# 1977 Houston Astros season

The 1977 Houston Astros season was the 16th season for the Houston Astros, a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 13th as the Astros, 9th in the National League West, and 13th at The Astrodome. The team finished third in the National League West with a record of 81–81, 17 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.

## Offseason

* December 8, 1976: Greg Gross was traded by the Astros to the Chicago Cubs for Julio González.
* January 11, 1977: John Butcher was drafted by the Astros in the 1st round (5th pick) of the secondary phase of the 1977 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.
* January 25, 1977: Paul Siebert was traded by the Astros to the San Diego Padres for Mike Allen (minors).
* March 26, 1977: Rob Andrews and cash were traded by the Astros to the San Francisco Giants for Willie Crawford and Rob Sperring.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 98 | 64 | .605 | — | 51‍–‍30 | 47‍–‍34 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 88 | 74 | .543 | 10 | 48‍–‍33 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Houston Astros | 81 | 81 | .500 | 17 | 46‍–‍35 | 35‍–‍46 |
| San Francisco Giants | 75 | 87 | .463 | 23 | 38‍–‍43 | 37‍–‍44 |
| San Diego Padres | 69 | 93 | .426 | 29 | 35‍–‍46 | 34‍–‍47 |
| Atlanta Braves | 61 | 101 | .377 | 37 | 40‍–‍41 | 21‍–‍60 |

### Record vs. opponents

1977 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 5–7 | 4–14 | 9–9 | 5–13 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 2–10 | 3–9 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 1–11 |
| Chicago | 7–5 | — | 7–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 7–11 |
| Cincinnati | 14–4 | 5–7 | — | 5–13 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 10–2 | 8–4 | 3–9 | 11–7 | 10–8 | 5–7 |
| Houston | 9–9 | 6–6 | 13–5 | — | 9–9 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 5–7 |
| Los Angeles | 13–5 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 9–9 | — | 7–5 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 12–6 | 14–4 | 6–6 |
| Montreal | 6–6 | 8–10 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–7 | — | 10–8 | 7–11 | 7–11 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 12–6 |
| New York | 5–7 | 9–9 | 2–10 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 8–10 | — | 5–13 | 4–14 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 8–10 |
| Philadelphia | 10-2 | 12–6 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 13–5 | — | 8–10 | 9–3 | 9–3 | 11–7 |
| Pittsburgh | 9–3 | 11–7 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 3–9 | 11–7 | 14–4 | 10–8 | — | 10–2 | 2–10 | 9–9 |
| San Diego | 7–11 | 5–7 | 7–11 | 10–8 | 6–12 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 3–9 | 2–10 | — | 8–10 | 8–4 |
| San Francisco | 10–8 | 3–9 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 4–14 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 10–2 | 10–8 | — | 7–5 |
| St. Louis | 11–1 | 11–7 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 6–12 | 10–8 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 4–8 | 5–7 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 7, 1977: Scott Loucks was drafted by the Astros in the 5th round of the 1977 Major League Baseball draft.
* June 15, 1977: Willie Crawford was traded by the Astros to the Oakland Athletics for Denny Walling.

### Roster
## 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 | 132 | 421 | 108 | .257 | 16 | 61 |
| 1B | Bob Watson | 151 | 554 | 160 | .289 | 22 | 110 |
| 2B | Art Howe | 125 | 413 | 109 | .264 | 8 | 58 |
| SS | Roger Metzger | 97 | 269 | 50 | .186 | 0 | 16 |
| 3B | Enos Cabell | 150 | 625 | 176 | .282 | 16 | 68 |
| LF | Terry Puhl | 60 | 229 | 69 | .301 | 0 | 10 |
| CF | César Cedeño | 141 | 530 | 148 | .279 | 14 | 71 |
| RF | José Cruz | 157 | 579 | 173 | .299 | 17 | 87 |

#### 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 | 110 | 383 | 94 | .245 | 1 | 27 |
| Wilbur Howard | 87 | 187 | 48 | .257 | 2 | 13 |
| Ed Herrmann | 56 | 158 | 46 | .291 | 1 | 17 |
| Cliff Johnson | 51 | 144 | 43 | .299 | 10 | 23 |
| Rob Sperring | 58 | 129 | 24 | .186 | 1 | 9 |
| Willie Crawford | 42 | 114 | 29 | .254 | 2 | 18 |
| Jim Fuller | 34 | 100 | 16 | .160 | 2 | 9 |
| Ken Boswell | 72 | 97 | 21 | .216 | 0 | 12 |
| Art Gardner | 66 | 65 | 10 | .154 | 0 | 3 |
| Leon Roberts | 19 | 27 | 2 | .074 | 0 | 2 |
| Denny Walling | 6 | 21 | 6 | .286 | 0 | 6 |
| Danny Walton | 13 | 21 | 4 | .190 | 0 | 1 |
| Craig Cacek | 7 | 20 | 1 | .050 | 0 | 1 |
| Joe Cannon | 9 | 17 | 2 | .118 | 0 | 1 |
| Mike Fischlin | 13 | 15 | 3 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Luis Pujols | 6 | 15 | 1 | .067 | 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 | 36 | 267.0 | 18 | 12 | 2.97 | 214 |
| Mark Lemongello | 34 | 214.2 | 9 | 14 | 3.48 | 83 |
| Joaquín Andújar | 26 | 158.2 | 11 | 8 | 3.69 | 69 |
| Floyd Bannister | 24 | 142.2 | 8 | 9 | 4.04 | 112 |
| Doug Konieczny | 4 | 21.0 | 1 | 1 | 6.00 | 7 |

#### 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 | 44 | 180.2 | 13 | 8 | 3.04 | 101 |
| Dan Larson | 32 | 97.2 | 1 | 7 | 5.81 | 44 |
| Tom Dixon | 9 | 30.1 | 1 | 0 | 3.26 | 15 |

#### 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 | 42 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 2.72 | 45 |
| Joe Sambito | 54 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 2.33 | 67 |
| Bo McLaughlin | 46 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 4.25 | 59 |
| Gene Pentz | 41 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3.83 | 51 |
| Roy Thomas | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.84 | 4 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Charleston Charlies | International League | Jim Beauchamp |
| AA | Columbus Astros | Southern League | Leo Posada |
| A | Cocoa Astros | Florida State League | Jimmy Johnson |
| Rookie | GCL Astros | Gulf Coast League | Julio Linares |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Charleston