1976 Houston Astros season

1976 Houston Astros
1976 Houston Astros
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	Astrodome
City	Houston, Texas
Record	80–82 (.494)
Divisional place	3rd
Owners	Roy Hofheinz
General managers	Tal Smith
Managers	Bill Virdon
Television	KPRC-TV
Radio	KPRC (AM); (Gene Elston, Loel Passe, Bob Prince)

The 1976 Houston Astros season was the 15th season for the Houston Astros, a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 12th as the Astros, 8th in the National League West, and 12th at The Astrodome. 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]

1976 National League record v t e 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	—

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]

1976 Houston Astros

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

Coaches

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

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

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

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

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

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