| 1971 Houston Astros | |
|---|---|
| League | National League |
| Division | West |
| Ballpark | Astrodome |
| City | Houston,Texas |
| Record | 79–83 (.488) |
| Divisional place | 4th–tied |
| Owners | Roy Hofheinz |
| General managers | Spec Richardson |
| Managers | Harry Walker |
| Television | KTRK-TV |
| Radio | KPRC (AM) (Gene Elston,Loel Passe) |
The1971Houston Astros season was thetenth season for theMajor League Baseball (MLB) franchise located inHouston,Texas, their seventh as the Astros, tenth in theNational League (NL), third in theNL West division, and seventh at TheAstrodome. The Astros entered the season having posted arecord of 79–83, for fourth place and 23games behind the division-champion and NLpennant-winningCincinnati Reds.
PitcherLarry Dierker made his thirdOpening Day start for the Astros, who hosted theLos Angeles Dodgers on April 5, and won, 5–2. The Astros'first-round selection in theamateur draft was shortstop Neil Rasmussen, at 12th overall.
Dierker and fellow pitcherDon Wilson both represented the Astros and played for the National League at theMLB All-Star Game. This was second career selection for Dierker and first for Wilson.
The Astros played 75 games that were decided by a one run margin, which is an all-time MLB record. In those games, the Astros performed to a 32–43 (.427) record.
The Astros concluded the season with a record of 79–83—replicating their performance from the year prior—while maintaining fourth place in the NL West, this time, tying withCincinnati for 11 games behind the division-championSan Francisco Giants.
Third basemanDoug Rader won his second careerGold Glove Award.
The Astrodome hosted a 15-inning, exhibition "tripleheader" on April 2 between Houston, theMinnesota Twins andNew York Yankees. For the first five-inning contest, the Astros tripped the Yankees, 2–1. During the middle five, the Twins toppled the Yankees, 4–1, prior to getting ripped by the Astros during the last five frames, 5–3.[2]
| 28 | César Cedeño | CF |
| 18 | Joe Morgan | 2B |
| 24 | Jimmy Wynn | RF |
| 27 | Bob Watson | LF |
| 11 | Denis Menke | 1B |
| 12 | Doug Rader | 3B |
| 7 | Johnny Edwards | C |
| 15 | Roger Metzger | SS |
| 49 | Larry Dierker | P |
| Venue: | Astrodome • HOU 5, | LAD 2 |
Hosting theLos Angeles Dodgers forOpening Day on April 5,Denis Menketripledin runs (RBI) ofJoe Morgan andBob Watson off Los Angeles'Bill Singer for a 2–0 lead. The Astros never looked back, winning 5–2, backed bycomplete game execution fromLarry Dierker. Dierker diffused 10hits, issued onebase on balls andstruck out four.[5] Making his third Opening Day start for the Astros, Dierker at the time remained the only pitcher to start more than once on Opening Day for the club.[6]
During adoubleheader on May 26 atSan Diego Stadium, thePadres startedAl Santorini for both contests, though during the first game, Santorini was deployed as anopener. Facing anorder assembled with seven lefties, Santorini got theleadoff hitter out and was replaced byDave Roberts. The Astros won, 2–1, behindWade Blasingame's effort.[2]Bob Watsonpinch hit for Blasingame (3–5) in the top of the ninth andsingled homeDoug Rader for the game-winning run.[7]
In the May 26 nightcap,Larry Dierker cruised to his first career one-hitter[8] while outpitching Santorini–who, this time, hurled six innings–in an 8–0 Astros triumph.Ollie Brown's broken-bat single in the seventh foiled Dierker's bid for ano-hitter.[2] Dierker issued threebase on balls and struck out five to earn agame score of 87. CatcherJohnny Edwardstripled and collected threeruns batted in (RBI). The Astros piled on 11 hits and worked 6 walks.[9] It was also Dierker's fourth careercomplete game effort of two hits or fewer.[8]
The Astros exploded for a season-high 18 runs on July 7,[10] en route to an 18–4 drubbing of theSan Francisco Giants atCandlestick Park.[11]Jimmy Wynn became the first player to attain 1,000hits as a member the Houston Astros, also the 1,000th hit of his career,[12][13] with a seventh inning double off left-handerSteve Hamilton. During an all-round memorable day, Wynn was 2-for-4 with 2runs batted in (RBI), 2 runs scored, onestolen base and onebase on balls.[11]
On July 16, the Astros executed the firsttriple play in franchise history—and first at the Astrodome—during the top of the third inning againstNew York Mets.[14]
On September 2 at the Astrodome,César Cedeño stepped to the plate to faceClaude Osteen with the bases loaded in the fifth in a 3–2 deficit to theLos Angeles Dodgers. Cedeño hit a blooper to shallow right field betweenBill Buckner andJim Lefebvre who collided while attempting to make the catch, and the ball dribbled into the corner. Meanwhile, the bases cleared ahead of Cedeño, who raced home for the 170 feet (52 m)Inside-the-parkgrand slam.[2] His first career grand slam, Cedeño had blasted his first career major league home run off Osteen on July 6 of the prior year.[15] On the day, Cedeño was 3-for-4 with 4 RBI and a double. Astros starterDon Wilson (13–8) went the distance to pick up the victory, a 9–3 score.[16]
Astros pitching fired a record performance on September 5 during a doubleheader at Candlestick Park.[2] In the opener,Jack Billingham tossed a five-hit, 1–0shutout with 11 strikeouts and agame score of 86 over the Gitants.[17] Making his major league debut during the second game on September 5,J. R. Richard[2] struck out 15 Giants on the way to firing anothercomplete game. Richard's final strikeout victim wasHal Lanier, also the final out of the contest, to finish off a 5–3 Astros triumph. This contest garnered a 75 game score for Richard.[18] His 15-strikeout effort remained his permanent career-high,[a][19] while tying a record for a Major League debut first established in 1954 byKarl Spooner of theBrooklyn Dodgers.[20] The 26 combined strikeouts by Billingham and Richard during the twinbill set a new MLB record.[2]
Facing a 4–1 deficit to theAtlanta Braves on September 15, managerHarry Walker inserted right-handed prospectLarry Yount to pitch the ninth inning. His major league debut,Félix Millán was the first batter of the inning. Before he could throw his first pitch, Yount's elbow became sore, whom Walker replaced with veteranJim Ray. Yount, who never made another major league appearance, became the first to appear in a game without anyofficially scored plays being completed.[21]
The Astros turned their second triple play of the season on September 17, during the second inning while hosting theCincinnati Reds.[14]
With a 79–83 (.488) record, Houston terminated the 1971 campaign tied for fourth place in the NL West with theCincinnati, 11 games behind the division-championSan Francisco Giants.[22]
The Astros played 75 games that were decided by a one run margin, which is an all-time MLB record. In those games, the team had a record of 32–43.[23]
Third basemanDoug Rader, who won his second consecutiveGold Glove Award, became the first Astro to win more than once.[24]
As the Astrodome was reputed for suppressing the home run,[25] three Astros combined to lead the league inextra-base hit categories. With 40 doubles,César Cedeño led the major leagues. He joinedRusty Staub in1967 as the second Astro to lead both theNatioal League in doubles as well as all of baseball.[26] Meanwhile, Houston's first-ever triples leaders—Roger Metzger andJoe Morgan jointly led the major leagues with 11 each—forged a three-way tie withFreddie Patek of theKansas City Royals in theAmerican League.[27]
Morgan also became first player in club history to record three 40-stolen base season, all consecutively. This was also the third of a franchise-record nine successive campaigns featuring at least one baserunner with 40 or more stolen bases.[b][28]
Don Wilson became the first Astros pitcher to lead the NL inhits per nine innings (6.549 H/9).[29]
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco Giants | 90 | 72 | .556 | — | 51–30 | 39–42 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 89 | 73 | .549 | 1 | 42–39 | 47–34 |
| Atlanta Braves | 82 | 80 | .506 | 8 | 43–39 | 39–41 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 79 | 83 | .488 | 11 | 46–35 | 33–48 |
| Houston Astros | 79 | 83 | .488 | 11 | 39–42 | 40–41 |
| San Diego Padres | 61 | 100 | .379 | 28½ | 33–48 | 28–52 |
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 | — | |||||
| 1971 Houston Astros | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers Infielders | Outfielders | Manager Coaches | ||||||
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 | 106 | 317 | 74 | .233 | 1 | 23 |
| 1B | Denis Menke | 146 | 475 | 117 | .246 | 1 | 43 |
| 2B | Joe Morgan | 160 | 583 | 149 | .256 | 13 | 56 |
| SS | Roger Metzger | 150 | 562 | 132 | .235 | 0 | 26 |
| 3B | Doug Rader | 135 | 484 | 118 | .244 | 12 | 56 |
| LF | Bob Watson | 129 | 468 | 135 | .288 | 9 | 67 |
| CF | César Cedeño | 161 | 611 | 161 | .264 | 10 | 81 |
| RF | Jimmy Wynn | 123 | 404 | 82 | .203 | 7 | 45 |
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 |
| Jack Hiatt | 69 | 174 | 48 | .276 | 1 | 16 |
| John Mayberry | 46 | 137 | 25 | .182 | 7 | 14 |
| Rich Chiles | 67 | 119 | 27 | .227 | 2 | 15 |
| César Gerónimo | 94 | 82 | 18 | .220 | 1 | 6 |
| Norm Miller | 45 | 74 | 19 | .257 | 2 | 10 |
| Larry Howard | 24 | 64 | 15 | .234 | 2 | 14 |
| Marty Martínez | 32 | 62 | 16 | .258 | 0 | 4 |
| Ray Busse | 10 | 34 | 5 | .147 | 0 | 4 |
| Derrel Thomas | 5 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Jay Schlueter | 7 | 3 | 1 | .333 | 0 | 0 |
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 | 35 | 268.0 | 16 | 10 | 2.45 | 180 |
| Jack Billingham | 33 | 228.1 | 10 | 16 | 3.39 | 139 |
| Ken Forsch | 33 | 188.1 | 8 | 8 | 2.53 | 131 |
| Larry Dierker | 24 | 159.0 | 12 | 6 | 2.72 | 91 |
| Wade Blasingame | 30 | 158.1 | 9 | 11 | 4.60 | 93 |
| Ron Cook | 5 | 25.2 | 0 | 4 | 4.91 | 10 |
| J.R. Richard | 4 | 21.0 | 2 | 1 | 3.43 | 29 |
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 |
| Scipio Spinks | 5 | 29.1 | 1 | 0 | 3.68 | 26 |
| Bill Greif | 7 | 16.0 | 1 | 1 | 5.06 | 14 |
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 | 48 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 2.10 | 17 |
| George Culver | 59 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 2.64 | 57 |
| Jim Ray | 47 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 2.12 | 46 |
| Denny Lemaster | 42 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3.45 | 28 |
| Buddy Harris | 20 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6.46 | 21 |
| Skip Guinn | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 3 |
| Larry Yount | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 0 |
| No. | Date | Astros batter | Venue | Inning | Pitcher | Opposing team | Box |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 2 | César Cedeño | Astrodome ** | 5₰ | Claude Osteen | Los Angeles Dodgers | [16] |
| **—Inside-the-park •₰—Tied score or took lead |
