1965 Houston Astros season

1965  Houston Astros
League	National League
Ballpark	Harris County Domed Stadium
City	Houston, Texas
Record	65–97 (.401)
League place	9th
Owners	Roy Hofheinz
General managers	Paul Richards
Managers	Lum Harris
Television	KTRK-TV
Radio	KPRC (AM) (Gene Elston, Loel Passe, Harry Kalas)
←  1964 Seasons 1966  →

The 1965 Houston Astros season was the fourth season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, a member of the National League (NL). Now rebranded as the Astros and having relocated to The Astrodome, the club were known for their first three season as the Colt .45s and were based at Colt Stadium. ^{[Note 1]} The Astros entered the 1965 season with a 66–96 record, having finished the previous year in ninth place and 27 games behind the NL pennant and World Series-winning St. Louis Cardinals.

The 1965 season was the first and only full season for Lum Harris as manager, the second in franchise history, having replaced Harry Craft late during the previous year. On April 12, Bob Bruce made the Astros' Opening Day starter, who hosted the Philadelphia Phillies, but were defeated, 2–0.

In the first-ever MLB amateur draft, the Astros' first round selection was shortstop Alex Barrett at fourth overall. Rookie second baseman Joe Morgan established club records on July 8 with six hits—tying the major league record—and 13 total bases for a single game, during a 9–8 defeat to the Milwaukee Braves over 12 innings. Pitcher Turk Farrell represented the Astros at the MLB All-Star Game, his fifth career selection.

The Astros concluded the season with a record of 65–97, a third consecutive in ninth place and 32 games behind the NL pennant and eventual World Series-champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The 97 losses represented a franchise-worst record for Houston at the time, which was one more than the 96 losses the club had for each of their first three seasons of existence. It later matched by the 1975 and 1991 teams, and exceeded in 2011 with 106 losses.

Following the season, Morgan was chosen as The Sporting News NL Rookie Player of the Year ^[a] —the first Astro be so recognized—and for the Topps All-Star Rookie Team. Hence, Morgan also became the first Astro to be recognized for a full-season award not specific to one position.

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.^{[ citation needed ]} 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

Exterior view of the Astrodome (left) and scoreboard in 1969 (right).

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. Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle recorded the stadium's first hit and home run. ^[1]

The stadium was designed as a defense against the oppressive heat and humidity of the Houston summer. Loosely based on the classic 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. ^[2]

Regular season

Summary

April

Joe Morgan with Houston, c. 1969, set a number of club records in 1965.

Opening Day starting lineup ^{[3] [4]}

15	Bob Lillis	SS
18	Joe Morgan	2B
24	Jimmy Wynn	CF
23	Walt Bond	1B
14	Bob Aspromonte	3B
20	Jim Beauchamp	LF
28	Joe Gaines	RF
7	John Bateman	C
30	Bob Bruce	P
Venue:	Dodger Stadium • LAD 3,	HOU 2

During a pre-game ceremony on Opening Day and at the regular-season opening ceremony of the Astrodome, April 12, 1965, the Astros officially retired jersey number 32 in honor of former Colt .45s pitcher Jim Umbricht. Umbricht had died on April 8, 1964, following a battle with cancer and having returned to play for Houston the season earlier, in 1963. Aged 33 years old, his jersey number was the first to be retired by the team. ^[5]

May

On May 8, Joe Morgan connected for his first major league home run, to deep right at Wrigley Field. The blast occurred in the top of the sixth inning off Lindy McDaniel of the Chicago Cubs, extending the Astros' lead to 8–5. ^[6]

For the first time, on May 22, ABC's broadcast of the Major League Baseball Game of the Week featured the Astrodome. Viewers were thrilled by a massive Willie Mays home run that propelled the San Francisco Giants over the Astros to win the contest, 10–1. ^[7] On May 23, the Giants, able to leverage a three-run, inside-the-park home run—a result of the ball getting caught in the roof of the Astrodome—won, 5–2, over Houston. This was the final game as a Houston Astro for starter Ken Johnson, who received news after the contest that had been traded to the Milwaukee Braves for outfielder Lee Maye. ^[8]

Due to pop flies routinely misplaced as induced by the glare through the roof of The Astrodone, clear glass panes costing about $20,000 were installed on May 24. Consequently, these conditions created inadequate lighting to sustain the grass, which led to the installation of AstroTurf the following season. ^[9]

June

With the scored tied 2–2 on June 4 going into the ninth inning, Houston Astros catcher Ron Brand connected for a three-run homer into the left field bleachers off Bob Gibson for the decisive runs in an Astros' 5–2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. ^[10] After 140 relief appearances, on June 6, Claude Raymond made the first of seven starts over his major league career. He tossed a complete game against the Cardinals. holding them to just seven hits and one run as the Houston won, 10–1. ^[11]

