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 81âÂÂ81, 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, 6âÂÂ2.
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 47âÂÂ80 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 17âÂÂ17âÂÂ1 the rest of the way.
The Astros finished last in the NL West with a record of 64âÂÂ97âÂÂ1, games behind the division- and World Series-champion Cincinnati Reds, also the worst record in the National League. 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 at least 100 games for the first time.
Following the season, center fielder César Cedeño won his fourth career Gold Glove Award.
The Astros concluded the 1974 campaign with a record of , in fourth place in the NL West and 21 games behind the division-champion and NL pennant-winning Los Angeles Dodgers. This performance furthered a scintilla of three consecutive seasons with a record of .500, then unprecedented in franchise history. Center fielder César Cedeño extended his Major League record as a third successive entrant into the 20âÂÂ50 club. Cedeño and third baseman Doug Rader each earned Gold Glove Awards, and right fielder Greg Gross was recognized as the The Sporting News NL Rookie Player of the Year Award.
On January 5, 1975, right-handed pitcher Don Wilson died at home of carbon monoxide poisoning.
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.
On Opening Day at the Astrodome, José Cruz introduced himself in an Astros uniform with an electric debut, going 3-for-4, swatting a home run and delivering three runs batted in (RBI) to lead a 6âÂÂ2 triumph over the Atlanta Braves. Cruz singled during his first Houston plate appearance in the bottom of the second inning off Braves starter Phil Niekro for his first Astros hit, and in the bottom of the fifth, slugged a three-run home run to chase Niekro. The blast put Houston in the lead, 5âÂÂ2. Rob Andrews made his major league debut at second base and struck out against Niekro during his first at bat in the first inning, and the third, singled for his first major league hit. Andrews, Enos Cabell, César Cedeño, Milt May, and Doug Rader each added two hits as Houston totaled 14. Astros starter Larry Dierker went the distance and struck out 7 to pick up his first win of the season. Dierker made his then-club record fourth Opening Day start for Houston, relinquishing a tie with the prior year's starter, Dave Roberts.
On April 13, the Astros retired Don Wilson's uniform number 40. and commemorated him during the following season with a black circular patch containing his number 40 in white, which was worn on the left sleeve of the Astros "rainbow jerseys."
Bob Watson scored the 1,000,000th run in baseball history on May 4 during the first game of a doubleheader at Candlestick Park. In spite of Milt May's home run, Watson sprinted around the bases to cross home plate, edging ahead of Dave Concepción of the Cincinnati Reds. Meanwhile, the pitching staffs were unusually wild, issuing a record 41 bases on balls, including a single game league record of 26 in nightcap. In spite of J. R. Richard surrendering a club-record eleven of the free passes, Houston managed to win the second game, 12âÂÂ8, and obtain a split of the twinbill.
After having fallen behind on May 25 to a 6âÂÂ0 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, 8âÂÂ7.
On May 31, the Astros won out in a 15âÂÂ3 onslaught over the Philadelphia Phillies, erupting for a club-record 12 runs in the eighth inning. Pinch hitter Cliff Johnson fully leveraged the opportunity, hitting a home run and double that inning, which tied a modern Major League record (since 1900) with two extra-base hits in one inning.
The Phillies' starter, Wayne TwitchellâÂÂwhom the Astros had selected third overall in the 1966 Major League Baseball draftâÂÂkept the Astros at bay by commencing with a two-hit shutout through seven frames, including retiring 11 in succession. Twitchell's counterpart, J. R. Richard, had surrendered two runs and four bases on balls, whiffing eight through seven innings.
In the eighth inning, José Cruz led off with a single, and Doug Rader ambushed the Phillies' defense with a bunt that allowed him to reach. With one out, Bob Watson pinch hit for Richard and singled up the middle to score Cruz, ending Twitchell's outing. Tug McGraw relieved Twitchell to face Greg Gross, for whom Johnson pinch hit. Johnson unloaded a double down the left field line that plated Rader, and an additional run scored on a misplayed relay throw to posit the Astros ahead to stay, 3âÂÂ2. César Cedeño (intentional base on balls), Milt May and Enos Cabell (an RBI single each) all reached next. Hence, the Astros batted around to bring up Cruz with a 5âÂÂ2 edge, who drew a walk to load the bases.
On June 23, the Astros took a 6-run lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Wayne Granger pitched the final innings; it was Granger's pickoff that ended the contest and secured a 6âÂÂ5 win for the Astros.
From June 25 until August 18, Greg Gross reached base in 52 games consecutively to tie Jimmy Wynn for the franchise record. During the streak, Gross produced a .345 batting average, .427 on-base percentage (OBP) and .414 slugging percentage (SLG), garnering 70 hits and 30 bases on balls (BB). Wynn first set the record from June 4âÂÂAugust 3, 1969. Gross' and Wynn's streak trailed the NL record by 6 games, held by Duke Snider, who reached base at least once each game from May 13âÂÂJuly 11, 1954, for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
On July 21, the Astros induced four batted ground ball double plays by Joe Torre to establish an individual National League record led by righty Ken Forsch on the mound for Houston at Shea Stadium, who tossed a complete game. Félix Millán, batting second and one slot ahead of Torre in the order, went 4-for-4, garnering a single each time, which resulted as the direct conversion into the lead out on each of Torre's dubious batting events. Forsch (4âÂÂ7) went on to earn victory for Houston, as he dispersed 11 Mets hits, and withstood solo blasts from Rusty Staub and Dave Kingman. Roger Metzger tripled and had 2 RBI, while Wilbur Howard socked three hits and scored twice for Houston. The final score remained the Astros 6, and Mets 2.
Rookie relief pitcher José Sosa produced a memorable first game at the plate on July 30 at the Astrodome. Taking first his major league at bat in the eighth inning, Sosa homered off Danny Frisella of the San Diego Padres, a three-run blast to lead an 8âÂÂ4 Astros win. Sosa become both the first Dominican pitcher and first Houston Astro to accomplish this feat. Prior to him, José Cruz and Doug Rader also homered in the sixth inning, and Sosa closed out the final innings with a scoreless effort and two strikeouts to covert his first major league save. The next Astros player to hit a home run in his first at bat was Dave Matranga on June 27, 2003, who made a pinch hit appearance versus the Texas Rangers.
During the nightcap of a doubleheader on August 3, José Cruz collected his first career four-hit contest. He added a pair of doubles and a pair of runs batted in (RBI). Catcher Milt May homered, tripled and had five RBI. The Astros withstood a three-run San Francisco rally in the bottom of the eighth inning to hold on for a 10âÂÂ9 triumph. Jim Crawford hurled innings of relief for the win, while José Sosa earned his first hold.
On August 10, though he yielded 10 walks to the Pittsburgh Pirates, J. R. Richard navigated six innings with just one hit and two runs surrendered to lead a 5âÂÂ3 Astros win. With two hits, a double, run scored, and a stolen base, César Cedeño led the way for Houston's offense.
Having performed to a major-league worst showing, on August 19, Houston replaced incumbent skipper Preston Gómez with Bill Virdon. Less than three weeks earlier, on August 1, Virdon himself had been terminated by the New York Yankees, as New York sought out the potential of installing Billy Martin. During each of Virdon's first five contests as manager, Cliff Johnson launched a home run to lead to victories in three. Moreover, an exhibition game on August 21 opposing their Triple-A affiliate, the Iowa Oaks, featured another Johnson home run.
José Cruz recorded his first career 5 RBI bout on August 23, also hitting a home run. Meanwhile, Wilbur Howard registered his first career four-hit contest.
On August 24, Cliff Johnson blasted a home run (15) for the fifth successive contest, while Cruz netted his first career multi-home run game to cap an 8âÂÂ4 drubbing of the Chicago Cubs. Cruz went 3-for-5 with two home runs (7), one double, and five RBI. Bob Watson (16) also went deep. Larry Dierker (13âÂÂ13) sailed to a complete game victory. Wilbur Howard heisted two bases (22). Howard also garnered four safeties for the second consecutive game.
The Astros commenced a series on August 25 at Busch Memorial Stadium against the second-place St. Louis Cardinals . Roger Metzger scored the tying run in the ninth inning, sending the game to extra innings. The teams exchanged runs in the tenth inning to repeat the tie, 3âÂÂ3. With rain falling in the top of the 11th, Bob Gibson was inserted for St. Louis. Johnson pounced for a shot to left, going deep for the sixth consecutive game, and a 4âÂÂ3 Astros lead. However, with two out in the bottom of the inning, the downpour grew too heavy to continue. The game was called, and due to the rules of the day, all activity of that inning was erasedâÂÂincluding Johnson's home run that would have been second in NL history to Dale Long's eight consecutive games. Thus, the final outcome of the contest remained 3âÂÂ3 in 10 innings, accounting for Houston's lone tie score of the campaign.
Under Virdon, the Astros closed out the season with performance.
On September 8, César Cedeño notched three hits and connected for his sixth career multi-homer game while establishing a career-high 6 RBI, to lead a 9âÂÂ6 triumph in Atlanta. In the eighth, Cedeño's big fly from Bruce Dal Canton's offering plated the go-ahead run to stay. However, just 737 fans witnessed Cedeño's marvel of a performance.
The Astros concluded the 1975 season in last place the NL West with a record of 64âÂÂ97âÂÂ1, games behind the division- and World Series-champion Cincinnati Reds, and turned in the worst record in the National League. The second time in franchise that the Astros had finished in last place, the 97 losses tied the 1965 team for most in team history, was equaled in 1991, and stood as the club record until 2011, when they lost 100 games for the first time. The Astros' .398 winning percentage established in 1975 a franchise-worst, and remained so until 2011. Having trailed the Reds by games, this mark exceeded the games behind the San Francisco Giants, the inaugural season of 1962. In 2013, they finished 45 games back.
Future Astros management turned in excellent seasons. Former general manager Bob Watson hit for a team-leading .324 average, 157 hits and 85 RBI, while former manager Larry Dierker was the pitching staff leader with 14 wins.
With 50 stolen bases, César Cedeño produced his fourth of a total of six campaigns in succession having attained that threshold, through 1977. Cedeño had been the only Astro through that point to have attained any 50-stolen base seasons. Also, this was also the seventh of a franchise-record nine successive campaigns featuring at least one baserunner with 40 or more stolen bases.
Also for the fourth consecutive campaign, Cedeño became a Gold Glove Award recipient at outfield. He and teammate Doug Rader, having won five times at third base from 1970 to 1974, were thus far Houston's only multiple winners. Also indicated was that this was the first campaign since 1971 the duo had failed to win the award together.
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