1974 Houston Astros season

The 1974 Houston Astros season was a season in American baseball. The team finished fourth in the National League West with a record of 81–81, 21 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.

1974 Houston Astros
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1962)
Western Division (since 1969)
Location
Astrodome (since 1965) Houston, Texas (since 1962)
Results
Record	81–81 (.500)
Divisional place	4th
Other information
Owner(s)	Roy Hofheinz
General manager(s)	Spec Richardson
Manager(s)	Preston Gómez
Local television	KPRC-TV
Local radio	KPRC (AM) (Gene Elston, Loel Passe)
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Offseason

• March 30, 1974: Larry Yount and Don Stratton (minors) were traded by the Astros to the Milwaukee Brewers for Wilbur Howard.[1]

Regular season

Standings

NL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Los Angeles Dodgers	102	60	0.630	—	52–29	50–31
Cincinnati Reds	98	64	0.605	4	50–31	48–33
Atlanta Braves	88	74	0.543	14	46–35	42–39
Houston Astros	81	81	0.500	21	46–35	35–46
San Francisco Giants	72	90	0.444	30	37–44	35–46
San Diego Padres	60	102	0.370	42	36–45	24–57

Record vs. opponents

1974 National League Records Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	4–8	7–11–1	6–12	8–10	9–3	8–4	8–4	4–8	17–1	8–10	9–3
Chicago	8–4	—	5–7	4–8	2–10	5–13	8–10	8–10	9–9	6–6	6–6	5–13
Cincinnati	11–7–1	7–5	—	14–4	6–12	6–6	9–3	8–4	8–4	12–6	11–7	6–6
Houston	12–6	8–4	4–14	—	5–13	6–6	6–6	6–6	5–7	7–11	10–8	8–4
Los Angeles	10–8	10–2	12–6	13–5	—	8–4	5–7	6–6	4–8	16–2	12–6	6–6
Montreal	3–9	13–5	6–6	6–6	4–8	—	9–9	11–7	9–9	6–6	4–8	8–9
New York	4–8	10–8	3–9	6–6	7–5	9–9	—	7–11	7–11	6–6	6–6	6–12
Philadelphia	4-8	10–8	4–8	6–6	6–6	7–11	11–7	—	10–8	5–7	8–4	9–9
Pittsburgh	8–4	9–9	4–8	7–5	8–4	9–9	11–7	8–10	—	9–3	8–4	7–11
San Diego	1–17	6–6	6–12	7–11	2–16	6–6	6–6	7–5	3–9	—	11–7	5–7
San Francisco	10–8	6–6	7–11	8–10	6–12	8–4	6–6	4–8	4–8	7–11	—	6–6
St. Louis	3–9	13–5	6–6	4–8	6–6	9–8	12–6	9–9	11–7	7–5	6–6	—

Notable transactions

• June 5, 1974: Alan Knicely was drafted by the Astros in the 3rd round of the 1974 Major League Baseball draft.[2]
• June 17, 1974: Oscar Zamora was purchased from the Astros by the Chicago Cubs.[3]
• August 15, 1974: Claude Osteen was traded by the Astros to the St. Louis Cardinals for Ron Selak (minors) and a player to be named later. The Cardinals completed the trade by sending Dan Larson to the Astros on October 14.[4]

Roster

1974 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers 37 Mike Cosgrove 24 Ramón de los Santos 49 Larry Dierker 43 Ken Forsch 38 Tom Griffin 47 Jerry Johnson 46 Doug Konieczny 45 Mike Nagy 24 Claude Osteen 50 J. R. Richard 15 Dave Roberts 44 Fred Scherman 31 Paul Siebert 40 Don Wilson 42 Jim York		Catchers  7 Johnny Edwards  6 Cliff Johnson  9 Skip Jutze  8 Milt May Infielders 16 Ray Busse 20 Dave Campbell 19 Tommy Helms  9 Mick Kelleher 23 Lee May 11 Denis Menke 14 Roger Metzger 10 Larry Milbourne 12 Doug Rader		Outfielders 31 Ollie Brown 28 César Cedeño 25 Bob Gallagher 21 Greg Gross 26 Wilbur Howard 27 Bob Watson Other batters 22 Mike Easler		Manager 18 Preston Gómez Coaches  2 Roger Craig  1 Grady Hatton  3 Hub Kittle  5 Bob Lillis

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	Milt May	127	405	117	.289	7	54
1B	Lee May	152	556	149	.268	24	85
CF	César Cedeño	160	610	164	.269	26	102

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
Cliff Johnson	83	171	39	.228	10	29
Johnny Edwards	50	117	26	.222	1	10
Wilbur Howard	64	111	24	.216	2	5
Ollie Brown	27	69	15	.217	3	6
Denis Menke	30	29	3	.103	0	1
Dave Campbell	35	23	2	.087	0	2

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	33	223.2	11	10	2.90	150
Tom Griffin	34	211	14	10	3.54	110
Don Wilson	33	204.2	11	13	3.08	112
Dave Roberts	34	204	10	12	3.40	72
Claude Osteen	23	138.1	9	9	3.71	45
Paul Siebert	5	25.1	1	1	3.55	10

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
Doug Konieczny	6	16	0	3	7.88	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
Ken Forsch	70	8	7	10	2.79	48
Mike Cosgrove	45	7	3	2	3.50	47
Jerry Johnson	34	2	1	0	4.80	32
Ramón de los Santos	12	1	1	0	2.19	7

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Denver Bears	American Association	Frank Verdi
AA	Columbus Astros	Southern League	Jimmy Williams
A	Cedar Rapids Astros	Midwest League	Leo Posada
Rookie	Covington Astros	Appalachian League	Billy Smith

References

1. Wilbur Howard at Baseball Reference
2. Alan Knicely at Baseball Reference
3. Oscar Zamora at Baseball Reference
4. Dan Larson at Baseball Reference

External links

• 1974 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference