1974 Houston Astros season

1974 Houston Astros
LeagueNational League
DivisionWest
BallparkAstrodome
CityHouston, Texas
Record81–81 (.500)
Divisional place4th
OwnersRoy Hofheinz
General managersSpec Richardson
ManagersPreston Gómez
TelevisionKPRC-TV
RadioKPRC (AM)
(Gene Elston, Loel Passe)

The 1974 Houston Astros season was the 13th season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their tenth as the Astros, 13th in the National League (NL), sixth in the NL West division, and tenth at The Astrodome. The Astros entered the season having posted a record of 82–80 for fourth place in the NL West, 17 games behind the division-champion Cincinnati Reds.

The 1974 season was the first for Preston Gómez as manager, the seventh in franchise history, having succeeded Leo Durocher. The season began for Houston on April 5 at Candlestick Park, where pitcher Dave Roberts made his second consecutive Opening Day start for the Astros, who were defeated by the San Francisco Giants, 5–1. The Astros' first-round draft pick in the amateur draft was outfielder Kevin Drake, at 15th overall, and in fourth round, they selected catcher Alan Knicely.

Center fielder César Cedeño represented the Astros and played for the National League at the MLB All-Star Game. It was the third career selection for Cedeño.

The Astros concluded their season with a record of 81–81, in fourth place and 21 games behind the division-champion and NL pennant-winning Los Angeles Dodgers. This continued a streak of three consecutive seasons with a record of .500 or better for Houston, extending the first such streak in franchise history. It was their fourth season overall with a record of .500 or above.

Following the season, Cedeño (third consecutive selection) and Doug Rader (fifth consecutive) each earned Gold Glove Awards. Meanwhile, right fielder Greg Gross was chosen as The Sporting News NL Rookie Player of the Year[a]. Also, Gross (for the outfield) and Larry Milbourne (second baseman) were named to the Topps All-Star Rookie Team.

Offseason

Summary

Houston concluded the 1973 season with an 82–80 (.506) record, in fourth place and trailing the division-champion Cincinnati Reds by 17 games.[1] For the first time, the Astros produced consecutive winning seasons—also the first two overall—while counting a third season of 81 wins or more (first in 1969).[2] For the second successive campaign, Houston 134 swatted home runs—also a then-club record—and ranked third in the National League.[b][3] Center fielder César Cedeño became the first Major League entrant into the 20–50 club over consecutive campaigns.[4] Also for the first time, the Astros headlined three Gold Glove winners: Cedeño, third baseman Doug Rader, and shortstop Roger Metzger. His fourth consecutive Gold Glove accolade, Rader extended a club record.[5]

Transactions

Regular season

Summary

April

Opening Day starting lineup
Uniform Player Position
21 Greg Gross Right fielder
14 Roger Metzger Shortstop
28 César Cedeño Center fielder
27 Bob Watson Left fielder
8 Milt May Catcher
23 Lee May First baseman
12 Doug Rader Third baseman
19 Tommy Helms Second baseman
15 Dave Roberts Pitcher
Venue: Candlestick Park • Final: San Francisco 5, Houston 1

Sources:[7][8]

The Astros commenced the season at Candlestick Park on April 5, where they were defeated by the San Francisco Giants, 5–1. Dave Roberts, who his second consecutive Opening Day start for Houston.[9] was charged with all five runs over five innings pitched and the defeat. Greg Gross, who collected three of Houston's seven hits, gained the only tally on Bob Watson's run batted in (RBI) single during the top of the ninth.[10]

Starter Larry Dierker earned his 100th career victory on April 9, tossing 7 innings with 2 runs allowed to lead a 9–5 win over the San Diego Padres. It was Houston first win of the season after having dropped their first three. The Astros mounted a 6–0 lead but withstood the Padres' rally. César Cedeño went 3-for-4 with four RBI, while Gross, the leadoff hitter, added three hits and scored thrice which appended to a torrid start to the season at 10-for-14. Dierker also collected two hits.[11]

