1976 Houston Astros season

1976 Houston Astros
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1962)
Western Division (since 1969)
Location
Astrodome (since 1965)
Houston, Texas (since 1962)
Results
Record	80–82 (.494)
Divisional place	3rd
Other information
Owner(s)	Roy Hofheinz
General manager(s)	Tal Smith
Manager(s)	Bill Virdon
Local television	KPRC-TV
Local radio	KPRC (AM) (Gene Elston, Loel Passe, Bob Prince)
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The Houston Astros' 1976 season was a season in American baseball. 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.^[1]
• 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.^[2]

Regular season

Season standings

NL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	102	60	0.630	—	49–32	53–28
Los Angeles Dodgers	92	70	0.568	10	49–32	43–38
Houston Astros	80	82	0.494	22	46–36	34–46
San Francisco Giants	74	88	0.457	28	40–41	34–47
San Diego Padres	73	89	0.451	29	42–38	31–51
Atlanta Braves	70	92	0.432	32	34–47	36–45

Record vs. opponents

1976 National League Records Sources:
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.^[3]
• June 8, 1976: 1976 Major League Baseball draft
  • Floyd Bannister was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 1st round (1st pick).^[4]
  • Gary Rajsich was drafted by the Astros in the 11th round.^[5]
  • Bert Roberge was drafted by the Astros in the 17th round.^[6]

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	Herrmann, EdEd Herrmann	79	265	54	.204	3	25
2B	Andrews, RobRob Andrews	109	410	105	.256	0	23
LF	Cruz, JoséJosé Cruz	133	439	133	.303	4	61
CF	Cedeño, CésarCésar Cedeño	150	575	171	.297	18	83

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
Johnson, CliffCliff Johnson	108	318	72	.226	10	49
Roberts, LeonLeon Roberts	87	235	68	.289	7	33
Howard, WilburWilbur Howard	94	191	42	.220	1	18
Javier, AlAl Javier	8	24	5	.208	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
Dierker, LarryLarry Dierker	28	187.1	13	14	3.69	112
Andújar, JoaquínJoaquín Andújar	28	172.1	9	10	3.60	59
Larson, DanDan Larson	13	92.1	5	8	3.02	42
Cosgrove, MikeMike Cosgrove	22	89.2	3	4	5.52	34
Lemongello, MarkMark Lemongello	4	29	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
McLaughlin, BoBo McLaughlin	17	79	4	5	2.85	32
Rondon, GilbertoGilberto Rondon	19	53.2	2	2	5.70	21

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
Pentz, GeneGene Pentz	40	3	3	5	2.97	36
Griffin, TomTom Griffin	20	5	3	0	6.05	33
Siebert, PaulPaul Siebert	19	0	2	0	3.16	10
Barlow, MikeMike Barlow	16	2	2	0	4.50	11
Hardy, LarryLarry Hardy	15	0	0	3	7.06	10
Sosa, JoséJosé Sosa	9	0	0	0	6.94	5

Farm system

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

References

1. Joaquín Andújar page on Baseball Reference
2. Jim Crawford page on Baseball Reference
3. Terry Humphrey at Baseball-Reference
4. Floyd Bannister at Baseball Reference
5. Gary Rajsich at Baseball Reference
6. Bert Roberge at Baseball Reference

External links

• 1976 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference