# 1975 Houston Astros season

The 1975 Houston Astros season was the 14th season for the Houston Astros, a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 11th as the Astros, 7th in the National League West, and 11th at The Astrodome. The team finished last in the National League West with a record of 64–97, 431⁄2 games behind the Cincinnati Reds. The Astros' .398 winning percentage is, as of 2021, the fourth worst in franchise history. In three consecutive seasons, in 2011, 2012 and 2013 the Astros finished each season with lower winning percentages. Houston also lost 97 games in 1965 and 1991, but lost more than 100 games each in the 2011-2013 seasons. This was the first season the Astros donned their now famous rainbow uniforms. The uniforms would make slight alterations throughout the years. In 1975, the numbers on the back of the jersey were inside a white circle but by the following season, the white circle was eliminated entirely. In 1987, the rainbows were relegated to the shoulders of both home and away uniforms (prior to that they were only used on the away uniforms shoulders) and by 1994, the rainbow uniforms were retired after 19 years for a more contemporary look.

## Offseason

* December 3, 1974: Lee May and Jay Schlueter were traded by the Astros to the Baltimore Orioles for Enos Cabell and Rob Andrews.
* January 5, 1975: Pitcher Don Wilson died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

## Regular season
### Opening Day starters

* Rob Andrews
* Enos Cabell
* César Cedeño
* José Cruz
* Larry Dierker
* Cliff Johnson
* Milt May
* Roger Metzger
* Doug Rader

### Season standings

vteNL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Cincinnati Reds | 108 | 54 | .667 | — | 64‍–‍17 | 44‍–‍37 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 88 | 74 | .543 | 20 | 49‍–‍32 | 39‍–‍42 |
| San Francisco Giants | 80 | 81 | .497 | 27½ | 46‍–‍35 | 34‍–‍46 |
| San Diego Padres | 71 | 91 | .438 | 37 | 38‍–‍43 | 33‍–‍48 |
| Atlanta Braves | 67 | 94 | .416 | 40½ | 37‍–‍43 | 30‍–‍51 |
| Houston Astros | 64 | 97 | .398 | 43½ | 37‍–‍44 | 27‍–‍53 |

### Record vs. opponents

1975 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 5–7 | 3–15 | 12–6 | 8–10 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 7–11 | 8–9 | 3–9 |
| Chicago | 7–5 | — | 1–11 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 12–6 | 6–12 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 11–7 |
| Cincinnati | 15–3 | 11–1 | — | 13–5 | 8–10 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 13–5 | 8–4 |
| Houston | 6–12 | 5–7 | 5–13 | — | 6–12 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 6–5 | 9–9 | 5–13 | 4–8–1 |
| Los Angeles | 10–8 | 7–5 | 10–8 | 12–6 | — | 5–7 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 10–8 | 5–7 |
| Montreal | 4–8 | 9–9 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 7–5 | — | 10–8 | 7–11 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 11–7 |
| New York | 8–4 | 11–7 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 8–10 | — | 7–11 | 5–13 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–9 |
| Philadelphia | 7-5 | 6–12 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 11–7 | — | 11–7 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 10–8 |
| Pittsburgh | 8–4 | 12–6 | 6–6 | 5–6 | 7–5 | 11–7 | 13–5 | 7–11 | — | 8–4 | 5–7 | 10–8 |
| San Diego | 11–7 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 4–8 | — | 8–10 | 4–8 |
| San Francisco | 9–8 | 7–5 | 5–13 | 13–5 | 8–10 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 10–8 | — | 5–7 |
| St. Louis | 9–3 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 8–4–1 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 8–4 | 7–5 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 3, 1975: Kim Seaman was drafted by the Astros in the 23rd round of the 1975 Major League Baseball draft, 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 | Milt May | 111 | 386 | 93 | .241 | 4 | 52 |
| 1B | Bob Watson | 132 | 485 | 157 | .324 | 18 | 85 |
| 2B | Rob Andrews | 103 | 277 | 66 | .238 | 0 | 19 |
| SS | Roger Metzger | 127 | 450 | 102 | .227 | 2 | 26 |
| 3B | Doug Rader | 129 | 448 | 100 | .223 | 12 | 48 |
| LF | Greg Gross | 132 | 483 | 142 | .294 | 0 | 41 |
| CF | César Cedeño | 131 | 500 | 144 | .288 | 13 | 63 |
| RF | José Cruz | 120 | 315 | 81 | .257 | 9 | 49 |

#### 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 |
| Wilbur Howard | 121 | 392 | 111 | .283 | 0 | 21 |
| Enos Cabell | 117 | 348 | 92 | .264 | 2 | 43 |
| Cliff Johnson | 122 | 340 | 94 | .276 | 20 | 65 |
| Ken Boswell | 86 | 178 | 43 | .242 | 0 | 21 |
| Larry Milbourne | 73 | 151 | 32 | .212 | 1 | 9 |
| Tommy Helms | 64 | 135 | 28 | .207 | 0 | 14 |
| Jerry DaVanon | 32 | 97 | 27 | .278 | 1 | 10 |
| Skip Jutze | 51 | 93 | 21 | .226 | 0 | 6 |
| Art Gardner | 13 | 31 | 6 | .194 | 0 | 2 |
| Rafael Batista | 10 | 10 | 3 | .300 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Easler | 5 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Jesús de la Rosa | 3 | 3 | 1 | .333 | 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 | 34 | 232.0 | 14 | 16 | 4.00 | 127 |
| J.R. Richard | 33 | 203.0 | 12 | 10 | 4.39 | 176 |
| Dave Roberts | 32 | 198.1 | 8 | 14 | 4.27 | 101 |
| Doug Konieczny | 32 | 171.0 | 6 | 13 | 4.47 | 89 |
| Tom Griffin | 17 | 79.1 | 3 | 8 | 5.33 | 56 |

#### 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 | 34 | 109.0 | 4 | 8 | 3.22 | 54 |
| Jim York | 19 | 46.2 | 4 | 4 | 3.86 | 17 |
| Paul Siebert | 7 | 18.1 | 0 | 2 | 2.95 | 6 |
| Mike Stanton | 7 | 17.1 | 0 | 2 | 7.27 | 16 |

#### 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 |
| Wayne Granger | 55 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 3.65 | 30 |
| Jim Crawford | 44 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3.63 | 37 |
| Joe Niekro | 40 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3.07 | 54 |
| Mike Cosgrove | 32 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 3.03 | 32 |
| José Sosa | 25 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4.02 | 31 |
| Fred Scherman | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.96 | 13 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Iowa Oaks | American Association | Joe Sparks |
| AA | Columbus Astros | Southern League | Jim Beauchamp |
| A | Dubuque Packers | Midwest League | Bob Cluck |
| Rookie | Covington Astros | Appalachian League | Billy Smith |