On April 29, Lee May tied a major league record by crushing two home runs in one inning, becoming the 17th major leaguer to do so.[c][12] during an all-round record-setting contest. The Astros won, 18–2, over the Chicago Cubs to match their largest-scoring output to date, first registered on July 7, 1971, versus San Francisco.[13] Also, May set a career-high with five hits.[14] Meanwhile, César Cedeño tied his career high with three stolen bases,[15] also an Astros record shared with Jimmy Wynn; moreover, Cedeño became the first Astro to steal three bases in a game more than once.[13]

May

Lee May earned NL Player of the Week honors for the week of April 29—May 5.[16] During that week, he played six games, with five being multi-hit contests. May's slash line was .636 batting average / .667 on-base percentage (OBP) / 1.136 slugging percentage (SLG) / 1.803 on-base plus slugging (OPS), and he had 14 hits, 25 total bases, and 11 RBI.[17]

After crashing into the outfield fence at Riverfront Stadium on May 12, Bob Watson came to boos, ice, and cups hurled by fans of the Cincinnati Reds. He left the game, requiring 20 stitches for a laceration on his face and having broken his glasses.[18]

Having traded masterpiece pitching duels on May 22, Randy Jones of the San Diego Padres and the Astros' Claude Osteen locked down the score 1–1 through eight innings. In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Astros loaded the bases with two outs, and pinch hitter Milt May hit a walk-off grand slam to win it for Houston, 5–1.[19]

June

On June 6, Lee May hit a home run in an even-numbered minute to give fans a free beer. Meanwhile, Larry Dierker pitched a shutout three-hitter in Houston's 4–0 victory.[20]

Don Wilson tossed a shutout masterpiece on June 7 against the New York Mets, and Lee May connected for a solo home run in the second inning as the Astros won, 1–0.[21]

On June 10, Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies may have connected for the longest base hit in Astrodome history. His batted fly ball—which ended up as a single—hit the roof and travelled uninterrupted for an estimated 550 feet (170 m).[22]

July

Future Astro José Cruz belted the only inside-the-park home run of his career—and lone bomb against Houston—on July 21, off reliever Ken Forsch, scoring the hurler's younger brother, Bob.[23] The drive polished off a 9–1 St. Louis Cardinals triumph as Bob Forsch, also his brother's mound opponent, earned the victory and complete game.[24]

Leading an 8–4 effort on July 30 to topple Cincinnati, Don Wilson earned his 100th career victory, all with the Astros. The right-hander fanned nine over eight innings of work. Meanwhile, César Cedeño and Cliff Johnson connected for solo home runs in support of Wilson, and Lee May drove in three runs.[25]

Performance overview

Having slugged 26 home runs and pilfered 57 bags, Cedeño achieved another season with 20 home runs—50 stolen bases club,[26] extending his major league record a third successive campaign.[27] Craig Biggio became the next Astro to join the 20—50 club during the 1998 season.[28]

Cedeño's 57 steals broke his own club record of 56 set just the year prior. Moreover, at the time, Cedeño was the only Astro with 50-plus steals in a season, the third of a total of six in succession, through 1977.[d][29]

For the third consecutive campaign, Doug Rader (third base) and Cedeño (center field) became Gold Glove Award-winning teammates. Rader's fifth, this extended his club record—each won consecutively—while Cedeño garnered his third.[5]

Right fielder Greg Gross was chosen as The Sporting News NL Rookie of the Year,[a] the third Astros rookie recognized with this award, preceded by second baseman Joe Morgan (1965)[30] and right-hander Tom Griffin (1969).[31] Gross led the club with a .314 batting average while establishing a then-club record with 185 hits, and right-hander Ken Forsch also made a then-club record 70 appearances. Cliff Johnson, who was a force off the bench, as a pinch hitter cranked five home runs[27] and hit .351 (13-for-37) with 13 runs batted in (RBI), 4 bases on balls, .415 on-base percentage and .757 slugging percentage.[32]

Standings

NL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Los Angeles Dodgers 102 60 .630 — 52‍–‍29 50‍–‍31
Cincinnati Reds 98 64 .605 4 50‍–‍31 48‍–‍33
Atlanta Braves 88 74 .543 14 46‍–‍35 42‍–‍39
Houston Astros 81 81 .500 21 46‍–‍35 35‍–‍46
San Francisco Giants 72 90 .444 30 37‍–‍44 35‍–‍46
San Diego Padres 60 102 .370 42 36‍–‍45 24‍–‍57

Record vs. opponents

1974 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 — 4–8 7–11–1 6–12 8–10 9–3 8–4 8–4 4–8 17–1 8–10 9–3
Chicago 8–4 — 5–7 4–8 2–10 5–13 8–10 8–10 9–9 6–6 6–6 5–13
Cincinnati 11–7–1 7–5 — 14–4 6–12 6–6 9–3 8–4 8–4 12–6 11–7 6–6
Houston 12–6 8–4 4–14 — 5–13 6–6 6–6 6–6 5–7 7–11 10–8 8–4
Los Angeles 10–8 10–2 12–6 13–5 — 8–4 5–7 6–6 4–8 16–2 12–6 6–6
Montreal 3–9 13–5 6–6 6–6 4–8 — 9–9 11–7 9–9 6–6 4–8 8–9
New York 4–8 10–8 3–9 6–6 7–5 9–9 — 7–11 7–11 6–6 6–6 6–12
Philadelphia 4-8 10–8 4–8 6–6 6–6 7–11 11–7 — 10–8 5–7 8–4 9–9
Pittsburgh 8–4 9–9 4–8 7–5 8–4 9–9 11–7 8–10 — 9–3 8–4 7–11
San Diego 1–17 6–6 6–12 7–11 2–16 6–6 6–6 7–5 3–9 — 11–7 5–7
San Francisco 10–8 6–6 7–11 8–10 6–12 8–4 6–6 4–8 4–8 7–11 — 6–6
St. Louis 3–9 13–5 6–6 4–8 6–6 9–8 12–6 9–9 11–7 7–5 6–6 —

Notable transactions

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/cedence01.shtml César Cedeño

Roster

1974 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

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 Milt May 127 405 117 .289 7 54
1B Lee May 152 556 149 .268 24 85
2B Tommy Helms 137 452 126 .279 5 50
SS Roger Metzger 143 572 145 .253 0 30
3B Doug Rader 152 533 137 .257 17 78
LF Bob Watson 150 524 156 .298 11 67
CF César Cedeño 160 610 164 .269 26 102
RF Greg Gross 156 589 185 .314 0 36

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
Cliff Johnson 83 171 39 .228 10 29
Larry Milbourne 112 136 38 .279 0 9
Johnny Edwards 50 117 26 .222 1 10
Wilbur Howard 64 111 24 .216 2 5
Bob Gallagher 102 87 15 .172 0 3
Ollie Brown 27 69 15 .217 3 6
Mick Kelleher 19 57 9 .158 0 2
Ray Busse 19 34 7 .206 0 0
Denis Menke 30 29 3 .103 0 1
Dave Campbell 35 23 2 .087 0 2
Mike Easler 15 15 1 .067 0 0
Skip Jutze 8 13 3 .231 0 1

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 33 223.2 11 10 2.90 150
Tom Griffin 34 211.0 14 10 3.54 110
Don Wilson 33 204.2 11 13 3.08 112
Dave Roberts 34 204.0 10 12 3.40 72
Claude Osteen 23 138.1 9 9 3.71 45
Paul Siebert 5 25.1 1 1 3.55 10

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
J.R. Richard 15 64.2 2 3 4.18 42
Doug Konieczny 6 16.0 0 3 7.88 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
Ken Forsch 70 8 7 10 2.79 48
Fred Scherman 53 2 5 4 4.11 35
Mike Cosgrove 45 7 3 2 3.50 47
Jerry Johnson 34 2 1 0 4.80 32
Jim York 28 2 2 1 3.29 15
Ramón de los Santos 12 1 1 0 2.19 7
Mike Nagy 9 1 1 0 8.53 5

Awards and achievements

Awards
Offensive achievements
20 home runs—50 stolen bases club
Player AVG HR SB
César Cedeño .269 26 57
NL pitching leaders

Minor league system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Denver Bears American Association Frank Verdi
AA Columbus Astros Southern League Jimmy Williams
A Cedar Rapids Astros Midwest League Leo Posada
Rookie Covington Astros Appalachian League Billy Smith

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c From 1961–2003, The Sporting News declared one rookie position player and pitcher from each league, the NL and the American League (AL), for this award. Starting in 2004, this system was modified to selecting one rookie from each league for the award, regardless of position.
  2. ^ Surpassed in 1993 with 138.
  3. ^ On June 24, 1994, Jeff Bagwell became the second Astro to accomplish this feat.
  4. ^ For single seasons, playing for HOU, in the regular season, requiring stolen bases ≥ 50, sorted by descending stolen bases.

