1972 Houston Astros season

Offseason

• November 29, 1971: Joe Morgan, Ed Armbrister, Jack Billingham, César Gerónimo, and Denis Menke were traded by the Astros to the Cincinnati Reds for Lee May, Tommy Helms, and Jimmy Stewart.
• December 2, 1971: John Mayberry and Dave Grangaard (minors) were traded by the Astros to the Kansas City Royals for Jim York and Lance Clemons.

Regular season

Summary

April

For Opening Day, the Astros hosted the San Francisco Giants, but were defeated via shutout, 5–0, led by Juan Marichal's eight scoreless frames. The Giants did all their damage from the sixth inning on, as Willie McCovey and Tito Fuentes each took Don Wilson deep for home runs. The Astros got eight hits but were just 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position. Don Wilson made his second Opening Day start for the Astros.

On the second day of the season, April 16, the Giants' Dave Kingman hit for the first cycle at the Astrodome, to lead 10–6 pummeling of the Astros. Kingman led all hitters in the game with six runs batted in (RBI), while Bobby Bonds doubled twice, pilfered two bases and scored four runs. Bob Watson and Tommy Helms each hit three runs blasts for Houston, during the first and fifth frames, respectively.

On April 23, César Cedeño logged his first career five-hit game.

June

The Philadelphia Phillies hosted "Turn It Around Night" on June 6 at Veterans Stadium, where the theme was doing everything backward, including announcing the lineup cards from bottom to top and holding the seventh-inning stretch in the third inning. Astros starter Dave Roberts followed suit, providing the offense by homering twice to promote his own effort on the mound as Houston won, 4–3.

With Steve Carlton on the mound for Philadelphia on June 16, the game remained scoreless through extra innings. In the bottom of the 11th inning, Jimmy Wynn connected for a walk-off home run to give the Astros a 1–0 victory.

Starting June 18, Astros starting pitchers hurled back-to-back one-hit shutouts. First, Jerry Reuss led a 10–0 masterpiece over the Phillies, with the only hit allowed a ninth-inning double. César Cedeño collected four hits to power Houston, including a home run and two doubles. The following game, on June 19, Larry Dierker hurled a one-hitter to lead a 3–0 triumph over the New York Mets, whose only baserunner reached via a third-inning single. Tommy Helms supplied much of the Astros' offense with four hits.

Each of the first five Astros' hits on June 26 were home runs, which brought them to a 7–7 tie with the San Diego Padres. San Diego never answered back, however, and Houston kept scoring for a 14–7 win.

MLB All-Star Game

Center fielder César Cedeño and first baseman Lee May both gained to the MLB All-Star Game, hosted at Atlanta Stadium. Lee, voted as a starter, joined second baseman Joe Morgan in the 1966 Midsummer Classic as the second Houston Astro to be voted as a starter to an All-Star Game. However, Morgan missed the game due to injury, allowing Lee became the first Astro to participate in the starting lineup. Lee collected a single and an RBI in four trips to the plate.

Ironically, it was a batted line drive by May, then playing for the St. Louis Cardinals, that struck Morgan on the knee, fracturing it, on June 25, 1966. Morgan missed the next 40 games; three days later, it was announced that he was named starter at the All-Star Game, the first in Houston franchise history.

César Cedeño's cycle

At the Astrodome on August 2, Cedeño hit for the cycle to become the first player in franchise history to accomplish this feat. He doubled in the first inning, connected for a home run off Gary Nolan in the third, and singled in the fifth. In the sixth inning, Cedeño grounded out.

Cedeño's final at bat and opportunity for the game to make history arrived in the eighth inning. He stroked a line drive to the right-center field gap for the triple. This effort led a 10–1 win over the Cincinnati Reds. Cedeño later hit the next cycle for Houston almost exactly four years later on August 9, 1976.

Extra-base hits fell frequently for Houston that day, with eight, among 16 total safeties. Jim Wynn doubled twice, Roger Metzger also tripled, and Lee May added a home run. Meanwhile, Don Wilson (7–7) was masterful on the mound as he scattered six hits and three walks while whiffing six in a complete game effort.

His sixth career contest of four hits or more, and fifth with four RBI—tying his then-career high

Rest of August

On August 25, Jimmy Wynn blasted his 200th career home run in the bottom of the seventh inning at the Astrodome, off Mike Marshall. A two-run shot, it tied the contest, 3–3, with the Montreal Expos, also scoring César Cedeño. However, Marshall redeemed himself in the top of the ninth while batting by doubling home John Boccabella off the Astros' Jim Ray. The hit put Montreal ahead 4–3, and this time, Marshall (14–3) made the lead stand, converting the blown save into a victory.

The Astros, playing their best baseball ever, were desperate to catch the Reds. Following the August 25 loss to Montreal, they fired their longest-tenured manager at the time, Harry Walker, who had the club playing for the season ( career with Houston), and replaced him for one game with coach Salty Parker (1–0). Following that game, Leo Durocher, having departed the Chicago Cubs earlier in the year, took over for the remainder of the campaign, leading Houston to a result to close out the season.

September

On September 17, César Cedeño and Lee May each drove in five to lead Houston as they stormed back to claim a slugfest over Los Angeles Dodgers, 15–11. It was the first 5-RBI game of Cedeño's career,

Performance overview

By concluding the season 84–69, the Astros posted their best-ever record to date. For the first time, the Astros ranked high as second place in the division, tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers at games back, their fewest games from first place thus far. Further, it was also Houston's first-ever season with a winning record while setting a then-club record of 84 wins, supplanting the 81 wins realized in 1969.

By hitting 22 home runs and collecting 55 stolen bases, Cedeño became the second entrant into the 20 home runs—50 stolen bases club in major league annals, succeeding Lou Brock in 1967. Cedeño became the first Astro to attain 50 stolen bases in 1972, while doing so for a club-record six seasons—each in succession—through 1977. The prior single-season franchise record of 49 steals was set by Sonny Jackson in 1966 and tied by Joe Morgan in 1969.

Cedeño also led the major leagues in doubles (39) a second consecutive year, the first Astro to lead in more than one season.

Following the season, third baseman Doug Rader was recognized with his third career Gold Glove Award, while Cedeño was likewise recognized for his defense in the outfield. Rader became the first Astro to win a third Gold Glove. Cedeño became the first Astro to win the award for the outfield. Also, this was the first time in which multiple Astros players won this award.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

• June 6, 1972: Jim Crawford was selected by the Astros in the 14th round of the 1972 Major League Baseball draft.

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

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

;Awards

• Associated Press (AP) NL All-Star—Outfield: César Cedeño
• Gold Glove Awards:
  • Shortstop—Roger Metzger
  • Third base—Doug Rader
  • Outfielder—César Cedeño
• Houston Astros Most Valuable Player (MVP): César Cedeño
• MLB All-Star Game:
  • César Cedeño—Reserve outfielder
  • Lee May—Reserve infielder
• National League (NL) Player of the Month:
  • May—Bob Watson
  • June—César Cedeño
• The Sporting News NL All-Star—Outfield: César Cedeño

;NL batting leaders

• Doubles: César Cedeño (39—led MLB)

;Offensive achievements

Minor league system

Notes

References

References

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