1966 Houston Astros season
During the 1966 Houston Astros season in American baseball, the team finished eighth in the National League with a record of 72–90 (.444), 23 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.
1966 Houston Astros | |
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Major League affiliations | |
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Location | |
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Results | |
Record | 72–90 (.444) |
League place | 8th |
Other information | |
Owners | Roy Hofheinz |
General managers | Tal Smith |
Managers | Grady Hatton |
Local television | KTRK-TV |
Local radio | KPRC (AM) (Gene Elston, Loel Passe, Harry Kalas) |
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This was the second season for the Astrodome, but its first with a playing surface of AstroTurf.[1] The infield portion was installed in March,[2][3][4][5][6] and the outfield was ready for play on July 19.[7][8][9]
Offseason
- November 29, 1965: 1965 rule 5 draft
- Nate Colbert was drafted by the Astros from the St. Louis Cardinals.[10]
- Bob Saverine was drafted from the Astros by the Washington Senators.[11]
- January 6, 1966: Johnny Weekly and cash were traded by the Astros to the New York Mets for Gary Kroll.[12]
Regular season
Season standings
National League | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Los Angeles Dodgers | 95 | 67 | 0.586 | — | 53–28 | 42–39 |
San Francisco Giants | 93 | 68 | 0.578 | 1½ | 47–34 | 46–34 |
Pittsburgh Pirates | 92 | 70 | 0.568 | 3 | 46–35 | 46–35 |
Philadelphia Phillies | 87 | 75 | 0.537 | 8 | 48–33 | 39–42 |
Atlanta Braves | 85 | 77 | 0.525 | 10 | 43–38 | 42–39 |
St. Louis Cardinals | 83 | 79 | 0.512 | 12 | 43–38 | 40–41 |
Cincinnati Reds | 76 | 84 | 0.475 | 18 | 46–33 | 30–51 |
Houston Astros | 72 | 90 | 0.444 | 23 | 45–36 | 27–54 |
New York Mets | 66 | 95 | 0.410 | 28½ | 32–49 | 34–46 |
Chicago Cubs | 59 | 103 | 0.364 | 36 | 32–49 | 27–54 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||||
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Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | NYM | PHI | PIT | SF | STL | |||||
Atlanta | — | 7–11 | 10–8 | 14–4–1 | 7–11 | 14–4 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 8–10 | 7–11 | |||||
Chicago | 11–7 | — | 6–12 | 5–13 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 6–12 | 6–12 | 4–14 | |||||
Cincinnati | 8–10 | 12–6 | — | 4–14 | 6–12 | 10–7 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 7–10 | 11–7 | |||||
Houston | 4–14–1 | 13–5 | 14–4 | — | 7–11 | 7–11 | 7–11 | 4–14 | 6–12 | 10–8 | |||||
Los Angeles | 11–7 | 10–8 | 12–6 | 11–7 | — | 12–6 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 10–8 | |||||
New York | 4–14 | 10–8 | 7–10 | 11–7 | 6–12 | — | 7–11 | 5–13 | 9–9 | 7–11 | |||||
Philadelphia | 7-11 | 13–5 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 11–7 | — | 10–8 | 10–8 | 10–8 | |||||
Pittsburgh | 11–7 | 12–6 | 10–8 | 14–4 | 9–9 | 13–5 | 8–10 | — | 7–11 | 8–10 | |||||
San Francisco | 10–8 | 12–6 | 10–7 | 12–6 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 11–7 | — | 12–6 | |||||
St. Louis | 11–7 | 14–4 | 7–11 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 6–12 | — |
Opening Day lineup
- Lee Maye, LF
- Sonny Jackson, SS
- Jimmy Wynn, CF
- Dave Nicholson, RF
- Joe Morgan, 2B
- Bob Aspromonte, 3B
- Chuck Harrison, 1B
- John Bateman, C
- Robin Roberts, P[13]
Notable transactions
- June 7, 1966: Fred Stanley was drafted by the Astros in the 8th round of the 1966 Major League Baseball draft.[14]
Roster
1966 Houston Astros | |||||||||
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Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
Other batters
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Manager
Coaches
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Player stats
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 |
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C | John Bateman | 131 | 433 | 121 | .279 | 17 | 70 |
1B | Chuck Harrison | 119 | 434 | 111 | .256 | 9 | 52 |
2B | Joe Morgan | 122 | 425 | 121 | .285 | 5 | 42 |
3B | Bob Aspromonte | 152 | 560 | 141 | .252 | 8 | 52 |
SS | Sonny Jackson | 150 | 596 | 174 | .292 | 3 | 25 |
LF | Lee Maye | 115 | 358 | 103 | .288 | 9 | 36 |
CF | Jimmy Wynn | 105 | 418 | 107 | .256 | 18 | 62 |
RF | Rusty Staub | 153 | 554 | 155 | .280 | 13 | 81 |
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 |
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Dave Nicholson | 100 | 280 | 69 | .246 | 10 | 31 |
Ron Davis | 48 | 194 | 48 | .247 | 2 | 19 |
Bob Lillis | 68 | 164 | 38 | .232 | 0 | 11 |
Félix Mantilla | 77 | 151 | 33 | .219 | 6 | 22 |
Jim Gentile | 49 | 144 | 35 | .243 | 7 | 18 |
Ron Brand | 56 | 123 | 30 | .244 | 0 | 10 |
Bill Heath | 55 | 123 | 37 | .301 | 0 | 8 |
Norm Miller | 11 | 34 | 5 | .147 | 1 | 3 |
Gene Freese | 21 | 33 | 3 | .091 | 0 | 0 |
Brock Davis | 10 | 27 | 4 | .148 | 0 | 1 |
Aaron Pointer | 11 | 26 | 9 | .346 | 1 | 5 |
Joe Gaines | 11 | 13 | 1 | .077 | 0 | 0 |
Nate Colbert | 19 | 7 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Dave Adlesh | 3 | 6 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Greg Sims | 7 | 6 | 1 | .167 | 0 | 0 |
Julio Gotay | 4 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Bob Watson | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
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 |
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Mike Cuellar | 38 | 227.1 | 12 | 10 | 2.22 | 175 |
Dave Giusti | 34 | 210.0 | 15 | 14 | 4.20 | 131 |
Larry Dierker | 29 | 187.0 | 10 | 8 | 3.18 | 108 |
Bob Bruce | 25 | 129.2 | 3 | 13 | 5.34 | 71 |
Robin Roberts | 13 | 63.2 | 3 | 5 | 3.82 | 26 |
Chris Zachary | 10 | 55.0 | 3 | 5 | 3.44 | 37 |
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 |
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Turk Farrell | 32 | 152.2 | 6 | 10 | 4.60 | 101 |
Barry Latman | 31 | 103.0 | 2 | 7 | 2.71 | 74 |
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 |
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Claude Raymond | 62 | 7 | 5 | 16 | 3.13 | 73 |
Jim Owens | 40 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 4.68 | 32 |
Ron Taylor | 36 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5.71 | 29 |
Carroll Sembera | 24 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3.00 | 21 |
Gary Kroll | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.80 | 22 |
Aurelio Monteagudo | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4.70 | 7 |
Frank Carpin | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7.50 | 2 |
Don Lee | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2.50 | 9 |
Don Arlich | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15.75 | 1 |
Danny Coombs | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.38 | 3 |
Don Wilson | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 7 |
Jim Ray | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | inf | 0 |
Farm system
References
- "Astroturf planned for Houston field". Florence Times. (Alabama). Associated Press. March 13, 1966. p. 18.
- "Astroturf looks great, but..." Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 20, 1966. p. 2b.
- "What's new? Astroturf". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). Associated Press. March 21, 1966. p. 23.
- "Zippered 'grass' big hit in Astrodome". Daytona Beach Sunday News-Journal. (Florida). Associated Press. March 20, 1966. p. 1B.
- Bledsoe, Terry (March 20, 1966). "Astrodome's synthetic grass gets 1st test with skids and bounces". Milwaukee Journal. p. 1, sports.
- Rathet, Mike (March 21, 1966). "Brickbats starting to fly over Houston's Astroturf". Victoria Advocate. (Texas). Associated Press. p. 8.
- "Phils, Astros plan tonight on artificial grass". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. July 19, 1966. p. 23.
- "Phil find Farrell, turf unfriendly". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. July 20, 1966. p. 3C.
- "Astros clout Phils; Farrell leads way". Victoria Advocate. (Texas). Associated Press. July 20, 1966. p. 8.
- Nate Colbert at Baseball-Reference
- Bob Saverine at Baseball-Reference
- Gary Kroll at Baseball-Reference
- 1966 Houston Astros Roster by Baseball Almanac
- Fred Stanley at Baseball Reference
- 1966 Houston Astros Statistics and Roster – Baseball-Reference.com
External links
- 1966 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference