1990 – Franklin Stubbs belts two homers and drives in four to pace a 7-2 triumph in Chicago. Mark Portugal goes the distance and drives in two runs himself.
1990 – Joe Morgan becomes the first player inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame who has had a significant part of his career with the Houston Astros (1963-1971). His MVPs and World Series triumphs came while with Cincinnati and he chooses to be inducted as a Red. No player yet has worn an Astros cap upon induction.
1990 – Danny Darwin goes the distance on five hits in a 5-1 victory in Atlanta. Eric Yelding goes 4-for-4, swipes two bases and drives home two as the offensive star. But it’s Franklin Stubbs who enters the record books, becoming only the 15th major leaguer to play an entire game at first base without making a putout.
1990 – Glenn Wilson’s three-run pinch-hit homer in the tenth inning off Randy Myers stuns the Reds, 3-1, at the Astrodome. Mike Scott and Tom Browning trade nine shutout innings before the Reds break the tie with a single by Todd Benzinger, only their third hit of the night off Scott, who fans fifteen. Myers comes in to close only to see Wilson launch the game-winner.
1990 – Glenn Davis mauls the Cubs at Wrigley Field during a doubleheader sweep. Davis swats two homers and a single for five RBIs in the 8-1 opener. In the nightcap, he adds another homer and two doubles with four RBIs to lead a 12-3 victory. Davis had been homerless for nearly three weeks before the twinbill.
1990 – Eric Anthony becomes the first Astro to reach the Dome’s upper reserved seats in right field with a mammoth blast off Mike Bielecki in a 5-4, eleven-inning victory against Chicago. Cincinnati’s Bernie Carbo was the only previous player to do it. Ken Oberkfell’s sacrifice fly scores Ken Caminiti with the game-winner.
1990 – Astros Special Assistant Donald Davidson dies in Houston at age 64. Only four-feet-tall after contracting a childhood illness, Davidson spent 50 years in baseball, working his way up from batboy to baseball executive. Davidson came to Houston in 1976 and served a number of front-office roles. His body was donated to science.
1990 – Shortstop Andujar Cedeno is signed to a minor-league deal and placed on the Astros’ 40-man roster, causing various national sportswires to misidentify him both as Cesar Cedeno and Joaquin Andujar. The 20-year-old fellow Dominican is not related to either former Astro.
1990 – The Astros Silver Anniversary Team (1965-1989) is announced at a Houston banquet. Joe Morgan is honored as the first genuine Astro to make it to the Hall of Fame. Mike Scott also receives the 1989 Astros Most Valuable Player award. Not surprisingly, both are on the 25th Anniversary squad.
1990 – Houston avoids arbitration with reliever Larry Andersen when they agree on a two-year deal. The real benefit comes later in the season when Andersen is traded to Boston for a young minor-league third baseman.