1981 Houston Astros season

1981 Houston Astros
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1962)
Western Division (since 1969)
Location
Astrodome (since 1965)
Houston, Texas (since 1962)
Results
Record	61–49 (.555)
Divisional place	3rd
Other information
Owner(s)	John McMullen
General manager(s)	Al Rosen
Manager(s)	Bill Virdon
Local television	KRIV
Local radio	KENR (Gene Elston, Dewayne Staats, Larry Dierker)
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The Houston Astros' 1981 season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Houston Astros attempting to win the National League West.

Offseason

• December 4, 1980: Don Sutton was signed as a free agent by the Astros.^[1]
• December 8, 1980: Chris Bourjos was traded by the San Francisco Giants with Bob Knepper to the Houston Astros for Enos Cabell.^[2]
• March 27, 1981: Julio González was released by the Astros.^[3]

Regular season

Season standings

NL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	66	42	0.611	—	32–22	34–20
Los Angeles Dodgers	63	47	0.573	4	33–23	30–24
Houston Astros	61	49	0.555	6	31–20	30–29
San Francisco Giants	56	55	0.505	11½	29–24	27–31
Atlanta Braves	50	56	0.472	15	22–27	28–29
San Diego Padres	41	69	0.373	26	20–35	21–34

NL West First Half Standings	W	L	Pct.
Los Angeles Dodgers	36	21	.632
Cincinnati Reds	35	21	.625
Houston Astros	28	29	.491
Atlanta Braves	25	29	.463
San Francisco Giants	27	32	.458
San Diego Padres	23	33	.411

NL West Second Half Standings	W	L	Pct.
Houston Astros	33	20	.623
Cincinnati Reds	31	21	.596
San Francisco Giants	29	23	.558
Los Angeles Dodgers	27	26	.509
Atlanta Braves	25	27	.481
San Diego Padres	18	36	.333

Record vs. opponents

1981 National League Records Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	3–2–1	6–5	4–8	7–7	3–7	3–3	4–5	2–3	9–6	5–7	4–3
Chicago	2–3–1	—	1–5	1–6	6–4	4–7	5–8–1	2–10	4–10	3–3	5–5	5–4–1
Cincinnati	5–6	5–1	—	8–4	8–8	5–4	7–3	5–2	4–2	10–2	9–5	0–5
Houston	8–4	6–1	4–8	—	4–8	5–2	6–3	4–6	2–4	11–3	9–6	2–4
Los Angeles	7–7	4–6	8–8	8–4	—	5–2	5–1	3–3	5–1	6–5	7–5	5–5
Montreal	7–3	7–4	4–5	2–5	2–5	—	9–3	7–4	10–3	4–2	2–5	6–9
New York	3–3	8–5–1	3–7	3–6	1–5	3–9	—	7–7	3–6–1	2–5	2–4	6–5
Philadelphia	5-4	10–2	2–5	6–4	3–3	4–7	7–7	—	7–5	4–2	4–3	7–6
Pittsburgh	3–2	10–4	2–4	4–2	1–5	3–10	6–3–1	5–7	—	6–4	3–7	3–8
San Diego	6–9	3–3	2–10	3–11	5–6	2–4	5–2	2–4	4–6	—	6–7	3–7
San Francisco	7–5	5–5	5–9	6–9	5–7	5–2	4–2	3–4	7–3	7–6	—	2–3
St. Louis	3–4	4–5–1	5–0	4–2	5–5	9–6	5–6	6–7	8–3	7–3	3–2	—

Notable transactions

• April 1, 1981: Chris Bourjos was traded by the Houston Astros with cash to the Baltimore Orioles for Kiko Garcia.^[2]
• April 3, 1981: Gary Rajsich was traded by the Astros to the New York Mets for John Csefalvay (minors).^[4]
• April 17, 1981: David Clyde was signed as a free agent by the Astros.^[5]
• June 7, 1981: Joaquín Andújar was traded by the Astros to the St. Louis Cardinals for Tony Scott.^[6]
• June 8, 1981: Eric Bullock was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 1st round (20th pick) of the 1981 amateur draft (Secondary Phase).^[7]

Nolan Ryan's 5th No-Hitter

On September 26, 1981, Nolan Ryan no-hit the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-0, on national television. The 34-year-old right-hander became the first pitcher to throw five career no-hitters.^[8] It had been six years since Ryan's last no-hitter; he pitched for the California Angels for the last of four no-hitters.

Roster

1981 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers 47 Joaquín Andújar 39 Bob Knepper 31 Frank LaCorte 36 Joe Niekro 26 Gordie Pladson 48 Vern Ruhle 34 Nolan Ryan 35 Joe Sambito 27 Billy Smith 45 Dave Smith 41 Bobby Sprowl 20 Don Sutton		Catchers 14 Alan Ashby 11 Alan Knicely  6 Luis Pujols Infielders 16 Dave Bergman 28 César Cedeño 23 Kiko Garcia  3 Phil Garner 24 Danny Heep 18 Art Howe 15 Mike Ivie 17 Rafael Landestoy 30 Jeffrey Leonard  1 Bert Peña  9 Joe Pittman 12 Craig Reynolds  8 Dave Roberts 16 Harry Spilman 10 Dickie Thon 29 Denny Walling		Outfielders 25 José Cruz 26 Scott Loucks 21 Terry Puhl 30 Tony Scott 38 Tim Tolman 15,22 Gary Woods		Manager  7 Bill Virdon Coaches  4 Deacon Jones 43 Don Leppert  5 Bob Lillis  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
CF	Tony Scott	55	225	66	.293	2	22

Other batters

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Denny Walling	65	158	37	.234	5	23
Scott Loucks	10	7	4	.571	0	0
Alan Knicely	3	7	4	.571	2	2

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Don Sutton	23	158.2	11	9	2.61	104
Nolan Ryan	21	149	11	5	1.69	140

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Joaquín Andújar	9	23.2	2	3	4.94	18

Relief pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	SV	ERA	SO

1981 National League Division Series

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Houston Astros

Los Angeles wins series, 3-2.

Game	Score	Date
1	Houston 3, Los Angeles 1	October 6
2	Houston 1, Los Angeles 0 (11 innings)	October 7
3	Los Angeles 6, Houston 1	October 9
4	Los Angeles 2, Houston 1	October 10
5	Los Angeles 4, Houston 0	October 11

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Tucson Toros	Pacific Coast League	Jimmy Johnson
AA	Columbus Astros	Southern League	Matt Galante
A	Daytona Beach Astros	Florida State League	Carlos Alfonso
Rookie	GCL Astros Blue	Gulf Coast League	Eric Swanson
Rookie	GCL Astros Orange	Gulf Coast League	Lyle Olsen

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Daytona Beach

References

1. Don Sutton at Baseball Reference
2. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bourjch01.shtml?redir
3. Julio González at Baseball Reference
4. Gary Rajsich at Baseball Reference
5. David Clyde at Baseball Reference
6. Joaquín Andújar at Baseball Reference
7. http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/bulloer01.shtml
8. "Big Days in Astros History – September 26, 1981 – Nolan Ryan pitches his fifth no-hitter". AstrosDaily.com. Retrieved November 15, 2014.

External links

• 1981 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference