The 1999 Houston Astros season was the 38th season for the

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

(MLB) franchise in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

. The Astros won their third consecutive National League Central division title on the final day of playing regular season games in the Astrodome on October 3. This was the first time they had made the postseason in three straight seasons; they would not do so again until 2019. It was the 35th and final season playing in the Astrodome as their home ballpark.

Offseason

* November 17, 1998:

Ken Caminiti Kenneth Gene Caminiti (April 21, 1963 – October 10, 2004) was an American third baseman who spent 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Houston Astros (1987–1994, 1999–2000), San Diego Padres (1995–1998), Texas Rangers ( ...

was signed as a free agent by the Astros. * January 19, 1999: Ryan Thompson was signed as a free agent by the Astros. * January 21, 1999: Alex Diaz was signed as a free agent by the Astros.Alex Diaz
at ''Baseball-Reference''

Regular season

New stadium

In 1999, the Astros played their final season in the Astrodome as their new stadium was being prepared for play to begin in the 2000 season. The ballpark was first named as

Enron Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was founded by Kenneth Lay in 1985 as a merger between Lay's Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both relatively small regional compani ...

Field on April 9, 1999, with

naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of ...

sold to the Houston energy and financial trading company in a 30-year, $100 million deal. 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, renaming the ballpark as Astros Field on February 7, 2002. The field was unofficially known as "The Field Formerly Known As Enron" by fans and critics alike, in wake of the Enron scandal. On June 5, 2002, Houston-based

Minute Maid Minute Maid is a product line of beverages, usually associated with lemonade or orange juice, but which now extends to soft drinks of different kinds, including Hi-C. Minute Maid is sold under the Cappy brand in Central Europe and under the bran ...

, the fruit-juice subsidiary of

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance bar, temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pembe ...

, acquired the naming rights to the stadium for 28 years at a price exceeding $100 million. Based on its downtown location next to the old Union Station buildings, one of the suggested names (and nicknames) is the Ballpark at Union Station, or the BUS. During its days as Enron Field, it was also dubbed "Ten-Run" or "Home Run" Field due to its cozy left-field dimensions. In keeping with this theme while paying homage to its current sponsor, the

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

"The Juice Box" is colloquially used today.

Overview

On April 21, Jeff Bagwell hit three

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s in a 10–3 win against the Chicago Cubs at

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago ...

, his second career three-home run game. The second home run allowed him to surpass

Jimmy Wynn James Sherman Wynn (March 12, 1942March 26, 2020), nicknamed "The Toy Cannon", was an American professional baseball player. He played 15 seasons as a center fielder; he spent ten of his fifteen seasons with the Houston Colt .45s / Astros before ...

as the Astros' all-time home run leader at 224 and he tied a career-high in one game with six

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the b ...

(RBI). He produced another three-home run game on June 9 against the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

. He was also a grand slam short of hitting for the "home run cycle," with a solo home run, a three-run home run, and a two-run home run, respectively. The two three-home run games made him the only player to accomplish this feat at two different stadiums in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

in the same season. On August 20, Bagwell walked a major-league record six times in a 16-inning game against the Florida Marlins.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

* August 3, 1999: Josh Dimmick (minors) was traded by the Astros to the Minnesota Twins for George Williams.George Williams
at ''Baseball-Reference'' * August 31, 1999: Alex Diaz was released by the Astros.

Roster

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''

Other batters

''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

Pitching

Starting pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Other pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Relief pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

National League Divisional Playoffs

Atlanta Braves vs. Houston Astros

Atlanta wins series, 3-1

Farm system

References

External links

1999 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference
{{Houston Astros Houston Astros seasons Houston Astros season National League Central champion seasons Houston Astros