1978 Houston Astros season

The 1978 Houston Astros season was the 17th season for the Houston Astros, a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 14th as the Astros, 10th in the National League West, and 14th at The Astrodome. The team finished fifth in the National League West with a record of 74–88, 21 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.

1978 Houston Astros
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	Astrodome
City	Houston, Texas
Record	74–88 (.457)
Divisional place	5th
Owners	General Electric, Ford Motor Company
General managers	Tal Smith
Managers	Bill Virdon
Television	KPRC-TV
Radio	KPRC (AM) (Gene Elston, Dewayne Staats)
Seasons

Offseason

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

Regular season

Season standings

NL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Los Angeles Dodgers	95	67	.586	—	54‍–‍27	41‍–‍40
Cincinnati Reds	92	69	.571	2½	49‍–‍31	43‍–‍38
San Francisco Giants	89	73	.549	6	50‍–‍31	39‍–‍42
San Diego Padres	84	78	.519	11	50‍–‍31	34‍–‍47
Houston Astros	74	88	.457	21	50‍–‍31	24‍–‍57
Atlanta Braves	69	93	.426	26	39‍–‍42	30‍–‍51

Record vs. opponents

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

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	Joe Ferguson	51	150	31	.207	7	22
1B	Bob Watson	139	461	133	.289	14	79
2B	Art Howe	119	420	123	.293	7	55
SS	Rafael Landestoy	59	218	58	.266	0	9
3B	Enos Cabell	162	660	195	.295	7	71
LF	Denny Walling	120	247	62	.251	3	36
CF	Terry Puhl	149	585	169	.289	3	35
RF	José 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
Julio González	78	223	52	.233	1	16
César Cedeño	50	192	54	.281	7	23
Dave Bergman	104	186	43	.231	0	12
Bruce Bochy	54	154	41	.266	3	15
Luis Pujols	56	153	20	.131	1	11
Wilbur Howard	84	148	34	.230	1	13
Jimmy Sexton	88	141	29	.206	2	6
Jesús Alou	77	139	45	.312	2	19
Roger Metzger	45	123	27	.220	0	6
Mike Fischlin	44	86	10	.116	0	0
Reggie Baldwin	38	67	17	.254	1	11
Keith Drumright	17	55	9	.164	0	2
Ed Herrmann	16	36	4	.111	0	0
Jeffrey Leonard	8	26	10	.385	0	4
Joe Cannon	8	18	4	.222	0	1
Jim Obradovich	10	17	3	.176	0	2

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	275.0	18	11	3.11	303
Mark Lemongello	33	210.1	9	14	3.94	77
Joe Niekro	35	202.2	14	14	3.86	97
Vern Ruhle	13	68.0	3	3	2.12	27

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
Tom Dixon	30	140.0	7	11	3.99	66
Joaquín Andújar	35	110.2	5	7	3.42	55
Floyd Bannister	28	110.1	3	9	4.81	94
Dan 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
Joe Sambito	62	4	9	11	3.07	96
Ken Forsch	52	10	6	7	2.70	71
Rick Williams	17	1	2	0	4.67	17
Bo McLaughlin	12	0	1	2	5.01	10
Gene Pentz	10	0	0	0	6.00	8
Oscar Zamora	10	0	0	0	7.20	6
Frank Riccelli	2	0	0	0	0.00	2

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

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

External links

• 1978 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference