The 5 best seasons in Astros history

HOUSTON – The Astros’ run of success in the mid-to-late 2010s rewrote the club’s record books. The Astros posted their two highest single-season wins totals in back-to-back years (2018-19), including a club-record 107 wins in ’19 when they came within a game of winning their second World Series in three seasons.

Prior to that period, the Astros’ best regular-season club was the 1998 Astros -- a star-studded team that acquired Randy Johnson at the Trade Deadline and won 102 games before falling flat in the playoffs against the Padres. That was the only Astros team to win at least 100 games while a member of the National League.

With that in mind, here is a recap of the seasons in which the Astros compiled their most wins, and a breakdown of where those seasons stand historically:

1) 2019 (107-55)
Even after back-to-back berths in the AL Championship Series, including the 2017 World Series title, the summer of '19 might have been the most memorable for baseball in Houston. Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole were neck-and-neck in the race for the AL Cy Young Award all summer, Alex Bregman made a remarkable late push for the AL MVP Award and Yordan Alvarez was the AL's best rookie. The Astros came within eight outs of winning their second World Series title in three years before the Nationals rallied to win Game 7 in Houston.

2) 2022 (106-56)
The Astros topped 100 wins for the fourth time in four full seasons (excluding 2020) and went on to win their second World Series title in six years, beating the Phillies in six games to polish off a dominant 11-2 run in the postseason. The Astros won their fifth AL West title in six years, advanced to their sixth consecutive ALCS and won their fourth AL pennant since 2017. Prior to beating the Phillies in the Fall Classic, the Astros swept the Mariners in the ALDS and the Yankees in the ALCS.

Astros rookie shortstop Jeremy Peña was named MVP of the ALCS and World Series and even sealed Houston’s ALDS sweep over the Mariners with an 18th-inning homer for an epic 1-0 win in Game 3 in Seattle. Slugger Yordan Alvarez hit three go-ahead homers in the playoffs, including a 450-foot shot in the sixth inning of Game 6 of the Fall Classic and a stunning three-run, two-out, walk-off winner in Game 1 of the ALDS against Seattle.

3) 2018 (103-59)
Coming off their first World Series championship, the Astros posted a club-record 103 wins -- including a 12-game winning streak in June -- and won their second consecutive AL West division title before losing to the eventual champion Red Sox in five games in the ALCS. The Astros had six All-Stars for the second year in a row -- Jose Altuve, Bregman, Cole, Charlie Morton, George Springer and Verlander. Bregman, who was the All-Star Game MVP, finished fifth in the AL MVP voting after becoming the first player in history to have 50 doubles and 30 homers while playing the majority of the season at third base.

4) 1998 (102-60)
The Astros won their second consecutive NL Central title en route to a franchise-best 102-win season, with Larry Dierker getting voted NL Manager of the Year. Craig Biggio joined Tris Speaker as the only two players in the century who hit 50 doubles and stolen 50 bases in the same season, and Biggio and Moises Alou were selected to represent the Astros in the 1998 All-Star Game in Denver. Biggio broke Cesar Cedeno's record for the most runs scored by an Astro and he and Alou each received Silver Slugger Awards for their offensive contributions while finishing in the top five in NL MVP voting.

5) 2017 (101-61)
The city of Houston was ravaged by Hurricane Harvey in August and rallied behind the Astros, who pulled off a last-second trade to get Verlander from the Tigers on Aug. 31. The Astros surged in September and won the AL West by 21 games en route to a franchise-record 101 wins. They led the Majors in runs (896) for the first time and had the most hits (1,581) and highest OPS (.823). The Astros won their first World Series title, beating the Dodgers in Game 7 of the World Series, 5-1, at Dodger Stadium. The Astros beat two other iconic franchises -- the Red Sox in the ALDS and the Yankees in the ALCS -- en route to the championship.