1978 Houston Astros
LeagueNational League
DivisionWest
BallparkAstrodome
CityHouston, Texas
Record74–88 (.457)
Divisional place5th
OwnersGeneral Electric, Ford Motor Company
General managersTal Smith
ManagersBill Virdon
TelevisionKPRC-TV
RadioKPRC (AM)
(Gene Elston, Dewayne Staats)
← 1977 Seasons 1979 →

The 1978 Houston Astros season was a season in American baseball. The team finished fifth in the National League West with a record of 74–88, 21 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Offseason

Regular season

Season standings

NL West 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
Los Angeles Dodgers 95 67 0.586 — 54–27 41–40
Cincinnati Reds 92 69 0.571 2½ 49–31 43–38
San Francisco Giants 89 73 0.549 6 50–31 39–42
San Diego Padres 84 78 0.519 11 50–31 34–47
Houston Astros 74 88 0.457 21 50–31 24–57
Atlanta Braves 69 93 0.426 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

Roster

1978 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

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

References

  1. ^ Keith Drumright at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ Oscar Zamora at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Jesús Alou at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Bob Coluccio at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ Danny Heep at Baseball Reference
  6. ^ Frank Riccelli at Baseball Reference
  7. ^ Dan Larson at Baseball Reference
  8. ^ Gene Pentz at Baseball Reference

External links

1978 MLB season by team
Houston Astros
Categories