1965 Houston Astros season

1965 Houston Astros
Major League affiliations
Location
  • Harris County Domed Stadium (since 1965)
  • Houston, Texas (since 1962)
Results
Record 65–97 (.401)
League place 9th
Other information
Owner(s) Roy Hofheinz
Manager(s) Lum Harris
Local television KTRK-TV
Local radio KPRC (AM)
(Gene Elston, Loel Passe, Harry Kalas)
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The 1965 Houston Astros season was the franchise's first season in the Houston Astrodome, as well as its first season as the Astros after three seasons known as the Colt .45s. It involved the Houston Astros finishing in ninth place in the National League with a record of 65–97, 32 games behind the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The Astros were managed by Lum Harris.

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. 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

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.

The stadium was designed as a defense against the oppressive heat and humidity of the Houston summer. Loosely based on the old 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

Regular season

Rookie Joe Morgan set club marks for at-bats, runs, hits and triples.

Season standings

National League W L GB Pct.
Los Angeles Dodgers 97 65 -- .599
San Francisco Giants 95 67 2 .586
Pittsburgh Pirates 90 72 7 .556
Cincinnati Reds 89 73 8 .549
Milwaukee Braves 86 76 11 .531
Philadelphia Phillies 85 76 11.5 .528
St. Louis Cardinals 80 81 16.5 .497
Chicago Cubs 72 90 25 .444
Houston Astros 65 97 32 .401
New York Mets 50 112 47 .309

Opening Day starters

Notable transactions

Roster

1965 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

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 Brand, RonRon Brand 117 391 27 92 6 3 .235 2 37 10
1B Bond, WaltWalt Bond 117 407 46 107 17 2 .263 7 47 2
2B Morgan, JoeJoe Morgan 157 601 100 163 22 12 .271 14 40 20
3B Aspromonte, BobBob Aspromonte 152 578 53 152 15 2 .263 5 52 2
SS Lillis, BobBob Lillis 124 408 34 90 12 1 .221 1 38 2
LF Maye, LeeLee Maye 108 415 38 104 17 7 .251 3 36 1
CF Wynn, JimJim Wynn 157 564 90 155 30 7 .275 22 73 43
RF Staub, RustyRusty 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
Gaines, JoeJoe Gaines 100 229 21 52 8 1 .227 6 31 4
Gentile, JimJim Gentile 81 227 22 55 11 1 .242 7 31 0
Bateman, JohnJohn Bateman 45 142 15 28 3 1 .197 7 14 4
Thomas, FrankFrank Thomas 23 58 7 10 2 0 .172 3 9 0
Harrison, ChuckChuck Harrison 15 45 2 9 4 0 .200 1 9 0
Fox, NellieNellie Fox 21 41 3 11 2 0 .268 0 1 0
Miller, NormNorm Miller 11 15 2 3 0 1 .200 0 1 0
White, MikeMike White 8 9 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0
Hoffman, JohnJohn Hoffman 2 6 1 2 0 0 .333 0 1 0
Ratliff, GeneGene 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
Bruce, BobBob Bruce 35 34 229.2 9 18 3.72 107 95 38 145
Farrell, TurkTurk Farrell 33 29 208.1 11 11 3.50 94 81 35 122
Nottebart, DonDon Nottebart 29 25 158 4 15 4.67 99 82 55 77
Dierker, LarryLarry Dierker 26 19 146.2 7 8 3.50 69 57 37 109
Roberts, RobinRobin Roberts 10 10 76 5 2 1.89 22 16 10 34
Johnson, KenKen Johnson 8 8 51.2 3 2 4.18 25 24 11 28
Arlich, DonDon Arlich 1 1 6 0 0 3.00 2 2 1 0

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
Giusti, DaveDave Giusti 38 13 131.1 8 7 3 4.32 67 63 46 92
Raymond, ClaudeClaude Raymond 33 7 96.1 7 4 5 2.90 35 31 16 79

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
Owens, JimJim Owens 50 71.1 6 5 8 3.28 28 26 29 53
Taylor, RonRon Taylor 32 57.2 1 5 4 6.40 42 41 16 37
Cuellar, MikeMike Cuellar 25 56 1 4 2 3.54 24 22 21 46
Coombs, DannyDanny Coombs 26 47 0 2 0 4.79 26 25 23 35
Lee, DonDon Lee 7 8 0 0 0 3.38 3 3 3 3
Jones, GordonGordon Jones 1 1 0 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Farm system

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

References

External links