2000 Houston Astros season
| 2000 Houston Astros | |
|---|---|
| League | National League |
| Division | Central |
| Ballpark | Enron Field |
| City | Houston, Texas |
| Record | 72–90 (.444) |
| Divisional place | 4th |
| Owners | Drayton McLane, Jr. |
| General managers | Gerry Hunsicker |
| Managers | Larry Dierker |
| Television | KNWS-TV FSN Southwest (Bill Brown, Jim Deshaies, Bill Worrell) |
| Radio | KTRH (Milo Hamilton, Alan Ashby) KXYZ (Francisco Ernesto Ruiz, Alex Treviño) |
The 2000 Houston Astros season was the 39th season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 36th as the Astros, 39th in the National League (NL), seventh in the NL Central division, and first at Enron Field, later christened as Minute Maid Park. The Astros entered the season as three-time defending NL Central champions with a 97–65 record in their final season at The Astrodome. However, their season ended in a 3-games-to-1 defeat by the Atlanta Braves in the 1999 National League Division Series (NLDS), also the NL pennant winners.
The season commenced for the Astros on April 4 at Three Rivers Stadium, where pitcher Shane Reynolds made his fifth of five consecutive Opening Day starts for the Astros, who defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5–2. The Astros hosted the Philadelphia Phillies on April 7 for the first regular season game played at Enron Field, but lost, 4–1. In the amateur draft, their first round selection was right-handed pitcher Robert Stiehl, at 27th overall, and in the second round, right-hander Chad Qualls.
Reynolds also represented the Astros at the MLB All-Star Game and played for the National League, his only career selection. On August 19, first baseman Jeff Bagwell connected for his 300th home run, becoming the 87th major leaguer to reach the milestone. On September 12, Richard Hidalgo became the 11th major leaguer to log an extra-base hit in 10 consecutive games.
With a 72–90 finish in fourth place and 23 games behind the division-champion St. Louis Cardinals, it ended eight consecutive seasons with a record of .500 or better, and seven consecutive winning seasons, both the longest runs in franchise history. Between 1992 and 2008, Houston's only other regular season record below .500 occurred in 2007.
In spite of the downturn of 25 wins from the season prior, a number franchise records records fell during the inaugural season of Enron Field, including both in runs scored (938) and runs allowed (944), home runs hit (249) and attendance, among others. For the first time in Astros history, fans surpassed 3 million in attendance at 3.056,139, and the team exceeded the 900-run threshold in either category. The 249 home runs hit also established an NL record, which stood until 2019, when it was eclipsed by the Los Angeles Dodgers.