1973 Houston Astros season

1973 Houston Astros
LeagueNational League
DivisionWest
BallparkAstrodome
CityHouston, Texas
Record82–80 (.506)
Divisional place4th
OwnersRoy Hofheinz
General managersSpec Richardson
ManagersLeo Durocher
TelevisionKPRC-TV
RadioKPRC (AM)
(Gene Elston, Loel Passe)
Seasons

The 1973 Houston Astros season was the 12th season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their ninth as the Astros, 12th in the National League (NL), fifth in the NL West division, and ninth at The Astrodome. The Astros entered the season having posted 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 Cincinnati Reds.

Center fielder César Cedeño and left fielder Bob Watson represented the Astros at the MLB All-Star Game and played for the National League. It was the second career selection for Cedeño and first for Watson.

The Astros concluded the regular season fourth in the NL West with a record of 82–80, 17 games behind the division champions, Cincinnati. Hence, this performance established the Astros' first-ever instance of consecutive winning seasons.

Following the season, Cedeño (second career selection), shortstop Roger Metzger (first) and third baseman Doug Rader (fourth) each earned Gold Glove Awards. For the first time in the award's history, this Gold Glove edition rostered three Astros players.

Offseason

Regular season

On June 19, 1973, Dave Winfield of the San Diego Padres made his major league debut against the Astros. He had one hit in four at-bats.[3] Backed by a three-home-run game from Lee May on June 21, Ken Forsch hurled a complete game to lead a 12–2 win over San Diego. May delivered 5 RBi while Tommy Helms also connected for a grand slam.[4]

Season standings

NL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Cincinnati Reds 99 63 .611 — 50‍–‍31 49‍–‍32
Los Angeles Dodgers 95 66 .590 3½ 50‍–‍31 45‍–‍35
San Francisco Giants 88 74 .543 11 47‍–‍34 41‍–‍40
82 80 .506 17 41‍–‍40 41‍–‍40
Atlanta Braves 76 85 .472 22½ 40‍–‍40 36‍–‍45
San Diego Padres 60 102 .370 39 31‍–‍50 29‍–‍52

Record vs. opponents

1973 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 — 7–5 5–13 11–7 2–15–1 6–6 6–6 6–6 7–5 12–6 8–10 6–6
Chicago 5–7 — 8–4 6–6 5–7 9–9 10–7 10–8 6–12 7–5 2–10 9–9
Cincinnati 13–5 4–8 — 11–7 11–7 8–4 8–4 8–4 7–5 13–5 10–8 6–6
7–11 6–6 7–11 — 11–7 6–6 6–6 7–5 6–6 10–8 11–7 5–7
Los Angeles 15–2–1 7–5 7–11 7–11 — 7–5 7–5 9–3 10–2 9–9 9–9 8–4
Montreal 6–6 9–9 4–8 6–6 5–7 — 9–9 13–5 6–12 7–5 6–6 8–10
New York 6–6 7–10 4–8 6–6 5–7 9–9 — 9–9 13–5 8–4 5–7 10–8
Philadelphia 6-6 8–10 4–8 5–7 3–9 5–13 9–9 — 8–10 9–3 5–7 9–9
Pittsburgh 5–7 12–6 5–7 6–6 2–10 12–6 5–13 10–8 — 8–4 5–7 10–8
San Diego 6–12 5–7 5–13 8–10 9–9 5–7 4–8 3–9 4–8 — 7–11 4–8
San Francisco 10–8 10–2 8–10 7–11 9–9 6–6 7–5 7–5 7–5 11–7 — 6–6
St. Louis 6–6 9–9 6–6 7–5 4–8 10–8 8–10 9–9 8–10 8–4 6–6 —


Notable transactions

Draft picks

Roster

1973 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 Skip Jutze 90 278 62 .223 0 18
1B Lee May 148 545 147 .270 28 105
2B Tommy Helms 146 543 156 .287 4 61
SS Roger Metzger 154 580 145 .250 1 35
3B Doug Rader 154 574 146 .254 21 89
LF Bob Watson 158 573 179 .312 16 94
CF César Cedeño 139 525 168 .320 25 70
RF Jim Wynn 139 481 106 .220 20 55

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
Johnny Edwards 79 250 61 .244 5 27
Tommie Agee 83 204 48 .235 8 15
Bob Gallagher 71 148 39 .264 2 10
Jimmy Stewart 61 68 13 .191 0 3
Héctor Torres 38 66 6 .091 0 2
Jesús Alou 28 55 13 .236 1 8
Gary Sutherland 16 54 14 .259 0 3
Larry Howard 20 48 8 .167 0 4
Greg Gross 14 39 9 .231 0 1
Cliff Johnson 7 20 6 .300 2 6
Ray Busse 15 17 1 .059 0 0
Rafael Batista 12 15 4 .267 0 2
Dave Campbell 9 15 4 .267 0 2
Mike Easler 6 7 0 .000 0 0
Otis Thornton 2 3 0 .000 0 1
Norm Miller 3 3 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
Jerry Reuss 41 279.1 16 13 3.74 177
Dave Roberts 39 249.1 17 11 2.85 119
Don Wilson 37 239.1 11 16 3.20 149
Doug Konieczny 2 13.0 0 1 5.54 6

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
Ken Forsch 46 201.1 9 12 4.20 149
Tom Griffin 25 99.2 4 6 4.15 69
J.R. Richard 16 72.0 6 2 4.00 75
Larry Dierker 14 27.0 1 1 4.33 18

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
Jim Crawford 48 2 4 6 4.50 56
Jim Ray 42 6 4 6 4.43 25
Jim York 41 3 4 6 4.42 22
Cecil Upshaw 35 2 3 1 4.46 21
Fred Gladding 16 2 0 1 4.50 9
Juan Pizarro 15 2 2 0 6.56 10
Mike Cosgrove 13 1 1 0 1.80 2

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Denver Bears American Association Jimmy Williams
AA Columbus Astros Southern League Wayne Terwilliger
A Cedar Rapids Astros Midwest League Leo Posada
Rookie Covington Astros Appalachian League Billy Smith

References

  1. ^ a b Tommie Agee at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ Mike Stanton at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Dave Winfield at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Schwartzberg, Seth (June 21, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 21". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  5. ^ Jesús Alou at Baseball Reference
  6. ^ Ken Landreaux at Baseball Reference
  7. ^ Mike Davey at Baseball Reference
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