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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)

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 an 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.

César Cedeño became the sixth major leaguer since 1900 to record six campaigns with 50 or more stolen bases.

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

The Houston Astros concluded their 1976 season with an 80–82 (.494) record, in third place in the National League (NL) West division, and 22 games behind the back-to-back division- and eventual World Series-champion Cincinnati Reds.[1] It was Houston's seventh campaign within the prior eight to have won at least 79 games. During the first full season with Bill Virdon as manager, he guided Houston to a 15+1⁄2-game rebound from the 1975 campaign.[2]

Regular season

Summary

April

Opening Day starting lineup[7][8]
 9 Julio González 2B
23 Enos Cabell 3B
25 José Cruz RF
27 Bob Watson 1B
21 Willie Crawford LF
13 Joe Ferguson  C
24 Art Gardner CF
14 Roger Metzger SS
50 J. R. Richard  P
Venue: Astrodome • HOU 3, ATL 2

On April 8, J. R. Richard made his second Opening Day start for Houston,[9] who hosted the Atlanta Braves. Atlanta bolted a 2–0 lead in the top of the first when Jeff Burroughs clobbered a two-run home run deep to left off Richard. During the bottom of the first, José Cruz punched a sacrifice fly that plated Julio González. Braves Opening Day starter Andy Messersmith equally matched his counterpart, as both he and Richard tossed nine innings of two-run ball. Leading of the top of the 11th opposing Bob Johnson, Astros catcher Joe Ferguson golfed a walk-off home run to win the contest for the Astros, 3–2. Ken Forsch tossed two shutout frames to earn the victory.[10]

May

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.[11]

Bob Watson's cycle

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).[a][12][13]

Watson's cycle took place the season after teammate César Cedeño hit for his second, who also hit the first two cycles in club history. The next cycle by an Astros player was by Andújar Cedeño on August 25, 1992.[14]

August—September

Starting August 25, César Cedeño authored a 22-game hitting streak to establish a new club mark while breaking the record of 21 games set by Lee May on June 21, 1973. Cedeño's performance included contrasting phases of productivity, with one hit each over the first nine games for a .257 batting average (9-for-35). However, in the following nine games, Cedeño exploded, going 22-for-41 (.537 average), nine extra-base hits, for a 1.024 slugging percentage. He had back-to-back four-hit games against the Cincinnati Reds, hitting two three home runs, two triples, and five runs batted in (RBI).[15] Cedeño was recognized as National League (NL) Player of the Week for September 11.[b][16]

Overall, Cedeño hit .398 (37-for-98) during the hitting streak, while his baserunning accelerated, with incredible 21 stolen bases.[15] The 22-game hitting streak represented the longest of Cedeño's career.[17] The year before, from April 17–May 14, 1976, Cedeño had also put together a 19-game hitting streak. Thus, he became the first individual in Astros history to collect two or more hitting streaks of 19 games or more. Cedeño's record stood until teammate Art Howe hit in 23 straight from May 1–24, 1981.[15]

Cedeño was recognized with NL Player of the Month honors for September.[18]

October

On the final day of the regular season, October 2, Los Angeles took Astros starter J. R. Richard deep three times at Dodger Stadium, the first time in 147 games and 130 starts for the hard-throwing, 6 feet 8 inches (2.03 m) right-handed Louisiana native.[19][20]

In fact, like a lightning strike, all 3 Dodger blasts arrived in the sixth inning via offerings to Manny Mota, Dusty Baker, and Glenn Burke. Baker's and Burke's bombs were consecutive. At the time, this gave Los Angeles a 3–1 advantage.[21]

The Dodgers' home runs carried extra significance, in that, Mota, who was pinch hitting, hit the final of his major league career. Burke's was one of his two major league home runs. Baker, meanwhile, mashed his 30th jack for the first time. For Los Angeles baseball, this was a club-record 15th consecutive game heralding the long ball,[22] and their fourth hitter with at least 30 home runs, the first time this was accomplished by any major league team. As Baker reached home plate following the blast, Burke greeted him his hand held high, who instinctively raised his hand to hit Burke's palm, creating the high five, speculated to have been the moment it was invented.[Note 1][23][24]

However, the Astros lineup did not allow Richard to forget their own power capabilities. Watson commenced the scoring in the first with a single to score Cedeño, then, in fourth, hit his 22nd dinger of the season. The inning after the Dodgers' three home runs, Cedeño singled in José Cruz. With the bases full—including Enos Cabell, Cedeño, and Watson—Denny Walling then tripled to drove home everyone. This raised the score went 6–3 Houston, which is how it remained. Cedeño and Cabell also doubled. Each of the top four of Houston order had multi-hit efforts (Cruz 2, Cabell 2, Cedeñp 3 and Watson 2). The win got Houston to the .500 mark (81–81).[21]

Richard whiffed 14 Dodgers, a season-high.[25] This was Richard's second-highest total for one game, following his major league debut with 15 punchouts on September 5, 1971.[19] Richard also notched his 13th complete game, and earned his 18th win of the season to follow-up his first 20-win season the year prior.[20]

Performance overview

The Astros concluded the 1977 season with a performance of 81–81 (.500), in third place in the NL West, and trailing division champion and NL pennant-winning Los Angeles Dodgers by 17 games.[26] The club maintained third place with one-game improvement from the year before. The Astros' fifth season with a record of .500 or above—all since 1969—it their third campaign concluded in third place, at the time matching their best for any season. They would finish higher than third for the first time in 1979.[2]

Houston led the National League in triples while ranking second to the Pittsburgh Pirates with 187 stolen bases.[26] Three Astros reached the 40-stolen base plateau, including César Cedeño (61), José Cruz (44), and Enos Cabell (42). Cedeño's total set a new club single-season, exceeding his own mark set just the year before (58),[27] while extending another club-record sixth of six uninterrupted campaigns with at least 50 steals.[c] This was the first time in club history that the Astros had rostered as many as three 40-stolen base bandits, and the ninth of a franchise-record nine consecutive featuring at least one player with that coup.[d][28]

Moreover, Cedeño became the second major leaguer during the modern era (since 1900) to record six consecutive seasons with 50 or more stolen bases, following Lou Brock (12 consecutive from 1965 to 1976). Cedeño also became the sixth player to garner 50 stolen bases over any span of six campaigns since 1900, following Bert Campaneris as also having been the most recent prior to Cedeño (seven between the 1965 to 1976 seasons).[e][29]

Meanwhile, Watson set a new club record with 110 runs batted in (RBI), surpassing Jimmy Wynn's achievement set in 1967 (107).[27]

Richard garnered 214 strikeouts for the second consecutive season, at the time, matching his career-high set just the year prior.[20] He also became Houston's first multiple-season 200-strikeout moundsman.[f][30]

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
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

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 — 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

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)[33]
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

Awards and achievements

Awards
NL batting leaders

Minor league 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

Notes

  1. ^ Watson hit his cycle as an American League player two years later, on September 15, 1979, after the Astros had traded him to the Boston Red Sox.
  2. ^ a b Co-winner with Willie McCovey of the San Francisco Giants.
  3. ^ In 1988, Gerald Young overtook Cedeño's single-season stolen base record with 65.
  4. ^ For single seasons, playing for HOU, in the regular season, requiring stolen bases ≥ 40, sorted by ascending season.
  5. ^ Since surpassed by Rickey Henderson, Tim Raines, and Vince Coleman. Criteria: Number of seasons player meets criteria, since 1900, in the regular season, requiring stolen bases ≥ 50, sorted by descending instances.
  6. ^ For single seasons, playing for HOU, in the regular season, requiring strikeouts ≥ 200, sorted by ascending season.
  1. ^ For the final stint of his managerial career, Baker was appointed to the position for the Astros in 2020.

References

  1. ^ "1976 National League team statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 7, 2026.
  2. ^ a b "Houston Astros team history & encyclopedia". Baaseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 15, 2025.
  3. ^ "Julio González stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  4. ^ "John Butcher stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 4, 2026.
  5. ^ "Paul Siebert stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  6. ^ "Rob Andrews stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 18, 2026.
  7. ^ "Atlanta Braves (2) vs Houston Astros (3) box score". Baseball Almanac. April 8, 1977. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  8. ^ "1977 Houston Astros uniform numbers". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  9. ^ "Houston Astros Opening Day starters". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 26, 2025.
  10. ^ "Atlanta Braves (2) vs Houston Astros (3) box score". Baseball-Reference.com. April 8, 1977. Retrieved January 18, 2026.
  11. ^ Schwartzberg, Seth (May 25, 2025). "Today in Astros history - May 25". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  12. ^ "MLB hitting for the cycle records". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved October 5, 2025.
  13. ^ Schwarzberg, Seth (June 24, 2025). "Today in Astros history - June 24". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  14. ^ Young, Matt (July 22, 2024). "Details behind each player who has hit for the cycle in Astros franchise history". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
  15. ^ a b c Smith, David. "Houston Astros hitting streaks". Astros Daily. Retrieved September 27, 2025 – via Retrosheet.
  16. ^ a b "MLB Players of the Week Awards". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
  17. ^ "Top performances for César Cedeño". Retrosheet. Retrieved January 1, 2026.
  18. ^ a b "MLB Major League Baseball Players of the Month". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  19. ^ a b "Top performances for J. R. Richard". Retrosheet. Retrieved November 22, 2025.
  20. ^ a b c "J. R. Richard stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 20, 2025.
  21. ^ a b "Houston Astros (6) vs Los Angeles Dodgers (3) box score". Baseball-Reference.com. October 2, 1977. Retrieved December 20, 2025.
  22. ^ Gurnee, Phil (June 25, 2016). "Six Foot Eight Dodger nemesis J. R. Richard stood in the Dodgers way of history". Dodgers, Yesterday and Today. Retrieved December 20, 2025.
  23. ^ Mooallem, Jon (May 22, 2020). "The wild, mysterious history of sports' most enduring gesture: the high five". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 15, 2025.
  24. ^ Chávez, Chris (January 29, 2020). "Dusty Baker, Astros agree to contract to be next manager". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 15, 2025.
  25. ^ "J. R. Richard 1977 pitching game logs". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 20, 2025.
  26. ^ a b "1977 National League team statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 17, 2026.
  27. ^ a b "Astros history – Timeline". MLB.com. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
  28. ^ "Player batting season & career stats finder–baseball". Stathead. Sports Reference. Retrieved January 1, 2026.
  29. ^ "Player batting season & career stats finder–baseball". Stathead. Sports Reference. Retrieved January 4, 2026.
  30. ^ "Player pitching season & career stats finder–baseball". Stathead. Sports Reference. Retrieved January 17, 2026.
  31. ^ "Scott Loucks stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 18, 2026.
  32. ^ "Denny Walling stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 7, 2026.
  33. ^ "1977 Houston Astros Schedule & Results". Baseball Reference. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
  34. ^ McTaggart, Brian (December 21, 2009). "Bourn highlights Astros' awards season". MLB.com. Archived from the original on December 8, 2010. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
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