1965 Houston Astros season

The 1965 Houston Astros season was the franchise's first season in the Houston Astrodome, as well as its first season as the Astros after three seasons known as the Colt .45s. It involved the Houston Astros finishing in ninth place in the National League with a record of 65–97, 32 games behind the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The Astros were managed by Lum Harris.

1965 Houston Astros
League	National League
Ballpark	Harris County Domed Stadium
City	Houston, Texas
Record	65–97 (.401)
League place	9th
Owners	Roy Hofheinz
General managers	Paul Richards
Managers	Lum Harris
Television	KTRK-TV
Radio	KPRC (AM) (Gene Elston, Loel Passe, Harry Kalas)
Seasons

Offseason

On December 1, The Houston club changed its nickname from Colt .45s to Astros. The move resulted from objections by the Colt Firearms Company to the club's sales of novelties bearing the old nickname. Despite the trademark issues, the "Astros" nickname matched the futuristic ambiance of the revolutionary domed stadium. The nickname was also appropriate since Houston was, by then, the home of NASA's astronaut program. The scoreboard retained subliminal references to the old nickname, as it featured electronically animated cowboys firing pistols, with the "bullets" ricocheting around the scoreboard, when an Astros player would hit a home run. Early on, the groundskeepers also wore astronaut spacesuits to promote that futuristic image.

Astrodome

On April 9, the former Houston Colt .45s took the field and officially became the Houston Astros. They inaugurated indoor baseball in the Astrodome with a 2–1 exhibition win over the New York Yankees.

The stadium was designed as a defense against the oppressive heat and humidity of the Houston summer. Loosely based on the old Roman Colosseum, the Astrodome was dubbed the Eighth Wonder of the World. As with many stadiums of that era, such as RFK Stadium and Shea Stadium, the Astrodome was a multi-purpose stadium, designed for both football as well as baseball.

Besides its roof, the Astrodome was revolutionary for a number of other reasons. It was one of the first stadiums to have individual, theatre-type seats for every seat in the venue. Additionally, it was one of the first stadiums to have luxury seats and club seating, at the time a relatively new concept in sports venues. It also had an "exploding scoreboard", which would show various animations after a home run or a win, as well as messages and advertising.

Notable transactions

• January 31, 1965: Bob Watson was signed as an amateur free agent by the Astros.

Regular season

Rookie Joe Morgan set club marks for at-bats, runs, hits and triples.

Season standings

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Los Angeles Dodgers	97	65	.599	—	50‍–‍31	47‍–‍34
San Francisco Giants	95	67	.586	2	51‍–‍30	44‍–‍37
Pittsburgh Pirates	90	72	.556	7	49‍–‍32	41‍–‍40
Cincinnati Reds	89	73	.549	8	49‍–‍32	40‍–‍41
Milwaukee Braves	86	76	.531	11	44‍–‍37	42‍–‍39
Philadelphia Phillies	85	76	.528	11½	45‍–‍35	40‍–‍41
St. Louis Cardinals	80	81	.497	16½	42‍–‍39	38‍–‍42
Chicago Cubs	72	90	.444	25	40‍–‍41	32‍–‍49
Houston Astros	65	97	.401	32	36‍–‍45	29‍–‍52
New York Mets	50	112	.309	47	29‍–‍52	21‍–‍60

Record vs. opponents

1965 National League record Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
Team	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MIL	NYM	PHI	PIT	SF	STL
Chicago	—	7–11	8–10	8–10	9–9	11–7–1	8–10	5–13	6–12	10–8–1
Cincinnati	11–7	—	12–6	6–12	12–6	11–7	13–5	8–10	6–12	10–8
Houston	10–8	6–12	—	5–13	4–14	14–4	6–12	8–10	3–15	9–9
Los Angeles	10–8	12–6	13–5	—	10–8	12–6	9–9	9–9	10–8	12–6
Milwaukee	9–9	6–12	14–4	8–10	—	13–5	6–12	9–9	10–8	11–7
New York	7–11–1	7–11	4–14	6–12	5–13	—	7–11–1	4–14	5–13	5–13
Philadelphia	10–8	5–13	12–6	9–9	12–6	11–7–1	—	8–10	8–10	10–7
Pittsburgh	13–5	10–8	10–8	9–9	9–9	14–4	10–8	—	11–7–1	4–14
San Francisco	12–6	12–6	15–3	8–10	8–10	13–5	10–8	7–11–1	—	10–8
St. Louis	8–10–1	8–10	9–9	6–12	7–11	13–5	7–10	14–4	8–10	—

Opening Day starters

• Bob Aspromonte
• John Bateman
• Jim Beauchamp
• Walt Bond
• Bob Bruce
• Joe Gaines
• Bob Lillis
• Joe Morgan
• Jimmy Wynn

Notable transactions

• April 24, 1965: Don Larsen was traded by the Astros to the Baltimore Orioles for Bob Saverine and cash.
• May 23, 1965: Ken Johnson and Jim Beauchamp were traded by the Astros to the Milwaukee Braves for Lee Maye.
• June 14, 1965: Gus Triandos was purchased by the Astros from the Philadelphia Phillies.
• July 10, 1965: Frank Thomas was purchased by the Astros from the Philadelphia Phillies.
• August 20, 1965: Gus Triandos was released by the Astros.
• September 1, 1965: Frank Thomas was traded by the Astros to the Milwaukee Braves for a player to be named later. The Braves completed the deal by sending Mickey Sinnerud (minors) to the Astros on September 11.

Roster

1965 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers 46 Don Arlich 30 Bob Bruce 44 Danny Coombs 35 Mike Cuellar 49 Larry Dierker 13 Turk Farrell 39 Dave Giusti 40 Ken Johnson 34 Gordon Jones 31 Jack Lamabe 31 Don Larsen 40,48 Don Lee 34 Ken MacKenzie 43 Don Nottebart 33 Jim Owens 21 Jim Ray 36 Claude Raymond 38 Robin Roberts 41 Carroll Sembera 40,46 Ron Taylor 42 Bruce Von Hoff 46 Hal Woodeshick 37 Chris Zachary		Catchers  8 Dave Adlesh  7 John Bateman  9 Ron Brand  9 John Hoffman  7 Gus Triandos Infielders 14 Bob Aspromonte 23 Walt Bond  2 Nellie Fox 52,4 Jim Gentile 35 Chuck Harrison 19 Sonny Jackson 11 Eddie Kasko 15 Bob Lillis 25 Jim Mahoney 18 Joe Morgan 31 Frank Thomas 16 Mike White		Outfielders 20 Jim Beauchamp 28 Joe Gaines 20 Lee Maye 34 Norm Miller 21 Al Spangler 10 Rusty Staub 24 Jimmy Wynn Other batters 27 Gene Ratliff		Manager 26 Lum Harris Coaches  3 Jimmy Adair 4,? Jim Busby (Third Base)  6 Clint Courtney  2 Nellie Fox  5 Howie Pollet

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
Positional abbreviations: C = Catcher; 1B = First base; 2B = Second base; 3B = Third base; SS = Shortstop; LF = Left field; CF = Center field; RF = Right field

Pos	Player	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
C	Ron Brand	117	391	27	92	6	3	.235	2	37	10
1B	Walt Bond	117	407	46	107	17	2	.263	7	47	2
2B	Joe Morgan	157	601	100	163	22	12	.271	14	40	20
3B	Bob Aspromonte	152	578	53	152	15	2	.263	5	52	2
SS	Bob Lillis	124	408	34	90	12	1	.221	1	38	2
LF	Lee Maye	108	415	38	104	17	7	.251	3	36	1
CF	Jim Wynn	157	564	90	155	30	7	.275	22	73	43
RF	Rusty Staub	131	410	43	105	20	1	.256	14	63	3

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

Player	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
Joe Gaines	100	229	21	52	8	1	.227	6	31	4
Jim Gentile	81	227	22	55	11	1	.242	7	31	0
Eddie Kasko	68	215	18	53	7	1	.247	1	10	1
John Bateman	45	142	15	28	3	1	.197	7	14	4
Al Spangler	38	112	18	24	1	1	.214	1	7	1
Gus Triandos	24	72	5	13	2	0	.181	2	7	0
Frank Thomas	23	58	7	10	2	0	.172	3	9	0
Jim Beauchamp	24	53	5	10	1	0	.189	0	4	0
Chuck Harrison	15	45	2	9	4	0	.200	1	9	0
Nellie Fox	21	41	3	11	2	0	.268	0	1	0
Dave Adlesh	15	34	2	5	1	0	.147	0	3	0
Sonny Jackson	10	23	1	3	0	0	.130	0	0	1
Norm Miller	11	15	2	3	0	1	.200	0	1	0
Mike White	8	9	0	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
John Hoffman	2	6	1	2	0	0	.333	0	1	0
Jim Mahoney	5	5	0	1	0	0	.200	0	0	0
Gene Ratliff	4	4	0	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player	G	GS	IP	W	L	ERA	R	ER	BB	K
Bob Bruce	35	34	229.2	9	18	3.72	107	95	38	145
Turk Farrell	33	29	208.1	11	11	3.50	94	81	35	122
Don Nottebart	29	25	158.0	4	15	4.67	99	82	55	77
Larry Dierker	26	19	146.2	7	8	3.50	69	57	37	109
Robin Roberts	10	10	76.0	5	2	1.89	22	16	10	34
Ken Johnson	8	8	51.2	3	2	4.18	25	24	11	28
Don Arlich	1	1	6.0	0	0	3.00	2	2	1	0
Don Larsen	1	1	5.1	0	0	5.06	3	3	3	1

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player	G	GS	IP	W	L	SV	ERA	R	ER	BB	K
Dave Giusti	38	13	131.1	8	7	3	4.32	67	63	46	92
Claude Raymond	33	7	96.1	7	4	5	2.90	35	31	16	79
Jack Lamabe	3	2	12.2	0	2	0	4.26	9	6	3	6
Chris Zachary	4	2	10.2	0	2	0	4.22	6	5	6	4
Jim Ray	3	2	7.2	0	2	0	10.57	9	9	6	7
Carroll Sembera	2	1	7.1	0	1	0	3.68	3	3	3	4

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	SV	ERA	R	ER	BB	K
Jim Owens	50	71.1	6	5	8	3.28	28	26	29	53
Ron Taylor	32	57.2	1	5	4	6.40	42	41	16	37
Mike Cuellar	25	56.0	1	4	2	3.54	24	22	21	46
Danny Coombs	26	47.0	0	2	0	4.79	26	25	23	35
Ken MacKenzie	21	37.0	0	3	0	3.89	22	16	6	26
Hal Woodeshick	27	32.1	3	4	3	3.06	13	11	18	22
Don Lee	7	8.0	0	0	0	3.38	3	3	3	3
Bruce Von Hoff	3	3.0	0	0	0	9.00	3	3	2	1
Gordon Jones	1	1.0	0	0	0	0.00	0	0	0	0

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

• Turk Farrell

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Oklahoma City 89ers	Pacific Coast League	Grady Hatton
AA	Amarillo Sonics	Texas League	Lou Fitzgerald
A	Durham Bulls	Carolina League	Dave Philley
A	Cocoa Astros	Florida State League	Billy Goodman
A	Salisbury Astros	Western Carolinas League	Chuck Churn
Rookie	FRL Astros	Florida Rookie League	Joe Frazier

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Oklahoma City, FRL Astros

External links

• 1965 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference
• 1965 Houston Astros at Baseball Almanac