1966 Houston Astros season

The 1966 Houston Astros season was a season in American baseball. The team finished eighth in the National League with a record of 72–90 (.444), 23 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.

1966 Houston Astros
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1962)
Location
Astrodome (since 1965) Houston, Texas (since 1962)
Results
Record	72–90 (.444)
League place	8th
Other information
Owner(s)	Roy Hofheinz
General manager(s)	Tal Smith
Manager(s)	Grady Hatton
Local television	KTRK-TV
Local radio	KPRC (AM) (Gene Elston, Loel Passe, Harry Kalas)
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This was the second season for the Astrodome, but its first with a playing surface of AstroTurf.[1] The infield portion was installed in March,[2][3][4][5][6] and the outfield was ready for play on July 19.[7][8][9]

Offseason

• November 29, 1965: 1965 rule 5 draft
  • Nate Colbert was drafted by the Astros from the St. Louis Cardinals.[10]
  • Bob Saverine was drafted from the Astros by the Washington Senators.[11]
• January 6, 1966: Johnny Weekly and cash were traded by the Astros to the New York Mets for Gary Kroll.[12]

Regular season

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Los Angeles Dodgers	95	67	0.586	—	53–28	42–39
San Francisco Giants	93	68	0.578	1½	47–34	46–34
Pittsburgh Pirates	92	70	0.568	3	46–35	46–35
Philadelphia Phillies	87	75	0.537	8	48–33	39–42
Atlanta Braves	85	77	0.525	10	43–38	42–39
St. Louis Cardinals	83	79	0.512	12	43–38	40–41
Cincinnati Reds	76	84	0.475	18	46–33	30–51
Houston Astros	72	90	0.444	23	45–36	27–54
New York Mets	66	95	0.410	28½	32–49	34–46
Chicago Cubs	59	103	0.364	36	32–49	27–54

Record vs. opponents

1966 National League Records Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	NYM	PHI	PIT	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	7–11	10–8	14–4–1	7–11	14–4	11–7	7–11	8–10	7–11
Chicago	11–7	—	6–12	5–13	8–10	8–10	5–13	6–12	6–12	4–14
Cincinnati	8–10	12–6	—	4–14	6–12	10–7	10–8	8–10	7–10	11–7
Houston	4–14–1	13–5	14–4	—	7–11	7–11	7–11	4–14	6–12	10–8
Los Angeles	11–7	10–8	12–6	11–7	—	12–6	11–7	9–9	9–9	10–8
New York	4–14	10–8	7–10	11–7	6–12	—	7–11	5–13	9–9	7–11
Philadelphia	7-11	13–5	8–10	11–7	7–11	11–7	—	10–8	10–8	10–8
Pittsburgh	11–7	12–6	10–8	14–4	9–9	13–5	8–10	—	7–11	8–10
San Francisco	10–8	12–6	10–7	12–6	9–9	9–9	8–10	11–7	—	12–6
St. Louis	11–7	14–4	7–11	8–10	8–10	11–7	8–10	10–8	6–12	—

Opening Day lineup

1. Lee Maye, LF
2. Sonny Jackson, SS
3. Jimmy Wynn, CF
4. Dave Nicholson, RF
5. Joe Morgan, 2B
6. Bob Aspromonte, 3B
7. Chuck Harrison, 1B
8. John Bateman, C
9. Robin Roberts, P[13]

Notable transactions

• June 7, 1966: Fred Stanley was drafted by the Astros in the 8th round of the 1966 Major League Baseball draft.[14]

Roster

1966 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers 46 Don Arlich 30 Bob Bruce 42 Frank Carpin 44 Danny Coombs 35 Mike Cuellar 49 Larry Dierker 13 Turk Farrell 39 Dave Giusti 31 Gary Kroll 48 Barry Latman 48 Don Lee 37 Aurelio Monteagudo 33 Jim Owens 38 Jim Ray 36 Claude Raymond 38 Robin Roberts 41 Carroll Sembera 40 Ron Taylor 23 Don Wilson 37 Chris Zachary		Catchers 27 Dave Adlesh  7 John Bateman  9 Ron Brand  8 Bill Heath Infielders 14 Bob Aspromonte 11 Gene Freese  4 Jim Gentile 11 Julio Gotay 17 Chuck Harrison 16 Sonny Jackson 15 Bob Lillis 25 Félix Mantilla 18 Joe Morgan		Outfielders 29 Brock Davis 22 Ron Davis 46 Joe Gaines 20 Lee Maye 34 Norm Miller 21 Dave Nicholson 28 Aaron Pointer 22 Greg Sims 10 Rusty Staub 24 Jimmy Wynn Other batters 12 Nate Colbert 38 Bob Watson		Manager  1 Grady Hatton Coaches  3 Jim Busby  2 Nellie Fox  6 Al Heist  5 Gordon Jones 38 Robin Roberts

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	131	433	121	.279	17	70
1B	Chuck Harrison	119	434	111	.256	9	52
2B	Joe Morgan	122	425	121	.285	5	42
3B	Bob Aspromonte	152	560	141	.252	8	52
SS	Sonny Jackson	150	596	174	.292	3	25
LF	Lee Maye	115	358	103	.288	9	36
CF	Jimmy Wynn	105	418	107	.256	18	62
RF	Rusty Staub	153	554	155	.280	13	81

[15]

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
Dave Nicholson	100	280	69	.246	10	31
Ron Davis	48	194	48	.247	2	19
Bob Lillis	68	164	38	.232	0	11
Félix Mantilla	77	151	33	.219	6	22
Jim Gentile	49	144	35	.243	7	18
Ron Brand	56	123	30	.244	0	10
Bill Heath	55	123	37	.301	0	8
Norm Miller	11	34	5	.147	1	3
Gene Freese	21	33	3	.091	0	0
Brock Davis	10	27	4	.148	0	1
Aaron Pointer	11	26	9	.346	1	5
Joe Gaines	11	13	1	.077	0	0
Nate Colbert	19	7	0	.000	0	0
Dave Adlesh	3	6	0	.000	0	0
Greg Sims	7	6	1	.167	0	0
Julio Gotay	4	5	0	.000	0	0
Bob Watson	1	1	0	.000	0	0

[15]

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
Bob Bruce	25	129.2	3	13	5.34	71
Robin Roberts	13	63.2	3	5	3.82	26

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
Barry Latman	31	103	2	7	2.71	74

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 Owens	40	4	7	2	4.68	32
Gary Kroll	10	0	0	0	3.80	22
Frank Carpin	10	1	0	0	7.50	2
Don Lee	9	2	0	0	2.50	9
Don Arlich	7	0	1	0	15.75	1
Danny Coombs	2	0	0	0	3.38	3
Don Wilson	1	1	0	0	3.00	7
Jim Ray	1	0	0	0	∞	0

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Oklahoma City 89ers	Pacific Coast League	Mel McGaha
AA	Amarillo Sonics	Texas League	Buddy Hancken
A	Durham Bulls	Carolina League	Chuck Churn
A	Cocoa Astros	Florida State League	Joe Frazier
A	Salisbury Astros	Western Carolinas League	Walt Matthews
A-Short Season	Bismarck–Mandan Pards	Northern League	Tony Pacheco

References

1. "Astroturf planned for Houston field". Florence Times. (Alabama). Associated Press. March 13, 1966. p. 18.
2. "Astroturf looks great, but..." Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 20, 1966. p. 2b.
3. "What's new? Astroturf". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). Associated Press. March 21, 1966. p. 23.
4. "Zippered 'grass' big hit in Astrodome". Daytona Beach Sunday News-Journal. (Florida). Associated Press. March 20, 1966. p. 1B.
5. Bledsoe, Terry (March 20, 1966). "Astrodome's synthetic grass gets 1st test with skids and bounces". Milwaukee Journal. p. 1, sports.
6. Rathet, Mike (March 21, 1966). "Brickbats starting to fly over Houston's Astroturf". Victoria Advocate. (Texas). Associated Press. p. 8.
7. "Phils, Astros plan tonight on artificial grass". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. July 19, 1966. p. 23.
8. "Phil find Farrell, turf unfriendly". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. July 20, 1966. p. 3C.
9. "Astros clout Phils; Farrell leads way". Victoria Advocate. (Texas). Associated Press. July 20, 1966. p. 8.
10. Nate Colbert at Baseball-Reference
11. Bob Saverine at Baseball-Reference
12. Gary Kroll at Baseball-Reference
13. 1966 Houston Astros Roster by Baseball Almanac
14. Fred Stanley at Baseball Reference
15. 1966 Houston Astros Statistics and Roster – Baseball-Reference.com

External links

• 1966 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference