1977 Houston Astros season

1977 Houston Astros
LeagueNational League
DivisionWest
BallparkAstrodome
CityHouston, Texas
Record81–81 (.500)
Divisional place3rd
OwnersGeneral Electric, Ford Motor Company
General managersTal Smith
ManagersBill Virdon
TelevisionKPRC-TV
RadioKPRC (AM)
(Gene Elston, Dewayne Staats)
Seasons

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.

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

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

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
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

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
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
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

Roster

1977 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

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

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

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. ^ Schwartzberg, Seth (May 25, 2025). "Today in Astros history - May 25". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  6. ^ Schwarzberg, Seth (June 24, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 24". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  7. ^ Mooallem, Jon (May 22, 2020). "The wild, mysterious history of sports' most enduring gesture: the high five". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 15, 2025.
  8. ^ Chavéz ]first=Chris (January 29, 2020). "Dusty Baker, Astros agree to contract to be next manager". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 15, 2025.
  9. ^ Scott Loucks at Baseball Reference
  10. ^ Denny Walling at Baseball Reference
  11. ^ "1977 Houston Astros Schedule & Results". Baseball Reference. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
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