July

On July 8, rookie second baseman Joe Morgan established clubs records with six hits and 13 total bases, including two home runs, and also collected three RBI and four runs scored at Milwaukee County Stadium. The six hits tied the major league record for one game. His feats carried through Astros through an eventual 12-inning, 9–8 loss to the Milwaukee Braves. ^{[Note 2] [Note 3] [12]} This was the first multi-home run game of Morgan's career, with both drives courtesty of Tony Cloninger offerings. ^[6]

Morgan scored his second career multi-home run game just two days after his record performance. On July 10, took Galen Cisco deep in the top of the fourth inning at Shea Stadium, and in the top of the ninth, Tug McGraw. His performance was instrumental in a 9–1 clobbering of the New York Mets. ^[6]

MLB All-Star Game

Farrell made the MLB All-Star Game, hosted at Metropolitan Stadium. His fourth selection as an Astro, this extended his own club record. Outfielder César Cedeño was chosen to four All-Star Game to match Farrell for the club record in the 1976 edition. ^[b] This stood as club record until Craig Biggio would receive his fifth selection in the 1996 All-Star Game ^[13]

Performance overview

In their first year at the Astrodome, Houston smashed attendance records with 2,151,470, nearly tripling the showing of fans from the year prior, and the first time they had claimed both of either the one-million and two-million threshold of attendees. It would not be until 1980 that they reached the 2-million mark again. ^[14]

Morgan set club marks for at-bats (601), runs (100), hits (163) and triples (12) over a season. ^{[15] [16]} He also became the first Houston Astro selected as the NL Rookie Player of the Year by The Sporting News (TSN). ^{[a] [17]}

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Los Angeles Dodgers	97	65	.599	—	50‍–‍31	47‍–‍34
San Francisco Giants	95	67	.586	2	51‍–‍30	44‍–‍37
Pittsburgh Pirates	90	72	.556	7	49‍–‍32	41‍–‍40
Cincinnati Reds	89	73	.549	8	49‍–‍32	40‍–‍41
Milwaukee Braves	86	76	.531	11	44‍–‍37	42‍–‍39
Philadelphia Phillies	85	76	.528	11½	45‍–‍35	40‍–‍41
St. Louis Cardinals	80	81	.497	16½	42‍–‍39	38‍–‍42
Chicago Cubs	72	90	.444	25	40‍–‍41	32‍–‍49
Houston Astros	65	97	.401	32	36‍–‍45	29‍–‍52
New York Mets	50	112	.309	47	29‍–‍52	21‍–‍60

Record vs. opponents

1965 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MIL	NYM	PHI	PIT	SF	STL
Chicago	—	7–11	8–10	8–10	9–9	11–7–1	8–10	5–13	6–12	10–8–1
Cincinnati	11–7	—	12–6	6–12	12–6	11–7	13–5	8–10	6–12	10–8
Houston	10–8	6–12	—	5–13	4–14	14–4	6–12	8–10	3–15	9–9
Los Angeles	10–8	12–6	13–5	—	10–8	12–6	9–9	9–9	10–8	12–6
Milwaukee	9–9	6–12	14–4	8–10	—	13–5	6–12	9–9	10–8	11–7
New York	7–11–1	7–11	4–14	6–12	5–13	—	7–11–1	4–14	5–13	5–13
Philadelphia	10–8	5–13	12–6	9–9	12–6	11–7–1	—	8–10	8–10	10–7
Pittsburgh	13–5	10–8	10–8	9–9	9–9	14–4	10–8	—	11–7–1	4–14
San Francisco	12–6	12–6	15–3	8–10	8–10	13–5	10–8	7–11–1	—	10–8
St. Louis	8–10–1	8–10	9–9	6–12	7–11	13–5	7–10	14–4	8–10	—

Notable transactions

• April 24, 1965: Don Larsen was traded by the Astros to the Baltimore Orioles for Bob Saverine and cash. ^[18]
• May 23, 1965: Ken Johnson and Jim Beauchamp were traded by the Astros to the Milwaukee Braves for Lee Maye. ^[19]
• June 14, 1965: Gus Triandos was purchased by the Astros from the Philadelphia Phillies. ^[20]
• July 10, 1965: Frank Thomas was purchased by the Astros from the Philadelphia Phillies. ^[21]
• August 20, 1965: Gus Triandos was released by the Astros. ^[20]
• September 1, 1965: Frank Thomas was traded by the Astros to the Milwaukee Braves for a player to be named later. The Braves completed the deal by sending Mickey Sinnerud (minors) to the Astros on September 11. ^[21]

Roster

1965 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers 46 Don Arlich 30 Bob Bruce 44 Danny Coombs 35 Mike Cuellar 49 Larry Dierker 13 Turk Farrell 39 Dave Giusti 40 Ken Johnson 34 Gordon Jones 31 Jack Lamabe 31 Don Larsen 40,48 Don Lee 34 Ken MacKenzie 43 Don Nottebart 33 Jim Owens 21 Jim Ray 36 Claude Raymond 38 Robin Roberts 41 Carroll Sembera 40,46 Ron Taylor 42 Bruce Von Hoff 46 Hal Woodeshick 37 Chris Zachary		Catchers  8 Dave Adlesh  7 John Bateman  9 Ron Brand  9 John Hoffman  7 Gus Triandos Infielders 14 Bob Aspromonte 23 Walt Bond  2 Nellie Fox 52,4 Jim Gentile 35 Chuck Harrison 19 Sonny Jackson 11 Eddie Kasko 15 Bob Lillis 25 Jim Mahoney 18 Joe Morgan 31 Frank Thomas 16 Mike White		Outfielders 20 Jim Beauchamp 28 Joe Gaines 20 Lee Maye 34 Norm Miller 21 Al Spangler 10 Rusty Staub 24 Jimmy Wynn Other batters 27 Gene Ratliff		Manager 26 Lum Harris Coaches  3 Jimmy Adair 4,? Jim Busby (Third Base)  6 Clint Courtney  2 Nellie Fox  5 Howie Pollet

Player stats

Batting

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
C	Ron Brand	117	391	27	92	6	3	.235	2	37	10
1B	Walt Bond	117	407	46	107	17	2	.263	7	47	2
2B	Joe Morgan	157	601	100	163	22	12	.271	14	40	20
3B	Bob Aspromonte	152	578	53	152	15	2	.263	5	52	2
SS	Bob Lillis	124	408	34	90	12	1	.221	1	38	2
LF	Lee Maye	108	415	38	104	17	7	.251	3	36	1
CF	Jim Wynn	157	564	90	155	30	7	.275	22	73	43
RF	Rusty Staub	131	410	43	105	20	1	.256	14	63	3

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 Gaines	100	229	21	52	8	1	.227	6	31	4
Jim Gentile	81	227	22	55	11	1	.242	7	31	0
Eddie Kasko	68	215	18	53	7	1	.247	1	10	1
John Bateman	45	142	15	28	3	1	.197	7	14	4
Al Spangler	38	112	18	24	1	1	.214	1	7	1
Gus Triandos	24	72	5	13	2	0	.181	2	7	0
Frank Thomas	23	58	7	10	2	0	.172	3	9	0
Jim Beauchamp	24	53	5	10	1	0	.189	0	4	0
Chuck Harrison	15	45	2	9	4	0	.200	1	9	0
Nellie Fox	21	41	3	11	2	0	.268	0	1	0
Dave Adlesh	15	34	2	5	1	0	.147	0	3	0
Sonny Jackson	10	23	1	3	0	0	.130	0	0	1
Norm Miller	11	15	2	3	0	1	.200	0	1	0
Mike White	8	9	0	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
John Hoffman	2	6	1	2	0	0	.333	0	1	0
Jim Mahoney	5	5	0	1	0	0	.200	0	0	0
Gene Ratliff	4	4	0	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0

Pitching

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 Bruce	35	34	229.2	9	18	3.72	107	95	38	145
Turk Farrell	33	29	208.1	11	11	3.50	94	81	35	122
Don Nottebart	29	25	158.0	4	15	4.67	99	82	55	77
Larry Dierker	26	19	146.2	7	8	3.50	69	57	37	109
Robin Roberts	10	10	76.0	5	2	1.89	22	16	10	34
Ken Johnson	8	8	51.2	3	2	4.18	25	24	11	28
Don Arlich	1	1	6.0	0	0	3.00	2	2	1	0
Don Larsen	1	1	5.1	0	0	5.06	3	3	3	1

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 Giusti	38	13	131.1	8	7	3	4.32	67	63	46	92
Claude Raymond	33	7	96.1	7	4	5	2.90	35	31	16	79
Jack Lamabe	3	2	12.2	0	2	0	4.26	9	6	3	6
Chris Zachary	4	2	10.2	0	2	0	4.22	6	5	6	4
Jim Ray	3	2	7.2	0	2	0	10.57	9	9	6	7
Carroll Sembera	2	1	7.1	0	1	0	3.68	3	3	3	4

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 Owens	50	71.1	6	5	8	3.28	28	26	29	53
Ron Taylor	32	57.2	1	5	4	6.40	42	41	16	37
Mike Cuellar	25	56.0	1	4	2	3.54	24	22	21	46
Danny Coombs	26	47.0	0	2	0	4.79	26	25	23	35
Ken MacKenzie	21	37.0	0	3	0	3.89	22	16	6	26
Hal Woodeshick	27	32.1	3	4	3	3.06	13	11	18	22
Don Lee	7	8.0	0	0	0	3.38	3	3	3	3
Bruce Von Hoff	3	3.0	0	0	0	9.00	3	3	2	1
Gordon Jones	1	1.0	0	0	0	0.00	0	0	0	0

Awards and honors

Career honors

Jim
Umbricht
P
 
Retired April 12, 1965

• Houston Astros uniform number retired—No. 32 : Jim Umbricht , pitcher • In Houston 1962–1963 • 69 games ^{[5] [22]}

Annual awards

• Houston Astros Most Valuable Player (MVP): ^[23] Jimmy Wynn
• MLB All-Star Game—reserve pitcher: Turk Farrell
• The Sporting News NL Rookie Player of the Year: ^{[a] [17]} Joe Morgan
• Topps All-Star Rookie Team—second baseman: Joe Morgan

NL batting leaders

• Bases on balls: Joe Morgan (97—led MLB)

Minor league system

See also: Minor League Baseball

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

Awards

• Pacific Coast League Most Valuable Player (PCL MVP): Dave Roberts, OF
• Texas League Most Valuable Player (TL MVP): ^[24] Leo Posada, OF
• Topps Minor League Player of the Year: Dave Roberts, OF ^[25]

See also

• Texas portal
• Baseball portal

• List of Major League Baseball retired numbers
• List of Major League Baseball single-game hits leaders

References

Footnotes

1. 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. As Major League Baseball held two All-Star Games each year from 1959 to 1962, Cedeño distinguished himself as the first Astro to make the All-Star team in four different seasons.

1. The team remained at The Astrodome through the 1999 season.
2. On May 7, 2018, George Springer tied the club record with six hits one game.
3. Three other players had since connected for 13 total bases in one game: Lee May in 1974, Jeff Bagwell on June 24, 1994, and Morgan Ensberg in 2005.

Sources

1. de Luna, Marcy (April 9, 2020). "Iconic Astrodome made its grand debut 55 years ago, became 'Eighth Wonder of the World'". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved August 18, 2025.
2. "Bob Watson stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 21, 2025.
3. "Philadelphia Phillies (2) vs Houston Astros (0) box score". Baseball Almanac . April 12, 1965. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
4. "1965 Houston Astros uniform numbers". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
5. Ayers, Thomas (March 15, 2021). "Jim Umbricht". Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). Retrieved September 21, 2025.
6. "Joe Morgan career home runs". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 8, 2025.
7. Schwartzberg, Seth (May 22, 2025). "Today in Astros history - May 22". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation . Retrieved August 13, 2025.
8. Schwartzberg, Seth (May 23, 2025). "Today in Astros history - May 23". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved August 12, 2025.
9. Schwartzberg, Seth (May 24, 2025). "Today in Astros history - May 24". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
10. Schwartzberg, Seth (June 4, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 4". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved July 9, 2025.
11. Schwartzberg, Seth (June 6, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 6". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
12. McTaggart, Brian (January 11, 2021). "Astros' best single-game hitting displays". MLB.com . Retrieved September 18, 2025.
13. "Houston Astros All-Star player register". Baseball-Refererence.com. Retrieved October 26, 2025.
14. "Houston Astros team history & encyclopedia". Baaseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
15. "Astros history – Timeline". MLB.com . Retrieved August 28, 2025.
16. "1965 Houston Astros statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 28, 2025.
17. "Rookie Player of the Year Award". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved September 24, 2025.
18. "Bob Saverine stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 14, 2025.
19. "Lee Maye stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 14, 2025.
20. Gus Triandos at Baseball Reference
21. Frank Thomas at Baseball Reference
22. "Jim Umbricht stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
23. McTaggart, Brian (December 21, 2009). "Bourn highlights Astros' awards season". MLB.com. Archived from the original on December 8, 2010. Retrieved October 14, 2025.
24. "Texas League Player of the Year". The Baseball Cube. Retrieved August 29, 2025.
25. "Scout's honor". The Topps Archives. March 25, 2014. Retrieved August 24, 2025.

External links

• 1965 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference
• 1965 Houston Astros at Baseball Almanac