# 1976 Houston Astros season

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.
* 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.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Cincinnati Reds | 102 | 60 | .630 | — | 49‍–‍32 | 53‍–‍28 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 92 | 70 | .568 | 10 | 49‍–‍32 | 43‍–‍38 |
| Houston Astros | 80 | 82 | .494 | 22 | 46‍–‍36 | 34‍–‍46 |
| San Francisco Giants | 74 | 88 | .457 | 28 | 40‍–‍41 | 34‍–‍47 |
| San Diego Padres | 73 | 89 | .451 | 29 | 42‍–‍38 | 31‍–‍51 |
| Atlanta Braves | 70 | 92 | .432 | 32 | 34‍–‍47 | 36‍–‍45 |

### Record vs. opponents

1976 National League recordvte Sources: :
| 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 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 6, 1976: Terry Humphrey and Mike Barlow were traded by the Astros to the California Angels for Ed Herrmann.
* June 8, 1976: 1976 Major League Baseball draft
** Floyd Bannister was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 1st round (1st pick).
** Gary Rajsich was drafted by the Astros in the 11th round.
** Bert Roberge was drafted by the Astros in the 17th round.

### 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 | 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 |

#### 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 |
| 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 |

### 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 | 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 |

#### 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 | 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 |

#### 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 | 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 |

## Farm system

| 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 |