1970 Houston Astros season

Offseason

;Transactions

• 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.

;Exhibition play On April 3, Doug Rader swatted the first home run to reach the Astrodome's gold (upper reserved) seats, landing in section 738D, row 6, seat 1. Rader "touched 'em all" on Stan Bahnsen's offering during the Astros' 9–5 victory over the New York Yankees.

Regular season

Summary

April

Astros Opening Day starter, Larry Dierker, "ordered" pinch hitter Norm Miller to hit a home run as he was departing the game on April 7. Miller obliged, Dierker, the Astros' starter for the opener in 1968, became the first pitcher to start more than one for the club.

The Astros launched five home runs on April 12 to dump Phil Niekro and the Atlanta Braves, 8–3. In the third inning, Jimmy Wynn blasted one unforgettable rocket which made contact in the gold upper reserved seats (section 738C, row 6, seat 3), outdoing his own effort just earlier in the game. In the first inning, Wynn had launched a home run into the purple seats. Tommy Davis, Joe Pepitone and Doug Rader each went yard, helping starter Larry Dierker remain in complete command the whole evening.

June

Center Fielder César Cedeño made his major league debut on June 20 and collected two hits as Houston rallied to defeat the Atlanta Braves, 9–8.

July

Joe Morgan tied a club record starting July 6 by drawing at least one base on balls in each of 11 consecutive contests, enduring until July 20, having been set by teammate Jimmy Wynn starting exactly one year earlier. Morgan drew 14 total walks with this active streak, while slashing.333 / .509 / .462 / .971. He also accrued 7 stolen bases. Alex Bregman later tied this streak, from April 20 to 30, 2019.

Also on July 6, César Cedeño connected for his first major league home run, off Claude Osteen of the Los Angeles Dodgers, for two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. The blast gave Houston a 4–3 lead. The game proceeded to extra innings, when the Dodgers harangued Jim Bouton for four runs in the top of the tenth. The Dodgers then withstood a three-run rally led by Pepitone, Rader, and Johnny Edwards in the bottom of the tenth, to hold on for the triumph over Houston, 10–8.

September

During a 10-day span commencing September 7 on a West Coast road trip, 24-year old slugger Bob Watson crushed his first two career grand slams. The first blast was at San Diego Stadium off a Ron Willis offering during the opener of a doubleheader, a 10–5 triumph over the Padres. Ten days later at Dodger Stadium, Watson tagged Jim Brewer for a grand slam in the 7th inning that snapped 5–5 tie and was a key play in an Astros 10–5 victory over Los Angeles.

Performance overview

The Astros concluded the season with a record, for fourth place and 23 games behind the NL West division-champion and NL pennant-winning Cincinnati Reds. Though Houston's record declined by two victories from the year prior, this represented the first time in franchise history they had won at least 79 contests successively, following the period during which they lost at least 90 games in each of their first seven seasons of play. Moreover, the 1970 campaign was also the first in which Houston had closed out as high as fourth place in the standings.

By swiping 42 bags, Joe Morgan became first player in club history to record two 40-stolen base season, both in catenation. For the team, this signaled the second of a franchise-record nine successive campaigns featuring at least one baserunner who pilfered 40 or more bases.

Third baseman Doug Rader was recognized with his first career Gold Glove Award, thus being first Houston player awarded since pitcher Bobby Shantz in 1962. Shantz played for the Colt .45s for approximately the first month of the franchise's inaugural season prior to being traded.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

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

Game log

Regular season

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Detailed records

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

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Awards and achievements

Grand slams

Awards

• Gold Glove Award—Third baseman: Doug Rader
• Houston Astros Most Valuable Player (MVP): Joe Morgan
• MLB All-Star Game:
  • Reserve infielder—Joe Morgan
  • Reserve infielder—Denis Menke

Minor league system

;Championships

• Southern League champions: Columbus Astros

Notes

References

References

1. "Mike Marshall stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
2. "Joe Pepitone stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com.
3. Hulsey, Bob. "This date in Astros history". Astros Daily.
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5. "1970 Houston Astros uniform numbers". Baseball-Reference.com.
6. (April 7, 1970). "Pittsburgh Pirates (4) vs Houston Astros (5) box score". Baseball-Reference.com.
7. "Houston Astros Opening Day starters". Baseball-Reference.com.
8. Schwarzberg, Seth. (June 20, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 20". [[SB Nation]].
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10. "César Cedeño career home runs". Baseball-Reference.com.
11. (July 6, 1970). "Los Angeles Dodgers (10) vs Houston Astros (8) box score". Baseball-Reference.com.
12. "Bob Watson career home runs". Baseball-Reference.com.
13. (September 7, 1970). "Houston Astros (10) vs San Diego Padres (5) box score—Game 1". Baseball-Reference.com.
14. (September 17, 1970). "Houston Astros (10) vs Los Angeles Dodgers (5) box score". Baseball-Reference.com.
15. "1970 National League team statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
16. "Houston Astros team history & encyclopedia". Baaseball-Reference.com.
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18. "National League Gold Glove Award winners". Sports Reference, LLC.
19. "Bobby Shantz stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com.
20. "Greg Gross stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com.
21. "Jim Bouton stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com.
22. "1970 Houston Astros Schedule & Results".
23. "Gold Glove third basemen". Baseball Almanac.
24. McTaggart, Brian. (December 21, 2009). "Bourn highlights Astros' awards season". MLB.com.
25. "1970 All-Star Game box score". Baseball-Reference.com.
26. "List of Southern League past champions". [[Minor League Baseball]].