1969 Houston Astros season

The 1969 Houston Astros season was a season in American baseball. The team finished in fifth place in the newly established National League West with a record of 81–81, twelve games behind the Atlanta Braves. It was also the first time in their history that the Astros did not finish below .500.

1969 Houston Astros
LeagueNational League
DivisionWest
BallparkAstrodome
CityHouston, Texas
Record81–81 (.500)
Divisional place5th
OwnersRoy Hofheinz
General managersSpec Richardson
ManagersHarry Walker
TelevisionKTRK-TV
RadioKPRC (AM)
(Gene Elston, Loel Passe, Harry Kalas)
Seasons

Offseason

Regular season

The Astros season from August 26 to October 2 was featured in Jim Bouton's book, Ball Four.[6] On September 19, Bouton struck out Tony Pérez of the Cincinnati Reds and made baseball history. With that strikeout, the pitching staff of the 1969 edition of the Houston Astros broke the then-National League record for most strikeouts in a season with 1,123 strikeouts.[6] The team finished the year with 1,221 strikeouts, which stood as the National League record until 1996, when it was broken by the Atlanta Braves. They were the second team to have three pitchers with 200 strikeouts, with only the 1967 Minnesota Twins having accomplished the feat. Since then, only the 2013 Detroit Tigers have accomplished the feat.[7]

Season standings
NL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Atlanta Braves 9369 0.574 — 50–31 43–38
San Francisco Giants 9072 0.556 3 52–29 38–43
Cincinnati Reds 8973 0.549 4 50–31 39–42
Los Angeles Dodgers 8577 0.525 8 50–31 35–46
Houston Astros 8181 0.500 12 52–29 29–52
San Diego Padres 52110 0.321 41 28–53 24–57

Record vs. opponents
1969 National League record

Sources:
Team ATL CHC CIN HOU LAD MON NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL
Atlanta —3–912–615–39–98–44–86–68–413–59–96–6
Chicago 9–3—6–6–18–46–610–88–1012–67–1111–16–69–9
Cincinnati 6–126–6–1—9–910–88–46–610–25–711–710–88–4
Houston 3–154–89–9—6–1211–110–28–43–910–810–87–5
Los Angeles 9–96–68–1012–6—10–24–88–48–412–65–133–9
Montreal 4–88–104–81–112–10—5–1311–75–134–81–117–11
New York 8–410–86–62–108–413–5—12–610–811–18–412–6
Philadelphia 6-66–122–104–84–87–116–12—10–88–43–97–11
Pittsburgh 4–811–77–59–34–813–58–108–10—10–25–79–9
San Diego 5–131–117–118–106–128–41–114–82–10—6–124–8
San Francisco 9–96–68–108–1013–511–14–89–37–512–6—3–9
St. Louis 6–69–94–85–79–311–76–1211–79–98–49–3—

Notable transactions

Roster
1969 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

  •  4 Buddy Hancken
  •  3 Mel McGaha
  •  5 Jim Owens
  •  2 Salty Parker

Player stats

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
CJohnny Edwards151496115.232650
1BCurt Blefary155542137.2531267
2BJoe Morgan147535126.2361543
SSDenis Menke154553149.2691090
3BDoug Rader155569140.2461183
LFJesús Alou115452112.248534
CFJim Wynn149495133.2693387
RFNorm Miller119409108.264450

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
Marty Martínez7819861.308015
Gary Geiger9312528.224016
Sandy Valdespino4111929.244012
Julio Gotay468121.25909
Tommy Davis247919.24119
Leon McFadden447413.17603
Héctor Torres346911.15918
Don Bryant315911.18616
Bob Watson204011.27503
Keith Lampard9123.25012
César Gerónimo2882.25000
John Mayberry540.00000

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 Dierker39305.120132.33232
Denny Lemaster38244.213173.16173
Don Wilson34225.016124.00235
Tom Griffin31188.111103.54200

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
Jim Ray40115.0823.91115
Wade Blasingame2652.0055.3733

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
Fred Gladding5748294.2140
Jack Billingham526724.2571
Dooley Womack302103.5132
Skip Guinn281206.6733
Jim Bouton160214.1132
Danny Coombs80106.753
Dan Schneider601013.503
Bob Watkins50005.1711
Bill Henry30000.002
Ron Willis30000.002
Scipio Spinks10000.004
Marty Martínez100013.500

Awards and honors

1969 MLB All-Star Game

  • Larry Dierker
  • Denis Menke

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Oklahoma City 89ers American Association Cot Deal
AA Savannah Senators Southern League Hub Kittle
A Peninsula Astros Carolina League Tony Pacheco
A Cocoa Astros Florida State League Leo Posada
A-Short Season Williamsport Astros New York–Penn League Billy Smith
Rookie Covington Astros Appalachian League Dick Bogard

Savannah affiliation shared with Washington Senators

References
  1. Nate Colbert at Baseball Reference
  2. Bo Belinsky at Baseball Reference
  3. Curt Blefary Statistics – Baseball-Reference.com
  4. Jesús Alou Statistics at Baseball Reference
  5. Byron Browne at Baseball Reference
  6. Ball Four, 20th Anniversary Edition, pp. 324–396, Jim Bouton, Edited by Leonard Schecter, Wiley Publishing Inc., 1990, ISBN 0-02-030665-2
  7. "Teams with Three 200+ Strikeout Pitchers - A Diverse Bunch of Hurlers". February 21, 2014.
  8. Oscar Zamora at Baseball Reference
  9. J. R. Richard at Baseball Reference
  10. Jim Bouton at Baseball Reference
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