1965 Houston Astros season

Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox baseball team season The 1965 Houston Astros season was the fourth season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, a member of the National League (NL). Now rebranded as the Astros and having relocated to The Astrodome, the club were known for their first three season as the Colt .45s and were based at Colt Stadium. They remained at The Astrodome through the 1999 season. The Astros entered the 1965 season with a 66–96 record, having finished the previous year in ninth place and 27 games behind the NL pennant and World Seres-winning St. Louis Cardinals.

The 1965 season was the first and only full season for Lum Harris as manager, the second in franchise history, having replaced Harry Craft late during the previous year.

In the first-ever MLB amateur draft, the Astros' first round draft pick was shortstop Alex Barrett at fourth overall.

Pitcher Turk Farrell represented the Astros at the MLB All-Star Game, his fifth career selection.

The Astros concluded the season with a record of 65–97, a third consecutive in ninth place and 32 games behind the NL pennant and eventual World Series-champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The 97 losses represented a franchise-worst record for Houston at the time, later matched by the 1975 and 1991 teams, and later exceeded in 2011.

Second baseman Joe Morgan was chosen as The Sporting News NL Rookie Position Player of the Year and for the Topps All-Star Rookie Team.

Offseason

On December 1, The Houston club changed its nickname from Colt .45s to Astros. The move resulted from objections by the Colt Firearms Company to 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 of NASA's astronaut program. 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 the Astrodome with a 2–1 exhibition win over the New York Yankees.

The stadium was designed as a defense against the oppressive heat and humidity of the Houston summer. Loosely based on the old Roman Colosseum, the Astrodome was dubbed the Eighth Wonder of the World. As with many stadiums of that era, such as RFK Stadium and Shea Stadium, the Astrodome was a multi-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 Watson was signed as an amateur free agent by the Astros.

Regular season

Rookie Joe Morgan set club marks for at-bats, runs, hits and triples.

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 Larsen was traded by the Astros to the Baltimore Orioles for Bob Saverine and cash.
• May 23, 1965: Ken Johnson and Jim Beauchamp were traded by the Astros to the Milwaukee Braves for Lee Maye.
• June 14, 1965: Gus Triandos was purchased by the Astros from the Philadelphia Phillies.
• July 10, 1965: Frank Thomas was 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 46 Don Arlich 30 Bob Bruce 44 Danny Coombs 35 Mike Cuellar 49 Larry Dierker 13 Turk Farrell 39 Dave Giusti 40 Ken Johnson 34 Gordon Jones 31 Jack Lamabe 31 Don Larsen 40,48 Don Lee 34 Ken MacKenzie 43 Don Nottebart 33 Jim Owens 21 Jim Ray 36 Claude Raymond 38 Robin Roberts 41 Carroll Sembera 40,46 Ron Taylor 42 Bruce Von Hoff 46 Hal Woodeshick 37 Chris Zachary		Catchers  8 Dave Adlesh  7 John Bateman  9 Ron Brand  9 John Hoffman  7 Gus Triandos Infielders 14 Bob Aspromonte 23 Walt Bond  2 Nellie Fox 52,4 Jim Gentile 35 Chuck Harrison 19 Sonny Jackson 11 Eddie Kasko 15 Bob Lillis 25 Jim Mahoney 18 Joe Morgan 31 Frank Thomas 16 Mike White		Outfielders 20 Jim Beauchamp 28 Joe Gaines 20 Lee Maye 34 Norm Miller 21 Al Spangler 10 Rusty Staub 24 Jimmy Wynn Other batters 27 Gene Ratliff		Manager 26 Lum Harris Coaches  3 Jimmy Adair 4,? Jim Busby (Third Base)  6 Clint Courtney  2 Nellie Fox  5 Howie 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		117	391	27	92	6	3	.235	2	37	10
1B		117	407	46	107	17	2	.263	7	47	2
2B		157	601	100	163	22	12	.271	14	40	20
3B		152	578	53	152	15	2	.263	5	52	2
SS		124	408	34	90	12	1	.221	1	38	2
LF		108	415	38	104	17	7	.251	3	36	1
CF		157	564	90	155	30	7	.275	22	73	43
RF		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
	100	229	21	52	8	1	.227	6	31	4
	81	227	22	55	11	1	.242	7	31	0
Eddie Kasko	68	215	18	53	7	1	.247	1	10	1
	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
	23	58	7	10	2	0	.172	3	9	0
Jim Beauchamp	24	53	5	10	1	0	.189	0	4	0
	15	45	2	9	4	0	.200	1	9	0
	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
	11	15	2	3	0	1	.200	0	1	0
	8	9	0	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
	2	6	1	2	0	0	.333	0	1	0
Jim Mahoney	5	5	0	1	0	0	.200	0	0	0
	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
	35	34	229.2	9	18	3.72	107	95	38	145
	33	29	208.1	11	11	3.50	94	81	35	122
	29	25	158.0	4	15	4.67	99	82	55	77
	26	19	146.2	7	8	3.50	69	57	37	109
	10	10	76.0	5	2	1.89	22	16	10	34
	8	8	51.2	3	2	4.18	25	24	11	28
	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
	38	13	131.1	8	7	3	4.32	67	63	46	92
	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
	50	71.1	6	5	8	3.28	28	26	29	53
	32	57.2	1	5	4	6.40	42	41	16	37
	25	56.0	1	4	2	3.54	24	22	21	46
	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
	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
	1	1.0	0	0	0	0.00	0	0	0	0

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

• Turk Farrell

Farm system

Template:MLB Farm System LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Oklahoma City, FRL Astros

External links

• 1965 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference
• 1965 Houston Astros at Baseball Almanac