1973 Houston Astros season

1973 Houston Astros
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	Astrodome
City	Houston, Texas
Record	82–80 (.506)
Divisional place	4th
Owners	Roy Hofheinz
General managers	Spec Richardson
Managers	Leo Durocher
Television	KPRC-TV
Radio	KPRC (AM) (Gene Elston, Loel Passe)
Seasons

The 1973 Houston Astros season was a season in American baseball. The team finished fourth in the National League West with a record of 82–80, 17 games behind the Cincinnati Reds.

Offseason

• November 27, 1972: Rich Chiles and Buddy Harris were traded by the Astros to the New York Mets for Tommie Agee.
• January 10, 1973: Mike Stanton was drafted by the Astros in the 1st round (5th pick) of the 1973 Major League Baseball draft (secondary phase).

Regular season

• June 19, 1973: Dave Winfield of the San Diego Padres made his major league debut against the Astros. Winfield had one hit in four at-bats.

Season standings

NL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	99	63	.611	—	50‍–‍31	49‍–‍32
Los Angeles Dodgers	95	66	.590	3½	50‍–‍31	45‍–‍35
San Francisco Giants	88	74	.543	11	47‍–‍34	41‍–‍40
Houston Astros	82	80	.506	17	41‍–‍40	41‍–‍40
Atlanta Braves	76	85	.472	22½	40‍–‍40	36‍–‍45
San Diego Padres	60	102	.370	39	31‍–‍50	29‍–‍52

Record vs. opponents

1973 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	—	7–5	5–13	11–7	2–15–1	6–6	6–6	6–6	7–5	12–6	8–10	6–6
Chicago	5–7	—	8–4	6–6	5–7	9–9	10–7	10–8	6–12	7–5	2–10	9–9
Cincinnati	13–5	4–8	—	11–7	11–7	8–4	8–4	8–4	7–5	13–5	10–8	6–6
Houston	7–11	6–6	7–11	—	11–7	6–6	6–6	7–5	6–6	10–8	11–7	5–7
Los Angeles	15–2–1	7–5	7–11	7–11	—	7–5	7–5	9–3	10–2	9–9	9–9	8–4
Montreal	6–6	9–9	4–8	6–6	5–7	—	9–9	13–5	6–12	7–5	6–6	8–10
New York	6–6	7–10	4–8	6–6	5–7	9–9	—	9–9	13–5	8–4	5–7	10–8
Philadelphia	6-6	8–10	4–8	5–7	3–9	5–13	9–9	—	8–10	9–3	5–7	9–9
Pittsburgh	5–7	12–6	5–7	6–6	2–10	12–6	5–13	10–8	—	8–4	5–7	10–8
San Diego	6–12	5–7	5–13	8–10	9–9	5–7	4–8	3–9	4–8	—	7–11	4–8
San Francisco	10–8	10–2	8–10	7–11	9–9	6–6	7–5	7–5	7–5	11–7	—	6–6
St. Louis	6–6	9–9	6–6	7–5	4–8	10–8	8–10	9–9	8–10	8–4	6–6	—

Notable transactions

• July 31, 1973: Jesús Alou was purchased from the Astros by the Oakland Athletics.
• August 18, 1973: Tommie Agee was traded by the Astros to the St. Louis Cardinals for Dave Campbell and cash.

Draft picks

• June 5, 1973: 1973 Major League Baseball draft
  • Ken Landreaux was drafted by the Astros in the 8th round, but did not sign.
  • Mike Davey was drafted by the Astros in the 18th round, but did not sign.

Roster

1973 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers 37 Mike Cosgrove 30 Jim Crawford 49 Larry Dierker 43 Ken Forsch 48 Fred Gladding 38 Tom Griffin 46 Doug Konieczny 39 Juan Pizarro 45 Jim Ray 47 Jerry Reuss 50 J. R. Richard 15 Dave Roberts 34 Cecil Upshaw 40 Don Wilson 42 Jim York		Catchers  7 Johnny Edwards 10 Larry Howard  9 Skip Jutze  9 Otis Thornton Infielders  8 Rafael Batista 16 Ray Busse 20 Dave Campbell 19 Tommy Helms  6 Cliff Johnson 23 Lee May 14 Roger Metzger 12 Doug Rader 11 Jimmy Stewart 17 Gary Sutherland 17 Héctor Torres		Outfielders 20 Tommie Agee 22 Jesús Alou 28 César Cedeño 22 Mike Easler 25 Bob Gallagher 21 Greg Gross 21 Norm Miller 27 Bob Watson 24 Jimmy Wynn		Manager  2 Leo Durocher Coaches  4 Preston Gómez  1 Grady Hatton  3 Hub Kittle  5 Bob Lillis

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	Skip Jutze	90	278	62	.223	0	18
1B	Lee May	148	545	147	.270	28	105
2B	Tommy Helms	146	543	156	.287	4	61
SS	Roger Metzger	154	580	145	.250	1	35
3B	Doug Rader	154	574	146	.254	21	89
LF	Bob Watson	158	573	179	.312	16	94
CF	César Cedeño	139	525	168	.320	25	70
RF	Jim Wynn	139	481	106	.220	20	55

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
Johnny Edwards	79	250	61	.244	5	27
Tommie Agee	83	204	48	.235	8	15
Bob Gallagher	71	148	39	.264	2	10
Jimmy Stewart	61	68	13	.191	0	3
Héctor Torres	38	66	6	.091	0	2
Jesús Alou	28	55	13	.236	1	8
Gary Sutherland	16	54	14	.259	0	3
Larry Howard	20	48	8	.167	0	4
Greg Gross	14	39	9	.231	0	1
Cliff Johnson	7	20	6	.300	2	6
Ray Busse	15	17	1	.059	0	0
Rafael Batista	12	15	4	.267	0	2
Dave Campbell	9	15	4	.267	0	2
Mike Easler	6	7	0	.000	0	0
Otis Thornton	2	3	0	.000	0	1
Norm Miller	3	3	0	.000	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
Jerry Reuss	41	279.1	16	13	3.74	177
Dave Roberts	39	249.1	17	11	2.85	119
Don Wilson	37	239.1	11	16	3.20	149
Doug Konieczny	2	13.0	0	1	5.54	6

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	46	201.1	9	12	4.20	149
Tom Griffin	25	99.2	4	6	4.15	69
J.R. Richard	16	72.0	6	2	4.00	75
Larry Dierker	14	27.0	1	1	4.33	18

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
Jim Crawford	48	2	4	6	4.50	56
Jim Ray	42	6	4	6	4.43	25
Jim York	41	3	4	6	4.42	22
Cecil Upshaw	35	2	3	1	4.46	21
Fred Gladding	16	2	0	1	4.50	9
Juan Pizarro	15	2	2	0	6.56	10
Mike Cosgrove	13	1	1	0	1.80	2

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Denver Bears	American Association	Jimmy Williams
AA	Columbus Astros	Southern League	Wayne Terwilliger
A	Cedar Rapids Astros	Midwest League	Leo Posada
Rookie	Covington Astros	Appalachian League	Billy Smith

External links

• 1973 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference