1976 Houston Astros season

1976 Houston Astros
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	Astrodome
City	Houston, Texas
Record	80–82 (.494)
Divisional place	3rd
Owners	Roy Hofheinz
General managers	Tal Smith
Managers	Bill Virdon
Television	KPRC-TV
Radio	KPRC (AM) (Gene Elston, Loel Passe, Bob Prince)
Seasons

The 1976 Houston Astros season was the 15th season for the Houston Astros, a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 12th as the Astros, 8th in the National League West, and 12th at The Astrodome. The team finished third in the National League West with a record of 80–82, 22 games behind the first-place Cincinnati Reds.

Offseason

• October 24, 1975: The Astros traded players to be named later to the Cincinnati Reds for Joaquín Andújar. The Astros completed the trade by sending Luis Sánchez and Carlos Alfonso (minors) to the Reds on December 12.
• December 6, 1975: Milt May, Dave Roberts and Jim Crawford were traded by the Astros to the Detroit Tigers for Leon Roberts, Terry Humphrey, Gene Pentz and Mark Lemongello.

Regular season

Season standings

NL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	102	60	.630	—	49‍–‍32	53‍–‍28
Los Angeles Dodgers	92	70	.568	10	49‍–‍32	43‍–‍38
Houston Astros	80	82	.494	22	46‍–‍36	34‍–‍46
San Francisco Giants	74	88	.457	28	40‍–‍41	34‍–‍47
San Diego Padres	73	89	.451	29	42‍–‍38	31‍–‍51
Atlanta Braves	70	92	.432	32	34‍–‍47	36‍–‍45

Record vs. opponents

1976 National League record Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	6–6	6–12	7–11	8–10	8–4	4–8	5–7	3–9	10–8	9–9	4–8
Chicago	6–6	—	3–9	5–7	3–9	11–7	5–13	8–10	8–10	6–6	8–4	12–6
Cincinnati	12–6	9–3	—	12–6	13–5	9–3	6–6	5–7	8–4	13–5	9–9	6–6
Houston	11–7	7–5	6–12	—	5–13	10–2	6–6	4–8	2–10	10–8	10–8	9–3
Los Angeles	10–8	9–3	5–13	13–5	—	10–2	7–5	5–7	9–3	6–12	8–10	10–2
Montreal	4–8	7–11	3–9	2–10	2–10	—	8–10	3–15	8–10	4–8	7–5	7–11
New York	8–4	13–5	6–6	6–6	5–7	10–8	—	5–13	10–8	7–5	7–5	9–9
Philadelphia	7-5	10–8	7–5	8–4	7–5	15–3	13–5	—	8–10	8–4	6–6	12–6
Pittsburgh	9–3	10–8	4–8	10–2	3–9	10–8	8–10	10–8	—	7–5	9–3	12–6
San Diego	8–10	6–6	5–13	8–10	12–6	8–4	5–7	4–8	5–7	—	8–10	4–8
San Francisco	9–9	4–8	9–9	8–10	10–8	5–7	5–7	6–6	3–9	10–8	—	5–7
St. Louis	8–4	6–12	6–6	3–9	2–10	11–7	9–9	6–12	6–12	8–4	7–5	—

Notable transactions

• June 6, 1976: Terry Humphrey and Mike Barlow were traded by the Astros to the California Angels for Ed Herrmann.
• June 8, 1976: 1976 Major League Baseball draft
  • Floyd Bannister was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 1st round (1st pick).
  • Gary Rajsich was drafted by the Astros in the 11th round.
  • Bert Roberge was drafted by the Astros in the 17th round.

Roster

1976 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers 47 Joaquín Andújar 39 Mike Barlow 37 Mike Cosgrove 49 Larry Dierker 43 Ken Forsch 38 Tom Griffin 42 Larry Hardy 34 Dan Larson 51 Mark Lemongello 39 Bo McLaughlin 36 Joe Niekro 30 Gene Pentz 50 J. R. Richard 45 Gilberto Rondon 35 Joe Sambito 31 Paul Siebert 44 José Sosa		Catchers  8 Ed Herrmann  6 Cliff Johnson  9 Skip Jutze Infielders 11 Rob Andrews 17 Ken Boswell 23 Enos Cabell 16 Jerry DaVanon 18 Art Howe 14 Roger Metzger 10 Larry Milbourne 15 Alex Taveras 27 Bob Watson		Outfielders 28 César Cedeño 20 Rich Chiles 25 José Cruz 21 Greg Gross 26 Wilbur Howard 29 Al Javier 22 Leon Roberts		Manager  7 Bill Virdon Coaches  4 Deacon Jones  5 Bob Lillis  3 Tony Pacheco  2 Mel Wright

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	Ed Herrmann	79	265	54	.204	3	25
1B	Bob Watson	157	585	183	.313	16	102
2B	Rob Andrews	109	410	105	.256	0	23
SS	Roger Metzger	152	481	101	.210	0	29
3B	Enos Cabell	144	586	160	.273	2	43
LF	José Cruz	133	439	133	.303	4	61
CF	César Cedeño	150	575	171	.297	18	83
RF	Greg Gross	128	426	122	.286	0	27

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
Cliff Johnson	108	318	72	.226	10	49
Leon Roberts	87	235	68	.289	7	33
Wilbur Howard	94	191	42	.220	1	18
Larry Milbourne	59	145	36	.248	0	7
Ken Boswell	91	126	33	.262	0	18
Jerry DaVanon	61	107	31	.290	1	20
Skip Jutze	42	92	14	.152	0	6
Alex Taveras	14	46	10	.217	0	2
Art Howe	21	29	4	.138	0	0
Al Javier	8	24	5	.208	0	0
Rich Chiles	5	4	2	.500	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	39	291.0	20	15	2.75	214
Larry Dierker	28	187.1	13	14	3.69	112
Joaquín Andújar	28	172.1	9	10	3.60	59
Dan Larson	13	92.1	5	8	3.02	42
Mike Cosgrove	22	89.2	3	4	5.52	34
Mark Lemongello	4	29.0	3	1	2.79	9

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	36	118.0	4	8	3.36	77
Bo McLaughlin	17	79.0	4	5	2.85	32
Gilberto Rondón	19	53.2	2	2	5.70	21
Joe Sambito	20	53.1	3	2	3.54	26

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	52	4	3	19	2.15	49
Gene Pentz	40	3	3	5	2.97	36
Tom Griffin	20	5	3	0	6.05	33
Paul Siebert	19	0	2	0	3.16	10
Mike Barlow	16	2	2	0	4.50	11
Larry Hardy	15	0	0	3	7.06	10
José Sosa	9	0	0	0	6.94	5

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Memphis Blues	International League	Jim Beauchamp
AA	Columbus Astros	Southern League	Leo Posada
A	Dubuque Packers	Midwest League	Bob Cluck
Rookie	Covington Astros	Appalachian League	Julio Linares

External links

• 1976 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference