The Complete List of Houston MLB Managers

Yes, we know. Phil Garner’s # was 3 for most of his career, but what was it for the 74 games he managed the Astros late in 2004? Baseball America has him listed as “uk” for that partial first season as Houston’s manager.

Just in case it comes up again, here is the list of all managers in Houston MLB history, along with their records and uniform numbers. Please note that Harry Craft was not the last Houston manager to go with “1” as his identifying number choice, although “2” proved just as popular. Unless we miscounted, the numbers “1” and “2” both appear 8 times.

Also of interest is the fact that two short-term interim managers, Dave Clark (for 13 games in 2009) and Tony DeFrancesco (for 41 games in 2012) apparently managed in wrap-up seasons in which no one, including the managers themselves, was paying much attention to whatever the numbers were on their jerseys. Their numbers here are recorded as “uk” for “unknown.”

What we don’t get is – why weren’t they able to get Phil Garner’s # for the 74 games he managed the Astros in 2004 after taking over for Jimy Williams? Garner drew a “uk” for 2004, even though he very clearly wore # 3 for the other three seasons he managed the Astros (2005-07). A player probably already had uniform # 3 late in the 2004 year when Phil came in, but how hard could it have been to get the number from Garner as well as from the two others?

Sometimes it may just boil down to the question’s potential for embarrassment. If the person being asked takes it personally, they may be thinking something like: “Gee, if you don’t even recall my number, what else made me into a player or manager that left no impressions?”

Our consolation from this whole managerial number episode may be found in the following question: Is there anyone out there among Astros fans now who still doesn’t know that Astros manager A.J. Hinch wore # 14 on his way to leading the 2017 club to its first World Series victory?

BASEBALL AMERICA PRESENTS ~

Houston Colt .45s Managers 1962-1964 Managers & Finishes
Year	Uniform #	Manager	Wins	Losses	WP	Finish	GB
1962	1	Harry Craft	64	96	.400	8^th	36½
1963	1		55	95	.407	9^th	33
1964	1		61	88	.409	9^th	27
1964	6	Lum Harris	5	8	.385	9^th	27
Houston Colt .45s Managers & Finishes

AND ….

Houston Astros Managers 1965 – 2018Managers & Finishes
Year	Uniform #	Manager(s)	Wins	Losses	WP	Finish	GB	Roster
1965	26	Lum Harris	65	97	.401	9^th	32	1965
1966	1	Grady Hatton	72	90	.444	8^th	23	1966
1967	1	Grady Hatton	69	93	.426	9^th	32½	1967
1968	1	Grady Hatton	23	38	.377	10^th	25	1968
1968	25	Harry Walker	49	52	.485	10^th	25	1968
1969	25	Harry Walker	81	81	.500	5^th	12	1969
1970	25	Harry Walker	79	83	.488	4^th	23	1970
1971	25	Harry Walker	79	83	.488	4^th	11	1971
1972	25	Harry Walker	67	54	.554	2^nd	10½	1972
	1	Salty Parker	1	0	1.000
	2	Leo Durocher	16	15	.516
1973	2	Leo Durocher	82	80	.506	4^th	17	1973
1974	18	Preston Gomez	81	81	.500	4^th	21	1974
1975	18	Preston Gomez	47	80	.370	6^th	43½	1975
1975	7	Bill Virdon	17	17	.500	6^th	43½	1975
1976	7	Bill Virdon	80	82	.494	3^rd	22	1976
1977	7	Bill Virdon	81	81	.500	3^rd	17	1977
1978	7	Bill Virdon	74	88	.457	5^th	21	1978
1979	7	Bill Virdon	89	73	.549	2^nd	1½	1979
1980	7	Bill Virdon	93	70	.571	1^st	+1	1980
1981	7	Bill Virdon	61	49	.555	3^rd / 1^st	6	1981
1982	7	Bill Virdon	49	62	.441	5^th	12	1982
1982	5	Bob Lillis	28	23	.549	5^th	12	1982
1983	5	Bob Lillis	85	77	.525	3^rd	6	1983
1984	5	Bob Lillis	80	82	.494	2^nd	12	1984
1985	5	Bob Lillis	83	79	.512	3^rd	12	1985
1986	22	Hal Lanier	96	66	.593	1^st	+10	1986
1987	22	Hal Lanier	76	86	.469	3^rd	14	1987
1988	22	Hal Lanier	82	80	.506	5^th	12½	1988
1989	18	Art Howe	86	76	.531	3^rd	6	1989
1990	18	Art Howe	75	87	.463	4^th	16	1990
1991	18	Art Howe	65	97	.401	6^th	29	1991
1992	18	Art Howe	81	81	.500	4^th	17	1992
1993	18	Art Howe	85	77	.525	3^rd	19	1993
1994	2	Terry Collins	66	49	.574	2^nd	½	1994
1995	2	Terry Collins	76	68	.528	2^nd	9	1995
1996	2	Terry Collins	82	80	.506	2^nd	6	1996
1997	49	Larry Dierker	84	78	.519	1^st	+5	1997
1998	49	Larry Dierker	102	60	.630	1^st	+12½	1998
1999	49	Larry Dierker	97	65	.599	1^st	+1½	1999
2000	49	Larry Dierker	72	90	.444	4^th	23	2000
2001	49	Larry Dierker	93	69	.574	1^st	+5	2001
2002	22	Jimy Williams	84	78	.519	2^nd	13	2002
2003	22	Jimy Williams	87	75	.537	2^nd	1	2003
2004	22	Jimy Williams	44	44	.500	2^nd	13	2004
2004	uk	Phil Garner	48	26	.649	2^nd	13	2004
2005	3	Phil Garner	89	73	.549	2^nd	11	2005
2006	3	Phil Garner	82	80	.506	2^nd	1½	2006
2007	3	Phil Garner	58	73	.443	4^th	12	2007
2007	15	Cecil Cooper	15	16	.484	4^th	12	2007
2008	15	Cecil Cooper	86	75	.534	3^rd	11	2008
2009	15	Cecil Cooper	70	79	.470	5^th	17	2009
2009	uk	Dave Clark	4	9	.308	5^th	17	2009
2010	2	Brad Mills	76	86	.469	4^th	15	2010
2011	2	Brad Mills	56	106	.346	6^th	40	2011
2012	2	Brad Mills	39	82	.322	6^th	42	2012
2012	uk	Tony DeFrancesco	16	25	.390	6^th	42	2012
2013	16	Bo Porter	51	111	.315	5^th	45	2013
2014	16	Bo Porter	59	79	.428	4^th	28	2014
2014	1	Tom Lawless⁽¹⁾	11	13	.458	4^th	28	2014
2015	14	A.J. Hinch	86	76	.531	2^nd	2	2015
2016	14	A.J. Hinch	84	78	.519	3^rd	11	2016
2017	14	A.J. Hinch	101	61	.623	1^st	+21	2017
2018	14	A.J. Hinch	—	—	—	—	—	2018
Year	Uniform #	Manager(s)	Wins	Losses	WP	Finish	GB	Roster
Houston Astros Managers & Finishes \| (1) = Interim Manager

********************

Bill McCurdy

Principal Writer, Editor, Publisher

The Pecan Park Eagle

Tags: The Complete List of Houston MLB Managers

This entry was posted on December 15, 2017 at 4:56 am and is filed under Baseball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “The Complete List of Houston MLB Managers”

bhick6 Says:
December 15, 2017 at 12:45 pm | Reply
For 2004, Manager Jimy Williams began the year wearing uniform #3. When Phil Garner took over, he wore #3. Once again, my source is the book NOW BATTING NUMBER…., by Jack Looney.

Bill Hickman
bhick6 Says:
December 15, 2017 at 1:15 pm | Reply
Tony DeFrancesco wore #11 as Interim Manager in 2012. Was able to discern that from the caption to a Getty photo. As for Dave Clark, I think his number was #35 as Interim Manager in 2009. He had been the Astros’ third base coach when in September of 2009 he was moved into the managerial position to succeed Cecil Cooper. A May, 2009, newspaper photo shows him wearing #35. A 2010 photo shows him back as third base coach still wearing #35.

Bill Hickman
Mike McCroskey Says:
December 15, 2017 at 3:49 pm | Reply
Dave Clark went straight from his 3rd base coaching job
to manager, then returned as an Astro coach the following
year. He kept his number 35 his entire Astro career. (Fact
checked by my daughter Meghan.)
David Says:
December 16, 2017 at 2:07 am | Reply
Harry Craft was an exspansion Manager he did not have much to work with but they sure were fun to watch. Beat the cubbies their first three games. Roman Mejias two home run in one game. Boy was the city happy to have Major League Baseball.