1975 Houston Astros season

  1. Home
  2. Wiki

1975 Houston Astros
LeagueNational League
DivisionWest
BallparkAstrodome
CityHouston, Texas
Record64–97–1 (.398)
Divisional place6th
OwnersRoy Hofheinz
General managersSpec Richardson
John Mullen
Tal Smith
ManagersPreston Gómez: 47–80
Bill Virdon: 17–17–1
TelevisionKPRC-TV
RadioKPRC (AM)
(Gene Elston, Loel Passe)
← 1974 Seasons 1976 →

The 1975 Houston Astros season was the 14th season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 11th as the Astros, 14th in the National League (NL), seventh in the NL West division, and 11th at The Astrodome. The Astros entered the season with a record of 81–81, in fourth place and 21 games behind the division-champion and NL pennant-winning Los Angeles Dodgers.

The regular season began on April 7 as the Astros hosted the Atlanta Braves with Larry Dierker making his fourth Opening Day start, which the Astros won, 6–2.

First baseman Bob Watson represented the Astros at the MLB All-Star Game and played for the National League, his second career selection.

The Astros hired Tal Smith as general manager on August 7. With the Astros struggling to a 47–80 record, the team dismissed Preston Gómez, and replaced him on August 20 with Bill Virdon as the eighth manager in franchise history. The club went 17–17–1 the rest of the way.

The Astros finished last in the NL West with a record of 64–97–1, 43+1⁄2 games behind the division- and World Series-champion Cincinnati Reds, also the worst record in the National League. This was the second time the Astros had finished in last place. The 97 losses tied the 1965 team for most in team history, was matched in 1991, and stood as the record until 2011, when they lost 100 games for the first time. The Astros' .398 winning percentage established a franchise-worst, and also remained so until 2011.[1] Further, the 43+1⁄2 games behind supplanted their inaugural season of 1962 for furthest behind in franchise history, when they placed 36+1⁄2 games behind the San Francisco Giants for the NL pennant, and remained until 2013, a third-consecutive 100-loss season.

Following the season, center fielder César Cedeño won his fourth career Gold Glove Award.

Offseason

[edit]

Transactions

[edit]

Uniform changes

[edit]

This was the first season the Astros donned their now famous rainbow uniforms. The uniforms would make slight alterations throughout the years. In 1975, the numbers on the back of the jersey were inside a white circle but by the following season, the white circle was eliminated entirely. In 1987, the rainbows were relegated to the shoulders of both home and away uniforms (prior to that they were only used on the away uniforms shoulders) and by 1994, the rainbow uniforms were retired after 19 years for a more contemporary look.

Regular season

[edit]

Summary

[edit]
Opening Day starters

Rest of season

[edit]

After having fallen behind on May 25 to a 6–0 score, the Astros came back in the bottom of the ninth inning to the Montreal Expos, via a leadoff home run by César Cedeño. The Expos retook the lead in the 12th inning, prior to the Astros walking it off in the bottom of the inning, 8–7.[4]

On May 31, the Astros won out over the Philadelphia Phillies, 15–3. The Astros erupted for a club-record 12 runs in eighth inning, while pinch hitter Cliff Johnson fully leveraged the opportunity, hitting a home run and double that inning.[5]

On June 23, the Astros took a 6-run lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Wayne Granger pitched the final 2+2⁄3 innings; it was Granger's pickoff that ended the contest and secured a 6–5 win for the Astros.[6]

The 43+1⁄2 games behind first-place Cincinnati set a club record for furthest distance from first place, shattering the record set by the inaugural team, who were 36+1⁄2 games behind. This record stood until 2013, the third consecutive of the first three 100-loss seasons in franchise history.

Season standings

[edit]
NL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Cincinnati Reds 108 54 .667 — 64‍–‍17 44‍–‍37
Los Angeles Dodgers 88 74 .543 20 49‍–‍32 39‍–‍42
San Francisco Giants 80 81 .497 27½ 46‍–‍35 34‍–‍46
San Diego Padres 71 91 .438 37 38‍–‍43 33‍–‍48
Atlanta Braves 67 94 .416 40½ 37‍–‍43 30‍–‍51
Houston Astros 64 97 .398 43½ 37‍–‍44 27‍–‍53

Record vs. opponents

[edit]
1975 National League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team ATL CHC CIN HOU LAD MTL NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL
Atlanta — 5–7 3–15 12–6 8–10 8–4 4–8 5–7 4–8 7–11 8–9 3–9
Chicago 7–5 — 1–11 7–5 5–7 9–9 7–11 12–6 6–12 5–7 5–7 11–7
Cincinnati 15–3 11–1 — 13–5 8–10 8–4 8–4 7–5 6–6 11–7 13–5 8–4
Houston 6–12 5–7 5–13 — 6–12 8–4 4–8 6–6 6–5 9–9 5–13 4–8–1
Los Angeles 10–8 7–5 10–8 12–6 — 5–7 6–6 7–5 5–7 11–7 10–8 5–7
Montreal 4–8 9–9 4–8 4–8 7–5 — 10–8 7–11 7–11 7–5 5–7 11–7
New York 8–4 11–7 4–8 8–4 6–6 8–10 — 7–11 5–13 8–4 8–4 9–9
Philadelphia 7-5 6–12 5–7 6–6 5–7 11–7 11–7 — 11–7 7–5 7–5 10–8
Pittsburgh 8–4 12–6 6–6 5–6 7–5 11–7 13–5 7–11 — 8–4 5–7 10–8
San Diego 11–7 7–5 7–11 9–9 7–11 5–7 4–8 5–7 4–8 — 8–10 4–8
San Francisco 9–8 7–5 5–13 13–5 8–10 7–5 4–8 5–7 7–5 10–8 — 5–7
St. Louis 9–3 7–11 4–8 8–4–1 7–5 7–11 9–9 8–10 8–10 8–4 7–5 —


Notable transactions

[edit]

Roster

[edit]
1975 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Player stats

[edit]

Batting

[edit]

Starters by position

[edit]

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
C Milt May 111 386 93 .241 4 52
1B Bob Watson 132 485 157 .324 18 85
2B Rob Andrews 103 277 66 .238 0 19
SS Roger Metzger 127 450 102 .227 2 26
3B Doug Rader 129 448 100 .223 12 48
LF Greg Gross 132 483 142 .294 0 41
CF César Cedeño 131 500 144 .288 13 63
RF José Cruz 120 315 81 .257 9 49

Other batters

[edit]

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Wilbur Howard 121 392 111 .283 0 21
Enos Cabell 117 348 92 .264 2 43
Cliff Johnson 122 340 94 .276 20 65
Ken Boswell 86 178 43 .242 0 21
Larry Milbourne 73 151 32 .212 1 9
Tommy Helms 64 135 28 .207 0 14
Jerry DaVanon 32 97 27 .278 1 10
Skip Jutze 51 93 21 .226 0 6
Art Gardner 13 31 6 .194 0 2
Rafael Batista 10 10 3 .300 0 0
Mike Easler 5 5 0 .000 0 0
Jesús de la Rosa 3 3 1 .333 0 0

Pitching

[edit]

Starting pitchers

[edit]

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Larry Dierker 34 232.0 14 16 4.00 127
J.R. Richard 33 203.0 12 10 4.39 176
Dave Roberts 32 198.1 8 14 4.27 101
Doug Konieczny 32 171.0 6 13 4.47 89
Tom Griffin 17 79.1 3 8 5.33 56

Other pitchers

[edit]

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Ken Forsch 34 109.0 4 8 3.22 54
Jim York 19 46.2 4 4 3.86 17
Paul Siebert 7 18.1 0 2 2.95 6
Mike Stanton 7 17.1 0 2 7.27 16

Relief pitchers

[edit]

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Wayne Granger 55 2 5 5 3.65 30
Jim Crawford 44 3 5 4 3.63 37
Joe Niekro 40 6 4 4 3.07 54
Mike Cosgrove 32 1 2 5 3.03 32
José Sosa 25 1 3 1 4.02 31
Fred Scherman 16 0 1 0 4.96 13

Awards and achievements

[edit]

Farm system

[edit]
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Iowa Oaks American Association Joe Sparks
AA Columbus Astros Southern League Jim Beauchamp
A Dubuque Packers Midwest League Bob Cluck
Rookie Covington Astros Appalachian League Billy Smith

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Houston Astros Team History & Encyclopedia at Baseball-Reference
  2. ^ Rob Andrews at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ "1975 Houston Astros Roster by Baseball Almanac".
  4. ^ Schwartzberg, Seth (May 25, 2025). "Today in Astros history - May 25". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  5. ^ Schwartzberg, Seth (May 31, 2025). "Today in Astros history - May 31". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
  6. ^ Schwarzberg, Seth (June 23, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 23". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  7. ^ Kim Seaman at Baseball Reference
[edit]