1975 Houston Astros season

1975 Houston Astros
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	Astrodome
City	Houston, Texas
Record	64–97 (.398)
Divisional place	6th
Owners	Roy Hofheinz
General managers	Spec Richardson, John Mullen, Tal Smith
Managers	Preston Gómez, Bill Virdon
Television	KPRC-TV
Radio	KPRC (AM) (Gene Elston, Loel Passe)
Seasons

The 1975 Houston Astros season was a season in American baseball. The team finished last in the National League West with a record of 64–97, 431⁄2 games behind the Cincinnati Reds. The Astros' .398 winning percentage is, as of 2021, the fourth worst in franchise history. In three consecutive seasons, in 2011, 2012 and 2013 the Astros finished each season with lower winning percentages. Houston also lost 97 games in 1965 and 1991, but lost more than 100 games each in the 2011-2013 seasons. 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.

Offseason

• December 3, 1974: Lee May and Jay Schlueter were traded by the Astros to the Baltimore Orioles for Enos Cabell and Rob Andrews.
• January 5, 1975: Pitcher Don Wilson died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Regular season

Opening Day starters

• Rob Andrews
• Enos Cabell
• César Cedeño
• José Cruz
• Larry Dierker
• Cliff Johnson
• Milt May
• Roger Metzger
• Doug Rader

Season standings

NL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	108	54	.667	—	64‍–‍17	44‍–‍37
Los Angeles Dodgers	88	74	.543	20	49‍–‍32	39‍–‍42
San Francisco Giants	80	81	.497	27½	46‍–‍35	34‍–‍46
San Diego Padres	71	91	.438	37	38‍–‍43	33‍–‍48
Atlanta Braves	67	94	.416	40½	37‍–‍43	30‍–‍51
Houston Astros	64	97	.398	43½	37‍–‍44	27‍–‍53

Record vs. opponents

1975 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	—	5–7	3–15	12–6	8–10	8–4	4–8	5–7	4–8	7–11	8–9	3–9
Chicago	7–5	—	1–11	7–5	5–7	9–9	7–11	12–6	6–12	5–7	5–7	11–7
Cincinnati	15–3	11–1	—	13–5	8–10	8–4	8–4	7–5	6–6	11–7	13–5	8–4
Houston	6–12	5–7	5–13	—	6–12	8–4	4–8	6–6	6–5	9–9	5–13	4–8–1
Los Angeles	10–8	7–5	10–8	12–6	—	5–7	6–6	7–5	5–7	11–7	10–8	5–7
Montreal	4–8	9–9	4–8	4–8	7–5	—	10–8	7–11	7–11	7–5	5–7	11–7
New York	8–4	11–7	4–8	8–4	6–6	8–10	—	7–11	5–13	8–4	8–4	9–9
Philadelphia	7-5	6–12	5–7	6–6	5–7	11–7	11–7	—	11–7	7–5	7–5	10–8
Pittsburgh	8–4	12–6	6–6	5–6	7–5	11–7	13–5	7–11	—	8–4	5–7	10–8
San Diego	11–7	7–5	7–11	9–9	7–11	5–7	4–8	5–7	4–8	—	8–10	4–8
San Francisco	9–8	7–5	5–13	13–5	8–10	7–5	4–8	5–7	7–5	10–8	—	5–7
St. Louis	9–3	7–11	4–8	8–4–1	7–5	7–11	9–9	8–10	8–10	8–4	7–5	—

Notable transactions

• 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.

Roster

1975 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers 37 Mike Cosgrove 30 Jim Crawford 49 Larry Dierker 43 Ken Forsch 35 Wayne Granger 38 Tom Griffin 46 Doug Konieczny 36 Joe Niekro 50 J. R. Richard 15 Dave Roberts 44 Fred Scherman 31 Paul Siebert 44,60 José Sosa 48 Mike Stanton 42 Jim York		Catchers  9 Skip Jutze  8 Milt May Infielders 11 Rob Andrews 17 Ken Boswell 16 Jerry DaVanon 19 Tommy Helms  6 Cliff Johnson 14 Roger Metzger 10 Larry Milbourne 12 Doug Rader 27 Bob Watson		Outfielders 23 Enos Cabell 28 César Cedeño 25 José Cruz 24 Art Gardner 21 Greg Gross 26 Wilbur Howard Other batters 20 Rafael Batista 20 Jesús de la Rosa 22 Mike Easler		Manager 18 Preston Gómez  7 Bill Virdon Coaches  2 Roger Craig  3 Hub Kittle  5 Bob Lillis  4 Jimmy Williams

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	111	386	93	.241	4	52
1B	Bob Watson	132	485	157	.324	18	85
2B	Rob Andrews	103	277	66	.238	0	19
SS	Roger Metzger	127	450	102	.227	2	26
3B	Doug Rader	129	448	100	.223	12	48
LF	Greg Gross	132	483	142	.294	0	41
CF	César Cedeño	131	500	144	.288	13	63
RF	José Cruz	120	315	81	.257	9	49

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
Wilbur Howard	121	392	111	.283	0	21
Enos Cabell	117	348	92	.264	2	43
Cliff Johnson	122	340	94	.276	20	65
Ken Boswell	86	178	43	.242	0	21
Larry Milbourne	73	151	32	.212	1	9
Tommy Helms	64	135	28	.207	0	14
Jerry DaVanon	32	97	27	.278	1	10
Skip Jutze	51	93	21	.226	0	6
Art Gardner	13	31	6	.194	0	2
Rafael Batista	10	10	3	.300	0	0
Mike Easler	5	5	0	.000	0	0
Jesús de la Rosa	3	3	1	.333	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
Larry Dierker	34	232.0	14	16	4.00	127
J.R. Richard	33	203.0	12	10	4.39	176
Dave Roberts	32	198.1	8	14	4.27	101
Doug Konieczny	32	171.0	6	13	4.47	89
Tom Griffin	17	79.1	3	8	5.33	56

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	34	109.0	4	8	3.22	54
Jim York	19	46.2	4	4	3.86	17
Paul Siebert	7	18.1	0	2	2.95	6
Mike Stanton	7	17.1	0	2	7.27	16

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
Wayne Granger	55	2	5	5	3.65	30
Jim Crawford	44	3	5	4	3.63	37
Joe Niekro	40	6	4	4	3.07	54
Mike Cosgrove	32	1	2	5	3.03	32
José Sosa	25	1	3	1	4.02	31
Fred Scherman	16	0	1	0	4.96	13

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Iowa Oaks	American Association	Joe Sparks
AA	Columbus Astros	Southern League	Jim Beauchamp
A	Dubuque Packers	Midwest League	Bob Cluck
Rookie	Covington Astros	Appalachian League	Billy Smith

External links

• 1975 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference