Editing Houston Astros (section)

===1971–1974: The boys in orange===
The fashion trends of the 1970s had started taking root in baseball. Long hair and loud colors were starting to appear on team uniforms, including the Astros'. In 1971 the Astros made some changes to their uniform: they kept the same style they had in previous seasons, but inverted the colors. What was navy was now orange and what was orange was now a lighter shade of blue. The players' last names were added to the back of the jerseys. In 1972, the uniform fabric was also changed to what was at the time revolutionizing the industry – polyester. Belts were replaced by elastic waistbands, and jerseys zipped up instead of having buttons. The uniforms became popular with fans, but would last only until 1975, when the Astros would shock baseball and the fashion world.<ref name="HOUdaily">{{cite web |url=http://www.astrosdaily.com/history/ |title=Astros History |publisher=Astrosdaily.com |access-date=November 5, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120917150939/http://astrosdaily.com/history/ |archive-date=September 17, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The uniforms were about the only thing that did change in 1971. The acquisition of [[Roger Metzger]] from the [[Chicago Cubs]] in the off-season moved Menke to first base and [[Bob Watson]] to the outfield. The Astros got off to a slow start and the pitching and hitting averages were down. [[Larry Dierker]] was selected to the All-Star Game in 1971, but due to an arm injury he could not make it. [[César Cedeño]] led the club with 81 RBIs and the league with 40 doubles, but batted just .264 and had 102 strikeouts in his second season with the Astros.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/c/cedence01.shtml |title=Cesar Cedeno Statistics and History |website=Baseball-Reference.com |access-date=November 5, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228203253/http://www.baseball-reference.com/c/cedence01.shtml |archive-date=February 28, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref> Pitcher [[J. R. Richard]] made his debut in September of the 1971 season against the [[San Francisco Giants|Giants]].

====The Big Trade====
[[File:Morgan Joe Houston.jpg|thumb|upright|Hall of Famer [[Joe Morgan]] (1963–1971, 1980) was traded to Cincinnati following the 1971 season]]
{{See also|The Big Red Machine}}
In November [[1971 Houston Astros season|1971]] the Astros and [[Cincinnati Reds]] made one of the biggest blockbuster trades in the history of the sport,<ref name=Hardballtimes>{{cite web|last=Treder|first=Steve|title=Offseason blockbusters: November (Part two: 1966–1981)|url=http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/offseason-blockbusters-november-part-two-1966-1981/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071122152837/http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/offseason-blockbusters-november-part-two-1966-1981/|url-status=live|archive-date=November 22, 2007|publisher=Hardball Times}}</ref> and helped create The Big Red Machine of the 1970s,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thebaseballpage.com/players/mayle01.php |archive-url=https://archive.today/20060507153856/http://www.thebaseballpage.com/players/mayle01.php |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 7, 2006 |title=Lee May Baseball Stats, facts, biography, images and video. |publisher=The Baseball Page |access-date=November 5, 2012 }}</ref> with the Reds getting the better end of the deal. Houston sent second baseman [[Joe Morgan]], infielder [[Denis Menke]], pitcher [[Jack Billingham]], outfielder [[César Gerónimo]] and prospect [[Ed Armbrister]] to Cincinnati for first baseman [[Lee May]], second baseman [[Tommy Helms]] and infielder [[Jimmy Stewart (baseball)|Jimmy Stewart]]. The trade left Astros fans and the baseball world scratching their heads as to why [[General manager (baseball)|general manager]] [[Spec Richardson]] would give up so much for so little. The Reds, on the other hand, would shore up many problems. They had an off year in 1971, but were the National League Pennant winner in [[1972 Cincinnati Reds season|1972]].<ref name="Hardballtimes" />

The Astros' acquisition of Lee May added more power to the lineup in [[1972 Houston Astros season|1972]].  May, Wynn, Rader and Cedeño all had 20 or more home runs and Watson hit 16. Cedeño also led the Astros with a .320 batting average, 55 stolen bases and made spectacular plays on the field. Cedeño made his first All-Star game in 1972 and became the first Astros player in team history to hit for the cycle in August versus the Reds.  The Astros finished the strike-shortened season at 84–69, their first winning season.<ref name="AstrosDaily" />

Astros fans had hoped for more of the same in [[1973 Major League Baseball season|1973]], but it was not to be.  The Astros run production was down, even though the same five sluggers the year before were still punching the ball out of the park. Lee May led the Astros with 28 home runs and Cesar Cedeño batted .320 with 25 home runs.  [[Bob Watson]] hit the .312 mark and drove in 94 runs.  [[Doug Rader]] and [[Jimmy Wynn]] both had 20 or more home runs.  However, injuries to their pitching staff limited the Astros to an 82–80 fourth-place finish.  The Astros again finished in fourth place the next year under new manager [[Preston Gómez]].<ref name="AstrosDaily" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fho87 |title=Hofheinz, Roy Mark tshonline.org |publisher=Tshaonline.org |date= June 15, 2010|access-date=November 5, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426172608/http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fho87 |archive-date=April 26, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref>