1977 Houston Astros season

The 1977 Houston Astros season was a season in American baseball. The team finished third in the National League West with a record of 81–81, 17 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.

1977 Houston Astros
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1962)
Western Division (since 1969)
Location
Astrodome (since 1965) Houston, Texas (since 1962)
Results
Record	81–81 (.500)
Divisional place	3rd
Other information
Owner(s)	General Electric, Ford Motor Company
General manager(s)	Tal Smith
Manager(s)	Bill Virdon
Local television	KPRC-TV
Local radio	KPRC (AM) (Gene Elston, Dewayne Staats)
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Offseason

• December 8, 1976: Greg Gross was traded by the Astros to the Chicago Cubs for Julio González.[1]
• January 11, 1977: John Butcher was drafted by the Astros in the 1st round (5th pick) of the secondary phase of the 1977 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.[2]
• January 25, 1977: Paul Siebert was traded by the Astros to the San Diego Padres for Mike Allen (minors).[3]
• March 26, 1977: Rob Andrews and cash were traded by the Astros to the San Francisco Giants for Willie Crawford and Rob Sperring.[4]

Regular season

Season standings

NL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Los Angeles Dodgers	98	64	0.605	—	51–30	47–34
Cincinnati Reds	88	74	0.543	10	48–33	40–41
Houston Astros	81	81	0.500	17	46–35	35–46
San Francisco Giants	75	87	0.463	23	38–43	37–44
San Diego Padres	69	93	0.426	29	35–46	34–47
Atlanta Braves	61	101	0.377	37	40–41	21–60

Record vs. opponents

1977 National League Records Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	5–7	4–14	9–9	5–13	6–6	7–5	2–10	3–9	11–7	8–10	1–11
Chicago	7–5	—	7–5	6–6	6–6	10–8	9–9	6–12	7–11	7–5	9–3	7–11
Cincinnati	14–4	5–7	—	5–13	10–8	7–5	10–2	8–4	3–9	11–7	10–8	5–7
Houston	9–9	6–6	13–5	—	9–9	8–4	6–6	4–8	4–8	8–10	9–9	5–7
Los Angeles	13–5	6–6	8–10	9–9	—	7–5	8–4	6–6	9–3	12–6	14–4	6–6
Montreal	6–6	8–10	5–7	4–8	5–7	—	10–8	7–11	7–11	5–7	6–6	12–6
New York	5–7	9–9	2–10	6–6	4–8	8–10	—	5–13	4–14	6–6	7–5	8–10
Philadelphia	10-2	12–6	4–8	8–4	6–6	11–7	13–5	—	8–10	9–3	9–3	11–7
Pittsburgh	9–3	11–7	9–3	8–4	3–9	11–7	14–4	10–8	—	10–2	2–10	9–9
San Diego	7–11	5–7	7–11	10–8	6–12	7–5	6–6	3–9	2–10	—	8–10	8–4
San Francisco	10–8	3–9	8–10	9–9	4–14	6–6	5–7	3–9	10–2	10–8	—	7–5
St. Louis	11–1	11–7	7–5	7–5	6–6	6–12	10–8	7–11	9–9	4–8	5–7	—

Notable transactions

• June 7, 1977: Scott Loucks was drafted by the Astros in the 5th round of the 1977 Major League Baseball draft.[5]
• June 15, 1977: Willie Crawford was traded by the Astros to the Oakland Athletics for Denny Walling.[6]

Roster

1977 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers 47 Joaquín Andújar 38 Floyd Bannister 37 Tom Dixon 43 Ken Forsch 46 Doug Konieczny 34 Dan Larson 42 Mark Lemongello 39 Bo McLaughlin 36 Joe Niekro 30 Gene Pentz 50 J. R. Richard 35 Joe Sambito 45 Roy Thomas		Catchers 13 Joe Ferguson  8 Ed Herrmann 53 Luis Pujols Infielders 17 Ken Boswell 23 Enos Cabell 19 Craig Cacek 10 Mike Fischlin  9 Julio González 18 Art Howe 14 Roger Metzger 11 Rob Sperring 31 Danny Walton 27 Bob Watson		Outfielders 20 Joe Cannon 28 César Cedeño 21 Willie Crawford 25 José Cruz 16 Jim Fuller 24 Art Gardner 26 Wilbur Howard  6 Cliff Johnson 21 Terry Puhl 22 Leon Roberts 29 Denny Walling		Manager  7 Bill Virdon Coaches  4 Deacon Jones  5 Bob Lillis  3 Tony Pacheco  2 Mel Wright

Player stats

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	Joe Ferguson	132	421	108	.257	16	61
1B	Bob Watson	151	554	160	.289	22	110
3B	Enos Cabell	150	625	176	.282	16	68
CF	César Cedeño	141	530	148	.279	14	71
RF	José Cruz	157	579	173	.299	17	87

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
Julio González	110	383	94	.245	1	27
Wilbur Howard	87	187	48	.257	2	13
Cliff Johnson	51	144	43	.299	10	23
Rob Sperring	58	129	24	.186	1	9
Willie Crawford	42	114	29	.254	2	18
Jim Fuller	34	100	16	.160	2	9
Denny Walling	6	21	6	.286	0	6
Craig Cacek	7	20	1	.050	0	1
Joe Cannon	9	17	2	.118	0	1

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
J. R. Richard	36	267	18	12	2.97	214
Mark Lemongello	34	214.2	9	14	3.48	83
Joaquín Andújar	26	158.2	11	8	3.69	69
Floyd Bannister	24	142.2	8	9	4.04	112
Doug Konieczny	4	21	1	1	6.00	7

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
Joe Niekro	44	180.2	13	8	3.04	101
Dan Larson	32	97.2	1	7	5.81	44
Tom Dixon	9	30.1	1	0	3.26	15

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
Bo McLaughlin	46	4	7	5	4.25	59
Ken Forsch	42	5	8	8	2.72	45
Gene Pentz	41	5	2	2	3.83	51
Roy Thomas	4	0	0	0	2.84	4

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Charleston Charlies	International League	Jim Beauchamp
AA	Columbus Astros	Southern League	Leo Posada
A	Cocoa Astros	Florida State League	Jimmy Johnson
Rookie	GCL Astros	Gulf Coast League	Julio Linares

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Charleston

References

1. Julio González at Baseball Reference
2. John Butcher at Baseball Reference
3. Paul Siebert at Baseball Reference
4. Rob Andrews at Baseball Reference
5. Scott Loucks at Baseball Reference
6. Denny Walling at Baseball Reference

External links

• 1977 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference