1972 Houston Astros season

The 1972 Houston Astros season was a season in American baseball. The team finished second in the National League West with a record of 84–69, 10+1⁄2 games behind the Cincinnati Reds and just a percentage point ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 1972 season was the first winning season in Astros history.

1972 Houston Astros
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	Astrodome
City	Houston, Texas
Record	84–69 (.549)
Divisional place	2nd
Owners	Roy Hofheinz
General managers	Spec Richardson
Managers	Harry Walker, Salty Parker, Leo Durocher
Television	KTRK-TV
Radio	KPRC (AM) (Gene Elston, Loel Passe)
Seasons

Offseason

• November 29, 1971: Joe Morgan, Ed Armbrister, Jack Billingham, César Gerónimo, and Denis Menke were traded by the Astros to the Cincinnati Reds for Lee May, Tommy Helms, and Jimmy Stewart.
• December 2, 1971: John Mayberry and Dave Grangaard (minors) were traded by the Astros to the Kansas City Royals for Jim York and Lance Clemons.

Regular season

Season standings

NL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	95	59	.617	—	42‍–‍34	53‍–‍25
Houston Astros	84	69	.549	10½	41‍–‍36	43‍–‍33
Los Angeles Dodgers	85	70	.548	10½	41‍–‍34	44‍–‍36
Atlanta Braves	70	84	.455	25	36‍–‍41	34‍–‍43
San Francisco Giants	69	86	.445	26½	34‍–‍43	35‍–‍43
San Diego Padres	58	95	.379	36½	26‍–‍54	32‍–‍41

Record vs. opponents

1972 National League record 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	—	5–7–1	9–9	7–7	7–8	4–8	7–5	6–6	6–6	6–11	7–11	6–6
Chicago	7–5–1	—	8–4	3–9	8–4	10–5	10–8	10–7	3–12	9–3	7–5	10–8
Cincinnati	9–9	4–8	—	11–6	9–5	8–4	8–4	10–2	8–4	8–10	10–5	10–2
Houston	7–7	9–3	6–11	—	7–11	8–4	6–6	9–3	3–9	12–2	13–5	4–8
Los Angeles	8–7	4–8	5–9	11–7	—	6–6	7–5	7–5	7–5	13–5	9–9	8–4
Montreal	8–4	5–10	4–8	4–8	6–6	—	6–12	10–6	6–12	6–6	6–6	9–8
New York	5–7	8–10	4–8	6–6	5–7	12–6	—	13–5	8–6	7–5	8–4	7–9
Philadelphia	6-6	7–10	2–10	3–9	5–7	6–10	5–13	—	5–13	6–6	6–6	8–7
Pittsburgh	6–6	12–3	4–8	9–3	5–7	12–6	6–8	13–5	—	10–2	9–3	10–8
San Diego	11–6	3–9	10–8	2–12	5–13	6–6	5–7	6–6	2–10	—	4–10	4–8
San Francisco	11–7	5–7	5–10	5–13	9–9	6–6	4–8	6–6	3–9	10–4	—	5–7
St. Louis	6–6	8–10	2–10	8–4	4–8	8–9	9–7	7–8	8–10	8–4	7–5	—

Notable transactions

• June 6, 1972: Jim Crawford was selected by the Astros in the 14th round of the 1972 Major League Baseball draft.

Roster

1972 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers 36 Wade Blasingame 37 Mike Cosgrove 39 George Culver 49 Larry Dierker 43 Ken Forsch 37 Joe Gibbon 48 Fred Gladding 38 Tom Griffin 45 Jim Ray 47 Jerry Reuss 50 J. R. Richard 15 Dave Roberts 40 Don Wilson 42 Jim York		Catchers  7 Johnny Edwards  8 Jack Hiatt 10 Larry Howard  6 Cliff Johnson  9 Bob Stinson Infielders 18 Bobby Fenwick 19 Tommy Helms 23 Lee May 14 Roger Metzger 12 Doug Rader  8 Gary Sutherland		Outfielders 22 Jesús Alou 28 César Cedeño 29 Rich Chiles 21 Norm Miller 11 Jimmy Stewart 27 Bob Watson 24 Jimmy Wynn		Manager  2 Leo Durocher  2 Salty Parker 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
C	Johnny Edwards	108	332	89	.268	5	40
1B	Lee May	148	592	168	.284	29	98
2B	Tommy Helms	139	518	134	.259	5	60
SS	Roger Metzger	153	641	142	.222	2	38
3B	Doug Rader	152	553	131	.237	22	90
LF	Bob Watson	147	548	171	.312	16	86
CF	César Cedeño	139	559	179	.320	22	82
RF	Jimmy Wynn	145	542	148	.273	24	90

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
Larry Howard	54	157	35	.223	2	13
Norm Miller	67	107	26	.243	4	13
Jimmy Stewart	68	96	21	.219	0	9
Jesús Alou	52	93	29	.312	0	11
Bobby Fenwick	36	50	9	.180	0	4
Bob Stinson	27	35	6	.171	0	2
Jack Hiatt	10	25	5	.200	0	0
Rich Chiles	9	11	3	.273	0	2
Gary Sutherland	5	8	1	.125	0	1
Cliff Johnson	5	4	1	.250	0	0

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
Don Wilson	33	228.1	15	10	2.68	172
Larry Dierker	31	214.2	15	8	3.40	115
Dave Roberts	35	192.0	12	7	4.50	111
Jerry Reuss	33	192.0	9	13	4.17	174
Ken Forsch	30	156.1	6	8	3.91	113

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	39	94.1	5	4	3.21	83
Mike Cosgrove	7	13.2	0	1	4.61	7
J.R. Richard	4	6.0	1	0	13.50	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
Fred Gladding	42	5	6	14	2.77	18
Jim Ray	54	10	9	8	4.28	50
George Culver	45	6	2	2	3.05	82
Jim York	26	0	1	0	5.25	25
Wade Blasingame	10	0	0	0	8.64	9
Joe Gibbon	9	0	0	0	9.82	4

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Oklahoma City 89ers	American Association	Tony Pacheco
AA	Columbus Astros	Southern League	Jackie Brandt
A	Cocoa Astros	Florida State League	Jimmy Williams
Rookie	Covington Astros	Appalachian League	Billy Smith
Rookie	Cocoa Astros	Florida East Coast League	Leo Posada

External links

• 1972 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference