1966 Houston Astros season

Major League Baseball team season

During the 1966 Houston Astros season in American baseball, the team finished eighth in the National League with a record of 72–90 (.444), 23 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.

This was the second season for the Astrodome, but its first with a playing surface of AstroTurf.^[1] The infield portion was installed in March,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} and the outfield was ready for play on July 19.^[7][8][9]

Offseason

• November 29, 1965: 1965 rule 5 draft
  • Nate Colbert was drafted by the Astros from the St. Louis Cardinals.^[10]
  • Bob Saverine was drafted from the Astros by the Washington Senators.^[11]
• January 6, 1966: Johnny Weekly and cash were traded by the Astros to the New York Mets for Gary Kroll.^[12]

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day lineup

1. Lee Maye, LF
2. Sonny Jackson, SS
3. Jimmy Wynn, CF
4. Dave Nicholson, RF
5. Joe Morgan, 2B
6. Bob Aspromonte, 3B
7. Chuck Harrison, 1B
8. John Bateman, C
9. Robin Roberts, P^[13]

Notable transactions

• June 7, 1966: Fred Stanley was drafted by the Astros in the 8th round of the 1966 Major League Baseball draft.^[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

^[15]

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

^[15]

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

Farm system

References

1. "Astroturf planned for Houston field". Florence Times. (Alabama). Associated Press. March 13, 1966. p. 18.
2. "Astroturf looks great, but..." Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 20, 1966. p. 2b.
3. "What's new? Astroturf". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). Associated Press. March 21, 1966. p. 23.
4. "Zippered 'grass' big hit in Astrodome". Daytona Beach Sunday News-Journal. (Florida). Associated Press. March 20, 1966. p. 1B.
5. Bledsoe, Terry (March 20, 1966). "Astrodome's synthetic grass gets 1st test with skids and bounces". Milwaukee Journal. p. 1, sports.
6. Rathet, Mike (March 21, 1966). "Brickbats starting to fly over Houston's Astroturf". Victoria Advocate. (Texas). Associated Press. p. 8.
7. "Phils, Astros plan tonight on artificial grass". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. July 19, 1966. p. 23.
8. "Phil find Farrell, turf unfriendly". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. July 20, 1966. p. 3C.
9. "Astros clout Phils; Farrell leads way". Victoria Advocate. (Texas). Associated Press. July 20, 1966. p. 8.
10. Nate Colbert at Baseball-Reference
11. Bob Saverine at Baseball-Reference
12. Gary Kroll at Baseball-Reference
13. 1966 Houston Astros Roster by Baseball Almanac
14. Fred Stanley at Baseball Reference
15. 1966 Houston Astros Statistics and Roster – Baseball-Reference.com

External links

• 1966 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference