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1969 Houston Astros season

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1969 Houston Astros
LeagueNational League
DivisionWest
BallparkAstrodome
CityHouston, Texas
Record81–81 (.500)
Divisional place5th
OwnersRoy Hofheinz
General managersSpec Richardson
ManagersHarry Walker
TelevisionKTRK-TV
RadioKPRC (AM)
(Gene Elston, Loel Passe, Harry Kalas)

The 1969 Houston Astros season was the eighth season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their fifth as the Astros, eighth in the National League (NL), first in the inaugural season of the NL West division, and fifth at The Astrodome. The Astros entered the season with a record of 72–90, in tenth place and 25 games behind the NL pennant-winning St. Louis Cardinals.

At San Diego Stadium on April 8, Don Wilson made his first Opening Day start for the Astros, hosted by the Padres, one of four MLB expansion teams. The Astros were defeated, 2–1. One day after the Astros were no-hit by Jim Maloney of the Cincinnati Reds at Crosley Field, Wilson tossed the fourth no-hitter in franchise history on May 1, a 4–0 victory over the Reds. The second of two no-hitters he pitched for the Astros, Wilson became the first to pitch two no-hitters for the Astros.

In the MLB amateur draft, the Astros' first round selection was pitcher J. R. Richard, at second overall. At the time, Richard became the highest-selected player in the amateur draft for Houston. Shortstop Denis Menke and pitcher Larry Dierker represented the Astros and played for the National League at the MLB All-Star Game. It was the first career selection for both players. On July 30, Menke and Jimmy Wynn connected for two grand slams in a single inning, a feat not achieved in National League play since 1890.

The Astros concluded the season with an 81–81 record and in fifth place, 12 games behind the NL West-champion Atlanta Braves.. This represented the first time in franchise history that Houston finished with a record of .500 or higher.

With Wilson, Dierker, and Tom Griffin all reaching the 200 strikeout threshold, this Astros pitching staff became the second with three to reach the 200-strikeout threshold, following the 1967 Minnesota Twins. Astros pitchers threw 1,221 strikeouts, a major league record that lasted until 1996. Griffin was also named The Sporting News NL Rookie Pitcher of the Year.[a] Right-hander Fred Gladding notched 29 saves to become the second Astros reliever to lead the NL.

Offseason

Regular season

Summary

April

Opening Day starting lineup
Uniform Player Position
22Jesús AlouRight fielder
18Joe MorganSecond baseman
21Norm MillerCenter fielder
12Doug RaderThird baseman
13Curt BlefaryFirst baseman
27Bob WatsonLeft fielder
11Denis MenkeShortstop
7Johnny EdwardsCatcher
40Don WilsonPitcher
Venue: San Diego Stadium • San Diego 2, Houston 1

Sources:[6][7]

On April 8, the expansion team Padres hosted the Houston Astros at San Diego Stadium, who preceded the Padres in the then-most recent expansion class of 1962 to take part in the first-ever game in Padres history. The Astros rapidly kicked off the scoring in the top of the first inning when Doug Rader singled in Joe Morgan off Padres starter Dick Selma, to assume a 1–0 lead. Don Wilson, the Astros' Opening Day starting pitcher, kept the brand new franchise from realizing their first hit and run until the bottom of the fifth inning, when Ed Spezio cranked a home run to tie the score, 1–1. However, the Astros neither scored for the rest of game, losing 2–1, nor for the rest of the series, the victims of shutout by the Padres on consecutive 2–0 decisions for the final two games. Hence, the Padres swept the Astros in their very first series,[8] in a mirror image of how the expansion Houston Colt .45s dispatched their very first opponent, the Chicago Cubs, during their inaugural series.[9]

For the third contest of the season, April 10,[10] right-hander Tom Griffin made his Major League debut. He started versus the Padres and took the loss.[11] Griffin issued a base on balls to the first batter, Rafael Robles, but Robles was neutralized on a caught stealing by catcher Johnny Edwards. Griffin then whiffed Roberto Peña and Ollie Brown for his first and second strikeouts and retire the side. Brown later homered off Griffin, who hurled seven innings, and relinquished three hits, five walks, and both San Diego tallies, while attaining eight strikeouts and a game score of 66.[12]

Having dropped their first five contests to start the season, on April 13, the Astros defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5–2, to secure their first win of the 1969 campaign.[13] Don Wilson authored a masterpiece, going the distance with 10 strikeouts, a game score of 80, while surrendering two unearned runs to earn his first victory of the season. Denis Menke took Don Drysdale deep in the bottom of the second, and in the next inning, Doug Rader belted a three-run home run off Drysdale before he exited two batters later. Jimmy Wynn added a home run in the fifth inning.[14] This began a three-game winning streak.[13]

Tom Griffin earned his first major league victory on April 12, going 8+1⁄3 innings pitched with 12 strikeouts against the Atlanta Braves. Griffin surrendered four hits and three walks as Houston won, 4–2.[10]

On April 16, César Gerónimo made his major league debut, going hitless in one at bat versus the Atlanta Braves.[15]

Juan Marichal led a four-hitter against Houston on April 27 as the San Francisco Giants won, 2–1. He struck out eight Astros. Willie Mays starred offensively, belting his 590th career home run, while also collecting a single in the fifth inning and later scoring.[16]

On April 30, Jim Maloney of the Cincinnati Reds tossed a no-hitter to lead an outright embarrassment of Houston by a 10–0 score at Crosley Field. Maloney whiffed 13 Astros and walked five, the final intentionally to Jimmy Wynn with the bases empty and two outs in the ninth inning. Maloney then fanned Doug Rader to polish off the contest,[17] securing the no-hitter to punctuate a losing streak for Houston that slid to eight games, their lengthiest losing streak of the year. Moreover, the Astros had won just once in their previous 15 contests.

During their first month of divisional play, the Astros floundered, exiting April with a 4–20 (.167) record.[13]

Don Wilson's no-hitter

The day after being no-hit, on May 1, Don Wilson returned the favor to the Reds at Crosley Field, achieving just the second instance in major league history that successive no-hitters transpired.[b] Wilson's second career ho-hitter, he had yet to turn 25 years old, and became the first pitcher in club history to fire two no-hitters.[17][18] He punched out 13 as Houston triumphed, 4–0, to halt the Astros' already season-long losing streak at eight games.[19] Wilson struck out 11 different Reds batters, with none more than twice, and attained a game score of 94. Doug Rader led off the top of the fourth inning with a home run to left to break the scoreless tie. In the next inning, Dennis Menke doubled in Jimmy Winn and Joe Morgan to augment Houston's lead to 3–0. Wilson also hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the eighth that drove home Curt Blefary. Durign the bottom of the ninth, Wilson retired Tommy Helms on a foul popup as the final batter to complete the masterpiece.[20]

Wilson's no-hit effort made him the 21st major league pitcher to toss multiple no-hit outings during his career. The hurler who had preceded Wilson in this execution was none other than Maloney, by one day. Maloney had thrown his first no-hit game in 1965.[c][21]

Rest of May

Larry Dierker (in his 1966 photocard) became the first Astro to win 20 or more games.

With the Astros down 1–0 on May 3 at the Astrodome, catcher Don Bryant hit a deep blast off Bobby Bolin with Jesús Alou on second to give Houston a 2–1 lead during the third inning. This was the first and only home run of Bryant's career.[22] The Astros did not relinquish the lead, and held on for a 4–3 win over the San Francisco Giants.[23]

On May 4, first baseman Curt Blefary participated in seven double plays, an MLB record for first basemen during a 9-inning game.[24] Concurrently, the Astros established a Major League record by inducing seven double plays grounded into, with San Francisco as the collateral damage.[25]

Larry Dierker struck out career-high 14 on May 7 in a five-hit complete game.[26] Dieker (4–3) led a 6–1 triumph over the Philadelphia Phillies, including hitting a single and scoring a run. During the top of the fifth inning, Jimmy Wynn (5) swatted a three-run home run off Phillies starter Jerry Johnson (4–3). Norm Miller collected three hits. doubled (5), and Doug Rader also had three hits and an RBI.[27]

Down 6–1 after seven innings on May 8, the Astros rallied for three runs in the eighth and continued the uprising with another three-run frame in the ninth to claims a 7–6 road victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. Catcher Johnny Edwards drove in the game-winning run with a two-run single.[28]

The Astros ventured to Jarry Park Stadium in Canada on May 13 for their first-ever international game to face the Montreal Expos, another expansion club playing out their inaugural season. Infielder Doug Rader knocked 3 runs batted in (RBI) to lead a 10–3 victory for Houston.[29]

On May 27, Don Wilson had tossed a 13-strikeout gem keeping the score tied 2–2 with the Phillies going in the bottom of the ninth inning. Doug Rader proceeded to hit the walk-off grand slam for a 6–2 Houston victory.[30] The slam was also the first of Rader's career, eleventh career home run overall,[31] and third walk-off grand slam in team history.[d][32] The following game, an analogous scenario opened for Rader, when he strode to the plate in the bottom of the 10th inning with the bases loaded and score tied, 6–6. Rader reprised his role in catalyzing the walk-off play; this time, he drew a base on balls to thrust home the decisive run for the 7–6 triumph over Philadelphia. Concurrently, the win tied Houston's club-record 10-game winning streak.[33]

On May 30, Tom Griffin golfed his first major league home run from the batter's box, an inside-the-park circuit to the center-field gap at Forbes Field. The drive was off Bob Moose of the Pittsburgh Pirates during the top of the second inning.[34]

June—July

Starting June 4, and continuing until August 3, Jimmy Wynn scaled an on-base streak to 52 games to set the franchise record. He batted .322, with a .500 on-base percentage (OBP) and .586 slugging percentage (SLG), garnering 56 hits and 63 bases on balls (BB). Wynn's streak trailed the NL record by 6 games, held by Duke Snider, who reached base at least once each game from May 13–July 11, 1954. Meanwhile, from June 25–August 18, 1975, Greg Gross proceeded to reach base 52 consecutive games, which equaled Wynn for the franchise record.[35][36]

On June 5, Joe Morgan's 4-fort-4 day with a home run and four runs scored led a Houston win over the St. Louis Cardinals, 11–6.[37] Astros starter Larry Dierker, on 24-hour leave from duty with the Army on June 8, outdueled Cardinals ace Steve Carlton over 11 innings. Dierker capped off the night by hitting the game-winning run batted in (RBI) for a 2–1 win.[38]

Right-hander Fred Gladding established a club record by converting his 14th consecutive save on June 13, with this scintilla having begun on June 18 of the year prior. During save situations, Gladding allowing just 14 baserunners of 60 total batters faced, 11 hits over 17+1⁄3 innings, surrendering no runs. Gladding's feat remained the franchise longest until Dave Smith converted 15th consecutive on June 11, 1987, until totaling 18 on July 2, 1987.[e][39]

Wynn established another club record starting July 6 by drawing at least one base on balls in each of 11 consecutive contests, enduring until July 15. Wynn drew 18 total walks with this active streak, while slashing.294 / .538 / .647 / 1.186. He also slammed 4 home runs and acquired 4 stolen bases. Exactly one year after Wynn commenced his streak, Morgan began his own record-tying period, while Alex Bregman achieved the same in 2019.[f][40]

MLB All-Star break

Houston entered the All-Star break even with a 48–48 record on the heels of a 10–9, 11-inning defeat to the Reds. The Astros scored 5 in the top of the 4th to mount an 8–0 lead, capped by Denis Menke's two-run single. They added another in the top of the sixth courtesy of Menke's single to score Sandy Valdespino to go up 9–0. However, Cincinnati answered with nine of their own, including rocking relievers Jim Ray and Skip Guinn for six, capped by a two-run double by Pete Rose and three-run home run by Bobby Tolan. In the bottom of the tenth, Ted Savage singled off Jack Billingham to score Tony Pérez for the walk-off.[41]

The following day, the Apollo 11 mission, launched by NASA, landed on the Moon.[42] By extension of the presence of the at Johnson Space Center in Houston, the Astros baseball club was named in honor of space exploration (the astronaut).

Two grand slams in one inning: Jimmy Wynn and Denis Menke

Houston swept a July 30 doubleheader from the New York Mets at Shea Stadium. In the opener, Denis Menke and Wynn both connected for grand slams in the ninth inning to cap a double-routing of the Mets, 16–3 and 11–5. The double slam event by one team during the same inning was the first to occur in the National League in 79 years, last accomplished on August 16, 1890. Malachi Kittridge and Tom Burns of the Chicago Colts went deep against the Pittsburgh Alleghenys.[g][43] As of 2025, this was the only instance in which the Astros connected for two grand slams in the same inning. The Astros next hit two during the same game on June 8, 2014.[44][45] In the nightcap, Dierker took Nolan Ryan deep, and reliever Fred Gladding, mired in a decade-long slump at the plate, laced a bloop single for the only hit in his major league career.[17]

On April 12, 1980, Cecil Cooper and Don Money of the Milwaukee Brewers became the next teammate duo in Major League Baseball, and first in the American League, to connect for two grand slams during the same inning.[43] Cooper later managed the Astros from 2007 to 2009.[46]

August—October

The Astros attained the stratum as high as 10 games over .500 on August 13 (63–53 (.543)) following an 8–2 victory over New York. Since May 1, they had played to a 59–33 (.641) record.[13]

Gladding authored another consecutive-saves streak, this time posting 12 in succession, through August 17. It had started July 2. Gladding surrendered 10 hits and 2 runs over 14+2⁄3 innings during save situations, yielding a 1.23 earned run average (ERA). [e][39]

The Astros season from August 26 to October 2 was featured in Jim Bouton's book, Ball Four.[47] On September 19, Bouton struck out Tony Pérez of the Cincinnati Reds and made baseball history. With that strikeout, the pitching staff of the 1969 edition of the Houston Astros broke the then-National League record for most strikeouts in a season with 1,123 strikeouts.[47] Ironically, on a staff brimming with power pitchers, it was Bouton's knuckleball that procured the historic whiff.[17] The team finished the year with 1,221 strikeouts, which stood as the National League record until 1996, when it was broken by the Atlanta Braves.[48][49] The Astros were the second team to have three pitchers with 200 strikeouts, with only the 1967 Minnesota Twins having accomplished the feat. Since then, only the 2013 Detroit Tigers have accomplished the feat.[50] The three hurlers who realized the 200-strikeout threshold for the Astros in 1969 included Wilson (235), Dierker (232), and rookie Tom Griffin (200).[51]

Dierker attained his 20th win on September 17 to become the first Astros pitcher to do so in one season, leading 2–1 triumph over San Francisco.[17] Jim Wynn and Doug Rader each went deep off Gaylord Perry to back Dierker.[52] Meanwhile, Willie Mays—the main attraction for Giants fans on the cusp of his own milestone—remained temporarily stalled in his quest for a 600th home run. Dierker and Bouton combined to limit Mays to a single and two bases on balls. The win put the Astros back to five games over .500 while trailing first place by 5+1⁄2 games.[17]

During the matchup in which Bouton fanned Pérez for the record 1,123rd strikeout on September 19, English native Keith Lampard, inserted as a pinch hitter, blasted a walk-off home run from a Wayne Granger offering, the first and only round-tripper of Lampard's career.[53] With Jim Wynn aboard in the bottom of the ninth, the drive consummated a final of Houston 3, Cincinnati 2. So exhilarant of this good fortune, Lampard nearly overran Wynn on basepaths.[17] Meanwhile, Wynn fully engaged strike zone mastery by wheedling four bases on balls, his first bout with as many.[54]

On September 30, southpaw Denny Lemaster tossed a four-hit complete game victory to obtain Houston's 81st victory of the season, and improve his personal record to 13–17. Lemaster outdueled Don Sutton (17–18) and the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6–3, and struck out 11 to yield a game score of 78. At the plate, Lemaster hit an RBI single. Tonny Davis (7) and Norm Miller (4) both went deep for Houston, Curt Blefary collected two hits and two RBI, and Joe Morgan added two safeties, two runs scored, and two stolen bases (49). The Astros' win (81–79) placed them two games behind the Dodgers (83–77) with two games remaining in the regular season at Dodger Stadium.[55] For the first time in team history, the Astros won as many as 81 to procure a ledger of at least .500 for the first time.[56]

Performance summary

The Astros concluded the premier season of division play with an 81–81 (.500) record, for fifth place and 12 games behind the NL West division-champion Atlanta Braves.[57] For the first time in franchise history, the Astros reached the .500 mark which simultaneously represented a then-franchise record for wins, following the period during which they lost at least 90 games in each of their first seven seasons of play. The 12 games behind was also their closest-to-first place finish.[56]

In 2018, the Astros would reprise their status as the league record-holders for strikeouts by a pitching staff in a single season; in fact, they broke the all-time MLB record with 1,687 whiffs.[58]

Houston belted four walk-off home runs to lead the National league and tie the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals for the Major League lead. Each of Houston's was hit by a different player (Rader, Morgan, Meinke, and Lampard).[59] Houston also paced the National League in stolen bases (101).[60]

Meanwhile, Dierker became Houston's first-ever 20-game winner to lead the club's first regular-season record as high as .500 and 81 wins.[61] His 20 wins ranked fifth in the National League.[62] Dierker set other club records, including 20 complete games[63] and 305+1⁄3 innings pitched.[64]

Wilson's 235 strikeouts established another record, while Dierker (232) also passed the prior record of 203 set by Turk Farrell in Houston's augural season of 1962 and equaled by Mike Cuellar in 1967. Wilson's remained the club record until J. R. Richard whiffed 303 in 1978.[h][65]

Wynn drew 148 bases on balls to tie Eddie Stanky of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1945 for the National League record. At the time, the major league record of 170 was held by Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees in 1923 in the American League (AL), and other hitters who were ahead of the NL record included Ted Williams (3 seasons), Eddie Yost, Eddie Joost and Ruth again (1923). [i][66]

Joe Morgan led the Astros by pilfering 49 bases, also tying the then-club record. This was the first of a franchise-record nine successive campaigns featuring at least one baserunner with 40 or more stolen bases.[j][67]

Fred Gladding converted 29 saves to lead the National League. Gladding became the second Colt .45s/Astros closer to lead the Senior Circuit in saves, joining Hal Woodeshick in 1964.[68]

Griffin was named The Sporting News NL Rookie Pitcher of the Year, the first Astros rookie pitcher to be recognized for the award[69] and was preceded by Morgan in 1965 (position player) as the second Astros rookie overall to be so named.[a][70]

Season standings

NL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Atlanta Braves 9369 .574 — 50‍–‍31 43‍–‍38
San Francisco Giants 9072 .556 3 52‍–‍29 38‍–‍43
Cincinnati Reds 8973 .549 4 50‍–‍31 39‍–‍42
Los Angeles Dodgers 8577 .525 8 50‍–‍31 35‍–‍46
Houston Astros 8181 .500 12 52‍–‍29 29‍–‍52
San Diego Padres 52110 .321 41 28‍–‍53 24‍–‍57

Record vs. opponents


Sources:
Team ATL CHC CIN HOU LAD MON NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL
Atlanta —3–912–615–39–98–44–86–68–413–59–96–6
Chicago 9–3—6–6–18–46–610–88–1012–67–1111–16–69–9
Cincinnati 6–126–6–1—9–910–88–46–610–25–711–710–88–4
Houston 3–154–89–9—6–1211–110–28–43–910–810–87–5
Los Angeles 9–96–68–1012–6—10–24–88–48–412–65–133–9
Montreal 4–88–104–81–112–10—5–1311–75–134–81–117–11
New York 8–410–86–62–108–413–5—12–610–811–18–412–6
Philadelphia 6-66–122–104–84–87–116–12—10–88–43–97–11
Pittsburgh 4–811–77–59–34–813–58–108–10—10–25–79–9
San Diego 5–131–117–118–106–128–41–114–82–10—6–124–8
San Francisco 9–96–68–108–1013–511–14–89–37–512–6—3–9
St. Louis 6–69–94–85–79–311–76–1211–79–98–49–3—

Notable transactions

Roster

1969 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

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
CJohnny Edwards151496115.232650
1BCurt Blefary155542137.2531267
2BJoe Morgan147535126.2361543
SSDenis Menke154553149.2691090
3BDoug Rader155569140.2461183
LFJesús Alou115452112.248534
CFJim Wynn149495133.2693387
RFNorm Miller119409108.264450

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
Marty Martínez7819861.308015
Gary Geiger9312528.224016
Sandy Valdespino4111929.244012
Julio Gotay468121.25909
Tommy Davis247919.24119
Leon McFadden447413.17603
Héctor Torres346911.15918
Don Bryant315911.18616
Bob Watson204011.27503
Keith Lampard9123.25012
César Gerónimo2882.25000
John Mayberry540.00000

Pitching

= Indicates league leader

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 Dierker39305.120132.33232
Denny Lemaster38244.213173.16173
Don Wilson34225.016124.00235
Tom Griffin31188.111103.54200

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
Jim Ray40115.0823.91115
Wade Blasingame2652.0055.3733

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
Fred Gladding5748294.2140
Jack Billingham526724.2571
Dooley Womack302103.5132
Skip Guinn281206.6733
Jim Bouton160214.1132
Danny Coombs80106.753
Dan Schneider601013.503
Bob Watkins50005.1711
Bill Henry30000.002
Ron Willis30000.002
Scipio Spinks10000.004
Marty Martínez100013.500

Awards and achievements

Grand slams

No.DateAstros batterVenueInningPitcherOpposing teamBox
1 April 27[i] Héctor Torres Candlestick Park 2 Ray Sadecki San Francisco Giants [74]
2 May 27 Doug Rader Astrodome 9[ii] Luis Peraza Philadelphia Phillies [75]
3 July 30[i] Jimmy Wynn Shea Stadium 9[iii] Ron Taylor New York Mets [76]
4 Denis Menke Cal Koonce
  1. Game 1 of doubleheader
  2. Walk-off
  3. First occurrence since August 16, 1890, CHI vs PIT[44]

Pitching achievements

No-hit game

Date Pitcher IP BB BR K BF Catcher Final Opponent Venue Plate umpire Box
May 1, 1969 Don Wilson 9 6 7 13 34 Don Bryant 4–0 Cincinnati Reds Crosley Field Satch Davidson [20]
Wilson: Game score: 94 • Win (2–3)

No-hit bid

Date Starting pitcher (IP) Relief pitcher(s) (IP) No-hit IP GS Catcher Batter Final Opponent Box
September 13, 1969 Larry Dierker (12) — 8+2⁄3 95 Johnny Edwards Félix Millán 2–3 Atlanta Braves
Note: Includes those games started with 7 or more perfect innings.

Single-season franchise records

Offensive achievements

Awards

1969 Houston Astros award winners
Name of award Recipient Ref.
Houston Astros Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) Larry Dierker [77]
MLB All-Star Game Reserve pitcher Larry Dierker
Reserve infielder Denis Menke
The Sporting News NL Rookie Pitcher of the Year[a] Tom Griffin [69]

League leaders

NL batting leaders[51]
NL pitching leaders[51]

Minor league system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Oklahoma City 89ers American Association Cot Deal
AA Savannah Senators[k] Southern League Hub Kittle
A Peninsula Astros Carolina League Tony Pacheco
A Cocoa Astros Florida State League Leo Posada
A-Short Season Williamsport Astros New York–Penn League Billy Smith
Rookie Covington Astros Appalachian League Dick Bogard

See also

Notes

  1. From 1961–2003, The Sporting News declared one rookie pitcher and position player from each league, the NL and the American League (AL), for this award. Starting in 2004, this system was modified to selecting one rookie from each league for the award, regardless of position.
  2. The first time two hurlers exchanged consecutive no-hitters within the same series had occurred just the season prior when Gaylord Perry of the San Francisco Giants no-hit the St. Louis Cardinals, 1–0, at Candlestick Park on September 17, 1968. The following day, Ray Washburn no-hit the Giants for a 2–0 Cardinals triumph.
  3. Number of games in a career player meets criteria, in complete games, in the regular season, requiring hits allowed = 0, sorted by ascending instances.
  4. Rader's walk-off grand slam succeeded Bob Aspromonte's on August 26, 1966, and succeeded Milt May's on May 27, 1974.
  5. Longest streak of consecutive games, up to 2003, playing for HOU, in the regular season, requiring saves ≥ 1, sorted by most games matching criteria.
  6. The major league record is 22 by Roy Cullenbine, from July 2–22, 1947. Criteria: Longest streak of consecutive games, in the regular season, requiring bases on balls ≥ 1, sorted by most games matching criteria.
  7. The subsequent two-grand slam event in a single inning by one team in a National League contest was by one player himself, Fernando Tatís, on April 23, 1999, a member of the St. Louis Cardinals.
  8. For single seasons, playing for HOU, in the regular season, requiring strikeouts ≥ 200, sorted by ascending season.
  9. The NL record was passed by Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1998 and Jeff Bagwell broke the club record in 1999.
  10. Number of players that meet criteria in a season, playing for HOU, in the regular season, requiring stolen bases ≥ 40, sorted by ascending instances.
  11. Savannah affiliation shared with Washington Senators.

References

  1. "Nate Colbert Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More". Baseball-Reference.com.
  2. "Bo Belinsky Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More". Baseball-Reference.com.
  3. "Curt Blefary Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More". Baseball-Reference.com.
  4. "Jesús Alou Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More". Baseball-Reference.com.
  5. "Byron Browne Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More". Baseball-Reference.com.
  6. "Houston Astros (1) vs San Diego Padres (2) box score". Baseball Almanac. April 8, 1969. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  7. "1969 Houston Astros uniform numbers". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  8. Funk, Gregory (March 31, 2020). "April 8, 1969: San Diego Padres win inaugural major-league game". Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  9. "1962 Houston Colt .45s schedule". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  10. "Tom Griffin 1969 pitching game logs". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 24, 2026.
  11. "Tom Griffin stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 24, 2026.
  12. "Houston Astros (0) vs San Diego Padres (2) box score". Baseball-Reference.com. April 10, 1969. Retrieved February 24, 2026.
  13. "1969 Houston Astros schedule". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 9, 2025.
  14. "Los Angeles Dodgers (2) vs Houston Astros (5) box score". Baseball-Reference.com. April 13, 1969. Retrieved November 9, 2025.
  15. "César Gerónimo stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 23, 2026.
  16. "Mays belts his 590th homer as Giants beat Astros, 2-1, for fourth in row; Marichal allows 4 hits and fans 8". The New York Times. April 27, 1969. Retrieved November 9, 2025.
  17. Hulsey, Bob. "This date in Astros history". Astros Daily. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
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