1966 Houston Astros season

The 1966 Houston Astros season was the fifth season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their second as the Astros, fifth in the National League (NL), and second at The Astrodome. The Astros entered the season with a 65–97 record, in ninth place and 32 games behind the NL pennant and World Seres-winning Los Angeles Dodgers.

1966 Houston Astros
League	National League
Ballpark	Astrodome
City	Houston, Texas
Record	72–90 (.444)
League place	8th
Owners	Roy Hofheinz
General managers	Tal Smith
Managers	Grady Hatton
Television	KTRK-TV
Radio	KPRC (AM) (Gene Elston, Loel Passe, Harry Kalas)
← 1965 Seasons 1967 →

The 1965 season was the first for Grady Hatton as manager, the third in franchise history, having replaced Lum Harris.

Though this was the second season for the Astrodome in operation, it was the first with the playing surface of AstroTurf installed.^[1] The infield portion was installed in March,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} and the outfield was ready for play on July 19.^[7][8][9] The Astros' first round draft pick in the amateur draft was pitcher Wayne Twitchell, at third overall.

Second baseman Joe Morgan and pitcher Claude Raymond represented the Astros at the MLB All-Star Game, the first career selection for both. Morgan was the first player in franchise history to be named starter to the mid-season event; however, he missed the game due to injury.

The Astros concluded the season with a record of 72–90 (.444), in eighth place and 23 games behind the repeat NL pennant-winning Dodgers. At the time, the 72 wins represented more than Houston had won in any of their first four seasons of play.

Offseason

• November 29, 1965: 1965 rule 5 draft
  • Nate Colbert was drafted by the Astros from the St. Louis Cardinals.^[10]
  • Bob Saverine was drafted from the Astros by the Washington Senators.^[11]
• January 6, 1966: Johnny Weekly and cash were traded by the Astros to the New York Mets for Gary Kroll.^[12]

Regular season

Summary

On June 2, the Astros entered the 12th inning tied 3–3 with the Cincinnati Reds, and rallied to collect nine hits to defeat the Reds, 11–4. Rusty Staub collected two hits in the inning, starting with a single and finished off with a double.^[13]

Pitcher Dave Giusti turned in an all-around contribution for the Astros, tossing a complete game against the Chiacago Cubs to lead an 8–4 win. At the plate, he doubled and went 3-for-3. John Bateman, Rusty Staub and Dave Nicholson all homered for Houston.^[14]

With the Astros hosting the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 22, a record-setting 55.988 fans witnessed Sandy Koufax take on the Houston Astros. Though Koufax led the Dodgers to a 5–2 win, Jimmy Wynn went 4-for-4 with a home run and two doubles.^[15]

During pregame batting practice drills on June 25 before playing the St. Louis Cardinals, Lee May's line drive struck Astros infielder Joe Morgan on the knee, fracturing it. He would miss the next 40 games including his first All-Star Game.^[16] Batting .319 prior to the injury, Morgan became the first player in franchise history to be named starter at the All-Star Game on June 28.^[17]

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Los Angeles Dodgers	95	67	.586	—	53‍–‍28	42‍–‍39
San Francisco Giants	93	68	.578	1½	47‍–‍34	46‍–‍34
Pittsburgh Pirates	92	70	.568	3	46‍–‍35	46‍–‍35
Philadelphia Phillies	87	75	.537	8	48‍–‍33	39‍–‍42
Atlanta Braves	85	77	.525	10	43‍–‍38	42‍–‍39
St. Louis Cardinals	83	79	.512	12	43‍–‍38	40‍–‍41
Cincinnati Reds	76	84	.475	18	46‍–‍33	30‍–‍51
Houston Astros	72	90	.444	23	45‍–‍36	27‍–‍54
New York Mets	66	95	.410	28½	32‍–‍49	34‍–‍46
Chicago Cubs	59	103	.364	36	32‍–‍49	27‍–‍54

Record vs. opponents

1966 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	NYM	PHI	PIT	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	7–11	10–8	14–4–1	7–11	14–4	11–7	7–11	8–10	7–11
Chicago	11–7	—	6–12	5–13	8–10	8–10	5–13	6–12	6–12	4–14
Cincinnati	8–10	12–6	—	4–14	6–12	10–7	10–8	8–10	7–10	11–7
Houston	4–14–1	13–5	14–4	—	7–11	7–11	7–11	4–14	6–12	10–8
Los Angeles	11–7	10–8	12–6	11–7	—	12–6	11–7	9–9	9–9	10–8
New York	4–14	10–8	7–10	11–7	6–12	—	7–11	5–13	9–9	7–11
Philadelphia	7-11	13–5	8–10	11–7	7–11	11–7	—	10–8	10–8	10–8
Pittsburgh	11–7	12–6	10–8	14–4	9–9	13–5	8–10	—	7–11	8–10
San Francisco	10–8	12–6	10–7	12–6	9–9	9–9	8–10	11–7	—	12–6
St. Louis	11–7	14–4	7–11	8–10	8–10	11–7	8–10	10–8	6–12	—

Opening Day lineup

1. Lee Maye, LF
2. Sonny Jackson, SS
3. Jimmy Wynn, CF
4. Dave Nicholson, RF
5. Joe Morgan, 2B
6. Bob Aspromonte, 3B
7. Chuck Harrison, 1B
8. John Bateman, C
9. Robin Roberts, P^[18]

Notable transactions

• June 7, 1966: Fred Stanley was drafted by the Astros in the 8th round of the 1966 Major League Baseball draft.^[19]

Roster

1966 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers 46 Don Arlich 30 Bob Bruce 42 Frank Carpin 44 Danny Coombs 35 Mike Cuellar 49 Larry Dierker 13 Turk Farrell 39 Dave Giusti 31 Gary Kroll 48 Barry Latman 48 Don Lee 37 Aurelio Monteagudo 33 Jim Owens 38 Jim Ray 36 Claude Raymond 38 Robin Roberts 41 Carroll Sembera 40 Ron Taylor 23 Don Wilson 37 Chris Zachary		Catchers 27 Dave Adlesh  7 John Bateman  9 Ron Brand  8 Bill Heath Infielders 14 Bob Aspromonte 11 Gene Freese  4 Jim Gentile 11 Julio Gotay 17 Chuck Harrison 16 Sonny Jackson 15 Bob Lillis 25 Félix Mantilla 18 Joe Morgan		Outfielders 29 Brock Davis 22 Ron Davis 46 Joe Gaines 20 Lee Maye 34 Norm Miller 21 Dave Nicholson 28 Aaron Pointer 22 Greg Sims 10 Rusty Staub 24 Jimmy Wynn Other batters 12 Nate Colbert 38 Bob Watson		Manager  1 Grady Hatton Coaches  5 Jim Busby (Third Base)  2 Nellie Fox  6 Al Heist  3 Gordon Jones 38 Robin Roberts

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	John Bateman	131	433	121	.279	17	70
1B	Chuck Harrison	119	434	111	.256	9	52
2B	Joe Morgan	122	425	121	.285	5	42
3B	Bob Aspromonte	152	560	141	.252	8	52
SS	Sonny Jackson	150	596	174	.292	3	25
LF	Lee Maye	115	358	103	.288	9	36
CF	Jimmy Wynn	105	418	107	.256	18	62
RF	Rusty Staub	153	554	155	.280	13	81

^[20]

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
Dave Nicholson	100	280	69	.246	10	31
Ron Davis	48	194	48	.247	2	19
Bob Lillis	68	164	38	.232	0	11
Félix Mantilla	77	151	33	.219	6	22
Jim Gentile	49	144	35	.243	7	18
Ron Brand	56	123	30	.244	0	10
Bill Heath	55	123	37	.301	0	8
Norm Miller	11	34	5	.147	1	3
Gene Freese	21	33	3	.091	0	0
Brock Davis	10	27	4	.148	0	1
Aaron Pointer	11	26	9	.346	1	5
Joe Gaines	11	13	1	.077	0	0
Nate Colbert	19	7	0	.000	0	0
Dave Adlesh	3	6	0	.000	0	0
Greg Sims	7	6	1	.167	0	0
Julio Gotay	4	5	0	.000	0	0
Bob Watson	1	1	0	.000	0	0

^[20]

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
Mike Cuellar	38	227.1	12	10	2.22	175
Dave Giusti	34	210.0	15	14	4.20	131
Larry Dierker	29	187.0	10	8	3.18	108
Bob Bruce	25	129.2	3	13	5.34	71
Robin Roberts	13	63.2	3	5	3.82	26
Chris Zachary	10	55.0	3	5	3.44	37

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
Turk Farrell	32	152.2	6	10	4.60	101
Barry Latman	31	103.0	2	7	2.71	74

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
Claude Raymond	62	7	5	16	3.13	73
Jim Owens	40	4	7	2	4.68	32
Ron Taylor	36	2	3	0	5.71	29
Carroll Sembera	24	1	2	1	3.00	21
Gary Kroll	10	0	0	0	3.80	22
Aurelio Monteagudo	10	0	0	1	4.70	7
Frank Carpin	10	1	0	0	7.50	2
Don Lee	9	2	0	0	2.50	9
Don Arlich	7	0	1	0	15.75	1
Danny Coombs	2	0	0	0	3.38	3
Don Wilson	1	1	0	0	3.00	7
Jim Ray	1	0	0	0	inf	0

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Oklahoma City 89ers	Pacific Coast League	Mel McGaha
AA	Amarillo Sonics	Texas League	Buddy Hancken
A	Durham Bulls	Carolina League	Chuck Churn
A	Cocoa Astros	Florida State League	Joe Frazier
A	Salisbury Astros	Western Carolinas League	Walt Matthews
A-Short Season	Bismarck–Mandan Pards	Northern League	Tony Pacheco