1971 Houston Astros season

1971 Houston Astros
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1962)
Western Division (since 1969)
Location
The Astrodome (since 1965)
Houston, Texas (since 1962)
Results
Record	79–83 (.488)
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)
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The 1971 Houston Astros season was a season in American baseball. The team finished tied for fourth in the National League West with a record of 79-83, 11 games behind the San Francisco Giants.

Offseason

• January 13, 1971: Doug Konieczny was drafted by the Astros in the 1st round (4th pick) of the 1971 Major League Baseball Draft Secondary Phase.

Regular season

• September 5, 1971: In a game against the Giants, J.R. Richard struck out 15 batters in his very first game, tying a Major League record first established by Karl Spooner.

Season standings

NL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
San Francisco Giants	90	72	0.556	—	51–30	39–42
Los Angeles Dodgers	89	73	0.549	1	42–39	47–34
Atlanta Braves	82	80	0.506	8	43–39	39–41
Cincinnati Reds	79	83	0.488	11	46–35	33–48
Houston Astros	79	83	0.488	11	39–42	40–41
San Diego Padres	61	100	0.379	28½	33–48	28–52

Record vs. opponents

1971 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	—	5–7	9–9	9–9	9–9	7–5	7–5	8–4	4–8	11–7	7–11	6–6
Chicago	7–5	—	6–6	5–7	8–4	8–10	11–7	11–7	6–12	9–3	3–9	9–9
Cincinnati	9–9	6–6	—	5–13	7–11	7–5	8–4	5–7	5–7	10–8	9–9	8–4
Houston	9–9	7–5	13–5	—	8–10	4–8	5–7	8–4	4–8	10–8	9–9	2–10
Los Angeles	9–9	4–8	11–7	10–8	—	8–4	5–7	7–5	4–8	13–5	12–6	6–6
Montreal	5–7	10–8	5–7	8–4	4–8	—	9–9	6–12	7–11	6–5	7–5	4–14
New York	5–7	7–11	4–8	7–5	7–5	9–9	—	13–5	10–8	7–5	4–8	10–8
Philadelphia	4-8	7–11	2–10	3–9	5–7	6–10	5–13	—	6–12	4–8	6–6	7–11
Pittsburgh	8–4	12–6	7–5	8–4	8–4	11–7	8–10	12–6	—	9–3	3–9	11–7
San Diego	7–11	3–9	8–10	8–10	5–13	5–6	5–7	8–4	3–9	—	5–13	4–8
San Francisco	11–7	9–3	9–9	9–9	6–12	5–7	8–4	6–6	9–3	13–5	—	5–7
St. Louis	6–6	9–9	4–8	10–2	6–6	14–4	8–10	11–7	7–11	8–4	7–5	—

Notable transactions

• June 8, 1971: 1971 Major League Baseball Draft
  • Paul Siebert was drafted by the Astros in the 3rd round.
  • Rich Troedson was drafted by the Astros in the 1st round (8th pick) of the Secondary Phase, but did not sign.

Roster

1971 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers 42 Jack Billingham 36 Wade Blasingame 41 Ron Cook 39 George Culver 49 Larry Dierker 43 Ken Forsch 48 Fred Gladding 44 Bill Greif 38 Tom Griffin 35 Skip Guinn 46 Buddy Harris 23 Denny Lemaster 45 Jim Ray 50 J. R. Richard 37 Scipio Spinks 40 Don Wilson 31 Larry Yount		Catchers  7 Johnny Edwards  8 Jack Hiatt 10 Larry Howard Infielders 16 Ray Busse 14 Marty Martínez 33 John Mayberry 11 Denis Menke 15 Roger Metzger 18 Joe Morgan 12 Doug Rader 19 Derrel Thomas		Outfielders 22 Jesús Alou 28 César Cedeño 29 Rich Chiles 20 César Gerónimo 21 Norm Miller 17 Jay Schlueter 27 Bob Watson 24 Jimmy Wynn		Manager 25 Harry Walker Coaches  4 Buddy Hancken  3 Hub Kittle  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
CF	César Cedeño	161	611	161	.264	10	81

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
Jesús Alou	122	433	121	.279	2	40
César Gerónimo	94	82	18	.220	1	6
Marty Martínez	32	62	16	.258	0	4

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
Jack Billingham	33	228.1	10	16	3.39	139
Wade Blasingame	30	158.1	9	11	4.60	93
Ron Cook	5	25.2	0	4	4.91	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
Tom Griffin	10	37.2	0	6	4.78	29

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
Skip Guinn	4	0	0	1	0.00	3
Larry Yount	1	0	0	0	----	0

Farm system

See also: Minor league baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Oklahoma City 89ers	American Association	Jimmy Williams
AA	Columbus Astros	Southern League	Cliff Davis
A	Cocoa Astros	Florida State League	Tony Pacheco
A	Sumter Astros	Western Carolinas League	Jackie Brandt
Rookie	Covington Astros	Appalachian League	Billy Smith

External links

• 1971 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference