1974 Houston Astros season

Offseason

• March 30, 1974: Larry Yount and Don Stratton (minors) were traded by the Astros to the Milwaukee Brewers for Wilbur Howard.

Regular season

Summary

April

The Astros commenced the season at Candlestick Park on April 5, where they were defeated by the San Francisco Giants, 5–1. Dave Roberts, who his second consecutive Opening Day start for Houston. was charged with all five runs over five innings pitched and the defeat. Greg Gross, who collected three of Houston's seven hits, gained the only tally on Bob Watson's run batted in (RBI) single during the top of the ninth.

Starter Larry Dierker earned his 100th career victory on April 9, tossing 7 innings with 2 runs allowed to lead a 9–5 win over the San Diego Padres. It was Houston first win of the season after having dropped their first three. The Astros mounted a 6–0 lead but withstood the Padres' rally. César Cedeño went 3-for-4 with four RBI, while Gross, the leadoff hitter, added three hits and scored thrice which appended to a torrid start to the season at 10-for-14. Dierker also collected two hits.

On April 29, Lee May tied a major league record by crushing two home runs in one inning, becoming the 17th major leaguer to do so. during an all-round record-setting contest. The Astros won, 18–2, over the Chicago Cubs to match their largest-scoring output to date, first registered on July 7, 1971, versus San Francisco. Also, May set a career-high with five hits. Meanwhile, César Cedeño tied his career high with three stolen bases, also an Astros record shared with Jimmy Wynn; moreover, Cedeño became the first Astro to steal three bases in a game more than once.

May

After crashing into the outfield fence at Riverfront Stadium on May 12, Bob Watson came to boos, ice, and cups hurled by fans of the Cincinnati Reds. He left the game, requiring 20 stitches for a laceration on his face and having broken his glasses.

Having traded masterpiece pitching duels on May 22, Randy Jones of the San Diego Padres and the Astros' Claude Osteen locked down the score 1–1 through eight innings. In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Astros loaded the bases with two outs, and pinch hitter Milt May hit a walk-off grand slam to win it for Houston, 5–1.

June

On June 6, Lee May hit a home run in an even-numbered minute to give fans a free beer. Meanwhile, Larry Dierker pitched a shutout three-hitter in Houston's 4–0 victory.

Don Wilson tossed a shutout masterpiece on June 7 against the New York Mets, and Lee May connected for a solo home run in the second inning as the Astros won, 1–0.

On June 10, Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies may have connected for the longest base hit in Astrodome history. His batted fly ball—which ended up as a single—hit the roof and travelled uninterrupted for an estimated 550 ft.

July

Leading an 8–4 effort on July 30 to topple Cincinnati, Don Wilson earned his 100th career victory, all with the Astros. The right-hander fanned nine over eight innings of work. Meanwhile, César Cedeño and Cliff Johnson connected for solo home runs in support of Wilson, and Lee May drove in three runs.

Performance overview

Having slugged 26 home runs and pilfered 57 bags, Cedeño achieved another season with 20 home runs—50 stolen bases club, extending his major league record a third successive campaign.

Cedeño's 57 steals broke his own club record of 56 set just the year prior. Moreover, at the time, Cedeño was the only Astro with 50-plus steals in a season, the third of a total of six in succession, through 1977.

For the third consecutive campaign, Doug Rader (third base) and Cedeño (center field) became Gold Glove Award-winning teammates. Rader's fifth, this extended his club record—each won consecutively—while Cedeño garnered his third.

Right fielder Greg Gross was chosen as The Sporting News NL Rookie of the Year, the third Astros rookie recognized with this award, preceded by second baseman Joe Morgan (1965) and right-hander Tom Griffin (1969). Gross led the club with a .314 batting average while establishing a then-club record with 185 hits, and right-hander Ken Forsch also made a then-club record 70 appearances. Cliff Johnson, who was a force off the bench, as a pinch hitter cranked five home runs and hit .351 (13-for-37) with 13 runs batted in (RBI), 4 bases on balls, .415 on-base percentage and .757 slugging percentage.

Standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/cedence01.shtml César Cedeño

• June 5, 1974: Alan Knicely was drafted by the Astros in the 3rd round of the 1974 Major League Baseball draft.
• June 17, 1974: Oscar Zamora was purchased from the Astros by the Chicago Cubs.
• August 15, 1974: Claude Osteen was traded by the Astros to the St. Louis Cardinals for Ron Selak (minors) and a player to be named later. The Cardinals completed the trade by sending Dan Larson to the Astros on October 14.

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

• Baseball Digest Rookie All-Star—Right fielder: Greg Gross
• Gold Glove Award:
  • Third baseman: Doug Rader
  • Outfielders: César Cedeño
• Houston Astros Most Valuable Player (MVP): Greg Gross
• MLB All-Star Game—Reserve outfielder: César Cedeño
• NL Player of the Week
  • May 5—Lee May
  • July 7—Don Wilson
  • August 25—Dave Roberts
• The Sporting News NL Rookie Player of the Year: Greg Gross
• Topps All-Star Rookie Team:
  • Second baseman—Larry Milbourne
  • Outfielder—Greg Gross

;Offensive achievements

;NL pitching leaders

• Home runs per nine innings (HR/9): Dave Roberts (0.5)

Minor league system

Notes

References

References

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