1965 Houston Astros season

1965Houston Astros
League	National League
Ballpark	Harris County Domed Stadium
City	Houston, Texas
Record	65–97 (.401)
League place	9th
Owners	Roy Hofheinz
General managers	Paul Richards
Managers	Lum Harris
Television	KTRK-TV
Radio	KPRC (AM) (Gene Elston,Loel Passe,Harry Kalas)
Seasons

The1965Houston Astrosseasonwas the franchise's first season in the HoustonAstrodome,as well as its first season as theAstrosafter three seasons known as theColt.45s.It involved the Houston Astros finishing in ninth place in theNational Leaguewith a record of 65–97, 32 games behind the eventualWorld SerieschampionLos Angeles Dodgers.The Astros were managed byLum Harris.

Offseason

On December 1, The Houston club changed its nickname from Colt.45s to Astros. The move resulted from objections by theColt Firearms Companyto the club's sales of novelties bearing the old nickname.Despite the trademark issues, the "Astros" nickname matched the futuristic ambiance of the revolutionary domed stadium. The nickname was also appropriate since Houston was, by then, the home ofNASA'sastronautprogram. The scoreboard retained subliminal references to the old nickname, as it featured electronically animated cowboys firing pistols, with the "bullets" ricocheting around the scoreboard, when an Astros player would hit a home run. Early on, the groundskeepers also wore astronaut spacesuits to promote that futuristic image.

Astrodome

On April 9, the former Houston Colt.45s took the field and officially became the Houston Astros. They inaugurated indoor baseball in theAstrodomewith a 2–1exhibitionwin over theNew York Yankees.

The stadium was designed as a defense against the oppressive heat and humidity of the Houston summer. Loosely based on the oldRoman Colosseum,the Astrodome was dubbed theEighth Wonder of the World.As with many stadiums of that era, such asRFK StadiumandShea Stadium,the Astrodome was amulti-purpose stadium,designed for both football as well as baseball.

Besides its roof, the Astrodome was revolutionary for a number of other reasons. It was one of the first stadiums to have individual, theatre-type seats for every seat in the venue. Additionally, it was one of the first stadiums to have luxury seats and club seating, at the time a relatively new concept in sports venues. It also had an "exploding scoreboard", which would show various animations after a home run or a win, as well as messages and advertising.

Notable transactions

• January 31, 1965:Bob Watsonwas signed as an amateur free agent by the Astros.

Regular season

RookieJoe Morganset club marks for at-bats, runs, hits and triples.

Season standings

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Los Angeles Dodgers	97	65	.599	—	50‍–‍31	47‍–‍34
San Francisco Giants	95	67	.586	2	51‍–‍30	44‍–‍37
Pittsburgh Pirates	90	72	.556	7	49‍–‍32	41‍–‍40
Cincinnati Reds	89	73	.549	8	49‍–‍32	40‍–‍41
Milwaukee Braves	86	76	.531	11	44‍–‍37	42‍–‍39
Philadelphia Phillies	85	76	.528	11½	45‍–‍35	40‍–‍41
St. Louis Cardinals	80	81	.497	16½	42‍–‍39	38‍–‍42
Chicago Cubs	72	90	.444	25	40‍–‍41	32‍–‍49
Houston Astros	65	97	.401	32	36‍–‍45	29‍–‍52
New York Mets	50	112	.309	47	29‍–‍52	21‍–‍60

Record vs. opponents

1965 National League record Sources:[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
Team	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MIL	NYM	PHI	PIT	SF	STL
Chicago	—	7–11	8–10	8–10	9–9	11–7–1	8–10	5–13	6–12	10–8–1
Cincinnati	11–7	—	12–6	6–12	12–6	11–7	13–5	8–10	6–12	10–8
Houston	10–8	6–12	—	5–13	4–14	14–4	6–12	8–10	3–15	9–9
Los Angeles	10–8	12–6	13–5	—	10–8	12–6	9–9	9–9	10–8	12–6
Milwaukee	9–9	6–12	14–4	8–10	—	13–5	6–12	9–9	10–8	11–7
New York	7–11–1	7–11	4–14	6–12	5–13	—	7–11–1	4–14	5–13	5–13
Philadelphia	10–8	5–13	12–6	9–9	12–6	11–7–1	—	8–10	8–10	10–7
Pittsburgh	13–5	10–8	10–8	9–9	9–9	14–4	10–8	—	11–7–1	4–14
San Francisco	12–6	12–6	15–3	8–10	8–10	13–5	10–8	7–11–1	—	10–8
St. Louis	8–10–1	8–10	9–9	6–12	7–11	13–5	7–10	14–4	8–10	—

Opening Day starters

• Bob Aspromonte
• John Bateman
• Jim Beauchamp
• Walt Bond
• Bob Bruce
• Joe Gaines
• Bob Lillis
• Joe Morgan
• Jimmy Wynn

Notable transactions

• April 24, 1965:Don Larsenwas traded by the Astros to theBaltimore OriolesforBob Saverineand cash.
• May 23, 1965:Ken JohnsonandJim Beauchampwere traded by the Astros to theMilwaukee BravesforLee Maye.
• June 14, 1965:Gus Triandoswas purchased by the Astros from thePhiladelphia Phillies.
• July 10, 1965:Frank Thomaswas purchased by the Astros from the Philadelphia Phillies.
• August 20, 1965: Gus Triandos was released by the Astros.
• September 1, 1965: Frank Thomas was traded by the Astros to the Milwaukee Braves for a player to be named later. The Braves completed the deal by sending Mickey Sinnerud (minors) to the Astros on September 11.

Roster

1965 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers 46Don Arlich 30Bob Bruce 44Danny Coombs 35Mike Cuellar 49Larry Dierker 13Turk Farrell 39Dave Giusti 40Ken Johnson 34Gordon Jones 31Jack Lamabe 31Don Larsen 40,48Don Lee 34Ken MacKenzie 43Don Nottebart 33Jim Owens 21Jim Ray 36Claude Raymond 38Robin Roberts 41Carroll Sembera 40,46Ron Taylor 42Bruce Von Hoff 46Hal Woodeshick 37Chris Zachary		Catchers 8Dave Adlesh 7John Bateman 9Ron Brand 9John Hoffman 7Gus Triandos Infielders 14Bob Aspromonte 23Walt Bond 2Nellie Fox 52,4Jim Gentile 35Chuck Harrison 19Sonny Jackson 11Eddie Kasko 15Bob Lillis 25Jim Mahoney 18Joe Morgan 31Frank Thomas 16Mike White		Outfielders 20Jim Beauchamp 28Joe Gaines 20Lee Maye 34Norm Miller 21Al Spangler 10Rusty Staub 24Jimmy Wynn Other batters 27Gene Ratliff		Manager 26Lum Harris Coaches 3Jimmy Adair 4,?Jim Busby(Third Base) 6Clint Courtney 2Nellie Fox 5Howie Pollet

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
Positional abbreviations: C = Catcher; 1B = First base; 2B = Second base; 3B = Third base; SS = Shortstop; LF = Left field; CF = Center field; RF = Right field

Pos	Player	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
C	Ron Brand	117	391	27	92	6	3	.235	2	37	10
1B	Walt Bond	117	407	46	107	17	2	.263	7	47	2
2B	Joe Morgan	157	601	100	163	22	12	.271	14	40	20
3B	Bob Aspromonte	152	578	53	152	15	2	.263	5	52	2
SS	Bob Lillis	124	408	34	90	12	1	.221	1	38	2
LF	Lee Maye	108	415	38	104	17	7	.251	3	36	1
CF	Jim Wynn	157	564	90	155	30	7	.275	22	73	43
RF	Rusty Staub	131	410	43	105	20	1	.256	14	63	3

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

Player	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
Joe Gaines	100	229	21	52	8	1	.227	6	31	4
Jim Gentile	81	227	22	55	11	1	.242	7	31	0
Eddie Kasko	68	215	18	53	7	1	.247	1	10	1
John Bateman	45	142	15	28	3	1	.197	7	14	4
Al Spangler	38	112	18	24	1	1	.214	1	7	1
Gus Triandos	24	72	5	13	2	0	.181	2	7	0
Frank Thomas	23	58	7	10	2	0	.172	3	9	0
Jim Beauchamp	24	53	5	10	1	0	.189	0	4	0
Chuck Harrison	15	45	2	9	4	0	.200	1	9	0
Nellie Fox	21	41	3	11	2	0	.268	0	1	0
Dave Adlesh	15	34	2	5	1	0	.147	0	3	0
Sonny Jackson	10	23	1	3	0	0	.130	0	0	1
Norm Miller	11	15	2	3	0	1	.200	0	1	0
Mike White	8	9	0	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
John Hoffman	2	6	1	2	0	0	.333	0	1	0
Jim Mahoney	5	5	0	1	0	0	.200	0	0	0
Gene Ratliff	4	4	0	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player	G	GS	IP	W	L	ERA	R	ER	BB	K
Bob Bruce	35	34	229.2	9	18	3.72	107	95	38	145
Turk Farrell	33	29	208.1	11	11	3.50	94	81	35	122
Don Nottebart	29	25	158.0	4	15	4.67	99	82	55	77
Larry Dierker	26	19	146.2	7	8	3.50	69	57	37	109
Robin Roberts	10	10	76.0	5	2	1.89	22	16	10	34
Ken Johnson	8	8	51.2	3	2	4.18	25	24	11	28
Don Arlich	1	1	6.0	0	0	3.00	2	2	1	0
Don Larsen	1	1	5.1	0	0	5.06	3	3	3	1

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player	G	GS	IP	W	L	SV	ERA	R	ER	BB	K
Dave Giusti	38	13	131.1	8	7	3	4.32	67	63	46	92
Claude Raymond	33	7	96.1	7	4	5	2.90	35	31	16	79
Jack Lamabe	3	2	12.2	0	2	0	4.26	9	6	3	6
Chris Zachary	4	2	10.2	0	2	0	4.22	6	5	6	4
Jim Ray	3	2	7.2	0	2	0	10.57	9	9	6	7
Carroll Sembera	2	1	7.1	0	1	0	3.68	3	3	3	4

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	SV	ERA	R	ER	BB	K
Jim Owens	50	71.1	6	5	8	3.28	28	26	29	53
Ron Taylor	32	57.2	1	5	4	6.40	42	41	16	37
Mike Cuellar	25	56.0	1	4	2	3.54	24	22	21	46
Danny Coombs	26	47.0	0	2	0	4.79	26	25	23	35
Ken MacKenzie	21	37.0	0	3	0	3.89	22	16	6	26
Hal Woodeshick	27	32.1	3	4	3	3.06	13	11	18	22
Don Lee	7	8.0	0	0	0	3.38	3	3	3	3
Bruce Von Hoff	3	3.0	0	0	0	9.00	3	3	2	1
Gordon Jones	1	1.0	0	0	0	0.00	0	0	0	0

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

• Turk Farrell

Farm system

See also:Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Oklahoma City 89ers	Pacific Coast League	Grady Hatton
AA	Amarillo Sonics	Texas League	Lou Fitzgerald
A	Durham Bulls	Carolina League	Dave Philley
A	Cocoa Astros	Florida State League	Billy Goodman
A	Salisbury Astros	Western Carolinas League	Chuck Churn
Rookie	FRL Astros	Florida Rookie League	Joe Frazier

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Oklahoma City, FRL Astros

External links

• 1965 Houston Astros seasonatBaseball Reference
• 1965 Houston AstrosatBaseball Almanac