# 1970 Houston Astros season

The 1970 Houston Astros season was the 9th season for the Houston Astros, a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 6th as the Astros, 2nd in the National League West, and 6th at The Astrodome. The team finished fourth in the National League West with a record of 79–83, 23 games behind the Cincinnati Reds.

## Offseason

* November 21, 1969: Mike Marshall was purchased by the Astros from the Milwaukee Brewers.
* December 4, 1969: Curt Blefary was traded by the Astros to the New York Yankees for Joe Pepitone.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Cincinnati Reds | 102 | 60 | .630 | — | 57‍–‍24 | 45‍–‍36 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 87 | 74 | .540 | 14½ | 39‍–‍42 | 48‍–‍32 |
| San Francisco Giants | 86 | 76 | .531 | 16 | 48‍–‍33 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Houston Astros | 79 | 83 | .488 | 23 | 44‍–‍37 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Atlanta Braves | 76 | 86 | .469 | 26 | 42‍–‍39 | 34‍–‍47 |
| San Diego Padres | 63 | 99 | .389 | 39 | 31‍–‍50 | 32‍–‍49 |

### Record vs. opponents

1970 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 8–4 | 5–13 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 7–5 |
| Chicago | 4–8 | — | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 13–5 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 9–3 | 7–5 | 7–11 |
| Cincinnati | 13–5 | 5–7 | — | 15–3 | 13–5 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 9–3 |
| Houston | 9–9 | 5–7 | 3–15 | — | 8–10 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 14–4 | 10–8 | 6–6 |
| Los Angeles | 12–6 | 6–6 | 5–13 | 10–8 | — | 8–4 | 7–5 | 6–5 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 7–5 |
| Montreal | 6–6 | 5–13 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 4–8 | — | 10–8 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–11 |
| New York | 6–6 | 11–7 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–10 | — | 13–5 | 6–12 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 12–6 |
| Philadelphia | 5-7 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 5–6 | 7–11 | 5–13 | — | 4–14 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 8–10 |
| Pittsburgh | 6–6 | 10–8 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 12–6 | 14–4 | — | 6–6 | 4–8 | 12–6 |
| San Diego | 9–9 | 3–9 | 10–8 | 4–14 | 7–11 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 3–9 | 6–6 | — | 5–13 | 4–8 |
| San Francisco | 11–7 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 13–5 | — | 7–5 |
| St. Louis | 5–7 | 11–7 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 6–12 | 10–8 | 6–12 | 8–4 | 5–7 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 4, 1970: Greg Gross was drafted by the Astros in the 4th round of the 1970 Major League Baseball draft. Player signed June 9, 1970.
* June 23, 1970: Mike Marshall was traded by the Astros to the Montreal Expos for Don Bosch.
* July 29, 1970: Joe Pepitone was purchased from the Astros by the Chicago Cubs.
* August 12, 1970: Jim Bouton was released by the Houston Astros.

### Roster
## 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 | 140 | 458 | 101 | .221 | 7 | 49 |
| 1B | Bob Watson | 97 | 327 | 89 | .272 | 11 | 61 |
| 2B | Joe Morgan | 144 | 548 | 147 | .268 | 8 | 52 |
| SS | Denis Menke | 154 | 562 | 171 | .304 | 13 | 92 |
| 3B | Doug Rader | 156 | 576 | 145 | .252 | 25 | 87 |
| LF | Tommy Davis | 57 | 213 | 60 | .282 | 3 | 30 |
| CF | Jimmy Wynn | 157 | 554 | 156 | .282 | 27 | 88 |
| RF | Jesús Alou | 117 | 458 | 140 | .306 | 1 | 44 |

#### 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 |
| César Cedeño | 90 | 355 | 110 | .310 | 7 | 42 |
| Joe Pepitone | 75 | 279 | 70 | .251 | 14 | 35 |
| Norm Miller | 90 | 226 | 54 | .239 | 4 | 29 |
| Marty Martínez | 75 | 150 | 33 | .220 | 0 | 12 |
| John Mayberry | 50 | 148 | 32 | .216 | 5 | 14 |
| Larry Howard | 31 | 88 | 27 | .307 | 2 | 16 |
| Keith Lampard | 53 | 72 | 17 | .236 | 0 | 5 |
| Héctor Torres | 31 | 65 | 16 | .246 | 0 | 5 |
| César Gerónimo | 47 | 37 | 9 | .243 | 0 | 2 |
| Jim Beauchamp | 31 | 26 | 5 | .192 | 1 | 4 |
| Don Bryant | 15 | 24 | 5 | .208 | 0 | 3 |
| Gary Geiger | 5 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| Leon McFadden | 2 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 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 |
| Larry Dierker | 37 | 269.2 | 16 | 12 | 3.87 | 191 |
| Don Wilson | 29 | 184.1 | 11 | 6 | 3.91 | 94 |
| Tom Griffin | 23 | 111.1 | 3 | 13 | 5.74 | 72 |
| Wade Blasingame | 13 | 77.2 | 3 | 3 | 3.48 | 55 |
| Ken Forsch | 4 | 24.0 | 1 | 2 | 5.63 | 13 |

#### 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 |
| Jack Billingham | 46 | 187.2 | 13 | 9 | 3.98 | 134 |
| Denny Lemaster | 39 | 162.0 | 7 | 12 | 4.56 | 103 |
| Ron Cook | 41 | 82.1 | 4 | 4 | 3.72 | 50 |
| Jim Bouton | 29 | 73.1 | 4 | 6 | 5.40 | 49 |
| Scipio Spinks | 5 | 13.2 | 0 | 1 | 9.88 | 6 |

#### 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 | 63 | 7 | 4 | 18 | 4.06 | 46 |
| Jim Ray | 52 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 3.26 | 67 |
| Jack DiLauro | 42 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4.28 | 23 |
| George Culver | 32 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3.20 | 31 |
| Mike Marshall | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8.44 | 5 |
| Dan Osinski | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9.82 | 1 |
| Buddy Harris | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.68 | 2 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Oklahoma City 89ers | American Association | Hub Kittle |
| AA | Columbus Astros | Southern League | Jimmy Williams |
| A | Cocoa Astros | Florida State League | Tony Pacheco |
| A-Short Season | Williamsport Astros | New York–Penn League | Dick Bogard |
| Rookie | Covington Astros | Appalachian League | Dick Smith |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Columbus