1973 Houston Astros season

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)
←  1972 Seasons 1974  →

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

Summary

The first-ever Player of the Week Award was presented for the National League by president Chub Feeney to Astros left fielder Jimmy Wynn for the week ended April 16, 1973. Considering the 11 games played since Opening Day on April 6, Wynn connected for 6 home runs, 10 RBI, one double, one triple, and had carried a batting average of .313 (15-for-48). ^[3]

Displeased with the result of a contest on May 15, Houston GM Spec Richardson resorted to sending his message through the scoreboard of the Astrodome, blaming umpires Augie Donatelli and Bruce Froemming for blown calls in a 4–1 loss to the Atlanta Braves. He charged the missed calls changed the outcome of the game; however, this instead resulted in a $500 fine. ^[4]

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. ^[5]

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. ^[6] 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. ^[7]

Center fielder César Cedeño produced a second consecutive 20–50 club season, with 25 home runs and 56 stolen bases, ^[8] also accomplished that year by former Houston Astros teammate Joe Morgan, then a member of the Cincinnati Reds. ^[9]

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. ^[10]
• 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. ^[11]
  • Mike Davey was drafted by the Astros in the 18th round, but did not sign. ^[12]

Roster

1973 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers 37 Mike Cosgrove 30 Jim Crawford 49 Larry Dierker 43 Ken Forsch 48 Fred Gladding 38 Tom Griffin 46 Doug Konieczny 39 Juan Pizarro 45 Jim Ray 47 Jerry Reuss 50 J. R. Richard 15 Dave Roberts 34 Cecil Upshaw 40 Don Wilson 42 Jim York		Catchers  7 Johnny Edwards 10 Larry Howard  9 Skip Jutze  9 Otis Thornton Infielders  8 Rafael Batista 16 Ray Busse 20 Dave Campbell 19 Tommy Helms  6 Cliff Johnson 23 Lee May 14 Roger Metzger 12 Doug Rader 11 Jimmy Stewart 17 Gary Sutherland 17 Héctor Torres		Outfielders 20 Tommie Agee 22 Jesús Alou 28 César Cedeño 22 Mike Easler 25 Bob Gallagher 21 Greg Gross 21 Norm Miller 27 Bob Watson 24 Jimmy Wynn		Manager  2 Leo Durocher Coaches  4 Preston Gómez  1 Grady Hatton  3 Hub Kittle  5 Bob Lillis

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

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Ken Forsch	46	201.1	9	12	4.20	149
Tom Griffin	25	99.2	4	6	4.15	69
J.R. Richard	16	72.0	6	2	4.00	75
Larry Dierker	14	27.0	1	1	4.33	18

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
Jim Crawford	48	2	4	6	4.50	56
Jim Ray	42	6	4	6	4.43	25
Jim York	41	3	4	6	4.42	22
Cecil Upshaw	35	2	3	1	4.46	21
Fred Gladding	16	2	0	1	4.50	9
Juan Pizarro	15	2	2	0	6.56	10
Mike Cosgrove	13	1	1	0	1.80	2

Awards and achievements

Awards

• Gold Gloves:
  • Center field—César Cedeño
  • Shortstop—Roger Metzger
  • Third base—Doug Rader
• MLB All-Star Game:
  • Reserve outfielder—César Cedeño
  • Reserve outfielder—Bob Watson
• NL Player of the Week ^{[3] [13]} –April 16: Jimmy Wynn
• The Sporting News NL All-Star—Outfielder: César Cedeño ^[8]

Offensive achievements

20 home runs—50 stolen bases club

Player	AVG	HR	SB
César Cedeño [8]	.320	25	56

NL batting leaders Triples: Roger Metzger (14, led MLB)

NL pitching leaders Bases on balls allowed: Jerry Reuss (117) Games started: Jerry Reuss (40)

Minor league system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Denver Bears	American Association	Jimmy Williams
AA	Columbus Astros	Southern League	Wayne Terwilliger
A	Cedar Rapids Astros	Midwest League	Leo Posada
Rookie	Covington Astros	Appalachian League	Billy Smith

See also

• Texas portal
• Baseball portal

• 20–50 club
• List of Major League Baseball annual triples leaders

References

1. Tommie Agee at Baseball Reference
2. Mike Stanton at Baseball Reference
3. "Jimmy Wynn is Player of Week". The World . Coos Bay, Oregon. United Press International (UPI). April 17, 1973. p. 13. Retrieved September 23, 2025– via newspapers.com.
4. Schwartzberg, Seth (May 15, 2025). "Today in Astros history - May 15". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation . Retrieved September 5, 2025.
5. Schwartzberg, Seth (May 20, 2025). "Today in Astros history - May 20". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved August 25, 2025.
6. Dave Winfield at Baseball Reference
7. Schwartzberg, Seth (June 21, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 21". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
8. "César Cedeño stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 5, 2025.
9. "Joe Morgan stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 5, 2025.
10. Jesús Alou at Baseball Reference
11. Ken Landreaux at Baseball Reference
12. Mike Davey at Baseball Reference
13. "MLB Players of the Week Awards". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 9, 2025.

External links

• 1973 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference