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1972 Houston Astros season

1972 Houston Astros
LeagueNational League
DivisionWest
BallparkAstrodome
CityHouston, Texas
Record84–69 (.549)
Divisional place2nd—tied
OwnersRoy Hofheinz
General managersSpec Richardson
ManagersHarry Walker: 67–54
Salty Parker: 1–0
Leo Durocher: 16–15
TelevisionKTRK-TV
RadioKPRC (AM)
(Gene Elston, Loel Passe)

The 1972 Houston Astros season was the 11th season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their eighth as the Astros, 11th in the National League (NL), fourth in the NL West division, and eighth at The Astrodome. The Astros entered the season with a 79–83 record, tied for fourth place, and 11 games behind the division-champion San Francisco Giants.

The first players' strike in league history occurred from April 1–13, which resulted in nine games being cancelled for Houston. On April 15, Don Wilson made his second Opening Day start for the Astros, who hosted San Francisco, but were shut out, 5–0.

Three managers led the club for the 1972 season: Harry Walker, Salty Parker for one game on an interim basis, and Leo Durocher, who was installed as Walker's permanent replacement. Each represented the fourth, fifth and sixth managers for Houston, with Walker having been the longest-serving (708 games) in franchise history at the time. The Astros' first-round draft pick in the amateur draft was outfielder Steve Englishbey, at ninth overall. They also selected Jim Crawford in the 14th round.

Center fielder César Cedeño and first baseman Lee May represented the Astros at the MLB All-Star Game. It was the first career selection for Cedeño and third for May. On August 2, Cedeño became the first player in franchise history to hit for the cycle, leading a 10–1 win over the Cincinnati Reds at The Astrodome. This was the first of two cycles that Cedeño hit as a member of the Astros. He also became the second major leaguer to produce a 20–50 season, following Lou Brock in 1967.

The Astros concluded the season with a record of 84–69—their first-ever winning season to also set the franchise record for wins—in second place in the NL West, 10+1⁄2 games behind the division-champion and NL pennant-winning Reds, and just a percentage point ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers. It also represented the highest positional finish and fewest games back of first place for the Astros at the time. The next time the Astros finished as high as second place was in 1979, which was also when they set their next club record for wins.

Following the season, Cedeño (first selection) and Doug Rader (third) each earned Gold Glove Awards. This was the first time the Astros had more than one Gold Glove Award winner in the same season.

Offseason

Regular season

Summary

April

Opening Day starting lineup[3][4]
14 Roger Metzger SS
28 César Cedeño CF
24 Jimmy Wynn RF
23 Lee May 1B
27 Bob Watson LF
12 Doug Rader 3B
19 Tommy Helms 2B
 7 Johnny Edwards  C
40 Don Wilson  P
Venue: Astrodome • SFG 5, HOU 0

For Opening Day, the Astros hosted the San Francisco Giants, but were defeated via shutout, 5–0, led by Juan Marichal's eight scoreless frames. The Giants did all their damage from the sixth inning on, as Willie McCovey and Tito Fuentes each took Don Wilson deep for home runs. The Astros got eight hits but were just 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position.[5] Don Wilson made his second Opening Day start for the Astros.[6]

On the second day of the season, April 16, the Giants' Dave Kingman hit for the first cycle at the Astrodome,[7] to lead 10–6 pummeling of the Astros. Kingman led all hitters in the game with six runs batted in (RBI), while Bobby Bonds doubled twice, pilfered two bases and scored four runs. Bob Watson and Tommy Helms each hit three runs blasts for Houston, during the first and fifth frames, respectively.[8]

On April 23, César Cedeño logged his first career five-hit game.[9]

June

The Philadelphia Phillies hosted "Turn It Around Night" on June 6 at Veterans Stadium, where the theme was doing everything backward, including announcing the lineup cards from bottom to top and holding the seventh-inning stretch in the third inning. Astros starter Dave Roberts followed suit, providing the offense by homering twice to promote his own effort on the mound as Houston won, 4–3.[10]

With Steve Carlton on the mound for Philadelphia on June 16, the game remained scoreless through extra innings. In the bottom of the 11th inning, Jimmy Wynn connected for a walk-off home run to give the Astros a 1–0 victory.[11]

Starting June 18, Astros starting pitchers hurled back-to-back one-hit shutouts. First, Jerry Reuss led a 10–0 masterpiece over the Phillies, with the only hit allowed a ninth-inning double. César Cedeño collected four hits to power Houston, including a home run and two doubles.[12] The following game, on June 19, Larry Dierker hurled a one-hitter to lead a 3–0 triumph over the New York Mets, whose only baserunner reached via a third-inning single. Tommy Helms supplied much of the Astros' offense with four hits.[13]

Each of the first five Astros' hits on June 26 were home runs, which brought them to a 7–7 tie with the San Diego Padres. San Diego never answered back, however, and Houston kept scoring for a 14–7 win.[14]

MLB All-Star Game

Center fielder César Cedeño and first baseman Lee May both gained to the MLB All-Star Game, hosted at Atlanta Stadium. Lee, voted as a starter,[15] joined second baseman Joe Morgan in the 1966 Midsummer Classic as the second Houston Astro to be voted as a starter to an All-Star Game.[16] However, Morgan missed the game due to injury, allowing Lee became the first Astro to participate in the starting lineup. Lee collected a single and an RBI in four trips to the plate.[15]

Ironically, it was a batted line drive by May, then playing for the St. Louis Cardinals, that struck Morgan on the knee, fracturing it, on June 25, 1966. Morgan missed the next 40 games;[17] three days later, it was announced that he was named starter at the All-Star Game, the first in Houston franchise history.[16]

César Cedeño's cycle

At the Astrodome on August 2, Cedeño hit for the cycle to become the first player in franchise history to accomplish this feat. He doubled in the first inning, connected for a home run off Gary Nolan in the third, and singled in the fifth. In the sixth inning, Cedeño grounded out.[18]

Cedeño's final at bat and opportunity for the game to make history arrived in the eighth inning. He stroked a line drive to the right-center field gap for the triple. This effort led a 10–1 win over the Cincinnati Reds. Cedeño later hit the next cycle for Houston almost exactly four years later on August 9, 1976.[19]

Extra-base hits fell frequently for Houston that day, with eight, among 16 total safeties. Jim Wynn doubled twice, Roger Metzger also tripled, and Lee May added a home run. Meanwhile, Don Wilson (7–7) was masterful on the mound as he scattered six hits and three walks while whiffing six in a complete game effort.[18]

His sixth career contest of four hits or more, and fifth with four RBI—tying his then-career high[9]—Cedeño's batting average jumped to .353. Meanwhile, the Astros trailed Cincinnati by just six games following the contest.[20]

Rest of August

On August 25, Jimmy Wynn blasted his 200th career home run in the bottom of the seventh inning at the Astrodome, off Mike Marshall. A two-run shot, it tied the contest, 3–3, with the Montreal Expos,[21] also scoring César Cedeño. However, Marshall redeemed himself in the top of the ninth while batting by doubling home John Boccabella off the Astros' Jim Ray. The hit put Montreal ahead 4–3, and this time, Marshall (14–3) made the lead stand, converting the blown save into a victory.[22]

The Astros, playing their best baseball ever, were desperate to catch the Reds. Following the August 25 loss to Montreal, they fired their longest-tenured manager at the time, Harry Walker, who had the club playing 67–54 (.554) for the season (355–353 (.501) career with Houston), and replaced him for one game with coach Salty Parker (1–0). Following that game, Leo Durocher, having departed the Chicago Cubs earlier in the year, took over for the remainder of the campaign, leading Houston to a 16–15 (.516) result to close out the season.[20]

September

On September 17, César Cedeño and Lee May each drove in five to lead Houston as they stormed back to claim a slugfest over Los Angeles Dodgers, 15–11.[20] With Los Angeles leading 10–8 in the seventh, the Astros rallied for four runs, before May's bases-clearing double put the score further away. Both clubs piled on 17 hits, led by four each from May, Jim Wynn (Astros), and Bobby Valentine (Dodgers).[23] It was the first 5-RBI game of Cedeño's career,[9] and Lee's eighth (and second of the campaign).[24]

Performance overview

By concluding the season 84–69, the Astros posted their best-ever record to date.[25] For the first time, the Astros ranked high as second place in the division, tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers at 10+1⁄2 games back, their fewest games from first place thus far.[26] Further, it was also Houston's first-ever season with a winning record while setting a then-club record of 84 wins, supplanting the 81 wins realized in 1969.[27]

This Astros squad led the National League in runs scored (708), the first time in club history doing so, while blasting a then-club record 134 home runs to surpass the 1970 squad (129), which ranked third in the National League. The 708 runs tallied also ranked second in club history to the 1970 team (744) at the time. The 1973 edition followed up by tying the record for home runs, prior to the 1993 iteration (138) taking over the all-time franchise home run lead.[28]

By hitting 22 home runs and collecting 55 stolen bases, Cedeño became the second entrant into the 20 home runs—50 stolen bases club in major league annals, succeeding Lou Brock in 1967.[29] Cedeño became the first Astro to attain 50 stolen bases in 1972, while doing so for a club-record six seasons—each in succession—through 1977.[a][30] The prior single-season franchise record of 49 steals was set by Sonny Jackson in 1966 and tied by Joe Morgan in 1969.[b][31]

Cedeño also led the major leagues in doubles (39) a second consecutive year, the first Astro to lead in more than one season.[32]

Following the season, third baseman Doug Rader was recognized with his third career Gold Glove Award, while Cedeño was likewise recognized for his defense in the outfield. Rader became the first Astro to win a third Gold Glove. Cedeño became the first Astro to win the award for the outfield. Also, this was the first time in which multiple Astros players won this award.[33]

Season standings

NL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Cincinnati Reds 95 59 .617 — 42‍–‍34 53‍–‍25
Houston Astros 84 69 .549 10½ 41‍–‍36 43‍–‍33
Los Angeles Dodgers 85 70 .548 10½ 41‍–‍34 44‍–‍36
Atlanta Braves 70 84 .455 25 36‍–‍41 34‍–‍43
San Francisco Giants 69 86 .445 26½ 34‍–‍43 35‍–‍43
San Diego Padres 58 95 .379 36½ 26‍–‍54 32‍–‍41

Record vs. opponents

1972 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 — 5–7–1 9–9 7–7 7–8 4–8 7–5 6–6 6–6 6–11 7–11 6–6
Chicago 7–5–1 — 8–4 3–9 8–4 10–5 10–8 10–7 3–12 9–3 7–5 10–8
Cincinnati 9–9 4–8 — 11–6 9–5 8–4 8–4 10–2 8–4 8–10 10–5 10–2
Houston 7–7 9–3 6–11 — 7–11 8–4 6–6 9–3 3–9 12–2 13–5 4–8
Los Angeles 8–7 4–8 5–9 11–7 — 6–6 7–5 7–5 7–5 13–5 9–9 8–4
Montreal 8–4 5–10 4–8 4–8 6–6 — 6–12 10–6 6–12 6–6 6–6 9–8
New York 5–7 8–10 4–8 6–6 5–7 12–6 — 13–5 8–6 7–5 8–4 7–9
Philadelphia 6-6 7–10 2–10 3–9 5–7 6–10 5–13 — 5–13 6–6 6–6 8–7
Pittsburgh 6–6 12–3 4–8 9–3 5–7 12–6 6–8 13–5 — 10–2 9–3 10–8
San Diego 11–6 3–9 10–8 2–12 5–13 6–6 5–7 6–6 2–10 — 4–10 4–8
San Francisco 11–7 5–7 5–10 5–13 9–9 6–6 4–8 6–6 3–9 10–4 — 5–7
St. Louis 6–6 8–10 2–10 8–4 4–8 8–9 9–7 7–8 8–10 8–4 7–5 —

Notable transactions

Roster

1972 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders 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 Johnny Edwards 108 332 89 .268 5 40
1B Lee May 148 592 168 .284 29 98
2B Tommy Helms 139 518 134 .259 5 60
SS Roger Metzger 153 641 142 .222 2 38
3B Doug Rader 152 553 131 .237 22 90
LF Bob Watson 147 548 171 .312 16 86
CF César Cedeño 139 559 179 .320 22 82
RF Jimmy Wynn 145 542 148 .273 24 90

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
Larry Howard 54 157 35 .223 2 13
Norm Miller 67 107 26 .243 4 13
Jimmy Stewart 68 96 21 .219 0 9
Jesús Alou 52 93 29 .312 0 11
Bobby Fenwick 36 50 9 .180 0 4
Bob Stinson 27 35 6 .171 0 2
Jack Hiatt 10 25 5 .200 0 0
Rich Chiles 9 11 3 .273 0 2
Gary Sutherland 5 8 1 .125 0 1
Cliff Johnson 5 4 1 .250 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
Don Wilson 33 228.1 15 10 2.68 172
Larry Dierker 31 214.2 15 8 3.40 115
Dave Roberts 35 192.0 12 7 4.50 111
Jerry Reuss 33 192.0 9 13 4.17 174
Ken Forsch 30 156.1 6 8 3.91 113

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
Tom Griffin 39 94.1 5 4 3.21 83
Mike Cosgrove 7 13.2 0 1 4.61 7
J.R. Richard 4 6.0 1 0 13.50 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
Fred Gladding 42 5 6 14 2.77 18
Jim Ray 54 10 9 8 4.28 50
George Culver 45 6 2 2 3.05 82
Jim York 26 0 1 0 5.25 25
Wade Blasingame 10 0 0 0 8.64 9
Joe Gibbon 9 0 0 0 9.82 4

Awards and achievements

Awards
NL batting leaders
Offensive achievements
20 home runs—50 stolen bases club
Player AVG HR SB
César Cedeño .320 22 55

Minor league system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Oklahoma City 89ers American Association Tony Pacheco
AA Columbus Astros Southern League Jackie Brandt
A Cocoa Astros Florida State League Jimmy Williams
Rookie Covington Astros Appalachian League Billy Smith
Rookie Cocoa Astros Florida East Coast League Leo Posada

See also

Notes

  1. ^ For single seasons, playing for HOU, in the regular season, requiring stolen bases ≥ 50, sorted by descending stolen bases.
  2. ^ For single seasons, playing for HOU, in the regular season, requiring stolen bases ≥ 40, sorted by ascending season.
  3. ^ Tied with Willie Montañez of the Philadelphia Phillies.

References

  1. ^ "Joe Morgan stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 14, 2025.
  2. ^ "John Mayberry stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 9, 2025.
  3. ^ "San Francisco Giants (5) vs Houston Astros (0) box score". Baseball Almanac. April 15, 1972. Retrieved October 9, 2025.
  4. ^ "1972 Houston Astros uniform numbers". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 9, 2025.
  5. ^ "San Francisco Giants (5) vs Houston Astros (0) box score". Baseball-Reference.com. April 15, 1972. Retrieved January 13, 2026.
  6. ^ "Houston Astros Opening Day starters". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 12, 2026.
  7. ^ "Astrodome first". Retrosheet. Retrieved January 15, 2026.
  8. ^ "San Francisco Giants (10) vs Houston Astros (6) box score". Baseball-Reference.com. April 16, 1972. Retrieved January 15, 2026.
  9. ^ a b c "Top performances for César Cedeño". Retrosheet. Retrieved January 1, 2026.
  10. ^ Schwartzberg, Seth (June 6, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 6". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  11. ^ Schwartzburg, Seth (June 16, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 16". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved June 16, 2025.
  12. ^ Schwartzberg, Seth (June 18, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 18". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved June 26, 2025.
  13. ^ Schwartzburg, Seth (June 19, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 16". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
  14. ^ Schwartzberg, Seth (June 26, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 26". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved June 26, 2025.
  15. ^ a b "Houston Astros All-Star player register". Baseball-Refererence.com. Retrieved November 1, 2025.
  16. ^ a b Schwartzberg, Seth (June 28, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 28". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
  17. ^ Schwartzberg, Seth (June 25, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 25". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
  18. ^ a b "Cincinnati Reds (1) vs Houston Astros (10) box score". Baseball-Reference.com. August 2, 1972. Retrieved January 15, 2026.
  19. ^ Young, Matt (July 22, 2024). "Details behind each player who has hit for the cycle in Astros franchise history". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
  20. ^ a b c Hulsey, Bob. "This date in Astros history". Astros Daily. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
  21. ^ "Jimmy Wynn career home runs". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 7, 2025.
  22. ^ "Montreal Expos (4) vs Houston Astros (3) box score". Baseball-Reference.com. August 25, 1972. Retrieved November 9, 2025.
  23. ^ "Los Angeles Dodgers (11) vs Houston Astros (15) box score". Baseball-Reference.com. September 17, 1972. Retrieved January 15, 2026.
  24. ^ "Top performances for Lee May". Retrosheet. Retrieved January 15, 2026.
  25. ^ "Astros history – Timeline". MLB.com. Retrieved August 31, 2025.
  26. ^ "1972 National League team statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 9, 2025.
  27. ^ "Houston Astros team history & encyclopedia". Baaseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 9, 2025.
  28. ^ "Houston Astros team yearly batting stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 4, 2026.
  29. ^ 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 November 9, 2025 – via AOL.
  30. ^ "Player batting season & career stats finder–baseball". Stathead. Sports Reference. Retrieved January 13, 2026.
  31. ^ "Player batting season & career stats finder–baseball". Stathead. Sports Reference. Retrieved January 13, 2026.
  32. ^ "Yearly league leaders & records for doubles". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 19, 2025.
  33. ^ "National League Gold Glove Award winners". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Retrieved October 4, 2016.
  34. ^ Jim Crawford at Baseball Reference
  35. ^ a b "César Cedeño stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 19, 2025.
  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.
  39. ^ "MLB Player of the Month Award". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved October 10, 2025.
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