. He also leads the staff with eleven wins and a 1.85 ERA.
1992 - Timeline
from This Date in Astros History
Jan 23 - Houston signs outfielder Pete Incaviglia and reliever Doug Jones as free agents. Jones would become the club MVP that season, leading the team with 11 wins and 36 saves with a 1.85 ERA. He either won or saved over half of Houston's victories that year. Incaviglia wasn't too bad either, hitting .266 with 11 homers in part-time duty while tying the club record with seven RBIs in a game against the Giants.
Jan 27 - In a rare spending spree, the Astros sign four free agents, pitchers Joe Boever and Rob Murphy along with infielders Ernest Riles and Denny Walling. It's the end of the line for Walling who spent eleven years previously in Houston, a vital man in two division champions during the eighties. He's forced out with a knee injury after three at bats. None of the others are in Houston the following season.
Feb 03 - Two years after it was first disclosed that Dr. John McMullen is looking to sell the Astros, he is no closer to finding a buyer. Complicating matters are a $100 million dollar bid from a Japanese group for the Seattle Mariners and McMullen's minority stake in a horse racing track to be built outside of Houston. Another group is offering to buy the team and move it to Washington, DC. McMullen, who had earlier nixed an $86 million dollar offer for the club, says the record price for the Mariners is not too high. He cites the Denver and Miami expansion clubs, to begin play in 1993, paid $95 million dollars apiece to join.
Feb 26 - Outfielder Luis Gonzalez breaks two bones in his nose when he is struck by a pitching machine during indoor drills. The machine had one pitch left when Gonzo began picking up balls around the batting cage.
Mar 02 - Astros' broadcaster Milo Hamilton is named the annual Ford C. Frick Award winner for major contributions to baseball. He will be honored in July at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. Hamilton becomes the 16th announcer to win the award since it began.
Mar 09 - Democratic presidential contender Bill Clinton stops by the Astros training camp for pictures and autographs prior to an exhibition game with the Boston Red Sox. Florida and Texas both have primaries the next day. Clinton does not stay for the game.
Apr 18 - Jeff Bagwell slams a two-run tenth-inning shot off Randy Myers to claim a 4-2 win over San Diego. Craig Biggio has four hits.
May 03 - Steve Finley's home run in the bottom of the eighth gives the Astros a 1-0 triumph against the Pirates. Four pitchers combine on a four-hitter with Al Osuna getting the win.
May 10 - Jeff Bagwell comes off the bench to club a solo homer in the eighth that ties the Pirates at 4-4. He then tags Roger Mason in the tenth with another blast to cap a 6-4 victory.
Jun 05 - Jeff Bagwell tags Jeff Brantley with a two-run homer in the ninth to stun the Giants, 5-4. Xavier Hernandez is the surprise winner with Doug Jones notching his 14th save.
Jun 14 - Pete Incaviglia ties the club record with seven RBIs as the Astros drub the Giants, 15-7, at the Astrodome. "Inky" swats a three-run homer off Dave Righetti and a two-run shot off Dave Burba before belting a two-run double off Burba to complete his day. Eric Anthony adds three hits.
Jun 19 - Luis Gonzalez blasts a solo homer off Jim Gott in the 12th to shock the Dodgers, 2-1. Eric Anthony had gone deep early to tie it. Joe Boever tosses two perfect innings for the win.
Jun 20 - Everyone is talking about the Jones boys as they outpitch Orel Hershiser and Los Angeles, 1-0. Doug Jones picks up the victory after Jimmy Jones scatters six hits over eight frames. Eric Anthony drives home Luis Gonzalez with the only run in the bottom of the ninth.
Jun 21 - Pete Incaviglia slams a two-run shot while Butch Henry and Doug Jones combine to blank the Dodgers for a 2-0 victory. The series sweep sees Los Angeles held scoreless for 24 consecutive innings. Jones notches his 16th save of the season.
Jun 28 - A morning earthquake shakes the Astros before an 8-2 loss in Los Angeles. Willie Blair is rattled for five runs early. Ken Caminiti is one of the few Astros focused as he pounds out four hits.
Jun 29 - Benny Distefano smacks a pinch-hit three run triple off Rob Dibble in the bottom of the eighth to stun the Reds, 4-3. Al Osuna gets the gift victory.
Jul 05 - Eric Anthony tags Jeff Innis with a two-run bomb as Houston blanks the Mets, 2-0, in ten innings. Four Astro pitchers share the four-hit shutout. Rob Murphy gets the win. Luis Gonzalez gets half of Houston's six hits.
Jul 21 - Juan Guerrero blasts a 12th-inning homer off Roger Mason to stun Pittsburgh, 4-3. It's the only long ball in Guerrero's big-league career. Houston tallies three in the bottom of the ninth to set up the heroics, keyed by two sacrifice flies and a double by Pete Incaviglia.
Jul 27 - The Astros begin a 28-day road trip with a 5-1 triumph in Atlanta. The 1,337-mile, eight-city odyssey is made to accomodate the Republican Party which is having their national convention at the Astrodome in August. Eric Anthony belts an 11th-inning grand slam off Alejandro Pena to get the excursion started on a positive note.
Jul 29 - Jeff Bagwell hits only the seventh Club Level home run in the history of Atlanta-Fulton Country stadium, a 440-foot blast off of Tom Glavine. It comes in a 5-3 loss to the Braves. Jimmy Jones is unable to hold an early 2-0 edge.
Aug 23 - Jimmy Jones and three relievers outpitch Curt Schilling, 3-1, completing a three-game sweep over the Phillies and ending a 26-game road trip. Houston is 12-14 on the marathon tour. They manage just four hits off Schilling but two of them are RBI singles by Luis Gonzalez and Jeff Bagwell to give Jones all the runs he needs.
Aug 25 - Shortstop Andujar Cedeno, recalled from AAA earlier in day, hits for the cycle but Houston still loses to St. Louis, 5-3, in 13 innings. It's the fourth time in club history an Astro has accomplished the feat and the third time by a player named Cedeno.
Sep 15 - Jeff Bagwell drills a three-run blast off Steve Reed in the bottom of the 11th to slay the Giants, 9-6. It's Bagwell's fifth hit of the night. Earlier, Steve Finley had taken San Francisco closer Rod Beck deep in the ninth to send the match to extra innings.
Sep 27 - Shane Reynolds gets his first big league victory in a 4-2 triumph in Los Angeles. Reynolds contributes a double and scores a run. Andujar Cedeno drives in a pair to key the offense.
Oct 03 - Mike Simms drives home Craig Biggio in the 13th for a 3-2 victory over the Dodgers. Jose Cruz (#25) and Mike Scott (#33) have their jersies retired, the first two not to be honored posthumously by the ballclub.
Oct 04 - Astros sweep Los Angeles, 3-0, to finish a surprising 81-81. Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell and Steve Finley play in all 162 games. Doug Jones notches a record 36th save . He also leads the staff with eleven wins and a 1.85 ERA.
Nov 03 - Nolan Ryan adorns the City Hall of his hometown Alvin, TX. The pitching legend is shown wearing the uniform of the Texas Rangers where he finishes his career rather than the uniform of nearby Houston where he toiled for nine seasons.
Nov 17 - Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies choose in the first N.L. expansion draft since 1969. Houston loses pitcher Ryan Bowen to the Marlins and pitchers Willie Blair and Butch Henry to the Rockies who also tab future Astros Vinny Castilla and Brad Ausmus. The Astros deal two prospects to the Marlins for reliever Tom Edens.
Dec 01 - Doug Drabek, a former pitcher for the University of Houston, signs with the Astros as a free agent. Although unable to resume the glory days he had in Pittsburgh, Drabek notches a 38-42 record and 4.00 ERA over four seasons with Houston.
Dec 04 - Lefthander Greg Swindell is signed as a free agent, the second major free agent acquisition for Houston in a week. The former University of Texas star has compiled a 72-63 mark over seven seasons in Cleveland and Cincinnati. At age 27, he seems poised to enter his most productive years.