# 1973 Houston Astros season

The 1973 Houston Astros season was the 12th season for the Houston Astros, a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 9th as the Astros, 5th in the National League West, and 9th at The Astrodome. The team finished fourth in the National League West with a record of 82–80, 17 games behind the Cincinnati Reds.

## Offseason

* November 27, 1972: Rich Chiles and Buddy Harris were traded by the Astros to the New York Mets for Tommie Agee.
* 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).

## Regular season

* June 19, 1973: Dave Winfield of the San Diego Padres made his major league debut against the Astros. Winfield had one hit in four at-bats.

### Season standings

vteNL 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 recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | 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.
* August 18, 1973: Tommie Agee was traded by the Astros to the St. Louis Cardinals for Dave Campbell and cash.

#### 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.
** Mike Davey was drafted by the Astros in the 18th round, but did not sign.

### 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 | 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 |

## Farm system

| 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 |