References

  1. ^ "1973 National League team statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  2. ^ "Houston Astros team history & encyclopedia". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 1, 2026.
  3. ^ "Houston Astros team yearly batting stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 4, 2026.
  4. ^ "César Cedeño stats, height, weight, research & history". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved March 1, 2026.
  5. ^ a b "MLB Gold Glove Award winners—National League". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 26, 2025.
  6. ^ "Wilbur Howard stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 14, 2025.
  7. ^ "Houston Astros (1) vs San Francisco Giants (5) box score". Baseball Almanac. April 5, 1974. Retrieved September 13, 2025.
  8. ^ "1974 Houston Astros uniform numbers". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 7, 2025.
  9. ^ "Houston Astros Opening Day starters". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 12, 2026.
  10. ^ "Houston Astros (5) vs San Francisco Giants (5) box score". Baseball-Reference.com. April 5, 1974. Retrieved January 15, 2026.
  11. ^ Shattock, Harry (April 9, 1974). "Dierker gets 100th victory". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved November 18, 2025 – via Astros Daily.
  12. ^ "Most home runs in an inning records". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved January 18, 2026.
  13. ^ a b Bush, Frederick C. (April 29, 1974). "Astros' win over Cubs marred by Roger Metzger's near-fatal collision". Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). Retrieved January 18, 2026.
  14. ^ "Top performances for Lee May". Retrosheet. Retrieved November 18, 2025.
  15. ^ "Top performances for César Cedeño". Retrosheet. Retrieved January 1, 2026.
  16. ^ a b "MLB Players of the Week Awards". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 28, 2025.
  17. ^ "Lee May 1974 game batting logs". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 1, 2026.
  18. ^ Schwartzberg, Seth (May 12, 2025). "Today in Astros history - May 12". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved September 11, 2025.
  19. ^ Schwartzberg, Seth (May 22, 2025). "Today in Astros history - May 22". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved August 14, 2025.
  20. ^ Schwartzberg, Seth (June 6, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 6". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  21. ^ Schwartzburg, Seth (June 7, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 7". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
  22. ^ Schwartzberg, Seth (June 10, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 10". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  23. ^ "José Cruz career home runs". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 8, 2026.
  24. ^ "Houston Astros (1) vs St. Louis Cardinals (9) box score". Baseball-Reference.com. July 21, 1974. Retrieved February 8, 2026.
  25. ^ Hulsey, Bob. "This date in Astros history". Astros Daily. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
  26. ^ "César Cedeño stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  27. ^ a b "Astros history – Timeline". MLB.com. Retrieved August 31, 2025.
  28. ^ Wittenmyer, Gordon (August 7, 2024). "Fast company: Look who's in the elite club Cincinnati Reds SS Elly De La Cruz just joined". Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved December 29, 2024 – via AOL.
  29. ^ "Player batting season & career stats finder–baseball". Stathead. Sports Reference. Retrieved January 13, 2026.
  30. ^ a b "Rookie Player of the Year Award". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved September 24, 2025.
  31. ^ "Rookie Pitcher of the Year by The Sporting News". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved September 27, 2025.
  32. ^ "Cliff Johnson 1974 batting splits". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 7, 2025.
  33. ^ "Alan Knicely stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  34. ^ "Oscar Zamora stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  35. ^ "Dan Larson stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 15, 2026.
  36. ^ "Gold Glove third basemen". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved October 11, 2025.
  37. ^ "Gold Glove outfielders in the National League". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved October 14, 2025.
  38. ^ McTaggart, Brian (December 21, 2009). "Bourn highlights Astros' awards season". MLB.com. Archived from the original on December 8, 2010. Retrieved October 14, 2025.
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