1975 Houston Astros season

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

The 1975 Houston Astros season was a season in American baseball. The team finished last in the National League West with a record of 64–97, 431⁄2 games behind the Cincinnati Reds. The Astros' .398 winning percentage is, as of 2021, the fourth worst in franchise history. In three consecutive seasons, in 2011, 2012 and 2013 the Astros finished each season with lower winning percentages.[1] Houston also lost 97 games in 1965 and 1991, but lost more than 100 games each in the 2011-2013 seasons. 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.

Offseason

Regular season

Opening Day starters

Season standings

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

1975 National League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team ATL CHC CIN HOU LAD MON 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

Roster

1975 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

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

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

Starting pitchers

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

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

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

Farm system

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

  1. ^ Houston Astros Team History & Encyclopedia at Baseball-Reference
  2. ^ Rob Andrews at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ "1975 Houston Astros Roster by Baseball Almanac".
  4. ^ Kim Seaman at Baseball Reference