1975 Houston Astros season

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. 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.

• October 24, 1974: Acquired the rights of outfielder José Cruz from the St. Louis Cardinals for cash considerations.^[1]
• December 3, 1974: Lee May and Jay Schlueter were traded by the Astros to the Baltimore Orioles for Enos Cabell and Rob Andrews.^[2]
• January 5, 1975: Pitcher Don Wilson died of carbon monoxide poisoning.^[3]

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.

Opening Day starting lineup^[4][5]

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 6–2 triumph over the Atlanta Braves.^[1] 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, 5–2.^[6] Rob Andrews made his major league debut at second base^[2] 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.^[6] Dierker made his then-club record fourth Opening Day start for Houston, relinquishing a tie with the prior year's starter, Dave Roberts.^{[Note 1][7]}

On April 13, the Astros retired Don Wilson's uniform number 40.^[8][9] 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."^[10]

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, 12–8, and obtain a split of the twinbill.^[11]

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.^[12]

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.^[13]

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.^[14]

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 4–August 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 13–July 11, 1954, for the Brooklyn Dodgers.^[15][16]

Rookie relief pitcher José Sosa had 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 8–4 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 1+2⁄3 innings with a scoreless effort and two strikeouts to covert his first major league save.^[17][18] 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.^[19]

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).^[20] 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 10–9 triumph. Jim Crawford hurled 6+1⁄3 innings of relief for the win, while José Sosa earned his first hold.^[21]

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 5–3 Astros win. With two hits, a double, run scored, and a stolen base, César Cedeño led the way for Houston's offense.^[22]

Houston had played to a major-league worst 47–80 (.370) showing, on August 19, the Astros 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 they 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. An exhibition game on August 21 opposing their Triple-A affiliate, the Iowa Oaks, featured another Johnson home run.^[23]

José Cruz recorded his first career multi-home run game on August 24, going 3-for-5 with two home runs, one double, and five RBI.^[20]

The Astros a series on August 25 at Busch Memorial Stadium against the second-place St. Louis Cardinals 69–59 (.539). 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, 3–3. 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 4–3 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 erased—including 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 3–3 in 10 innings, accounting for Houston's lone tie score of the campaign.^[23]

Under Virdon, the Astros closed out the season with 17–17–1 (.500) performance.^[23]

The Astros concluded the 1975 season in last place the NL West with a record of 64–97–1, 43+1⁄2 games behind the division- and World Series-champion Cincinnati Reds, and turned in the worst record in the National League.^[24] 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 43+1⁄2 games, this mark exceeded the 36+1⁄2 games behind the San Francisco Giants, the inaugural season of 1962. In 2013, they finished 45 games back.^[25]

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.^[26]

For the fourth consecutive campaign, center fielder César Cedeño became a Gold Glove Award recipient. He and teammate Doug Rader, having won five times at third base from 1970–1974, 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.^[27]

• June 3, 1975: Kim Seaman was drafted by the Astros in the 23rd round of the 1975 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.^[28]

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

Career honors

• Houston Astros uniform numbers retired:^[9]
  • Don Wilson, Pitcher: No. 40 • In Houston 1966–1974 • 268 games • 1× MLB All-Star^[29]

Annual awards

• Gold Glove Award—Outfielder:^[30] César Cedeño
• Houston Astros Most Valuable Player (MVP):^[31] Bob Watson
• MLB All-Star Game: Bob Watson—Reserve first baseman
• National League (NL) Player of the Month:^[32]
  • May—Bob Watson

• List of Major League Baseball players with a home run in their first major league at bat
• List of Major League Baseball retired numbers

Footnotes

Sources

• 1975 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference