When Jerry Lewis Played for the Houston Astros

As the Houston Astros drive for another American League Pennant, it may surprise some fans about the time that comedian Jerry Lewis played first base for the Astros.

Comedian Jerry Lewis clowns it up in the Astrodome in 1973.

It’s true. In July 1973, Lewis suited up for the Houston Astros for a last-minute exhibition game against the Detroit Tigers in the famed Houston Astrodome.

The scheme was pushed by Lewis and then-Astros Manager Leo Durocher. The two were long-time pals from Leo’s days with the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1950s. This this exhibition game against the Tigers, Durocher decided it was a perfect time to give the popular comedian a chance to play out a dream – playing in a big league ballpark against real major leaguers.

Of course, Lewis was a major Hollywood celebrity comedian, but Durocher held a sizeable reputation of his own. Nicknamed “The Lip,” for his blunt quotes both on and off the field, Durocher had become one of baseball’s most colorful characters with a penchant for making headlines. At the time, he was just eight days shy of his 68th birthday, and the oldest manager in the game with deep roots to baseball’s legendary past.

“Jerry will play first base and hit leadoff in my lineup,” Durocher told reporters the day before the game. “If I had Dean [Martin], I’d play him in right field!”

Martin, who had built his own caustic reputation, was irked because the Tigers were originally supposed to have the day off and openly griped about having to show up to the ballpark for a meaningless game. Surely his temper was not helped by the fact that the Tigers were stuck in fourth place in the AL East, a division they had won the previous season.

“I don’t care if Leo plays Charlie Chaplin?” Martin reportedly said at the time. “I don’t have to like it and I don’t have to like being here for a game in the middle of the season.”

Nevertheless, the 47-year-old Lewis took the field for Houston, wearing No. 9 and playing first base. While neither club took the game very seriously, Lewis displayed an unrealized talent. He smacked a single up the middle off of Detroit’s Mike Strahler early in the contest and stayed in the game for four innings. He even drew some praise from players and fans.

“He didn’t look that bad at first,” Tigers infielder Norm Cash told The Sporting News. “He knew where to play the batters and didn’t drop a single throw.”

Neither team took the game seriously. Lewis played his usual self, clowning with runners on the base and jokingly frustrating the umpire crew. Neither the Tigers nor the Astros wanted to risk their pitching staffs, so both teams sent their pitching coaches to the mound.

Lewis left in the fourth inning much to an ovation from the Astrodome crowd. However, the comedy was not left to the professional. Both teams were still getting used to the relatively new innovation of Astroturf which made the ball bounce quicker and harder than regular grass.

In the eighth inning, Houston’s Bob Gallagher hit a bases-clearing grand slam inside-the-park home run because Detroit’s outfielders misjudged the bounce and the ball quickly reached the warning track. Four Astros runners scored for a final score of 10-7. It was a bizarre play that should have been expected in a game featuring Hollywood comedians and cantankerous managers.

“I’ll just be happy to get out of here and go on [to Arlington to play the Rangers],” Martin said after the game.