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
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record65–97 (.401)
League place9th
Other information
Owner(s)Roy Hofheinz
General manager(s)Paul Richards
Manager(s)Lum Harris
Local televisionKTRK-TV
Local radioKPRC (AM)
(Gene Elston, Loel Passe, Harry Kalas)
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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.[1]

Regular season

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

Season standings

National League W L Pct. GB Home Road
Los Angeles Dodgers 9765 0.599 50–31 47–34
San Francisco Giants 9567 0.586 2 51–30 44–37
Pittsburgh Pirates 9072 0.556 7 49–32 41–40
Cincinnati Reds 8973 0.549 8 49–32 40–41
Milwaukee Braves 8676 0.531 11 44–37 42–39
Philadelphia Phillies 8576 0.528 11½ 45–35 40–41
St. Louis Cardinals 8081 0.497 16½ 42–39 38–42
Chicago Cubs 7290 0.444 25 40–41 32–49
Houston Astros 6597 0.401 32 36–45 29–52
New York Mets 50112 0.309 47 29–52 21–60

Record vs. opponents

1965 National League Records

Sources:
Team CHC CIN HOU LAD MIL NYM PHI PIT SF STL
Chicago 7–118–108–109–911–7–18–105–136–1210–8–1
Cincinnati 11–712–66–1212–611–713–58–106–1210–8
Houston 10–86–125–134–1414–46–128–103–159–9
Los Angeles 10–812–613–510–812–69–99–910–812–6
Milwaukee 9–96–1214–48–1013–56–129–910–811–7
New York 7–11–17–114–146–125–137–11–14–145–135–13
Philadelphia 10–85–1312–69–912–611–7–18–108–1010–7
Pittsburgh 13–510–810–89–99–914–410–811–7–14–14
San Francisco 12–612–615–38–108–1013–510–87–11–110–8
St. Louis 8–10–18–109–96–127–1113–57–1014–48–10

Opening Day starters

Notable transactions

Roster

1965 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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
CRon Brand117391279263.23523710
1BWalt Bond11740746107172.2637472
2BJoe Morgan1576011001632212.271144020
3BBob Aspromonte15257853152152.2635522
SSBob Lillis1244083490121.2211382
LFLee Maye10841538104177.2513361
CFJim Wynn15756490155307.275227343
RFRusty Staub13141043105201.25614633

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 Gaines100229215281.2276314
Jim Gentile812272255111.2427310
Eddie Kasko68215185371.2471101
John Bateman45142152831.1977144
Al Spangler38112182411.214171
Gus Triandos247251320.181270
Frank Thomas235871020.172390
Jim Beauchamp245351010.189040
Chuck Harrison15452940.200190
Nellie Fox214131120.268010
Dave Adlesh15342510.147030
Sonny Jackson10231300.130001
Norm Miller11152301.200010
Mike White890000.000000
John Hoffman261200.333010
Jim Mahoney550100.200000
Gene Ratliff440000.000000

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 Bruce3534229.29183.721079538145
Turk Farrell3329208.111113.50948135122
Don Nottebart29251584154.6799825577
Larry Dierker2619146.2783.50695737109
Robin Roberts101076521.8922161034
Ken Johnson8851.2324.1825241128
Don Arlich116003.002210
Don Larsen115.1005.063331

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 Giusti3813131.18734.3267634692
Claude Raymond33796.17452.9035311679
Jack Lamabe3212.20204.269636
Chris Zachary4210.20204.226564
Jim Ray327.202010.579967
Carroll Sembera217.10103.683334

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 Owens5071.16583.2828262953
Ron Taylor3257.21546.4042411637
Mike Cuellar25561423.5424222146
Danny Coombs26470204.7926252335
Ken MacKenzie21370303.892216626
Hal Woodeshick2732.13433.0613111822
Don Lee780003.383333
Bruce Von Hoff330009.003321
Gordon Jones110000.000000

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Farm system

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

References

  1. Bob Watson at Baseball Reference
  2. Bob Saverine at Baseball Reference
  3. Lee Maye at Baseball Reference
  4. Gus Triandos at Baseball Reference
  5. Frank Thomas at Baseball Reference
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