1991 – Potential buyers of the Astros, Ben Love and six others, approach Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers to own a share of the team. The group includes Drayton McLane. Ryan declines, citing that an active player cannot also be a team owner.
1991 – Astros owner John McMullen announces he has cleared the way for Houston to host the 1992 Republican National Convention at the Astrodome. The GOP has already selected Houston but there are details to resolve. National League President Bill Giles and Players Union chief Donald Fehr both voice their disapproval of the proposed 30-day road trip that the Astros will take in order to free up the Dome for the convention.
1991 – Boston Red Sox pitcher Roger Clemens signs a four-year $21,521,000 contract extension, making him baseball’s highest-paid player.
1990 – Danny Darwin leaves the Astros, signing a free agent deal with the Boston Red Sox. It is one month after he was named the club’s MVP for the 1990 campaign. Darwin would return via trade for the last two months of the 1996 season.
1990 – Reliever Dave Smith signs a free agent deal with the Chicago Cubs. Sadly, he would pass away 18 years later to the day of a heart attack. The bullpen closer in Houston since 1985, Smith would end an eleven-year run with the Astros, holding a 53-47 record and a 2.53 ERA to go with 199 saves. The veteran would not serve the Cubs well, posting an 0-6 record with 17 saves over two injury-plagued seasons.
1990 – A two-run triple in the bottom of the tenth by Casey Candaele stuns the Braves, 2-1, after Atlanta had just scored to take the lead. Danny Darwin hurls seven shutout innings to reduce his ERA to 2.21, earning him the league title.
1990 – Franklin Stubbs drives in six as the Astros blast the Dodgers, 10-1. Jim Deshaies hurls a four-hitter. Stubbs clubs his 22nd homer, a three-run shot, to break open a game that saw six Astros score after reaching base on walks.
1990 – Mike Simms’ first big league homer in the tenth inning scalps the Braves, 4-3. Jim Deshaies benefits when Ken Caminiti takes a grounder from Francisco Cabrera and sends it around the horn to Dave Rohde and Simms for a triple play to squelch a threat.
1990 – Down 7-0, the Astros respond for a 10-8 triumph at Dodger Stadium. A three-run pinch-hit bomb by Eric Anthony starts the comeback. An error by Hubie Brooks allows the game-winner. Luis Gonzalez strikes out in his big league debut.
1990 – With nobody on and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, the Astros come alive for three runs to stun the Pirates, 3-2. They must be living right. On the same day, they acquire a minor-league third baseman, Jeff Bagwell, from Boston for reliever Larry Andersen.
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