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)
← 1968 Seasons 1970 →

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 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 93 69 0.574 — 50–31 43–38
San Francisco Giants 90 72 0.556 3 52–29 38–43
Cincinnati Reds 89 73 0.549 4 50–31 39–42
Los Angeles Dodgers 85 77 0.525 8 50–31 35–46
Houston Astros 81 81 0.500 12 52–29 29–52
San Diego Padres 52 110 0.321 41 28–53 24–57

Record vs. opponents

1969 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 — 3–9 12–6 15–3 9–9 8–4 4–8 6–6 8–4 13–5 9–9 6–6
Chicago 9–3 — 6–6–1 8–4 6–6 10–8 8–10 12–6 7–11 11–1 6–6 9–9
Cincinnati 6–12 6–6–1 — 9–9 10–8 8–4 6–6 10–2 5–7 11–7 10–8 8–4
Houston 3–15 4–8 9–9 — 6–12 11–1 10–2 8–4 3–9 10–8 10–8 7–5
Los Angeles 9–9 6–6 8–10 12–6 — 10–2 4–8 8–4 8–4 12–6 5–13 3–9
Montreal 4–8 8–10 4–8 1–11 2–10 — 5–13 11–7 5–13 4–8 1–11 7–11
New York 8–4 10–8 6–6 2–10 8–4 13–5 — 12–6 10–8 11–1 8–4 12–6
Philadelphia 6-6 6–12 2–10 4–8 4–8 7–11 6–12 — 10–8 8–4 3–9 7–11
Pittsburgh 4–8 11–7 7–5 9–3 4–8 13–5 8–10 8–10 — 10–2 5–7 9–9
San Diego 5–13 1–11 7–11 8–10 6–12 8–4 1–11 4–8 2–10 — 6–12 4–8
San Francisco 9–9 6–6 8–10 8–10 13–5 11–1 4–8 9–3 7–5 12–6 — 3–9
St. Louis 6–6 9–9 4–8 5–7 9–3 11–7 6–12 11–7 9–9 8–4 9–3 —


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
C Johnny Edwards 151 496 115 .232 6 50
1B Curt Blefary 155 542 137 .253 12 67
2B Joe Morgan 147 535 126 .236 15 43
SS Denis Menke 154 553 149 .269 10 90
3B Doug Rader 155 569 140 .246 11 83
LF Jesús Alou 115 452 112 .248 5 34
CF Jim Wynn 149 495 133 .269 33 87
RF Norm Miller 119 409 108 .264 4 50

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 Martínez 78 198 61 .308 0 15
Gary Geiger 93 125 28 .224 0 16
Sandy Valdespino 41 119 29 .244 0 12
Julio Gotay 46 81 21 .259 0 9
Tommy Davis 24 79 19 .241 1 9
Leon McFadden 44 74 13 .176 0 3
Héctor Torres 34 69 11 .159 1 8
Don Bryant 31 59 11 .186 1 6
Bob Watson 20 40 11 .275 0 3
Keith Lampard 9 12 3 .250 1 2
César Gerónimo 28 8 2 .250 0 0
John Mayberry 5 4 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
Larry Dierker 39 305.1 20 13 2.33 232
Denny Lemaster 38 244.2 13 17 3.16 173
Don Wilson 34 225.0 16 12 4.00 235
Tom Griffin 31 188.1 11 10 3.54 200

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 Ray 40 115.0 8 2 3.91 115
Wade Blasingame 26 52.0 0 5 5.37 33

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 Gladding 57 4 8 29 4.21 40
Jack Billingham 52 6 7 2 4.25 71
Dooley Womack 30 2 1 0 3.51 32
Skip Guinn 28 1 2 0 6.67 33
Jim Bouton 16 0 2 1 4.11 32
Danny Coombs 8 0 1 0 6.75 3
Dan Schneider 6 0 1 0 13.50 3
Bob Watkins 5 0 0 0 5.17 11
Bill Henry 3 0 0 0 0.00 2
Ron Willis 3 0 0 0 0.00 2
Scipio Spinks 1 0 0 0 0.00 4
Marty Martínez 1 0 0 0 13.50 0

Awards and honors

1969 MLB All-Star Game

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. ^ a b 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

External links

1969 MLB season by team
Houston Astros
Categories