1972 Houston Astros season

1972 Houston Astros
LeagueNational League
DivisionWest
BallparkAstrodome
CityHouston, Texas
Record84–69 (.549)
Divisional place2nd—tied
OwnersRoy Hofheinz
General managersSpec Richardson
ManagersHarry Walker: 67–54
Salty Parker: 1–0
Leo Durocher: 16–15
TelevisionKTRK-TV
RadioKPRC (AM)
(Gene Elston, Loel Passe)
Seasons

The 1972 Houston Astros season was the 11th season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their eighth as the Astros, 11th in the National League (NL), fourth in the NL West division, and eighth at The Astrodome. The Astros entered the season with a 79–83 record, tied for fourth place, and 11 games behind the division-champion San Francisco Giants.

The first players' strike in league history occurred from April 1–13, which resulted in nine games being cancelled for Houston.

Three managers led the club for the 1972 season: Harry Walker, Salty Parker for one game on an interim basis, and Leo Durocher, who was installed as Walker's permanent replacement. Each represented the fourth, fifth and sixth managers for Houston, with Walker having been the longest-serving (708 games) in franchise history at the time.

The Astros' first round draft pick in the amateur draft was outfielder Steve Englishbey, at ninth overall. They also selected Jim Crawford in the 14th round.

Center fielder César Cedeño and first baseman Lee May represented the Astros at the MLB All-Star Game. It was the first career selection for Cedeño and third for May.

On August 2, Cedeño became the first player in franchise history to hit for the cycle, leading a 10–2 win over the Cincinnati Reds at The Astrodome. This was the first of two cycles that Cedeño hit as a member of the Astros.

The Astros concluded the season with a record of 84–69—the first-ever winning season in franchise history—in second place in the NL West, 10+1⁄2 games behind the division-champion and NL pennant-winning Reds, and just a percentage point ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers. It also represented the highest positional finish and fewest games back of first place for the Astros at the time.

Following the season, Cedeño (first selection) and Doug Rader (third) each earned Gold Glove Awards. This was the first time the Astros had more than one Gold Glove Award winner in the same season.

Offseason

Regular season

Summary

The Philadelphia Phillies on June 6 hosted a "Turn It Around" Night where the theme was doing everything backward, included announcing the lineup cards from bottom to top and holding the seventh-inning stretch in the third inning. Astros pitcher Dave Roberts homered twice to promote his own effort as Houston won, 4–3.[3]

With Steve Carlton on the mound for Philadelphia on June 16, the game remained scoreless through extra innings. In the bottom of the 11th inning, Jimmy Wynn connected for a walk-off home run to give the Astros a 1–0 victory.[4]

On June 18, pitcher Jerry Reuss tossed a 10–0 shutout over the Phillies, with the only hit allowed a ninth-inning double. César Cedeño collected for hits for the Astros, with a home run and two doubles.[5]

On June 19, Larry Dierker hurled a one-hitter to lead a 3–0 triumph over the New York Mets, whose only baserunner was the result of a third-inning single. Tommy Helms supplied much of the Astros' offense with four hits.[6]

Each of the first five Astros' hits on June 26 were home runs, which brought them to a 7–7 tie with the San Diego Padres. San Diego never answered back, however, and Houston kept scoring for a 14–7 win.[7]

Season standings

NL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Cincinnati Reds 95 59 .617 — 42‍–‍34 53‍–‍25
84 69 .549 10½ 41‍–‍36 43‍–‍33
Los Angeles Dodgers 85 70 .548 10½ 41‍–‍34 44‍–‍36
Atlanta Braves 70 84 .455 25 36‍–‍41 34‍–‍43
San Francisco Giants 69 86 .445 26½ 34‍–‍43 35‍–‍43
San Diego Padres 58 95 .379 36½ 26‍–‍54 32‍–‍41

Record vs. opponents

1972 National League record

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


Notable transactions

Roster

1972 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders 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 108 332 89 .268 5 40
1B Lee May 148 592 168 .284 29 98
2B Tommy Helms 139 518 134 .259 5 60
SS Roger Metzger 153 641 142 .222 2 38
3B Doug Rader 152 553 131 .237 22 90
LF Bob Watson 147 548 171 .312 16 86
CF César Cedeño 139 559 179 .320 22 82
RF Jimmy Wynn 145 542 148 .273 24 90

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
Larry Howard 54 157 35 .223 2 13
Norm Miller 67 107 26 .243 4 13
Jimmy Stewart 68 96 21 .219 0 9
Jesús Alou 52 93 29 .312 0 11
Bobby Fenwick 36 50 9 .180 0 4
Bob Stinson 27 35 6 .171 0 2
Jack Hiatt 10 25 5 .200 0 0
Rich Chiles 9 11 3 .273 0 2
Gary Sutherland 5 8 1 .125 0 1
Cliff Johnson 5 4 1 .250 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
Don Wilson 33 228.1 15 10 2.68 172
Larry Dierker 31 214.2 15 8 3.40 115
Dave Roberts 35 192.0 12 7 4.50 111
Jerry Reuss 33 192.0 9 13 4.17 174
Ken Forsch 30 156.1 6 8 3.91 113

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
Tom Griffin 39 94.1 5 4 3.21 83
Mike Cosgrove 7 13.2 0 1 4.61 7
J.R. Richard 4 6.0 1 0 13.50 8

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 42 5 6 14 2.77 18
Jim Ray 54 10 9 8 4.28 50
George Culver 45 6 2 2 3.05 82
Jim York 26 0 1 0 5.25 25
Wade Blasingame 10 0 0 0 8.64 9
Joe Gibbon 9 0 0 0 9.82 4

Awards and achievements

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Oklahoma City 89ers American Association Tony Pacheco
AA Columbus Astros Southern League Jackie Brandt
A Cocoa Astros Florida State League Jimmy Williams
Rookie Covington Astros Appalachian League Billy Smith
Rookie Cocoa Astros Florida East Coast League Leo Posada

References

  1. ^ Joe Morgan at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ John Mayberry at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Schwartzberg, Seth (June 6, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 6". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  4. ^ Schwartzburg, Seth (June 16, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 16". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved June 16, 2025.
  5. ^ Schwartzberg, Seth (June 18, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 18". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved June 26, 2025.
  6. ^ Schwartzburg, Seth (June 19, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 16". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
  7. ^ Schwartzberg, Seth (June 26, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 26". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved June 26, 2025.
  8. ^ Jim Crawford at Baseball Reference
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