1974 Houston Astros season

1974 Houston Astros
1974 Houston Astros
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	Astrodome
City	Houston, Texas
Record	81–81 (.500)
Divisional place	4th
Owners	Roy Hofheinz
General managers	Spec Richardson
Managers	Preston Gómez
Television	KPRC-TV
Radio	KPRC (AM); (Gene Elston, Loel Passe)
	Seasons

The 1974 Houston Astros season was the 13th season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their tenth as the Astros, 13th in the National League (NL), sixth in the NL West division, and tenth at The Astrodome. The Astros entered the season having posted a record of 82–80 for fourth place in the NL West, 17 games behind the division-champion Cincinnati Reds.

The 1974 season was the first for Preston Gómez as manager, the seventh in franchise history, having succeeded Leo Durocher. The season began for Houston on April 15 at Candlestick Park, where pitcher Dave Roberts made his second consecutive Opening Day start for the Astros, who were defeated by the San Francisco Giants, 5–1. The Astros' first round draft pick in the amateur draft was outfielder Kevin Drake, at 15th overall, and in fourth round, they selected catcher Alan Knicely.

Center fielder César Cedeño represented the Astros and played for the National League at the MLB All-Star Game. It was the third career selection for Cedeño.

The Astros concluded their season with a record of 81–81, in fourth place and 21 games behind the division-champion and NL pennant-winning Los Angeles Dodgers. This continued a streak of three consecutive seasons with a record of .500 or better for Houston, extending the first such streak in franchise history. It was their fourth season overall with a record of .500 or above.

Following the season, Cedeño (third consecutive selection) and Doug Rader (fifth consecutive) each earned Gold Glove Awards. Meanwhile, right fielder Greg Gross was chosen as The Sporting News NL Rookie Player of the Year^[a]. Also, Gross (for the outfield) and Larry Milbourne (second baseman) were named to the Topps All-Star Rookie Team.

Offseason

March 30, 1974: Larry Yount and Don Stratton (minors) were traded by the Astros to the Milwaukee Brewers for Wilbur Howard.^[1]

Regular season

Summary

April

Opening Day starting lineup^[2]^[3]

21	Greg Gross	RF
14	Roger Metzger	SS
28	César Cedeño	CF
27	Bob Watson	LF
8	Milt May	C
23	Lee May	1B
12	Doug Rader	3B
19	Tommy Helms	2B
15	Dave Roberts	P
Venue:	Candlestick Park • SFG 5,	HOU 1

Starter Larry Dierker earned his 100th career victory on April 9, tossing 7 innings with 2 runs allowed to lead a 9–5 win over the San Diego Padres. It was Houston first win of the season after having dropped their first three. The Astros mounted a 6–0 but withstood the Padres' rally. César Cedeño went 3-for-4 with four runs batted in (RBI), while leadoff hitter Greg Gross added three hits and three runs to add to a torrid start to the season at 10-for-14. Dierker also collected two hits.^[4]

May

After crashing into the outfield fence at Riverfront Stadium on May 12, Bob Watson came to boos, ice, and cups hurled by fans of the Cincinnati Reds. He left the game, requiring 20 stitches for a laceration on his face and having broken his glasses.^[5]

Having traded masterpiece pitching duels on May 22, Randy Jones of the San Diego Padres and the Astros' Claude Osteen locked down the score 1–1 through eight innings. In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Astros loaded the bases with two outs, and pinch hitter Milt May hit a walk-off grand slam to win it for Houston, 5–1.^[6]

June

On June 6, Lee May hit a home run in an even-numbered minute to give fans a free beer. Meanwhile, Larry Dierker pitched a shutout three-hitter in Houston's 4–0 victory.^[7]

Don Wilson tossed a shutout masterpiece on June 7 against the New York Mets, and Lee May connected for a solo home run in the second inning as the Astros won, 1–0.^[8]

On June 10, Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies may have connected for the longest base hit in Astrodome history. His batted fly ball—which ended up as a single—hit the roof and travelled uninterrupted for an estimated 550 feet (170 m).^[9]

July

Leading an 8–4 effort on July 30 to topple Cincinnati, Don Wilson earned his 100th career victory, all with the Astros. The right-hander fanned nine over eight innings of work. Meanwhile, César Cedeño and Cliff Johnson connected for solo home runs in support of Wilson, and Lee May drove in three runs.^[10]

Performance overview

Right fielder Greg Gross was chosen as The Sporting News NL Rookie of the Year,^[a] the third Astros rookie recognized with this award, preceded by second baseman Joe Morgan (1965)^[11] and right-hander Tom Griffin (1969).^[12] Gross led the club with a .314 batting average while establishing a then-club record with 185 hits, and right-hander Ken Forsch also made a then-club record 70 appearances. Cliff Johnson, who was a force off the bench, as a pinch hitter cranked five home runs^[13] and hit .351 (13-for-37) with 13 runs batted in (RBI), 4 bases on balls, .415 on-base percentage and .757 slugging percentage.^[14]

Having slugged 26 home runs and pilfered 57 bags, Cedeño achieved another season with 20 home runs—50 stolen bases club,^[15] extending his major league record a third successive campaign.^[13] Craig Biggio became the next Astro to join the 20—50 club during the 1998 season.^[16]

Standings

NL West
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Los Angeles Dodgers	102	60	.630	—	52‍–‍29	50‍–‍31
Cincinnati Reds	98	64	.605	4	50‍–‍31	48‍–‍33
Atlanta Braves	88	74	.543	14	46‍–‍35	42‍–‍39
Houston Astros	81	81	.500	21	46‍–‍35	35‍–‍46
San Francisco Giants	72	90	.444	30	37‍–‍44	35‍–‍46
San Diego Padres	60	102	.370	42	36‍–‍45	24‍–‍57

Record vs. opponents

1974 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	—	4–8	7–11–1	6–12	8–10	9–3	8–4	8–4	4–8	17–1	8–10	9–3
Chicago	8–4	—	5–7	4–8	2–10	5–13	8–10	8–10	9–9	6–6	6–6	5–13
Cincinnati	11–7–1	7–5	—	14–4	6–12	6–6	9–3	8–4	8–4	12–6	11–7	6–6
Houston	12–6	8–4	4–14	—	5–13	6–6	6–6	6–6	5–7	7–11	10–8	8–4
Los Angeles	10–8	10–2	12–6	13–5	—	8–4	5–7	6–6	4–8	16–2	12–6	6–6
Montreal	3–9	13–5	6–6	6–6	4–8	—	9–9	11–7	9–9	6–6	4–8	8–9
New York	4–8	10–8	3–9	6–6	7–5	9–9	—	7–11	7–11	6–6	6–6	6–12
Philadelphia	4-8	10–8	4–8	6–6	6–6	7–11	11–7	—	10–8	5–7	8–4	9–9
Pittsburgh	8–4	9–9	4–8	7–5	8–4	9–9	11–7	8–10	—	9–3	8–4	7–11
San Diego	1–17	6–6	6–12	7–11	2–16	6–6	6–6	7–5	3–9	—	11–7	5–7
San Francisco	10–8	6–6	7–11	8–10	6–12	8–4	6–6	4–8	4–8	7–11	—	6–6
St. Louis	3–9	13–5	6–6	4–8	6–6	9–8	12–6	9–9	11–7	7–5	6–6	—

Notable transactions

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/cedence01.shtml César Cedeño

June 5, 1974: Alan Knicely was drafted by the Astros in the 3rd round of the 1974 Major League Baseball draft.^[17]
June 17, 1974: Oscar Zamora was purchased from the Astros by the Chicago Cubs.^[18]
August 15, 1974: Claude Osteen was traded by the Astros to the St. Louis Cardinals for Ron Selak (minors) and a player to be named later. The Cardinals completed the trade by sending Dan Larson to the Astros on October 14.^[19]

Roster

1974 Houston Astros

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

22 Mike Easler

Manager

18 Preston Gómez

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	127	405	117	.289	7	54
1B	Lee May	152	556	149	.268	24	85
2B	Tommy Helms	137	452	126	.279	5	50
SS	Roger Metzger	143	572	145	.253	0	30
3B	Doug Rader	152	533	137	.257	17	78
LF	Bob Watson	150	524	156	.298	11	67
CF	César Cedeño	160	610	164	.269	26	102
RF	Greg Gross	156	589	185	.314	0	36

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
Cliff Johnson	83	171	39	.228	10	29
Larry Milbourne	112	136	38	.279	0	9
Johnny Edwards	50	117	26	.222	1	10
Wilbur Howard	64	111	24	.216	2	5
Bob Gallagher	102	87	15	.172	0	3
Ollie Brown	27	69	15	.217	3	6
Mick Kelleher	19	57	9	.158	0	2
Ray Busse	19	34	7	.206	0	0
Denis Menke	30	29	3	.103	0	1
Dave Campbell	35	23	2	.087	0	2
Mike Easler	15	15	1	.067	0	0
Skip Jutze	8	13	3	.231	0	1

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	33	223.2	11	10	2.90	150
Tom Griffin	34	211.0	14	10	3.54	110
Don Wilson	33	204.2	11	13	3.08	112
Dave Roberts	34	204.0	10	12	3.40	72
Claude Osteen	23	138.1	9	9	3.71	45
Paul Siebert	5	25.1	1	1	3.55	10

Other pitchers