1976 Houston Astros season

1976 Houston Astros
LeagueNational League
DivisionWest
BallparkAstrodome
CityHouston, Texas
Record80–82 (.494)
Divisional place3rd
OwnersRoy Hofheinz
General managersTal Smith
ManagersBill Virdon
TelevisionKPRC-TV
RadioKPRC (AM)
(Gene Elston, Loel Passe, Bob Prince)

The 1976 Houston Astros season was the 15th season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 12th as the Astros, 15th in the National League (NL), eighth in the NL West division, and 12th at The Astrodome. They entered the season as having tied for the most losses in franchise history, at the time, with a 65–97 record, and the most games behind first place, 43+1⁄2 behind the division-champion and World Series-winning Cincinnati Reds.

On April 8, J. R. Richard made his first of five consecutive Opening Day starts for Houston, at Riverfront Stadium to face Cincinnati, but were defeated, 11–5. The Astros' first round selection in the amateur draft was pitcher Floyd Bannister at first overall. Bannister became the Astros' first-ever number one overall draft pick. On July 9, Larry Dierker tossed the fifth no-hitter in franchise history, a 6–0 win over the Montreal Expos.

Center fielder César Cedeño and pitcher Ken Forsch were selected to the MLB All-Star Game; it was the fourth time Cedeño and first for Forsch. Pitcher Robin Roberts, who briefly played for Houston in 1965 and 1966, became the first former Astro to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

On August 9, Cedeño hit for the cycle at Busch Memorial Stadium, the second of two he hit for the Astros, highlighting a 13–4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Cedeño at the time had been the only Houston Astro to hit for the cycle.

The Astros concluded the regular season third in the NL West with a record of 80–82, 22 games behind Cincinnati, who repeated as World Series champions.

Cedeño also won his fifth career Gold Glove Award following the season.

Offseason

Transactions
Exhibition play

The Astros participated in the first-ever baseball game ever hosted at the Louisiana Superdome, in New Orleans, on April 6, 1976, matching up against the Minnesota Twins. Built for American football, the new stadium was the home of the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL).[3] In front of just over 10,000 fans, the Astros defeated the Twins, 10–5. Cliff Johnson propelled Houston's offense with three hits, including blasting a home run. Not engineered for baseball, primary issues included a concrete warning track, gridiron sidelines down third base, and poor visibility led to a scoreboard being shut off.[4]

Regular season

Summary

April

Opening Day starting lineup[5][6]
26 Wilbur Howard LF
23 Enos Cabell 3B
28 César Cedeño CF
27 Bob Watson 1B
 6 Cliff Johnson  C
21 Greg Gross RF
10 Larry Milbourne 2B
14 Roger Metzger SS
50 J. R. Richard  P
Venue: Riverfront Stadium • CIN 11, HOU 5

The Cincinnati Reds hosted the Astros at Riverfront Stadium for Opening Day on April 8. J. R. Richard made his first career Opening Day start,[7] which lasted four innings as he gave up four runs. Rookie José Sosa relieved and was ambushed for six hits and five runs over just one inning. Former Astro Joe Morgan collected three hits and scored three runs. During the top of the sixth, César Cedeño and Bob Watson connected for successive home runs off Reds starter Gary Nolan to highlight the Astros offense. However, Cincinnati took the opener, 11–5.[8]

Twice of behalf of Ken Forsch' efforts on April 15, the Astros were rescued from reversal by the San Diego Padres. With Houston leading 5–4 in the ninth inning and the tying runner aboard, Forsch induced Ted Kubiak to ground to second for the inevitable end to the contest, except that catcher Cliff Johnson was checked for interference, awarding Kubiak first base. Now facing Merv Rettenmund, Forsch induced a fly ball to Greg Gross in right field that he converted to the final out to polish off the victory.[4]

