1973 Houston Astros season

1973 Houston Astros
1973 Houston Astros
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	Astrodome
City	Houston, Texas
Record	82–80 (.506)
Divisional place	4th
Owners	Roy Hofheinz
General managers	Spec Richardson
Managers	Leo Durocher
Television	KPRC-TV
Radio	KPRC (AM) ; (Gene Elston, Loel Passe)

Last updated August 26, 2025

The 1973 Houston Astros season was the 12th season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their ninth as the Astros, 12th in the National League (NL), fifth in the NL West division, and ninth at The Astrodome. The Astros entered the season having posted a record of 84–69—the first-ever winning season in franchise history—in second place in the NL West, 10+1⁄2 games behind the division-champion and NL pennant-winning Cincinnati Reds.

Center fielder César Cedeño and left fielder Bob Watson represented the Astros at the MLB All-Star Game and played for the National League. It was the second career selection for Cedeño and first for Watson. Cedeño produced a second consecutive 20–50 club season, with 25 home runs and 56 stolen bases, the first major leaguer to accomplish this feat.

The Astros concluded the regular season fourth in the NL West with a record of 82–80, 17 games behind the division champions, Cincinnati. Hence, this performance established the Astros' first-ever instance of consecutive winning seasons.

Following the season, Cedeño (second career selection), shortstop Roger Metzger (first) and third baseman Doug Rader (fourth) each earned Gold Glove Awards. For the first time in the award's history, this Gold Glove edition rostered three Astros players.

Offseason

November 27, 1972: Rich Chiles and Buddy Harris were traded by the Astros to the New York Mets for Tommie Agee.^[1]
January 10, 1973: Mike Stanton was drafted by the Astros in the 1st round (5th pick) of the 1973 Major League Baseball draft (secondary phase).^[2]

Regular season

Down 7–0 on May 20, the San Francisc Giants came all the way back to tie, 7–7. However, a solo home run from Jimmy Wynn gave Houston an 8–7 win, while also allowing them to take sole possession of first place.^[3]

On June 19, 1973, Dave Winfield of the San Diego Padres made his major league debut against the Astros. He had one hit in four at-bats.^[4] Backed by a three-home-run game from Lee May on June 21, Ken Forsch hurled a complete game to lead a 12–2 win over San Diego. May delivered 5 RBi while Tommy Helms also connected for a grand slam.^[5]

Center fielder César Cedeño produced a second consecutive 20–50 club season, with 25 home runs and 56 stolen bases, also accomplished that year by former Houston Astro Joe Morgan, a member of the Cincinnati Reds.

Season standings

v
t
e
NL West
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	99	63	.611	—	50‍–‍31	49‍–‍32
Los Angeles Dodgers	95	66	.590	3½	50‍–‍31	45‍–‍35
San Francisco Giants	88	74	.543	11	47‍–‍34	41‍–‍40
Houston Astros	82	80	.506	17	41‍–‍40	41‍–‍40
Atlanta Braves	76	85	.472	22½	40‍–‍40	36‍–‍45
San Diego Padres	60	102	.370	39	31‍–‍50	29‍–‍52

Record vs. opponents

1973 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MTL	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	7–5	5–13	11–7	2–15–1	6–6	6–6	6–6	7–5	12–6	8–10	6–6
Chicago	5–7	—	8–4	6–6	5–7	9–9	10–7	10–8	6–12	7–5	2–10	9–9
Cincinnati	13–5	4–8	—	11–7	11–7	8–4	8–4	8–4	7–5	13–5	10–8	6–6
Houston	7–11	6–6	7–11	—	11–7	6–6	6–6	7–5	6–6	10–8	11–7	5–7
Los Angeles	15–2–1	7–5	7–11	7–11	—	7–5	7–5	9–3	10–2	9–9	9–9	8–4
Montreal	6–6	9–9	4–8	6–6	5–7	—	9–9	13–5	6–12	7–5	6–6	8–10
New York	6–6	7–10	4–8	6–6	5–7	9–9	—	9–9	13–5	8–4	5–7	10–8
Philadelphia	6-6	8–10	4–8	5–7	3–9	5–13	9–9	—	8–10	9–3	5–7	9–9
Pittsburgh	5–7	12–6	5–7	6–6	2–10	12–6	5–13	10–8	—	8–4	5–7	10–8
San Diego	6–12	5–7	5–13	8–10	9–9	5–7	4–8	3–9	4–8	—	7–11	4–8
San Francisco	10–8	10–2	8–10	7–11	9–9	6–6	7–5	7–5	7–5	11–7	—	6–6
St. Louis	6–6	9–9	6–6	7–5	4–8	10–8	8–10	9–9	8–10	8–4	6–6	—

Notable transactions

July 31, 1973: Jesús Alou was purchased from the Astros by the Oakland Athletics.^[6]
August 18, 1973: Tommie Agee was traded by the Astros to the St. Louis Cardinals for Dave Campbell and cash.^[1]

Draft picks

June 5, 1973: 1973 Major League Baseball draft
- Ken Landreaux was drafted by the Astros in the 8th round, but did not sign.^[7]
- Mike Davey was drafted by the Astros in the 18th round, but did not sign.^[8]

Roster

1973 Houston Astros

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

2 Leo Durocher

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	Skip Jutze	90	278	62	.223	0	18
1B	Lee May	148	545	147	.270	28	105
2B	Tommy Helms	146	543	156	.287	4	61
SS	Roger Metzger	154	580	145	.250	1	35
3B	Doug Rader	154	574	146	.254	21	89
LF	Bob Watson	158	573	179	.312	16	94
CF	César Cedeño	139	525	168	.320	25	70
RF	Jim Wynn	139	481	106	.220	20	55

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
Johnny Edwards	79	250	61	.244	5	27
Tommie Agee	83	204	48	.235	8	15
Bob Gallagher	71	148	39	.264	2	10
Jimmy Stewart	61	68	13	.191	0	3
Héctor Torres	38	66	6	.091	0	2
Jesús Alou	28	55	13	.236	1	8
Gary Sutherland	16	54	14	.259	0	3
Larry Howard	20	48	8	.167	0	4
Greg Gross	14	39	9	.231	0	1
Cliff Johnson	7	20	6	.300	2	6
Ray Busse	15	17	1	.059	0	0
Rafael Batista	12	15	4	.267	0	2
Dave Campbell	9	15	4	.267	0	2
Mike Easler	6	7	0	.000	0	0
Otis Thornton	2	3	0	.000	0	1
Norm Miller	3	3	0	.000	0	0

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
Jerry Reuss	41	279.1	16	13	3.74	177
Dave Roberts	39	249.1	17	11	2.85	119
Don Wilson	37	239.1	11	16	3.20	149
Doug Konieczny	2	13.0	0	1	5.54	6

Other pitchers