1969 Houston Astros season

1969 Houston Astros
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record 81–81 (.500)
Divisional place 5th
Other information
Owner(s) Roy Hofheinz
General manager(s) Spec Richardson
Manager(s) Harry Walker
Local television KTRK-TV
Local radio KPRC (AM)
(Gene Elston, Loel Passe, Harry Kalas)
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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.

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 done the feat. Since then, only the 2013 Detroit Tigers have done 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 Records

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

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
1BCurt Blefary155542137.2531267

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

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 Dierker39305.120132.33232
Tom Griffin31188.111103.54200
Denny Lemaster38244.213173.16173
Jim Ray40115823.91115
Don Wilson3422516124.00235

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

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
Jack Billingham526724.2571
Skip Guinn281206.6733

Awards and honors

1969 MLB All-Star Game

  • Larry Dierker
  • Denis Menke

Farm system

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. 1 2 Ball Four, 20th Anniversary Edition, pp. 324–396, Jim Bouton, Edited by Leonard Schecter, Wiley Publishing Inc., 1990, ISBN 0-02-030665-2
  7. ↑ http://www.baseballroundtable.com/teams-with-three-200-strikeout-pitchers-a-diverse-bunch-of-hurlers/
  8. ↑ Oscar Zamora at Baseball Reference
  9. ↑ J. R. Richard at Baseball Reference
  10. ↑ Jim Bouton at Baseball Reference
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