We start with the 1960s. The Houston Colt .45s were created as an expansion team to begin in 1962.
Nicknamed the Eighth Wonder of the World, the Astrodome ushered in a new era of ugly, cookie-cutter stadiums that could be used for both baseball and football. There were plenty of problems. The ceiling was too bright and blinded the outfielders, so portions of the dome were darkened. But that made the grass die, so Monsanto invented Astroturf, leading to decades of knee problems all over the country.
With the new stadium came a new identity. The Houston ball club decided that instead of looking to the past, they needed to look towards the future as the new home of the Manned Spacecraft Center. They finally settled on the name "Astros," a name apparently already used by the NASA baseball team.
The decade was one of fits and starts. They started off better than their expansion counterparts, the Mets, but with a .500 record best finish in 1969 they had clearly sunk below the Miracle Mets. There was plenty of young talent on the team, but thanks to poor management decisions it would take another decade before they would taste the playoffs, while many of the young stars saw glory elsewhere.
Astros By Decade
1962-1969
Record:
555-739 .428
Best Year: 1969 (81-81, 5th of 6)
Worst Year: 1965 (65-97, 9th of 10)
Team of the Decade:
C: John Bateman (1963-1968) His 1966 season is one of the best for a
catcher in Astros' history.
1B:
Rusty Staub (1963-1964, 1968) The
first star in Astros' history, reportedly traded for using a racial slur.
2B:
Joe Morgan (1963-1969) His second
place finish as Rookie of the Year in 1965 is still one of the worst decisions
of a major award in baseball history.
Should have been the nucleus of the Astros' first postseason runs in the
1970s, but instead led the Reds because manager Harry "Dixie" Walker
was too racist to handle so many black players.
3B:
Bob Aspromonte (1962-1968) Never
had a truly great season, but good enough to hold down the position for most of
the decade.
SS:
Sonny Jackson (1963-1967) This
has never been a strong position for the Astros, but he was second in the
Rookie of the Year vote in 1966.
LF:
Al Spangler (1962-1965) His first
two seasons, in Colt Stadium, were not bad.
CF:
Jimmy Wynn (1963-1969) Would have
been a Sabremetric poster boy if it was around in the 1960s and 70s. It would have been great to see what he could
have done if he hadn't played essentially his entire career in the Astrodome
and Dodger Stadium.
RF:
Rusty Staub (1965-1967) His 1967
season in particular is quite fantastic, especially for the Astrodome.
SP:
Larry Dierker (1964-1969) The
Astros' first stud ace, his 1969 season was the first Cy Young-type season,
though he did not get any votes despite some MVP votes.
SP:
Turk Farrell (1962-1966) Had two
outstanding years and two very good years but bad won-loss records because the
offense was so terrible.
SP:
Mike Cuellar (1965-1968) Just a
game over .500 for the Astros but his other numbers were quite good. Sure he was going into his age 32 season, but
surely he was worth more than just Curt Blefary (who himself only lasted a year
before being traded for Joe Pepitone, who was gone after half a year.)
SP:
Ken Johnson (1962-1965) The Colt
.45s had some serious arms but no offense to back them up.
SP:
Don Wilson (1966-1969) A career
Astro, had better years in the next decade.
CL:
Hal Woodeshick (1963-1965) Not
much to choose from here. His 1963
season was very good (11-9-10, 1.97 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 94 Ks in 114 innings).
Notable Performances:
Jimmy Wynn 1969: .269/.436/.507, 33 HR, 87 RBI, 23 SB, 148 BB,
166 OPS+
Joe Morgan 1965: .271/.373/.418, 14 HR, 40 RBI, 22 2B, 12 3B,
20 SB, 97 BB, 131 OPS+
Rusty Staub 1967: .333/.398/.473, 10 HR, 74 RBI, 44 2B, 60 BB,
153 OPS+
Larry Dierker 1969: 20-13, 2.33 ERA,
1.02 WHIP, 305 IP, 20 CG, 232 K, 152 ERA+
Mike Cuellar 1966: 12-10-2, 2.22 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 227 IP, 11 CG,
175 K, 155 ERA+
Turk Farrell 1963: 14-13-1, 3.02 ERA,
0.97 WHIP, 202 IP, 12 CG, 141 K, 105 ERA+
Best Trade:
Chuck Harrison and Sonny Jackson to the
Braves for Denny Lemaster and Denis Menke (October 8, 1967)
Not
a "great" trade, Menke had a couple of good years but never as good
as when in Atlanta. There's not a lot of
good here.
Worst Trade:
Rusty Staub to the Expos for Jesus Alou,
Jack Billingham, and Skip Guinn (January 22, 1969)
The
Cuellar trade was pretty bad as well, but this was terrible, and made worse
when Donn Clendenon refused to go to Houston thanks to the racist manager
(instead he went to New York and won a World Series).
Best Draft:
1966
1st
round (3rd overall) Wayne Twitchell
5th
round (83rd overall) Cliff Johnson
8th
round (143rd overall) Fred Stanley
In the early years of the draft, that's as good as it gets. Most of the best prospects were still signed
outside the draft.
Worst Draft:
1965
1st
round (4th overall) Alex Barrett - 3 picks later Ray Fosse
2nd
round (24th overall) Keith Lampard - 12 picks later Johnny Bench
3rd
round (44th overall) Jim Monin - 9 picks later Andy Messersmith
4th
round (76th overall) Pat Jacquez
5th
round (96th overall) Billy Martin (not that one)
6th
round (116th overall) David Fyle - next pick Hal McRae
7th
round (136th overall) Ken Chelini
8th
round (156th overall) Dan Rudanovich
9th
round (176th overall) Larry Hall
10th
round (196th overall) Danny Walton
11th
round (216th overall) Gary Gentry (did not sign, finally signed by Mets 1967)
18th
round (356th overall) Tom Murphy (did not sign, signed by Angels 1967)
Keith Lampard was only pick to play
"significant" time for the Astros, totaling 84 ABs over two
seasons. A complete bust of a draft.
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