1968 Houston Astros season

1968 Houston Astros
LeagueNational League
BallparkAstrodome
CityHouston, Texas
Record72–90 (.444)
League place10th
OwnersRoy Hofheinz
General managersSpec Richardson
ManagersGrady Hatton, Harry Walker
TelevisionKTRK-TV
RadioKPRC (AM)
(Gene Elston, Loel Passe, Harry Kalas)
Seasons

The 1968 Houston Astros season was the seventh season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their fourth as the Astros, seventh in the National League (NL), and fourth at The Astrodome. The Astros entered the season with a record of 68–93, in ninth place and 32+1⁄2 games behind the NL pennant and World Series-winning St. Louis Cardinals.

In the amateur draft, Houston's first round selection was catcher Martin Cott, at third overall.

For the first time, the Astros hosted the MLB All-Star Game at The Astrodome, with the NL defeating the American League (AL), 1–0.[Note 1] First baseman Rusty Staub represented the Astros and played for the National League at the All-Star Game, his second career selection.

The Astros concluded their season with a record of 72–90, an improvement of three wins, in tenth place of 10 teams and 25 games behind the repeat NL-pennant winning Cardinals. It was the first time the Astros finished a season in last place.

Shortstop Héctor Torres was selected to the Topps All-Star Rookie Team.

Along with MLB's expansion featuring the introduction of four new franchises[Note 2] and an extra playoff round[Note 3], this was also the final season prior to MLB's divisional era. Hence, all teams were realigned into four newly-commissioned divisions beginning the following season, with the Astros to compete in the NL West.

Offseason

Regular season

Summary

Though games around Major League Baseball were postponed on June 10 in connection to the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, two Houston Astros were fined for not playing in their game.[4]

Season standings

National League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
St. Louis Cardinals 97 65 .599 — 47‍–‍34 50‍–‍31
San Francisco Giants 88 74 .543 9 42‍–‍39 46‍–‍35
Chicago Cubs 84 78 .519 13 47‍–‍34 37‍–‍44
Cincinnati Reds 83 79 .512 14 40‍–‍41 43‍–‍38
Atlanta Braves 81 81 .500 16 41‍–‍40 40‍–‍41
Pittsburgh Pirates 80 82 .494 17 40‍–‍41 40‍–‍41
Los Angeles Dodgers 76 86 .469 21 41‍–‍40 35‍–‍46
Philadelphia Phillies 76 86 .469 21 38‍–‍43 38‍–‍43
New York Mets 73 89 .451 24 32‍–‍49 41‍–‍40
72 90 .444 25 42‍–‍39 30‍–‍51

Record vs. opponents

1968 National League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
Team ATL CHC CIN HOU LAD NYM PHI PIT SF STL
Atlanta — 8–10 10–8 11–7 9–9 12–6–1 11–7 6–12 9–9 5–13
Chicago 10–8 — 7–11 10–8 12–6 8–10 9–9 10–8 9–9–1 9–9
Cincinnati 8–10 11–7 — 9–9 9–9 10–8 11–7 10–8–1 8–10 7–11
7–11 8–10 9–9 — 11–7 10–8 9–9 5–13 8–10 5–13
Los Angeles 9–9 6–12 9–9 7–11 — 7–11 10–8 10–8 9–9 9–9
New York 6–12–1 10–8 8–10 8–10 11–7 — 8–10 9–9 7–11 6–12
Philadelphia 7–11 9–9 7–11 9–9 8–10 10–8 — 9–9 9–9 8–10
Pittsburgh 12–6 8–10 8–10–1 13–5 8–10 9–9 9–9 — 7–11 6–12
San Francisco 9–9 9–9–1 10–8 10–8 9–9 11–7 9–9 11–7 — 10–8
St. Louis 13–5 9–9 11–7 13–5 9–9 12–6 10–8 12–6 8–10 —


Notable transactions

Roster

1968 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Game log

Regular season

Legend
  Astros win
  Astros loss
  Postponement
  Eliminated from playoff race
Bold Astros team member
1968 regular season game log: 72–90 (Home: 42–39; Away: 30–51)[7]
April: 7–10 (Home: 6–2; Away: 1–8)
# Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/
Streak
— April 9 Pirates Postponed (Funeral of Martin Luther King, Jr.) (Makeup date: April 10)
1 April 10 Pirates
7 April 17 @ Pirates
May: 14–14 (Home: 8–6; Away: 6–8)
# Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/
Streak
June: 11–19 (Home: 8–11; Away: 3–8)
# Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/
Streak
52 June 7 Pirates
53 June 8 Pirates
54 June 9 Pirates
57 June 14 @ Pirates
58 June 15 @ Pirates
59 (1) June 16 @ Pirates
60 (2) June 16 @ Pirates
61 June 17 @ Pirates
July: 13–17 (Home: 4–8; Away: 9–9)
# Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/
Streak
— July 9 7:15 p.m. CDT 39th All-Star Game in Houston, TX
August: 19–13 (Home: 11–6; Away: 8–7)
# Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/
Streak
113 August 8 Pirates
114 August 9 Pirates
115 (1) August 10 Pirates
116 (2) August 10 Pirates
117 August 11 Pirates
September: 8–17 (Home: 5–6; Away: 3–11)
# Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/
Streak
139 (1) September 2 @ Pirates
140 (2) September 2 @ Pirates
141 September 3 @ Pirates

Detailed records

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 John Bateman 111 350 87 .249 4 33
1B Rusty Staub 161 591 172 .291 6 72
2B Denis Menke 150 542 135 .249 6 56
SS Héctor Torres 128 466 104 .223 1 24
3B Doug Rader 98 333 89 .267 6 43
LF Bob Watson 45 140 32 .229 2 8
CF Jimmy Wynn 156 542 146 .269 26 67
RF Norm Miller 79 257 61 .237 6 28

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
Bob Aspromonte 124 409 92 .225 1 46
Ron Davis 52 217 46 .212 1 12
Lee Thomas 90 201 39 .194 1 11
Dick Simpson 59 177 33 .186 3 11
Julio Gotay 75 165 41 .248 1 11
Dave Adlesh 40 104 19 .183 0 4
José Herrera 27 100 24 .240 0 7
Ron Brand 43 81 13 .160 0 4
Ivan Murrell 32 59 6 .102 0 3
Hal King 27 55 8 .145 0 2
Nate Colbert 20 53 8 .151 0 4
Leon McFadden 16 47 13 .277 0 1
Joe Morgan 10 20 5 .250 0 0
Byron Browne 10 13 3 .231 0 1
John Mayberry 4 9 0 .000 0 0
Danny Walton 2 2 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
Dave Giusti 37 251.0 11 14 3.19 186
Larry Dierker 32 233.2 12 15 3.31 161
Denny Lemaster 33 224.0 10 15 2.81 146
Don Wilson 33 208.2 13 16 3.28 175
Mike Cuellar 28 170.2 8 11 2.74 133

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
Steve Shea 30 4 4 6 3.38 15
Tom Dukes 43 2 2 4 4.27 37
Jim Ray 41 2 3 1 2.67 71
Danny Coombs 40 4 3 2 3.28 29
John Buzhardt 39 4 4 5 3.12 37
Wade Blasingame 22 1 2 1 4.75 22
Pat House 18 1 1 0 7.71 6
Fred Gladding 7 0 0 2 14.54 2
Hal Gilson 2 0 0 0 7.36 1

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Oklahoma City 89ers Pacific Coast League Cot Deal
AA Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs Texas League Hub Kittle
A Greensboro Patriots Carolina League Brandy Davis
A Cocoa Astros Florida State League Tony Pacheco and Leo Posada
Rookie Covington Astros Appalachian League Tony Pacheco

References

Footnotes
  1. ^ The next time the Astros hosted the All-Star Game was in 1986, also at The Astrodome.
  2. ^ The Kansas City Royals (AL), Montreal Expos (NL), San Diego Padres (NL), and Seattle Pilots (AL).
  3. ^ The League Championship Series (LCS).
Sources
  1. ^ Bob Lillis at Baseball-Reference
  2. ^ César Cedeño at Baseball-Reference
  3. ^ Doc Edwards at Baseball-Reference
  4. ^ Schwartzberg, Seth (June 10, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 10". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  5. ^ Byron Browne at Baseball Reference
  6. ^ Larry Yount at Baseball Reference
  7. ^ "1968 Houston Astros Schedule & Results". Baseball Reference. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
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