1978 Houston Astros season

1978 Houston Astros
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1962)
Western Division (since 1969)
Location
Astrodome (since 1965)
Houston, Texas (since 1962)
Results
Record	74–88 (.457)
Divisional place	5th
Other information
Owner(s)	General Electric, Ford Motor Company
General manager(s)	Tal Smith
Manager(s)	Bill Virdon
Local television	KPRC-TV
Local radio	KPRC (AM) (Gene Elston, Dewayne Staats)
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The 1978 Houston Astros season was a season in American baseball. The team finished fifth in the National League West with a record of 74-88, 21 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Offseason

• October 13, 1977: Al Javier was traded by the Astros to the Chicago Cubs for Keith Drumright.^[1]
• November 18, 1977: Oscar Zamora was signed as a free agent by the Astros.^[2]
• December 19, 1977: Jesús Alou was signed as a free agent by the Houston Astros.^[3]

Regular season

Season standings

NL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Los Angeles Dodgers	95	67	0.586	—	54–27	41–40
Cincinnati Reds	92	69	0.571	2½	49–31	43–38
San Francisco Giants	89	73	0.549	6	50–31	39–42
San Diego Padres	84	78	0.519	11	50–31	34–47
Houston Astros	74	88	0.457	21	50–31	24–57
Atlanta Braves	69	93	0.426	26	39–42	30–51

Record vs. opponents

1978 National League Records Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	5–7	6–12	8–10	5–13	5–7	6–6	8–4	2–10	8–10	11–7	5–7
Chicago	7–5	—	7–5	6–6	4–8	7–11	11–7	4–14	7–11	7–5	4–8	15–3
Cincinnati	12–6	5–7	—	11–7	9–9	8–4	7–5	7–5	4–7	9–9	12–6	8–4
Houston	10–8	6–6	7–11	—	7–11	6–6	7–5	6–6	4–8	8–10	6–12	7–5
Los Angeles	13–5	8–4	9–9	11–7	—	8–4	7–5	7–5	7–5	9–9	11–7	5–7
Montreal	7–5	11–7	4–8	6–6	4–8	—	8–10	9–9	7–11	6–6	5–7	9–9
New York	6–6	7–11	5–7	5–7	5–7	10–8	—	6–12	7–11	5–7	3–9	7–11
Philadelphia	4-8	14–4	5–7	6–6	5–7	9–9	12–6	—	11–7	8–4	6–6	10–8
Pittsburgh	10–2	11–7	7–4	8–4	5–7	11–7	11–7	7–11	—	5–7	4–8	9–9
San Diego	10–8	5–7	9–9	10–8	9–9	6–6	7–5	4–8	7–5	—	8–10	9–3
San Francisco	7–11	8–4	6–12	12–6	7–11	7–5	9–3	6–6	8–4	10–8	—	9–3
St. Louis	7–5	3–15	4–8	5–7	7–5	9–9	11–7	8–10	9–9	3–9	3–9	—

Notable transactions

• April 6, 1978: Bob Coluccio was signed as a free agent by the Astros.^[4]
• June 6, 1978: Danny Heep was drafted by the Astros in the 2nd round of the 1978 Major League Baseball draft.^[5]
• June 8, 1978: Bob Coluccio was traded by the Astros to the St. Louis Cardinals for Frank Riccelli.^[6]
• September 2, 1978: Dan Larson was traded by the Astros to the Philadelphia Phillies for Dan Warthen.^[7]
• September 5, 1978: Gene Pentz was released by the Astros.^[8]

Roster

1978 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers 47 Joaquín Andújar 38 Floyd Bannister 37 Tom Dixon 43 Ken Forsch 42 Mark Lemongello 39 Bo McLaughlin 36 Joe Niekro 30 Gene Pentz 45 Frank Riccelli 50 J. R. Richard 48 Vern Ruhle 35 Joe Sambito 31 Dan Warthen 34 Rick Williams 44 Oscar Zamora		Catchers  6 Reggie Baldwin 13 Bruce Bochy 13 Joe Ferguson  8 Ed Herrmann  8 Luis Pujols Infielders 16 Dave Bergman 23 Enos Cabell 15 Keith Drumright 10 Mike Fischlin  9 Julio González 18 Art Howe 17 Rafael Landestoy 14 Roger Metzger 19 Jim Obradovich 24 Jimmy Sexton 27 Bob Watson		Outfielders 22 Jesús Alou 20 Joe Cannon 28 César Cedeño 25 José Cruz 26 Wilbur Howard 46 Jeffrey Leonard 21 Terry Puhl 29 Denny Walling		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	Ferguson, JoeJoe Ferguson	51	150	31	.207	7	22
1B	Watson, BobBob Watson	139	461	133	.289	14	79
LF	Walling, DennyDenny Walling	120	247	62	.251	3	36
RF	Cruz, JoséJosé Cruz	153	565	178	.315	10	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
González, JulioJulio González	78	223	52	.233	1	16
Cedeño, CésarCésar Cedeño	50	192	54	.281	7	23
Howard, WilburWilbur Howard	84	148	34	.230	1	13
Alou, JesúsJesús Alou	77	139	45	.312	2	19
Drumright, KeithKeith Drumright	17	55	9	.164	0	2
Obradovich, JimJim Obradovich	10	17	3	.176	0	2
Cannon, JoeJoe Cannon	8	18	4	.222	0	1

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
Richard, J. R.J. R. Richard	36	275	18	11	3.11	303
Lemongello, MarkMark Lemongello	33	210.1	9	14	3.94	77

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
Dixon, TomTom Dixon	30	140	7	11	3.99	66
Andújar, JoaquínJoaquín Andújar	35	110.2	5	7	3.42	55
Bannister, FloydFloyd Bannister	28	110.1	3	9	4.81	94
Warthen, DanDan Warthen	5	10.2	0	1	4.22	2

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
Forsch, KenKen Forsch	52	10	6	7	2.70	71
Williams, RickRick Williams	17	1	2	0	4.67	17
McLaughlin, BoBo McLaughlin	12	0	1	2	5.01	10
Pentz, GeneGene Pentz	10	0	0	0	6.00	8
Zamora, OscarOscar Zamora	10	0	0	0	7.20	6
Riccelli, FrankFrank Riccelli	2	0	0	0	0.00	2

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Charleston Charlies	International League	Jim Beauchamp
AA	Columbus Astros	Southern League	Jimmy Johnson
A	Daytona Beach Astros	Florida State League	Leo Posada and Chuck Sprinkle
Rookie	GCL Astros	Gulf Coast League	Julio Linares

References

1. Keith Drumright at Baseball Reference
2. Oscar Zamora at Baseball Reference
3. Jesús Alou at Baseball Reference
4. Bob Coluccio at Baseball Reference
5. Danny Heep at Baseball Reference
6. Frank Riccelli at Baseball Reference
7. Dan Larson at Baseball Reference
8. Gene Pentz at Baseball Reference

External links

• 1978 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference