2009 Houston Astros season
| 2009 Houston Astros | |
|---|---|
| League | National League |
| Division | Central |
| Ballpark | Minute Maid Park |
| City | Houston, Texas |
| Record | 74–88 (.457) |
| Divisional place | 5th |
| Owners | Drayton McLane, Jr. |
| General managers | Ed Wade |
| Managers | Cecil Cooper, Dave Clark (interim) |
| Television | FSN Houston (Bill Brown, Jim Deshaies) |
| Radio | KTRH (Milo Hamilton, Brett Dolan, Dave Raymond) KLAT (Spanish) |
| Stats | ESPN.com Baseball Reference |
The 2009 Houston Astros season was the 48th season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 45th as the Astros, 48th in the National League (NL), 16th in the NL Central division, and 10th at Minute Maid Park. The Astros entered the season with a 86–75 record, in third place in the NL Central division and 12 games behind the first-place Chicacgo Cubs. It was the 14th winning season out of the previous 16 for the Astros.
On April 6, pitcher Roy Oswalt made his seventh consecutive Opening Day start as the Astros hosted the Cubs, but were defeated, 4–2. In the amateur draft, the Astros selected shortstop Jio Mier in the first round at 21st overall, shortstop Enrique Hernández in the sixth round, pitcher Dallas Keuchel in the seventh round, and outfielder J. D. Martinez in the 20th round.
Two Astros players realized significant career milestones on June 13—Lance Berkman slugged his 300th home run, while Miguel Tejada collected his 2,000th hit.
Right fielder Hunter Pence and Tejada (shortstop) represented the Astros at the MLB All-Star Game and played for the National League. This was the sixth career selection for Tejada, and first for Pence.
The Astros concluded the 2009 season with a 74–88 record, in fifth place in the NL Central, and 17 games behind the division-leading St. Louis Cardinals. This was the first of six consecutive losing seasons for Houston, through 2014. The only other occurrence in franchise history with as many consecutive losing seasons was in their first seven years in existence, from 1962—1968.
Center fielder Michael Bourne was awarded with his second career Gold Glove following the season.