1983 Houston Astros Season
The Houston Astros' 1983 season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Houston Astros attempting to win the National League West. Offseason * December 10, 1982: Danny Heep was traded by the Astros to the New York Mets for Mike Scott (baseball), Mike Scott. * January 11, 1983: Troy Afenir was drafted by the Astros in the 1st round (11th pick) of the 1983 Major League Baseball draft (Secondary Phase). * March 31, 1983: Alan Knicely was traded by the Astros to the Cincinnati Reds for Bill Dawley and Tony Walker (outfielder), Tony Walker. Regular season * April 17, 1983: Nolan Ryan struck out Andre Dawson for the 3500th strikeout in his career. * April 27, 1983: Nolan Ryan struck out Brad Mills (infielder), Brad Mills of the 1983 Montreal Expos season, Expos to break Walter Johnson's all time mark for strikeouts in a career. Mills was the 3,509th strikeout of Ryan's career. Season standings Record vs. opponents Notable transactions * June 6, 1983: Robbie Wine ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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National League West
The National League West is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. This division was formed for the 1969 season when the National League expanded to 12 teams by adding the San Diego Padres and the Montreal Expos. For purpose of keeping a regular-season of 162 games, half of the teams were put into the new National League East, East Division and half into the new West Division. Within each division, the teams played 18 games each against their five division mates (90 games), and also 12 games against the teams in the opposite division (72 games), totaling 162 games. Geography Despite the geography, the owners of the Chicago Cubs insisted that their team be placed into the East Division along with the teams in New York City, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. Also, the owners of the St. Louis Cardinals wanted that team to be in the same division with their natural rivals of the Cubs. The league could have insisted on a purely geographical alignment like the American League did. But ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Alan Knicely
Alan Lee Knicely (born May 19, 1955) is an American former professional baseball catcher, who played all or parts of eight seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1979 until 1986. He served mainly as a backup catcher for four teams during that time, while also playing some first base and outfield. Playing career Astros organization Early career Knicely was drafted by the Houston Astros in the third round (63rd overall) of the 1974 Major League Baseball Draft as a pitcher out of Turner Ashby High School in Bridgewater, VA. He slowly moved up through their farm system as far as Double-A, reaching that level in 1977. After going 1–5 with an ERA over 5.00 with the Columbus Astros of the Southern League, his conversion to a position player commenced. The next season, back at Columbus, he played mostly shortstop, but by 1979 he was playing mostly behind the plate. 1979: Breakout season Knicely played for Columbus once again in 1979, hitting 33 home runs and batting .289. H ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bob Knepper
Robert Wesley Knepper (born May 25, 1954) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. From 1976 to 1990, he pitched 15 seasons for the San Francisco Giants and Houston Astros, earning two All-Star appearances as well as the 1981 NL Comeback Player of the Year award. He gained notoriety with his 1988 remarks disparaging umpire Pam Postema, the National Organization for Women, and gay people. Biography Born in Akron, Ohio, his family moved to the Napa Valley when he was nine years old, where he attended Calistoga High School. Career In the September 1978 issue of ''Sport'', Jay Stuller wrote an extraordinarily positive article on Knepper, entitled, "You Can't Compare Him To Koufax...Yet". When Knepper's career failed to reach that standard, critics would later refer to that article and say, "You Can't Compare Him to Koufax...Ever." On December 8, 1980, Knepper was traded from the Giants along with Chris Bourjos to the Astros for Enos Cabell. Knepper welcomed the trade, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jeff Heathcock
Ronald Jeffrey "Jeff" Heathcock (born November 18, 1959) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. Heathcock played for the Houston Astros for four years, , , , and . Baseball career Heathcock was drafted three times in the MLB Draft: January 1979 by the Milwaukee Brewers (2nd round), June 1979 by the San Diego Padres (first round, 14th overall), and the Houston Astros in June 1980 (the first pick of the first round). He had gone to Golden West College in Huntington Beach, California before spending a year at Oral Roberts University. Heathcock first played in the minors with the Astros' single-A club in Daytona Beach in the Florida State League. He went 9-0 with a 1.27 ERA before being promoted to the Astros' AA club in Columbus with the Southern League. He went 4-7 with a 5.08 ERA. He stayed on the club the following year and went 13-13 with a 5.61 ERA, and he then went 4-4 with a 3.15 ERA in 1983 before being moved up to the Tucson Toros in the AAA Pacific Coast League, where ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Frank DiPino
Frank Michael DiPino (born October 22, 1956) is a former American professional baseball pitcher who played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, and Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). On September 7, 1982, DiPino struck out ten batters in five innings for his first Major League victory. On July 21, 1986, the Astros traded DiPino to the Cubs for Davey Lopes. DiPino was the winning pitcher for the Cubs in the first official night game played at Wrigley Field, on August 9, 1988. DiPino has the best batting average against for any pitcher who faced Tony Gwynn more than ten times. Gwynn, a lifetime .338 hitter, was .050, going 1 for 20 with three walks. As of 2013, DiPino was a pitching instructor for Perfect Practice of Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of N ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Danny Boone
Daniel Hugh Boone (born January 14, 1954) is a former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched parts of three seasons in Major League Baseball, appearing in 1981, 1982, and 1990. He is probably best known for the eight-year gap between his major league stints, and the improbable comeback that led him to his time with the Baltimore Orioles in 1990. Draft history Coming out of Cal State Fullerton, Boone was selected in the 2nd round of the 1976 Major League Baseball Draft by the then-California Angels. This was actually the fifth time Boone had been drafted, as he had been selected after each of his four years in college as well as the secondary phase draft in January 1976. It was also the third time he was drafted by the Angels, who selected him in both 1973 and 1974, but he only signed after this draft. NL career Boone's early promise went unfulfilled for several years, as he washed out of the Angels' system when he was released at the end of spring training in 1980. He was ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Robbie Wine
Robert Paul Wine, Jr. (born July 13, 1962) is an American former professional baseball player. A catcher, Wine played parts of two seasons in Major League Baseball for the Houston Astros in 1986 and 1987. He last played professional baseball in 1990. He was the head baseball coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions from 2005–2013. In 2014, Wine managed the Eugene Emeralds, a minor league team in the San Diego Padres organization. Early years Wine graduated from Methacton High School in Norristown, PA in 1980 where he was a stand-out catcher. Playing career Wine was an All-American catcher for the Oklahoma State Cowboys, where he played from 1981–1983. In 1982, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Wareham Gatemen of the Cape Cod Baseball League and was named a league all-star. He was drafted in the first round (8th overall) of the 1983 Major League Baseball draft by the Astros. After three seasons of minor league baseball, Wine made his major league debut on Septem ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Walter Johnson
Walter Perry Johnson (November 6, 1887 – December 10, 1946), nicknamed "Barney" and "The Big Train", was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year baseball career in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher for the Washington Senators from to . He later served as manager of the Senators from 1929 through 1932 and of the Cleveland Indians from 1933 through 1935. Often thought of as one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history, Johnson established several pitching records, some of which remain unbroken nine decades after he retired from baseball. He remains by far the all-time career leader in shutouts with 110, second in wins with 417, and fourth in complete games with 531. He held the career record in strikeouts for nearly 56 years, with 3,508, from the end of his career in 1927 until the 1983 season, when three players ( Steve Carlton, Nolan Ryan and Gaylord Perry) finally passed the mark. Johnson was the only player in t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1983 Montreal Expos Season
The 1983 Montreal Expos season was the 15th season in franchise history. They finished 82-80, 8 games back of the 1983 Philadelphia Phillies season, Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East. At the end of the season, the Expos had managed the best cumulative winning percentage in the National League from 1979 to 1983. Offseason * November 3, 1982: Bobby Ramos was purchased by the Expos from the New York Yankees. * December 23, 1982: Woodie Fryman was signed as a free agent with the Expos. * February 7, 1983: Jerry Manuel was traded by the Expos to the Chicago Cubs for Butch Benton. * March 31, 1983: Ken Phelps was purchased from the Expos by the Seattle Mariners. Spring training The Expos held spring training at West Palm Beach Municipal Stadium in West Palm Beach, Florida, West Palm Beach, Florida – a facility they shared with the Atlanta Braves. It was their seventh season at the stadium; they had conducted spring training there from 1969 Montreal Expos season, 1969 to 1972 Mon ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Brad Mills (infielder)
James Bradley Mills (born January 19, 1957) is a former Manager (baseball), manager of the Houston Astros and a former Major League Baseball (MLB) player. He is the father of retired professional baseball player Beau Mills. Early life Mills was educated at Exeter Union High School in California, College of the Sequoias, and the University of Arizona, where he was drafted in the 17th round by the Montreal Expos. Baseball career Playing career Mills reached the major leagues in 1980 and went on to post a .256 batting average (baseball), batting average with one home run and 12 run batted in, RBI in 106 games played for the Expos (1980–83). He divided his time between Triple-A and the majors in each of those seasons, and sustained a right knee injury that ended his playing career at the age of 29. A full-time left-handed hitter and primarily a third baseman, he also saw time at first base and second base, second. Mills became a part of major league trivia, when in 1983 he was Nol ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Andre Dawson
Andre Nolan Dawson (born July 10, 1954), nicknamed "The Hawk" and "Awesome Dawson", is an American former professional baseball player and inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame. During a 21-year baseball career, he played for four different teams as a center and right fielder, spending most of his career with the Montreal Expos (1976–1986) and Chicago Cubs (1987–1992). An 8-time National League (NL) All-Star, he was named the league's Rookie of the Year in 1977 after batting .282 with 19 home runs and 65 runs batted in (RBI), and won the Most Valuable Player Award in 1987 after leading the league with 49 homers and 137 RBI; he had been runner-up for the award in both 1981 and 1983. He batted .300 five times, drove in 100 runs four times and had 13 seasons of 20 home runs. A strong base-runner early in his career, he also stole 30 bases three times. He is one of eight MLB players with at least 300 home runs and 300 stolen bases during his career. Dawson was a center fie ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nolan Ryan
Lynn Nolan Ryan Jr. (born January 31, 1947), nicknamed "the Ryan Express", is an American former professional baseball pitcher and sports executive. Over a record 27-year playing career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanning four decades, Ryan pitched for the New York Mets, California Angels, Houston Astros, and Texas Rangers. After his retirement in 1993, Ryan served as chief executive officer (CEO) of the Texas Rangers and an executive advisor to the Houston Astros. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999,Pitching Splits and Daily Pitching Logs aRetrosheetanBaseball-Reference.com and is widely considered to be one of the best MLB pitchers of all time. Ryan was a right-handed pitcher who consistently threw pitches that were clocked above 100 miles per hour (161 km/h). He maintained this velocity throughout his pitching career. Ryan was also known to throw a devastating 12–6 curveball at exceptional velocity for a breaking ball. Ryan had a lifetime win– ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |