1971 Houston Astros season

Tenth season in Major League Baseball for the Houston Astros March 2026 November 2013 Houston Astros 1971 National League West Astrodome Houston, Texas 79 83 y 4th–tied Roy Hofheinz Spec Richardson Harry Walker KTRK-TV KPRC (AM)(Gene Elston, Loel Passe) The 1971 Houston Astros season was the tenth season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their seventh as the Astros, tenth in the National League (NL), third in the NL West division, and seventh at The Astrodome. The Astros entered the season having posted a record of 79–83, for fourth place and 23 games behind the division-champion and NL pennant-winning Cincinnati Reds. Pitcher Larry Dierker made his third Opening Day start for the Astros, who hosted the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 5, and won, 5–2. The Astros' first-round selection in the amateur draft was shortstop Neil Rasmussen, at 12th overall. Dierker and fellow pitcher Don Wilson both represented the Astros and played for the National League at the MLB All-Star Game. This was second career selection for Dierker and first for Wilson. The Astros concluded the season with a record of 79–83—replicating their performance from the year prior—while maintaining fourth place in the NL West, this time, tying with Cincinnati for 11 games behind the division-champion San Francisco Giants. The Astros played 75 games that were decided by a one-run margin, which is an all-time MLB record. In those games, the Astros performed to a 32 43 y record. Following the season, third baseman Doug Rader won his second career Gold Glove Award. Offseason Summary The Houston Astros concluded the 1970 season with a 79 83 y record, for fourth place and 23 games behind the NL West division-champion and NL pennant-winning Cincinnati Reds.https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/1970.shtml 1970 National League team statistics Baseball Reference November 23, 2025 Houston set then-club records with 744 runs scored and 129 home runs,https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/HOU/batteam.shtml Houston Astros team yearly batting stats Baseball Reference February 4, 2026 including five grand slams.https://www.sports-reference.com/stathead/baseball/event_finder.cgi?request=1&year_min=1962&team_id=HOU&event=23&type=b&criteria175=rob---111 Batting event finder HOU: 202 Home Runs in 1962-2026—123 Stathead Sports Reference August 13, 2026 Second baseman Joe Morgan became first player in club history to record two 40-stolen base seasons.Number of players that meet criteria in a season, playing for HOU, in the regular season, requiring stolen bases ≥ 40, sorted by ascending instances. lower-alpha "Houston 40 steals"https://www.sports-reference.com/stathead/baseball/player-batting-season-finder.cgi?request=1&match=league_player_season_count&order_by_asc=1&ccomp%5B1%5D=gt&cval%5B1%5D=40&cstat%5B1%5D=b_sb&team_id=HOU Player batting season & career stats finder–baseball Stathead Sports Reference January 3, 2026 Third baseman Doug Rader won the Gold Glove Award for the first time,https://www.baseball-almanac.com/awards/aw_gg3b.shtml Gold Glove third basemen Baseball Almanac October 11, 2025 joining pitcher Bobby Shantz in 1962 as the second Houston Colt 45/Astro to be so recognized.https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/gold_glove_nl.shtml MLB Gold Glove Award winners—National League Baseball-Reference.com October 25, 2025 Transactions January 13, 1971: Doug Konieczny was drafted by the Astros in the 1st round (4th pick) of the 1971 Major League Baseball draft Secondary Phase.https://www.baseball-reference.com/k/koniedo01.shtml Doug Konieczny stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more Baseball-Reference.com October 10, 2025 Exhibition play The Astrodome hosted a 15-inning, exhibition tripleheader on April 2 between Houston, the Minnesota Twins and New York Yankees. For the first five-inning contest, the Astros tripped the Yankees, 2–1. During the middle five, the Twins toppled the Yankees, 4–1, prior to getting ripped by the Astros during the last five frames, 5–3.Hulsey Bob https://www.astrosdaily.com/history/thisdate/index.html This date in Astros history Astros Daily September 6, 2025 Regular season Summary April thumb|right|upright|Larry Dierker, 1966, Opening Day starting pitcher. + Opening Day starting lineup Uniform Uniform number Player Position+ 28 César Cedeño Center fielder 18 Joe Morgan Second baseman 24 Jimmy Wynn Right fielder 27 Bob Watson Left fielder 11 Denis Menke First baseman 12 Doug Rader Third baseman 7 Johnny Edwards Catcher 15 Roger Metzger Shortstop 49 Larry Dierker Pitcher Venue: Astrodome • Final: Houston 5, Los Angeles 2 Sources:https://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=197104050HOU Los Angeles Dodgers (2) vs Houston Astros (5) box score Baseball Almanac April 5, 1971 October 10, 2025https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/HOU/1971-uniform-numbers.shtml 1971 Houston Astros uniform numbers Baseball-Reference.com October 10, 2025 Hosting the Los Angeles Dodgers for Opening Day on April 5, Denis Menke tripled in runs (RBI) of Joe Morgan and Bob Watson off Los Angeles' Bill Singer for a 2–0 lead. The Astros never looked back, winning 5–2, backed by complete game execution from Larry Dierker. Dierker diffused 10 hits, issued one base on balls and struck out four.https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/HOU/HOU197104050.shtml Los Angeles Dodgers (2) vs Houston Astros (5) box score Baseball-Reference.com April 5, 1971 January 12, 2026 Making his third Opening Day start for the Astros, Dierker at the time remained the only pitcher to start more than once on Opening Day for the club.https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/HOU/opening.shtml Houston Astros Opening Day starters Baseball-Reference.com January 12, 2026 On April 20, Rich Chiles made his major league debut,https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/chileri01.shtml Rich Chiles stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more Baseball Reference October 17, 2026 He pinch hit for starting pitcher Tom Griffin but Cubs pitcher Ferguson Jenkins induced Chiles to line out into a double play in his first plate appearance in the top of the eighth inning. The Chicago Cubs held on to a 3–1 over Houston.https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN197104200.shtml Houston Astros (1) vs Chicago Cubs (3) box score Baseball Reference October 17, 2026 On April 28, César Gerónimo chipped in a walk-off triple, just the second in club history. This scored Jim Wynn during the bottom of the tenth frame for a decision of Houston 4, Philadelphia Phillies 3.The first walk-off triple was prosecuted by Bob Aspromonte on Opening Day, April 10, 1968.https://www.sports-reference.com/stathead/baseball/event_finder.cgi?request=1&year_min=1962&team_id=HOU&event=22&type=b&criteria5=walk_off---T HOU: 5 triples in 1962–2025—Walk-off Stathead Sports Reference February 23, 2026 Rader drove in six, and Larry Dierker (6–1) earned the win and quality start spite of yielding 13 hits in six innngs, May On May 16, Doug Rader hit a record third career grand slam inside the Astrodome—which would be matched by one other player during its 35 years of hosting baseball.By Ken Caminiti on August 31, 1999. At that point, Rader had been the only player to hit more than one in the Astrodome.https://www.sports-reference.com/stathead/baseball/event_finder.cgi?request=1&year_min=1965&year_max=1999&event=23&type=b&criteria29=game_site---HOU02&criteria72=rob---111 Batting event finder HOU:58 Home Runs in 1965-1999—123–at HOU, Astrodome Stathead Sport Reference August 29, 2026 Larry Dierker (6–1) earned the victory and quality start, escaping 13 hits surrendered over six innings. The Astros won, 12–4, while Dierker himself collected two hits at the plate. Jim Ray (1) pitched the final three innings to earn the save.https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/HOU/HOU197105160.shtml St. Louis Cardinals (4) vs Houston Astros (12) box score May 16, 1971 August 26, 2026 During a doubleheader on May 26 at San Diego Stadium, the Padres started Al Santorini for both contests, though during the first game, Santorini was deployed as an opener. Facing an order assembled with seven lefties, Santorini got the leadoff hitter out and was replaced by Dave Roberts. The Astros won, 2–1, behind Wade Blasingame's effort. Bob Watson pinch hit for Blasingame (3–5) in the top of the ninth and singled home Doug Rader for the game-winning run.https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SDN/SDN197105261.shtml Houston Astros (2) vs San Diego Padres (1) box score—Game 1 Baseball-Reference.com May 26, 1971 December 26, 2025 In the May 26 nightcap, Larry Dierker cruised to his first career one-hitterhttps://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/D/PX_dierl101.htm Top performances for Larry Dierker Retrosheet December 26, 2025 while outpitching Santorini–who, this time, hurled six innings–in an 8–0 Astros triumph. Ollie Brown's broken-bat single in the seventh foiled Dierker's bid for a no-hitter. Dierker issued three base on balls and struck out five to earn a game score of 87. Catcher Johnny Edwards tripled and collected three runs batted in (RBI). The Astros piled on 11 hits and worked 6 walks.https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SDN/SDN197105262.shtml Houston Astros (8) vs San Diego Padres (0) box score—Game 2 Baseball-Reference.com May 26, 1971 December 26, 2025 It was also Dierker's fourth career complete game effort of two hits or fewer. June On June 6, for the first time in club history, the Astros logged 10 extra-base hits in a single game.Subsequently matched multiple times, next on June 14, 1992. Remained club record until September 9, 2000. For single games, from 1901 to 2025, For HOU, in the regular season, requiring extra base hits ≥ 10, sorted by ascending date.https://www.sports-reference.com/stathead/baseball/team-batting-game-finder.cgi?request=1&order_by_asc=1&order_by=date&timeframe=seasons&year_min=1901&year_max=2025&ccomp%5B1%5D=gt&cval%5B1%5D=10&cstat%5B1%5D=b_xbh&team_id=HOU Team batting game stats finder—baseball Stathead Sports Reference March 2, 2023 Though Astros stacked eight doubles and two home runs, they fell short to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9–8. Bob Watson homered (4), doubled (9) and collected four RBI. John Mayberry (2) also homered. Jesús Alou doubled twice, while Jack Hiatt, Doug Rader, and Johnny Edwards also doubled.https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PIT/PIT197106060.shtml Houston Astros (8) vs Pittsburgh Pirates (9) box score Baseball-Reference.com June 6, 1971 December 26, 2025 July The Astros exploded for a season-high 18 runs on July 7,https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/HOU/1971-schedule-scores.shtml 1971 Houston Astros schedule Baseball-Reference.com November 9, 2025 en route to an 18–4 drubbing of the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park.https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SFN/SFN197109052.shtml Houston Astros (18) vs San Francisco Giants (4) box score Baseball-Reference.com July 7, 1971 November 9, 2025 Jimmy Wynn became the first player to attain 1,000 hits as a member the Houston Astros, also the 1,000th hit of his career,https://stathead.com/tiny/n20w2 For combined seasons, from 1962 to 1971, playing in the NL, playing for HOU, in the regular season, sorted by descending Hits. November 9, 2025 Stathead Sports Referencehttps://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=wynnji01&t=b&year=1971 Jimmy Wynn 1971 batting game logs Baseball-Reference.com November 9, 2025 with a seventh inning double off left-hander Steve Hamilton. During an all-round memorable day, Wynn was 2-for-4 with 2 runs batted in (RBI), 2 runs scored, one stolen base and one base on balls. On July 16, the Astros executed the first triple play in franchise history—and first at the Astrodome—during the top of the third inning,The Mets had turned the first triple play against Houston on April 15, 1965.https://www.baseball-almanac.com/feats/triple_plays.shtml#:~:text=Triple%20plays%20are%20relatively%20rare,from%20the%20fielders%20to%20perform. MLB triple plays Baseball Almanac January 20, 2026 capping a 9–4 triumph over Nolan Ryan and the New York Mets. Shortstop Roger Metzger scooped a tapper hit by Cleon Jones, stepped on second base to force out Tommie Agee, then tossed to Denis Menke at first base ahead of Jones for the putout. Menke then fired to Doug Rader after Ken Boswell hesitated on his dash to third base, where Rader completed the trifecta. The Astros scored three in the bottom of the first inning, and once each every inning through the fifth. Metzer scored three times and Bob Watson had three this. Jack Billingham (5–8) worked 8 1 3 innings to earn the win.https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/HOU/HOU197107160.shtml New York Mets (4) vs Houston Astros (9) box score Baseball Reference July 16, 1971 August 8, 2026 September On September 2, César Cedeño hit the first Inside-the-park grand slam at the Astrodome, one of two all-time.The second was hit by Tony Womack of the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 21, 1999. He stepped to the plate to face Claude Osteen with the bases loaded in the fifth in a 3–2 deficit to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and hit a blooper to shallow right field between Bill Buckner and Jim Lefebvre. They while attempting to make the catch, and the ball dribbled into the corner. Meanwhile, the bases cleared ahead of Cedeño, who raced home for the 170 ft m inside the-park grand slam. The first of his career, Cedeño had blasted his first major league home run off Osteen on July 6 of the prior year.https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/event_hr.fcgi?id=cedence01&t=b César Cedeño career home runs Baseball-Reference.com December 4, 2025 On the day, Cedeño was 3-for-4 with 4 RBI and a double. Astros starter Don Wilson (13–8) went the distance to pick up the victory, a 9–3 score.https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/HOU/HOU197109020.shtml Los Angeles Dodgers (3) vs Houston Astros (9) box score Baseball-Reference.com September 2, 1971 December 4, 2025 Strikeout records in a doubleheader: J. R. Richard's 15-strikeout debut Astros pitching fired a record performance on September 5 during a doubleheader at Candlestick Park. In the opener, Jack Billingham tossed a five-hit, 1–0 shutout with 11 strikeouts and a game score of 86 over the Giants.https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SFN/SFN197109051.shtml Houston Astros (1) vs San Francisco Giants (0) box score—Game 1 Baseball-Reference.com September 5, 1971 October 19, 2025 Making his major league debut during the second game on September 5, J. R. Richard struck out 15 Giants on the way to firing another complete game. Richard's final strikeout victim was Hal Lanier, also the final out of the contest, to finish off a 5–3 Astros triumph. This contest garnered a 75-game score for Richard.https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SFN/SFN197109052.shtml Houston Astros (5) vs San Francisco Giants (3) box score—Game 2 Baseball-Reference.com September 5, 1971 October 19, 2025 His 15-strikeout effort remained his permanent career-high,Richard subsequently matched his 15-strikeout performance twice during the 1979 campaign, on August 3 and September 21. lower-alpha "Richard 15 Ks"https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/R/PX_richj101.htm Top performances for J. R. Richard Retrosheet November 22, 2025 while tying a record for a Major League debut first established in 1954 by Karl Spooner of the Brooklyn Dodgers.http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100609&content_id=10978516&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb K street: Strasburg racks up the strikeouts Seidel Jeff June 9, 2010 MLB.com June 13, 2010 The 26 combined strikeouts by Billingham and Richard during the twinbill set a new MLB record. Rest of September Facing a 4–1 deficit to the Atlanta Braves on September 15, manager Harry Walker inserted right-handed prospect Larry Yount to pitch the ninth inning. His major league debut, Félix Millán was the first batter of the inning. Before he could throw his first pitch, Yount's elbow became sore, whom Walker replaced with veteran Jim Ray. Yount, who never made another major league appearance, became the first to appear in a game without any officially scored plays being completed.Blumenau Kurt https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/september-15-1971-larry-yount-makes-his-big-league-debut-and-farewell-for-astros/ Larry Yount makes his big-league debut, and farewell, for Astros Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) September 15, 1971 January 11, 2025 Atlanta prevailed over Houston, 4 to 2, led by Phil Niekro (14–12), who tossed a four-hit complete game, defeating Houston's Jack Billingham (8–15). Billingham surrendered Hank Aaron's 44th home run of the season.https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/HOU/HOU197109150.shtml Atlanta Braves (4) vs Houston Astros (2) box score Baseball-Reference.com September 15, 1971 May 16, 2026 The Astros turned their second triple play of the season on September 17, during the second inning while hosting the Cincinnati Reds. On September 24, Ken Forsch established an individual club record by working 13 innings. Forsch surrendered six hits, one run, and struck out eight.Don Wilson matched the record with a 13-inning complete game on September 7, 1972.https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/H/XF_HOU.htm Top individual performances of the Houston Astros Retrosheet May 23, 2026 Performance overview With a 79 83 y record, Houston terminated the 1971 campaign tied for fourth place in the NL West with the Cincinnati, 11 games behind the division-champion San Francisco Giants.https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/1971.shtml 1971 National League team statistics Baseball-Reference.com January 13, 2026 The Astros participated in 75 contests that were decided by a one-run margin, which set an all-time MLB record. In those games, the team had a record of 32 43 y.https://www.baseball-reference.com/tiny/gFmir Team Batting Game Finder: From 1908 to 2017, (requiring run_diff≤1 and run_diff≥-1), sorted by greatest number of games in a single season matching the selected criteria Baseball Reference.com July 7, 2018 Note that tie games are not explicitly shown in the table; the number of ties, if any, can be deduced from any discrepancy between #Matching and (Wins + Losses). The 1971 Astros did not have any tied games in any case. Third baseman Doug Rader, who won his second consecutive Gold Glove Award, became the first Astros player to win more than once. As the Astrodome was reputed for suppressing the home run,Knight Ray Ray Knight https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/10/07/The-Astrodome-is-a-ballpark-you-have-to-play/6874529041600/ The Astrodome is a ballpark you have to play... United Press International (UPI) October 7, 1986 October 26, 2025 three Astros combined to lead the league in extra-base hit categories. With 40 doubles, César Cedeño led the major leagues. He joined Rusty Staub in 1967 as the second Astro to lead both theNatioal League in doubles as well as all of baseball.https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/2B_leagues.shtml Yearly league leaders & records for doubles Baseball-Reference.com October 19, 2025 Meanwhile, Houston's first-ever triples leaders—Roger Metzger and Joe Morgan jointly led the major leagues with 11 each—forged a three-way tie with Freddie Patek of the Kansas City Royals in the American League.https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/3B_leagues.shtml Yearly league leaders & records for triples Baseball-Reference.com November 8, 2025 Joe Morgan furthered club stolen base records by becoming the first individual player club history to attain 40 or more over three seasons, each consecutively. This was also the third of a franchise-record nine successive campaigns featuring at least one baserunner with 40 or more stolen bases.lower-alpha "Houston 40 steals" Don Wilson became the first Astros pitcher to lead the NL in hits per nine innings (6.549 H/9).https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/hits_per_nine_leagues.shtml Yearly league leaders and records for hits per 9 IP Baseball-Reference.com September 29, 2025 League standings Houston Astros Record versus opponents National League border:1px solid #aaa HOU Notable transactions June 8, 1971: 1971 Major League Baseball draft Paul Siebert was drafted by the Astros in the 3rd round.https://www.baseball-reference.com/s/siebepa01.shtml Paul Siebert stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more Baseball-Reference.com October 14, 2025 Rich Troedson was drafted by the Astros in the 1st round (8th pick) of the Secondary Phase, but did not sign.https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/troedri01.shtml Rich Troedson stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more Baseball-Reference.com October 14, 2025 Roster 1971 Houston Astros Roster Pitchers 42 Jack Billingham 36 Wade Blasingame 41 Ron Cook 39 George Culver 49 Larry Dierker 43 Ken Forsch 48 Fred Gladding 44 Bill Greif 38 Tom Griffin 35 Skip Guinn 46 Buddy Harris 23 Denny Lemaster 45 Jim Ray 50 J. R. Richard 37 Scipio Spinks 40 Don Wilson 31 Larry Yount Catchers  7 Johnny Edwards  8 Jack Hiatt 10 Larry Howard Infielders 16 Ray Busse 14 Marty Martínez 33 John Mayberry 11 Denis Menke 15 Roger Metzger 18 Joe Morgan 12 Doug Rader 19 Derrel Thomas Outfielders 22 Jesús Alou 28 César Cedeño 29 Rich Chiles 20 César Gerónimo 21 Norm Miller 17 Jay Schlueter 27 Bob Watson 24 Jimmy Wynn Manager 25 Harry Walker Coaches  4 Buddy Hancken  3 Hub Kittle  5 Jim Owens  2 Salty Parker 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 Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI C Johnny Edwards 106 317 74 .233 1 23 1B Denis Menke 146 475 117 .246 1 43 2B Joe Morgan 160 583 149 .256 13 56 SS Roger Metzger 150 562 132 .235 0 26 3B Doug Rader 135 484 118 .244 12 56 LF Bob Watson 129 468 135 .288 9 67 CF César Cedeño 161 611 161 .264 10 81 RF Jimmy Wynn 123 404 82 .203 7 45 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 Jesús Alou 122 433 121 .279 2 40 Jack Hiatt 69 174 48 .276 1 16 John Mayberry 46 137 25 .182 7 14 Rich Chiles 67 119 27 .227 2 15 César Gerónimo 94 82 18 .220 1 6 Norm Miller 45 74 19 .257 2 10 Larry Howard 24 64 15 .234 2 14 Marty Martínez 32 62 16 .258 0 4 Ray Busse 10 34 5 .147 0 4 Derrel Thomas 5 5 0 .000 0 0 Jay Schlueter 7 3 1 .333 0 0 Pitching 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 Don Wilson 35 268.0 16 10 2.45 180 Jack Billingham 33 228.1 10 16 3.39 139 Ken Forsch 33 188.1 8 8 2.53 131 Larry Dierker 24 159.0 12 6 2.72 91 Wade Blasingame 30 158.1 9 11 4.60 93 Ron Cook Ron Cook (baseball) 5 25.2 0 4 4.91 10 J.R. Richard 4 21.0 2 1 3.43 29 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 Tom Griffin Tom Griffin (baseball) 10 37.2 0 6 4.78 29 Scipio Spinks 5 29.1 1 0 3.68 26 Bill Greif 7 16.0 1 1 5.06 14 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 Gladding 48 4 5 12 2.10 17 George Culver 59 5 8 7 2.64 57 Jim Ray 47 10 4 3 2.12 46 Denny Lemaster 42 0 2 2 3.45 28 Buddy Harris 20 1 1 0 6.46 21 Skip Guinn 4 0 0 1 0.00 3 Larry Yount 1 0 0 0 ---- 0 Awards and achievements Grand slams No. Number Date Astros batter Venue Inning Pitcher Opposing team Box Box score 1 May 16 Doug Rader Astrodome 1tiedlead Tied score or took lead Jerry Reuss St. Louis Cardinals 2 September 2 César Cedeño1st MLB grand slam AstrodomeInside-the-park 5tiedlead Claude Osteen Los Angeles Dodgers Awards 1971 Houston Astros award winners Name of award Recipient Ref. References Baseball Digest Rookie All-Star Shortstop Roger Metzger Houston Astros Most Valuable Player (MVP) Don Wilson baseball McTaggart Brian http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091116&content_id=7674760&vkey=news_hou&fext=.jsp&c_id=hou Bourn highlights Astros' awards season December 21, 2009 MLB.com October 14, 2025 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20101208131739/http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091116&content_id=7674760&vkey=news_hou&fext=.jsp&c_id=hou December 8, 2010 Gold Glove Award Third baseman Doug Rader MLB All-Star Game Reserve pitcher Larry Dierker https://www.baseball-reference.com/allstar/1971-allstar-game.shtml 1971 All-Star Game box score Baseball-Reference.com July 13, 1971 October 10, 2025 Don Wilson baseball League leaders NL batting leadershttps://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/majors/1971-batting-leaders.shtml 1971 Major League batting leaders Baseball-Reference.com October 10, 2025 Doubles: César Cedeño (40—led MLB) Triples: Roger Metzger & Joe Morgan (11—tied, led MLB)Tied with Freddie Patek of the Kansas City Royals of the American League. lower-alpha "TSN Fireman co-winners" NL pitching leadershttps://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/majors/1971-pitching-leaders.shtml 1971 Major League pitching leaders Baseball-Reference.com October 10, 2025 Hit by pitch: Jack Billingham (16—led MLB) Hits per nine innings (H/9): Don Wilson (6.549) Milestones Major League debuts Player—Appeared at position Rich Chiles, pinch hitter J. R. Richard, starting pitcher Larry Yount, relief pitcher Date and opponent April 20 at Chicago September 5 at San Francisco September 15 vs Atlanta Box Box score Also: https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/majors/1971-debuts.shtml 1971 Major League Baseball new debuts Baseball-Reference.com May 16, 2026 Minor league system Minor League Baseball AAA Oklahoma City 89ers American Association Jimmy Williams AA Columbus Astros Southern League Clifford Davis A Cocoa Astros Florida State League Tony Pacheco A Sumter Astros Western Carolinas League Jackie Brandt Rookie Covington Astros Appalachian League Billy Smith See also Texas Baseball List of Major League Baseball annual doubles leaders List of Major League Baseball annual triples leaders Notes "Note" References 2 External links 1971 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference Category:Houston Astros seasons Houston Astros season Houston Astro