1970 Houston Astros season

1970 Houston Astros
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	Astrodome
City	Houston, Texas
Record	79–83 (.488)
Divisional place	4th
Owners	Roy Hofheinz
General managers	Spec Richardson
Managers	Harry Walker
Television	KTRK-TV
Radio	KPRC (AM) (Gene Elston, Loel Passe, Harry Kalas)
← 1969 Seasons 1971 →

The 1970 Houston Astros season was a season in American baseball. The team finished fourth in the National League West with a record of 79–83, 23 games behind the Cincinnati Reds.

Offseason

• November 21, 1969: Mike Marshall was purchased by the Astros from the Milwaukee Brewers.^[1]
• December 4, 1969: Curt Blefary was traded by the Astros to the New York Yankees for Joe Pepitone.^[2]

Regular season

Season standings

v t e NL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	102	60	0.630	—	57–24	45–36
Los Angeles Dodgers	87	74	0.540	14½	39–42	48–32
San Francisco Giants	86	76	0.531	16	48–33	38–43
Houston Astros	79	83	0.488	23	44–37	35–46
Atlanta Braves	76	86	0.469	26	42–39	34–47
San Diego Padres	63	99	0.389	39	31–50	32–49

Record vs. opponents

1970 National League record v t e 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	—	8–4	5–13	9–9	6–12	6–6	6–6	7–5	6–6	9–9	7–11	7–5
Chicago	4–8	—	7–5	7–5	6–6	13–5	7–11	9–9	8–10	9–3	7–5	7–11
Cincinnati	13–5	5–7	—	15–3	13–5	7–5	8–4	7–5	8–4	8–10	9–9	9–3
Houston	9–9	5–7	3–15	—	8–10	8–4	6–6	4–8	6–6	14–4	10–8	6–6
Los Angeles	12–6	6–6	5–13	10–8	—	8–4	7–5	6–5	6–6	11–7	9–9	7–5
Montreal	6–6	5–13	5–7	4–8	4–8	—	10–8	11–7	9–9	6–6	6–6	7–11
New York	6–6	11–7	4–8	6–6	5–7	8–10	—	13–5	6–12	6–6	6–6	12–6
Philadelphia	5-7	9–9	5–7	8–4	5–6	7–11	5–13	—	4–14	9–3	8–4	8–10
Pittsburgh	6–6	10–8	4–8	6–6	6–6	9–9	12–6	14–4	—	6–6	4–8	12–6
San Diego	9–9	3–9	10–8	4–14	7–11	6–6	6–6	3–9	6–6	—	5–13	4–8
San Francisco	11–7	5–7	9–9	8–10	9–9	6–6	6–6	4–8	8–4	13–5	—	7–5
St. Louis	5–7	11–7	3–9	6–6	5–7	11–7	6–12	10–8	6–12	8–4	5–7	—

Notable transactions

• June 4, 1970: Greg Gross was drafted by the Astros in the 4th round of the 1970 Major League Baseball draft. Player signed June 9, 1970.^[3]
• June 23, 1970: Mike Marshall was traded by the Astros to the Montreal Expos for Don Bosch.^[1]
• July 29, 1970: Joe Pepitone was purchased from the Astros by the Chicago Cubs.^[2]
• August 12, 1970: Jim Bouton was released by the Houston Astros.^[4]

Roster

1970 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers 42 Jack Billingham 36 Wade Blasingame 56 Jim Bouton 41 Ron Cook 39 George Culver 49 Larry Dierker 31 Jack DiLauro 43 Ken Forsch 48 Fred Gladding 38 Tom Griffin 46 Buddy Harris 23 Denny Lemaster 53 Mike Marshall 43 Dan Osinski 45 Jim Ray 37 Scipio Spinks 40 Don Wilson		Catchers  6 Don Bryant  7 Johnny Edwards 10 Larry Howard Infielders 14 Marty Martínez 33 John Mayberry 11 Denis Menke 18 Joe Morgan  9 Joe Pepitone 12 Doug Rader 15 Héctor Torres 8,27 Bob Watson		Outfielders 22 Jesús Alou 44 Jim Beauchamp 28 César Cedeño 10 Tommy Davis 19 Gary Geiger 20 César Gerónimo 26 Keith Lampard 21 Norm Miller 24 Jimmy Wynn Other batters 20 Leon McFadden		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
C	Johnny Edwards	140	458	101	.221	7	49
1B	Bob Watson	97	327	89	.272	11	61
2B	Joe Morgan	144	548	147	.268	8	52
SS	Denis Menke	154	562	171	.304	13	92
3B	Doug Rader	156	576	145	.252	25	87
LF	Tommy Davis	57	213	60	.282	3	30
CF	Jimmy Wynn	157	554	156	.282	27	88
RF	Jesús Alou	117	458	140	.306	1	44

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
César Cedeño	90	355	110	.310	7	42
Joe Pepitone	75	279	70	.251	14	35
Norm Miller	90	226	54	.239	4	29
Marty Martínez	75	150	33	.220	0	12
John Mayberry	50	148	32	.216	5	14
Larry Howard	31	88	27	.307	2	16
Keith Lampard	53	72	17	.236	0	5
Héctor Torres	31	65	16	.246	0	5
César Gerónimo	47	37	9	.243	0	2
Jim Beauchamp	31	26	5	.192	1	4
Don Bryant	15	24	5	.208	0	3
Gary Geiger	5	4	1	.250	0	0
Leon McFadden	2	0	0	----	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
Larry Dierker	37	269.2	16	12	3.87	191
Don Wilson	29	184.1	11	6	3.91	94
Tom Griffin	23	111.1	3	13	5.74	72
Wade Blasingame	13	77.2	3	3	3.48	55
Ken Forsch	4	24.0	1	2	5.63	13

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
Jack Billingham	46	187.2	13	9	3.98	134
Denny Lemaster	39	162.0	7	12	4.56	103
Ron Cook	41	82.1	4	4	3.72	50
Jim Bouton	29	73.1	4	6	5.40	49
Scipio Spinks	5	13.2	0	1	9.88	6

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	63	7	4	18	4.06	46
Jim Ray	52	6	3	5	3.26	67
Jack DiLauro	42	1	3	3	4.28	23
George Culver	32	3	3	3	3.20	31
Mike Marshall	4	0	1	0	8.44	5
Dan Osinski	3	0	1	0	9.82	1
Buddy Harris	2	0	0	0	5.68	2

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Oklahoma City 89ers	American Association	Hub Kittle
AA	Columbus Astros	Southern League	Jimmy Williams
A	Cocoa Astros	Florida State League	Tony Pacheco
A-Short Season	Williamsport Astros	New York–Penn League	Dick Bogard
Rookie	Covington Astros	Appalachian League	Dick Smith

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Columbus

References

External links

• 1970 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference