1969 Houston Astros season

1969 Houston Astros
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1962)
Western Division (since 1969)
Location
The Astrodome (since 1965)
Houston, Texas (since 1962)
Results
Record	81–81 (.500)
Divisional place	5th
Other information
Owner(s)	Roy Hofheinz
General manager(s)	Spec Richardson
Manager(s)	Harry Walker
Local television	KTRK-TV
Local radio	KPRC (AM) (Gene Elston, Loel Passe, Harry Kalas)
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The 1969 Houston Astros season was a season in American baseball. The team finished in fifth place in the newly established National League West with a record of 81–81, twelve games behind the Atlanta Braves. It was also the first time in their history that the Astros did not finish below .500.

Offseason

• October 14, 1968: Nate Colbert was drafted from the Astros by the San Diego Padres as the 18th pick in the 1968 MLB expansion draft.
• December 2, 1968: Bo Belinsky was drafted from the Astros by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1968 rule 5 draft.
• December 4, 1968: Mike Cuellar, Enzo Hernández, and Elijah Johnson (minors) were traded by the Astros to the Baltimore Orioles for Curt Blefary and John Mason (minors).
• January 22, 1969: Rusty Staub was traded by the Astros to the Montreal Expos for Jesús Alou and Donn Clendenon. Clendenon refused to report to the Astros. The Expos sent Jack Billingham, Skip Guinn, and $100,000 to the Astros on April 8, 1969 as compensation.
• February 12, 1969: Byron Browne was purchased from the Astros by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Regular season

• April 8: The Astros played against the San Diego Padres in the first ever game in Padres history.
• May 4, 1969: First baseman Curt Blefary participated in seven double plays.

The Astros season from August 26 to October 2 was featured in Jim Bouton’s book, Ball Four. On September 19, Bouton struck out Tony Pérez of the Cincinnati Reds and made baseball history. With that strikeout, the pitching staff of the 1969 edition of the Houston Astros broke the then-National League record for most strikeouts in a season with 1,123 strikeouts. The team finished the year with 1,221 strikeouts, which stood as the National League record until 1996, when it was broken by the Atlanta Braves

Season standings

NL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Atlanta Braves	93	69	0.574	—	50–31	43–38
San Francisco Giants	90	72	0.556	3	52–29	38–43
Cincinnati Reds	89	73	0.549	4	50–31	39–42
Los Angeles Dodgers	85	77	0.525	8	50–31	35–46
Houston Astros	81	81	0.500	12	52–29	29–52
San Diego Padres	52	110	0.321	41	28–53	24–57

Record vs. opponents

1969 National League Records Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	3–9	12–6	15–3	9–9	8–4	4–8	6–6	8–4	13–5	9–9	6–6
Chicago	9–3	—	6–6–1	8–4	6–6	10–8	8–10	12–6	7–11	11–1	6–6	9–9
Cincinnati	6–12	6–6–1	—	9–9	10–8	8–4	6–6	10–2	5–7	11–7	10–8	8–4
Houston	3–15	4–8	9–9	—	6–12	11–1	10–2	8–4	3–9	10–8	10–8	7–5
Los Angeles	9–9	6–6	8–10	12–6	—	10–2	4–8	8–4	8–4	12–6	5–13	3–9
Montreal	4–8	8–10	4–8	1–11	2–10	—	5–13	11–7	5–13	4–8	1–11	7–11
New York	8–4	10–8	6–6	2–10	8–4	13–5	—	12–6	10–8	11–1	8–4	12–6
Philadelphia	6-6	6–12	2–10	4–8	4–8	7–11	6–12	—	10–8	8–4	3–9	7–11
Pittsburgh	4–8	11–7	7–5	9–3	4–8	13–5	8–10	8–10	—	10–2	5–7	9–9
San Diego	5–13	1–11	7–11	8–10	6–12	8–4	1–11	4–8	2–10	—	6–12	4–8
San Francisco	9–9	6–6	8–10	8–10	13–5	11–1	4–8	9–3	7–5	12–6	—	3–9
St. Louis	6–6	9–9	4–8	5–7	9–3	11–7	6–12	11–7	9–9	8–4	9–3	—

Notable transactions

• May 7, 1969: Oscar Zamora was signed as a free agent by the Astros.
• June 5, 1969: J. R. Richard was drafted by the Astros in the 1st round (2nd pick) of the 1969 Major League Baseball Draft.
• August 24, 1969: Dooley Womack and Roric Harrison were traded by the Astros to the Seattle Pilots for Jim Bouton.

Roster

1969 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers 42 Jack Billingham 36 Wade Blasingame 44 Jim Bouton 31 Danny Coombs 49 Larry Dierker 48 Fred Gladding 38 Tom Griffin 35 Skip Guinn 41 Bill Henry 23 Denny Lemaster 45 Jim Ray 41 Dan Schneider 37 Scipio Spinks 47 Bob Watkins 43 Ron Willis 40 Don Wilson 37 Dooley Womack		Catchers  6 Don Bryant  7 Johnny Edwards Infielders 13 Curt Blefary 17 Julio Gotay 11 Denis Menke 18 Joe Morgan 12 Doug Rader 15 Héctor Torres		Outfielders 22 Jesús Alou 10 Tommy Davis 19 Gary Geiger 34 César Gerónimo 26 Keith Lampard 14 Marty Martínez 20 Leon McFadden 21 Norm Miller 28 Sandy Valdespino 27 Bob Watson 24 Jimmy Wynn Other batters 33 John Mayberry		Manager 25 Harry Walker Coaches  4 Buddy Hancken  3 Mel McGaha  5 Jim Owens  2 Salty Parker

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
1B	Curt Blefary	155	542	137	.253	12	67

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

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

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

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
Jack Billingham	52	6	7	2	4.25	71
Skip Guinn	28	1	2	0	6.67	33

Awards and honors

1969 MLB All-Star Game

• Larry Dierker
• Denis Menke

Farm system

See also: Minor league baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Oklahoma City 89ers	American Association	Cot Deal
AA	Savannah Senators	Southern League	Hub Kittle
A	Peninsula Astros	Carolina League	Tony Pacheco
A	Cocoa Astros	Florida State League	Leo Posada
Short-Season A	Williamsport Astros	New York-Penn League	Billy Smith
Rookie	Covington Astros	Appalachian League	Dick Bogard

Savannah affiliation shared with Washington Senators

External links

• 1969 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference