodgers Box Score, October 6, 1980". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
- "Houston Astros History & Encyclopedia". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 18, 2016.