From April 17 to May 14, César Cedeño authored a career-high 19-game hitting streak, batting .378. [9] Infused with consistency, Cedeño tallied nine multi-hit games, none with more than two. He also swatted five home runs, collected 19 runs batted in (RBI) eight stolen bases, .662 slugging percentage (SLG) and 1.080 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS).[10] The following year, he aggregated another streak of 22, from August 25—September 21, 1977, making him the only player in club history with two hitting streaks each of 19 games or more.[9]

On April 21, J. R. Richard tossed the first 10 innings of a 16-inning, eventual 1–0 shutout of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Richard struck out seven, walked three and allowed four hits for a game score of 88, his highest of the season. José Cruz, who had pinch hit for Richard in the bottom of the 10th, roped a walk-off single off Stan Wall to score Larry Milbourne in the bottom of the 16th inning. Mike Barlow, who entered for Houston for the final inning, picked up his second victory.[11] This was the Astros' longest game of the season in terms of innings played and second longest by time.[12]

May

On May 7, J. R. Richard tossed a complete game six-hitter against the St. Louis Cardinals to lead 3–1 Astros victory. Richard registered a game score of 71, six walks and six strikeouts. José Cruz propelled the offense with 2 hits and 2 RBI, Roger Metzger and Wilbur Wood each added two hits and Richard added an insurance run with a sacrifice fly.[13]

Houston's catching corps combined to hit for the cycle on May 9 at Busch Memorial Stadium during a 10–5 beating of St. Louis. Johnson pounded four hits—including two singles, a double and a home run—before spraining his ankle. Backup Skip Jutze completed the effort with a triple in the seventh inning.[4] Meanwhile, Enos Cabell turned four at bats into three hits. Gross drew a base on balls in each of his four plate appearances. José Cruz smashed his first double of the season. The Astros piled on 13 hits while striking out just once. Larry Dierker (4–3) added another hit and hurled eight solid innings, yielding seven hits and two runs.[14]

The only home run hit by starter Joe Niekro during his 21-year major league career occurred on May 29, when he connected off his brother, Phil. The drive took place in the seventh inning off a knuckleball offering during an Astros' 4–3 win over the Atlanta Braves.[15] During the second game of a May 30 doubleheader later that same series, Houston set a club record with 25 hits for a 16–5 defeat of Atlanta. Twenty-three of the hits were singles, and Jerry DaVanon led the Astros with five runs batted in (RBI)[16] and Cliff Johnson doubled and led Houston with four hits.[17]

June—July

Holding their first-ever first overall pick, on June 8, Houston selected pitcher Floyd Bannister from Arizona State University in the MLB draft.[4] Meanwhile, Dierker blanked St. Louis, 2–0, on just five hits, three walks, and nine strikeouts, qualifying a game score of 83. On the basepaths, Dierker scratched through both of the Astros' runs via a single and an error during plays involving at bats by Bob Watson.[18]

With flooding in Greater Houston, the Astros were forced to cancel their game on June 15, 1976, against the Pittsburgh Pirates. This became the first and remained the only rainout that ever occurred in the 35 seasons that the team played at the Astrodome.[19] To pick up their rain checks, some fans resorted to riding in canoes in 7 inches (18 cm) of rain to travel to the stadium.[20]

During a doubleheader in Cincinnati on July 2, César Cedeño took center stage by driving in both game-winners to seal the sweep, while going 7-for-11, and singling for his 1,000th career hit. Houston racked up 25 hits during the opener, which tied the club record established just one month earlier on May 30.[4] Cedeño, Greg Gross, and Enos Cabell each grooved four hits. Meanwhile, Pete Rose had five hits for the Reds, and Joe Morgan coaxed four walks. In the 14th inning, Cedeño crushed a two-run blast off Rich Hinton to break the tie and give the Astros a 9–7 lead, retaining difference in a 10–8 final.[21] Cedeño doubled twice among three hits in the nightcap. In the eighth inning, he doubled in Cabell off Fred Norman for the decisive run and 3–2 Astros triumph.[22]

Navigating 10 bases on balls issued and eight hits on July 6, J. R. Richard prevailed to lock down a 10-inning, 1–0 complete-game shutout of the New York Mets. In the bottom of the 10th inning, Jerry DaVanon singled home Wilbur Howard to cap the walk-off win.[23] This victory commenced a span of eight starts through August 4 during which the hurler crafted a 0.90 earned run average (ERA), was 6–2 over 69+2⁄3 innings pitched, with 42 hits surrendered, 41 walks and 43 strikeouts.[24]

Larry Dierker's no-hitter

Larry Dierker tossed a no-hitter on July 9, a 6–0 triumph over the Montreal Expos. He struck out eight, walked four,[25] and posted a game score of 91. Ed Herrmann, who served as Dierker's batterymate, homered in the fourth inning.[26] The first no-hitter ever pitched against the Expos,[a][27] this was Dierker's fifth career shutout of two hits or fewer.[28] His 137th win, at the time of his crowning achievement, Dierker was the Astros' franchise leader in nearly every pitching category.[29]

Hermann led a balanced offensive approach by reaching base thrice via two hits and one walk. Bob Watson and Roger Metzger added two hits and one walk each, while José Cruz collected two hits. Dierker chipped in an RBI via a sacrifice fly. The Astros collected 11 base hits and four walks in total[26]

The most recent no-hitter for Houston had been by Don Wilson on May 1, 1969, 4–0 triumph over Cincinnati. The next no-hitter by Astros pitching transpired on April 7, 1979, by Ken Forsch in a 6–0 win over the Atlanta Braves.[27]

MLB All-Star Game

Cedeño and pitcher Ken Forsch were selected to the MLB All-Star Game, hosted at Veterans Stadium. Cedeño became Houston's first player to homer at an All-Star Game, blasting a two-run shot off Frank Tanana to punctuate a 7–1 National League victory. Forsch closed out the contest with a scoreless ninth.[4] His fourth selection, Cedeño matched Turk Farrell—also the Colt .45s/Astros first-ever All-Star—for most in club history. This stood as club record until Craig Biggio would receive his fifth selection in the 1996 All-Star Game. Moreover, Biggio joined Cedeño in 1995 as the next Astro to homer during the Midsummer Classic.[30]

Rest of July

On July 18, catcher Ed Herrmann served as the impetus for Houston to sweep a doubleheader of the Expos by tallies of 7–6 and 10–1. Herrmann authored a 7-for-10 performance, including a home run and 7 RBI. In the opener, which lasted 10 innings, Hermmann delivered a 5-for-5 performance. During the nightcap, Greg Gross connected on a 4-for-4 contest as Houston's offense sprinted to a 22-hit lambasting. Dan Larson tossed a complete game in his big league debut.[b][4]

Making his second major league start, on July 25, Bo McLaughlin fired a 10-inning shutout of the San Francisco Giants and got the win. Greg Gross plated Wilbur Howard via a walk-off sacrifice fly to win it, 1–0, with two out in the bottom of the 10th.[31]

True to the renown of the Astrodome, on July 26, the Astros celebrated their 1,000th contest at the stadium with Dierker tossing a two-hit shutout for 7–0 triumph over the San Diego Padres[4] nineteen days after no-hitting the Expos. His sixth career shutout of two hits or fewer,[28] Dierker received a game score of 85. Bob Watson homered, doubled, and drove in three to support. Finally, Dierker's sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth punctuated an extra insurance run.[32] The following day, Richard glazed the Padres on a four-hit complete game as Houston won, 4–1. Bob Watson blasted a home run while supplying all of the Astros' offense.[33]

August

On August 8, J. R, Richard, having forged 37+1⁄3 consecutive innings without an earned run,[34] yielded a pinch hit, game-tying three run home run to Willie McCovey of the San Diego Padres in the bottom of the eighth. The following inning, former Astro Héctor Torres singled in Tito Fuentes for the walk-off win.[35]

On August 9, César Cedeño hit for the cycle at Busch Memorial Stadium, highlighting a 13–4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. His drew the first three hits—triple, home run, and then double—against starter and future Astro Bob Forsch, also brother of teammate Ken. The second of two cycles that Cedeño hit for the Astros, at the time he had been the only Astros player to have hit for the cycle. The next Astros cycle was by teammate Bob Watson on June 24 of the following year.[36]

On August 20, Dan Larson iced the Philadelphia Phillies on a complete game effort, while going 3-for-4 with 4 RBI to lead Houston to an 8–3 victory. He also walloped his first major league triple. Wilbur Howard accrued three base knocks as each Astros starter logged at least one hit.[37]

September—October

Bo McLaughlin tossed a 1–0 shutout on September 1 to outduel Jim Kaat and nip the Phillies for a club record-tying sixth complete game in a row. Cliff Johnson's solo blast provided all the offensive support that McLaughlin required.[4] Concurrent with this achievement, Houston were also riding a season-high 7-game winning streak.[12]

Infielder Alex Taveras his major league debut on September 9 as a pinch runner in a 4–3 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. His first official plate appearance was in the first game of a doubleheader on September 11, where collected his first major league hit in 3 at bats versus the Padres He went 43 plate appearances and 41 at bats until a contest against the Los Angeles Dodgers on September 29, before being retired via strikeout for the first time, which set a franchise record.[38][39]

Bob Watson belted his 100th career home run on September 18, a solo shot off Adrian Devine leading off the top of the ninth at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium.[40] However, Devine retired Johnson, Leon Roberts, and Taveras in order for the save as the Atlanta Braves held on for the 5–3 win.[41]

The Astros polished off their regular season on October 2 with aplomb, pasting the San Francisco Giants for a 10–1 victory, led by a tour-de-force performance from ace J. R. Richard. On the mound, Richard hurled a one-hit complete game, with just one walk surrendered with 13 whiffs for a game score of 87.[42] The 13-strikeout effort tied for most in the National League that season.[34] Richard won his last three appearances within a span of nine days[34] to become a 20-game winner[42] for the first time[43] and complement a sturdy 2.75 earned run average (ERA). At the plate, Richard went 3-for-4, swatting a bomb with three RBI. Batterymate Cliff Johnson doubled and also brought two runs home. Bob Watson added two RBI, and José Cruz collected two hits, scored twice and swiped two of Houston's four bags.[42]

Performance overview

During manager Bill Virdon's first full season at the helm, Houston rebounded to improve by 15+1⁄2 games from the year prior.[44]

J. R. Richard became Houston's second 20-game winner, succeeding Dierker in 1969.[45] Richard also led the NL in hits per nine innings surrendered (6.835 H/9) for the first of three times that he would do so in his career. He became the second Astros to lead the league in this category, following Don Wilson in 1971 (6.549).[46]

Meanwhile, Cedeño won his fifth straight Gold Glove Award, and swiped a club-record 58 stolen bases,[45] incrementally upping his total by one for the fourth time in five seasons.[47] The five Gold Gloves tied former teammate Doug Rader for most in franchise history, also consecutively (1970—1974).[48]

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

Roster

1976 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

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

Awards and achievements

Career honors
Astros elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
Individual Pos. Colt .45s / Astros career Induction
No. Yr. Gm. St. Fin.
Robin Roberts SP 38 2 23 1965 1966 1976 Plaque
See also: Members of the Baseball Hall of Fame • Ref:[53]
Annual awards
NL pitching leaders

Minor league 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

See also

References

Footnotes
  1. ^ Bill Stoneman had fired two no-hitters for the Expos, the first two such contests they were involved in.
  2. ^ Not to be confused with Don Larsen, who tossed a perfect game in the 1956 World Series, and later pitched for the Colt .45s/Astros in 1964 and 1965.
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