In 1937, the Detroit Tigers scored 935 runs (6.05 per game) and finished in second place. That team had four players score over 100 runs, including Hall of Famers Hank Greenberg and Charlie Gehringer. The other two (Pete Fox and Gee Walker), you probably haven't heard of, but they helped score 491 runs combined that season.
↵The team that beat the Tigers for the pennant, the '37 Yankees, scored 979 runs (6.24 per game) and won the World Series. Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Frank Crosetti and Red Rolfe combined to score 559 runs.
↵Why does this matter? The Astros, as a team, are on pace to score 565 runs. They have an outside shot to score fewer runs than four players from the 1937 New York Yankees. That's pretty bad.
↵In fact, only two Astros even have a shot at getting to 100 runs. Michael Bourn has scored 50 and played in 80 of 84 games. Hunter Pence has scored 45 and played in 80 of 84 games. Each would need to score more than they've averaged this season to get to the 100 run plateau. In case you were wondering, Lance Berkman scored 115 runs in 2008, but you have to go back to 2004 to find another time an Astros player passed the century mark.
↵I know what you're thinking. The run environments were different. After all, the National League in 2010 is averaging 4.39 runs per game while the American League in 1937 averaged 5.22. So, add a run to the Astros meager 3.48 runs per game and you still don't come close to those figures from '37. Even with that run, bringing the total up to 4.48, the Astros would have finished dead last in the AL in runs scored.
↵I'm going to go take a nap now and wish Carlos Lee was getting paid more money. Maybe then, he could hit over .240.