1977 Houston Astros season

The 1977 Houston Astros season was the 16th season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 13th as the Astros, 16th in the National League (NL), ninth in the NL West division, and 13th at The Astrodome. The Astros entered the season having completed a 80–82 record, in third place and 22 games behind the two-time defending division-champion and World Series-winning Cincinnati Reds.

1977 Houston Astros
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	Astrodome
City	Houston, Texas
Record	81–81 (.500)
Divisional place	3rd
Owners	General Electric, Ford Motor Company
General managers	Tal Smith
Managers	Bill Virdon
Television	KPRC-TV
Radio	KPRC (AM) (Gene Elston, Dewayne Staats)
← 1976 Seasons 1978 →

On April 8, J. R. Richard made his second Opening Day start for Houston, who hosted the Atlanta Braves and won, 3–2. The Astros' first round selection in the amateur draft was shortstop Ricky Adams at 14th overall.

On June 24, Bob Watson became the second player in franchise history to hit for the cycle, and the first in major league history to do so in both the NL and the American League (AL). It was the third cycle overall for the Astros, and third in six seasons.

Pitcher Joaquín Andújar was selected to represent the Astros at the MLB All-Star Game for the first time in his career.

With a one-game improvement from the prior season to 81–81, Houston maintained third place in the NL West, 17 games behind the division champion and NL pennant-winning Los Angeles Dodgers. The Astros' fourth season over the past six with a record of .500 or above, it was also the first time they finished in third place or higher in consecutive seasons.

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

Summary

Second baseman Art Howe connected for two home runs on May 25 to lead a 7–6 decision over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Teammate Julio González factored greatly into the win by collecting four hits.^[5]

On June 24, Bob Watson tripled, doubled, and hit a home run against the San Francisco Giants. In the eighth inning, he singled to hit for the cycle, and became the second player in franchise history to do so. Part of a five-RBI performance, this led the Astros to a 6–5 win. Watson became the first in major league to hit for the cycle so in both the NL and the American League (AL).^[6] Watson's took place the season after teammate César Cedeño hit for his second, who also hit the first two cycles in club history.

On the final day of the regular season, October 2, Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Dusty Baker took Astros starter J. R. Richard deep for his 30th home run of the season. As Baker approached home plate, teammate Glenn Burke awaited with his hand held high, and Baker instinctively raised his hand to hit Burke's palm, creating the high five, which at the time had been not widely known and was speculated to have been invented. Baker's home run gave the Dodgers their fourth hitter with at least 30 home runs, the first time this was accomplished by any major league team.^[7] Later, following his long playing career, Baker became manager of the Astros in 2020.^[8]

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

NL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Los Angeles Dodgers	98	64	.605	—	51‍–‍30	47‍–‍34
Cincinnati Reds	88	74	.543	10	48‍–‍33	40‍–‍41
Houston Astros	81	81	.500	17	46‍–‍35	35‍–‍46
San Francisco Giants	75	87	.463	23	38‍–‍43	37‍–‍44
San Diego Padres	69	93	.426	29	35‍–‍46	34‍–‍47
Atlanta Braves	61	101	.377	37	40‍–‍41	21‍–‍60

Record vs. opponents

1977 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MTL	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.^[9]
• June 15, 1977: Willie Crawford was traded by the Astros to the Oakland Athletics for Denny Walling.^[10]

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

Game log

Regular season

Legend
	Astros win
	Astros loss
	Postponement
	Eliminated from playoff race
Bold	Astros team member

1977 regular season game log: 81–81 (Home: 46–35; Away: 35–46)[11]
April: 9–11 (Home: 6–6; Away: 3–5) # Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 4 April 11 Reds 5 April 12 Reds 6 April 13 Reds 19 April 29 @ Pirates 20 April 30 @ Pirates
May: 11–16 (Home: 7–7; Away: 4–9) # Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 21 May 1 @ Pirates 31 May 13 Pirates 31 May 14 Pirates 31 May 15 Pirates 40 May 24 @ Dodgers 41 May 25 @ Dodgers 42 May 26 @ Dodgers 46 May 30 Dodgers 47 May 31 Dodgers
June: 13–16 (Home: 7–8; Away: 6–8) # Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 46 June 1 Dodgers 49 June 2 @ Reds 50 June 3 @ Reds 51 June 4 @ Reds 52 June 5 @ Reds
July: 15–14 (Home: 8–5; Away: 7–9) # Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 82 July 6 @ Dodgers 83 July 7 @ Dodgers 84 July 8 Reds 85 July 9 Reds 86 July 10 Reds 87 July 11 Reds 88 July 12 Dodgers 89 July 13 Dodgers 90 July 14 Dodgers 91 July 15 @ Reds 92 July 16 @ Reds 93 July 17 @ Reds — July 19 7:15 p.m. CDT 48th All-Star Game in Bronx, NY 100 July 26 @ Pirates 101 July 27 @ Pirates 102 July 28 @ Pirates
August: 16–12 (Home: 11–3; Away: 5–9) # Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 106 August 1 Pirates 107 August 2 Pirates 108 August 3 Pirates
September: 16–11 (Home: 6–6; Away: 10–5) # Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 137 September 5 Reds 138 September 6 Reds 144 September 12 @ Reds 145 September 13 @ Reds 153 September 23 Dodgers 154 September 24 Dodgers 155 September 25 Dodgers 159 September 29 @ Dodgers 160 September 30 @ Dodgers
October: 1–1 (Home: 0–0; Away: 1–1) # Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 161 October 1 @ Dodgers 162 October 2 @ Dodgers

Detailed records

National League Opponent W L WP RS RA NL East Pittsburgh Pirates 4 8 0.333 38 50 Div Total 4 8 0.333 38 50 NL West Cincinnati Reds 13 5 0.722 94 50 Houston Astros Los Angeles Dodgers 9 9 0.500 63 70 Div Total 22 14 0.611 157 120 Season Total 26 22 0.542 195 170

Month Games Won Lost Win % RS RA April May June July August September October Total Games Won Lost Win % RS RA Home Away Total

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	Joe Ferguson	132	421	108	.257	16	61
1B	Bob Watson	151	554	160	.289	22	110
2B	Art Howe	125	413	109	.264	8	58
SS	Roger Metzger	97	269	50	.186	0	16
3B	Enos Cabell	150	625	176	.282	16	68
LF	Terry Puhl	60	229	69	.301	0	10
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
Ed Herrmann	56	158	46	.291	1	17
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
Ken Boswell	72	97	21	.216	0	12
Art Gardner	66	65	10	.154	0	3
Leon Roberts	19	27	2	.074	0	2
Denny Walling	6	21	6	.286	0	6
Danny Walton	13	21	4	.190	0	1
Craig Cacek	7	20	1	.050	0	1
Joe Cannon	9	17	2	.118	0	1
Mike Fischlin	13	15	3	.200	0	0
Luis Pujols	6	15	1	.067	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
J. R. Richard	36	267.0	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	21.0	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
Ken Forsch	42	5	8	8	2.72	45
Joe Sambito	54	5	5	7	2.33	67
Bo McLaughlin	46	4	7	5	4.25	59
Gene Pentz	41	5	2	2	3.83	51
Roy Thomas	4	0	0	0	2.84	4

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

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