The 1972 Houston Astros season was the 11th season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their eighth as the Astros, 11th in the National League (NL), fourth in the NL West division, and eighth at The Astrodome. The Astros entered the season with a 79âÂÂ83 record, tied for fourth place, and 11 games behind the division-champion San Francisco Giants.
The first players' strike in league history occurred from April 1âÂÂ13, which resulted in nine games being cancelled for Houston. On April 15, Don Wilson made his second Opening Day start for the Astros, who hosted San Francisco, but were shut out, 5âÂÂ0.
Three managers led the club for the 1972 season: Harry Walker, Salty Parker for one game on an interim basis, and Leo Durocher, who was installed as Walker's permanent replacement. Each represented the fourth, fifth and sixth managers for Houston, with Walker having been the longest-serving (708 games) in franchise history at the time. The Astros' first-round draft pick in the amateur draft was outfielder Steve Englishbey, at ninth overall. They also selected Jim Crawford in the 14th round.
Center fielder César Cedeño and first baseman Lee May represented the Astros at the MLB All-Star Game. It was the first career selection for Cedeño and third for May. On August 2, Cedeño became the first player in franchise history to hit for the cycle, leading a 10âÂÂ1 win over the Cincinnati Reds at The Astrodome. This was the first of two cycles that Cedeño hit as a member of the Astros. He also became the second major leaguer to produce a 20âÂÂ50 season, following Lou Brock in 1967.
The Astros concluded the season with a record of 84âÂÂ69âÂÂtheir first-ever winning season to also set the franchise record for winsâÂÂin second place in the NL West, games behind the division-champion and NL pennant-winning Reds, and just a percentage point ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers. It also represented the highest positional finish and fewest games back of first place for the Astros at the time. The next time the Astros finished as high as second place was in 1979, which was also when they set their next club record for wins.
Following the season, Cedeño (first selection) and Doug Rader (third) each earned Gold Glove Awards. This was the first time the Astros had more than one Gold Glove Award winner in the same season.
For Opening Day, the Astros hosted the San Francisco Giants, but were defeated via shutout, 5âÂÂ0, led by Juan Marichal's eight scoreless frames. The Giants did all their damage from the sixth inning on, as Willie McCovey and Tito Fuentes each took Don Wilson deep for home runs. The Astros got eight hits but were just 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position. Don Wilson made his second Opening Day start for the Astros.
On the second day of the season, April 16, the Giants' Dave Kingman hit for the first cycle at the Astrodome, to lead 10âÂÂ6 pummeling of the Astros. Kingman led all hitters in the game with six runs batted in (RBI), while Bobby Bonds doubled twice, pilfered two bases and scored four runs. Bob Watson and Tommy Helms each hit three runs blasts for Houston, during the first and fifth frames, respectively.
On April 23, the Astros dazed the Giants with 10-run ninth to prevail, 13âÂÂ7. César Cedeño stroked five hits with a double and two stolen bases. Bob Watson and Lee May homered. Hence, Cedeño logged his first career five-hit game.
Bob Watson earned the first monthly accolade in club history, by receiving the National League (NL) Player of the Month Award for May. During this period, Watson slashed .360 / .405 / .620 / 1.025, also accruing six home runs, 20 RBI, and 19 runs scored.
The Philadelphia Phillies hosted "Turn It Around Night" on June 6 at Veterans Stadium, where the theme was doing everything backward, including announcing the lineup cards from bottom to top and holding the seventh-inning stretch in the third inning. Astros starter Dave Roberts followed suit, providing the offense by homering twice to promote his own effort on the mound as Houston won, 4âÂÂ3.
With Steve Carlton on the mound for Philadelphia on June 16, the game remained scoreless through extra innings. In the bottom of the 11th inning, Jimmy Wynn connected for a walk-off home run to give the Astros a 1âÂÂ0 victory.
Starting June 18, Astros starting pitchers hurled back-to-back one-hit shutouts. First, Jerry Reuss led a 10âÂÂ0 masterpiece over the Phillies, with the only hit allowed a ninth-inning double. César Cedeño collected four hits to power Houston, including a home run and two doubles. The following game, on June 19, Larry Dierker hurled a one-hitter to lead a 3âÂÂ0 triumph over the New York Mets, whose only baserunner reached via a third-inning single. Tommy Helms supplied much of the Astros' offense with four hits.
Each of the first five Astros' hits on June 26 were home runs, which brought them to a 7âÂÂ7 tie with the San Diego Padres. San Diego never answered back, however, and Houston kept scoring for a 14âÂÂ7 win.
César Cedeño followed up Bob Watson's NL Player of the Month honors with his own recognition for the month of June. Cedeño powered up for a .387 average, .452 OBP, .748 SLG, and 1.200 OPS. He scored 27 runs, swatted nine doubles, nine home runs, collected 19 RBI to go along with 43 hits and 83 total bases.
Center fielder César Cedeño and first baseman Lee May both gained selection to the MLB All-Star Game, hosted at Atlanta Stadium. Lee, voted as a starter, collected a single and an RBI in four trips to the plate. Cedeño substituted in for Willie Mays in center field, and delivered a single in the bottom of the sixth. Next, Hank Aaron homered to deep left-center field, scoring Cedeño. In the bottom of the ninth, May hit a ground ball fielder's choice, scoring Billy Williams to pull the NL into a tie with the American League (AL), 3âÂÂ3. During the bottom of the tenth, former Astro Joe Morgan laced the walk-off single to score Nate Colbert and give the NL a 4âÂÂ3 triumph.
Morgan had become the first Astro to be selected as a starter in the 1966 Midsummer Classic, and Lee was the second. However, Morgan missed the game due to injury, allowing Lee became the first Astro to participate in the starting lineup. Curiously, it was a batted line drive by another Lee Maye on June 25, 1966âÂÂalbeit with a slightly different spellingâÂÂMorgan's then-teammate, that struck him on the knee, fracturing it. Thus, Morgan missed the next 40 games; three days later, it was announced that he was named starter for the All-Star lineup, the first player in Houston franchise history.
At the Astrodome on August 2, Cedeño hit for the cycle to become the first player in franchise history to accomplish this feat. He doubled in the first inning, connected for a home run off Gary Nolan in the third, and singled in the fifth. In the sixth inning, Cedeño grounded out.
Cedeño's final at bat and opportunity for the game to make history arrived in the eighth inning. He stroked a line drive to the right-center field gap for the triple. This effort led a 10âÂÂ1 win over the Cincinnati Reds. Cedeño later hit the next cycle for Houston almost exactly four years later on August 9, 1976.
Extra-base hits fell frequently for Houston that day, with eight, among 16 total safeties. Jim Wynn doubled twice, Roger Metzger also tripled, and Lee May added a home run. Meanwhile, Don Wilson (7âÂÂ7) was masterful on the mound as he scattered six hits and three walks while whiffing six in a complete game effort.
His sixth career contest of four hits or more, and fifth with four RBIâÂÂtying his then-career highâÂÂCedeño's batting average jumped to .353. Meanwhile, the Astros trailed Cincinnati by just six games following the contest.
On August 25, Jimmy Wynn blasted his 200th career home run in the bottom of the seventh inning at the Astrodome, off Mike Marshall. A two-run shot, it tied the contest, 3âÂÂ3, with the Montreal Expos, also scoring César Cedeño. However, Marshall redeemed himself in the top of the ninth while batting by doubling home John Boccabella off the Astros' Jim Ray. The hit put Montreal ahead 4âÂÂ3, and this time, Marshall (14âÂÂ3) made the lead stand, converting the blown save into a victory.
The Astros, playing their best baseball ever, were desperate to catch the Reds. Following the August 25 loss to Montreal, they fired their longest-tenured manager at the time, Harry Walker, who had the club playing for the season ( career with Houston), and replaced him for one game with coach Salty Parker (1âÂÂ0). Following that game, Leo Durocher, having departed the Chicago Cubs earlier in the year, took over for the remainder of the campaign, leading Houston to a result to close out the season.
With a 6âÂÂ5 defeat of San Diego on September 13, the 77th victory of the season for Houston clinched the first winning season in franchise annals, due to its abbreviation to 153 contests. Tom Griffin (3âÂÂ3) hurled seven innings in relief and fanned 10 to earn the victory for a final score of Houston 6, San Diego 5. Lee May collected three hits. Jimmy Wynn scored twice.
On September 17, César Cedeño and Lee May each drove in five to lead Houston as they stormed back to claim a slugfest over Los Angeles Dodgers, 15âÂÂ11. With Los Angeles leading 10âÂÂ8 in the seventh, the Astros rallied for four runs, before May's bases-clearing double put the score further away. Both clubs piled on 17 hits, led by four each from May, Jim Wynn (Astros), and Bobby Valentine (Dodgers). It was the first 5-RBI game of Cedeño's career, and Lee's eighth (and second of the campaign).
Houston matched the 1969 squad for most wins (81) in franchise annals on September 23, backed by Don Wilson's four-hit effort and Lee May equaling Wilson from the batter's box, to lead a 7âÂÂ1 defeat of first-place Cincinnati. Wilson (14âÂÂ9) went the distance, fanned six, and attained a game score of 89. Jim Wynn (23) homered, while May and Tommy Helms each doubled twice.
By concluding the season 84âÂÂ69, the Astros posted their best-ever record to date. Among myriad then-best and first-time team achievements, the Astros ranked high as second place in the division, tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers at games back of Cincinnati, their fewest games from first place thus far. Further, it was also Houston's first-ever season with a winning record while setting a then-club record of 84 wins, supplanting the 81 wins realized in 1969.
This Astros squad led the National League in runs scored (708), the first time in club history doing so, while blasting a then-club record 134 home runs to surpass the 1970 squad (129), which ranked third in the National League. The 708 runs tallied also ranked second in club history to the 1970 team (744) at the time. The 1973 edition followed up by tying the record for home runs, prior to the 1993 iteration (138) taking over the all-time franchise home run lead.
By hitting 22 home runs and collecting 55 stolen bases, Cedeño became the second entrant into the 20 home runsâÂÂ50 stolen bases club in major league annals, succeeding Lou Brock in 1967. Cedeño became the first Astro to attain 50 stolen bases in 1972, while doing so for a club-record six seasonsâÂÂeach in successionâÂÂthrough 1977. The prior single-season franchise record of 49 steals was set by Sonny Jackson in 1966 and tied by Joe Morgan in 1969.
Cedeño also led the major leagues in doubles (39) a second consecutive year, the first Astro to lead in more than one season.
Following the season, third baseman Doug Rader was recognized with his third career Gold Glove Award, while Cedeño was likewise recognized for his defense in the outfield. Rader became the first Astro to win a third Gold Glove. Cedeño became the first Astro to win the award for the outfield. Also, this was the first time in which multiple Astros players won this award.
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts