1977 Houston Astros season

The 1977 Houston Astros season was the 16th season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 13th as the Astros, 16th in the National League (NL), ninth in the NL West division, and 13th at The Astrodome. The Astros entered the season having completed an 80–82 record, in third place and 22 games behind the two-time defending division-champion and World Series-winning Cincinnati Reds.

On April 8, J. R. Richard made his second Opening Day start for Houston, who hosted the Atlanta Braves and won, 3–2. The Astros' first round selection in the amateur draft was shortstop Ricky Adams at 14th overall.

On June 24, Bob Watson became the second player in franchise history to hit for the cycle, and the first in major league history to do so in both the NL and the American League (AL). It was the third cycle overall for the Astros, and third in six seasons.

Pitcher Joaquín Andújar was selected to represent the Astros at the MLB All-Star Game for the first time in his career.

César Cedeño became the sixth major leaguer since 1900 to record six campaigns with 50 or more stolen bases.

With a one-game improvement from the prior season to 81–81, Houston maintained third place in the NL West, 17 games behind the division champion and NL pennant-winning Los Angeles Dodgers. The Astros' fourth season over the past six with a record of .500 or above, it was also the first time they finished in third place or higher in consecutive seasons.

The Houston Astros concluded their 1976 season with an 80–82 (.494) record, in third place in the National League (NL) West division, and 22 games behind the back-to-back division- and eventual World Series-champion Cincinnati Reds.^[1] It was Houston's seventh campaign within the prior eight to have won at least 79 games. During the first full season with Bill Virdon as manager, he guided Houston to a 15+1⁄2-game rebound from the 1975 campaign.^[2]

• December 8, 1976: Greg Gross was traded by the Astros to the Chicago Cubs for Julio González.^[3]
• 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.^[4]
• January 25, 1977: Paul Siebert was traded by the Astros to the San Diego Padres for Mike Allen (minors).^[5]
• March 26, 1977: Rob Andrews and cash were traded by the Astros to the San Francisco Giants for Willie Crawford and Rob Sperring.^[6]

On April 8, J. R. Richard made his second Opening Day start for Houston,^[9] who hosted the Atlanta Braves. Atlanta bolted a 2–0 lead in the top of the first when Jeff Burroughs clobbered a two-run home run deep to left off Richard. During the bottom of the first, José Cruz punched a sacrifice fly that plated Julio González. Braves Opening Day starter Andy Messersmith equally matched his counterpart, as both he and Richard tossed nine innings of two-run ball. Leading of the top of the 11th opposing Bob Johnson, Astros catcher Joe Ferguson golfed a walk-off home run to win the contest for the Astros, 3–2. Ken Forsch tossed two shutout frames to earn the victory.^[10]

Second baseman Art Howe connected for two home runs on May 25 to lead a 7–6 decision over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Teammate Julio González factored greatly into the win by collecting four hits.^[11]

On June 24, Bob Watson tripled, doubled, and hit a home run against the San Francisco Giants. In the eighth inning, he singled to hit for the cycle, and became the second player in franchise history to do so. Part of a five-RBI performance, this led the Astros to a 6–5 win. Watson became the first in major league to hit for the cycle so in both the NL and the American League (AL).^[a][12][13]

Watson's cycle took place the season after teammate César Cedeño hit for his second, who also hit the first two cycles in club history. The next cycle by an Astros player was by Andújar Cedeño on August 25, 1992.^[14]

Starting August 25, César Cedeño authored a 22-game hitting streak to establish a new club mark while breaking the record of 21 games set by Lee May on June 21, 1973. Cedeño's performance included contrasting phases of productivity, with one hit each over the first nine games for a .257 batting average (9-for-35). However, in the following nine games, Cedeño exploded, going 22-for-41 (.537 average), nine extra-base hits, for a 1.024 slugging percentage. He had back-to-back four-hit games against the Cincinnati Reds, hitting two three home runs, two triples, and five runs batted in (RBI).^[15] Cedeño was recognized as National League (NL) Player of the Week for September 11.^[b][16]

Overall, Cedeño hit .398 (37-for-98) during the hitting streak, while his baserunning accelerated, with incredible 21 stolen bases.^[15] The 22-game hitting streak represented the longest of Cedeño's career.^[17] The year before, from April 17–May 14, 1976, Cedeño had also put together a 19-game hitting streak. Thus, he became the first individual in Astros history to collect two or more hitting streaks of 19 games or more. Cedeño's record stood until teammate Art Howe hit in 23 straight from May 1–24, 1981.^[15]

Cedeño was recognized with NL Player of the Month honors for September.^[18]

On the final day of the regular season, October 2, Los Angeles took Astros starter J. R. Richard deep three times at Dodger Stadium, the first time in 147 games and 130 starts for the hard-throwing, 6 feet 8 inches (2.03 m) right-handed Louisiana native.^[19][20]

In fact, like a lightning strike, all 3 Dodger blasts arrived in the sixth inning via offerings to Manny Mota, Dusty Baker, and Glenn Burke. Baker's and Burke's bombs were consecutive. At the time, this gave Los Angeles a 3–1 advantage.^[21]

The Dodgers' home runs carried extra significance, in that, Mota, who was pinch hitting, hit the final of his major league career. Burke's was one of his two major league home runs. Baker, meanwhile, mashed his 30th jack for the first time. For Los Angeles baseball, this was a club-record 15th consecutive game heralding the long ball,^[22] and their fourth hitter with at least 30 home runs, the first time this was accomplished by any major league team. As Baker reached home plate following the blast, Burke greeted him his hand held high, who instinctively raised his hand to hit Burke's palm, creating the high five, speculated to have been the moment it was invented.^{[Note 1][23][24]}

However, the Astros lineup did not allow Richard to forget their own power capabilities. Watson commenced the scoring in the first with a single to score Cedeño, then, in fourth, hit his 22nd dinger of the season. The inning after the Dodgers' three home runs, Cedeño singled in José Cruz. With the bases full—including Enos Cabell, Cedeño, and Watson—Denny Walling then tripled to drove home everyone. This raised the score went 6–3 Houston, which is how it remained. Cedeño and Cabell also doubled. Each of the top four of Houston order had multi-hit efforts (Cruz 2, Cabell 2, Cedeñp 3 and Watson 2). The win got Houston to the .500 mark (81–81).^[21]

Richard whiffed 14 Dodgers, a season-high.^[25] This was Richard's second-highest total for one game, following his major league debut with 15 punchouts on September 5, 1971.^[19] Richard also notched his 13th complete game, and earned his 18th win of the season to follow-up his first 20-win season the year prior.^[20]

The Astros concluded the 1977 season with a performance of 81–81 (.500), in third place in the NL West, and trailing division champion and NL pennant-winning Los Angeles Dodgers by 17 games.^[26] The club maintained third place with one-game improvement from the year before. The Astros' fifth season with a record of .500 or above—all since 1969—it their third campaign concluded in third place, at the time matching their best for any season. They would finish higher than third for the first time in 1979.^[2]

Houston led the National League in triples while ranking second to the Pittsburgh Pirates with 187 stolen bases.^[26] Three Astros reached the 40-stolen base plateau, including César Cedeño (61), José Cruz (44), and Enos Cabell (42). Cedeño's total set a new club single-season, exceeding his own mark set just the year before (58),^[27] while extending another club-record sixth of six uninterrupted campaigns with at least 50 steals.^[c] This was the first time in club history that the Astros had rostered as many as three 40-stolen base bandits, and the ninth of a franchise-record nine consecutive featuring at least one player with that coup.^[d][28]

Moreover, Cedeño became the second major leaguer during the modern era (since 1900) to record six consecutive seasons with 50 or more stolen bases, following Lou Brock (12 consecutive from 1965 to 1976). Cedeño also became the sixth player to garner 50 stolen bases over any span of six campaigns since 1900, following Bert Campaneris as also having been the most recent prior to Cedeño (seven between the 1965 to 1976 seasons).^[e][29]

Meanwhile, Watson set a new club record with 110 runs batted in (RBI), surpassing Jimmy Wynn's achievement set in 1967 (107).^[f][27]

Richard garnered 214 strikeouts for the second consecutive season, at the time, matching his career-high set just the year prior.^[20] He also became Houston's first multiple-season 200-strikeout moundsman.^[g][30]

• June 7, 1977: Scott Loucks was drafted by the Astros in the 5th round of the 1977 Major League Baseball draft.^[31]
• June 15, 1977: Willie Crawford was traded by the Astros to the Oakland Athletics for Denny Walling.^[32]

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Awards

• Houston Astros Most Valuable Player (MVP):^[34] José Cruz
• MLB All-Star Game—Reserve pitcher: Joaquín Andújar
• National League (NL) Player of the Month^[18]—September: César Cedeño
• NL Player of the Week^[16]—September 25: César Cedeño^[b]

NL batting leaders

• Sacrifice flies: José Cruz (10)

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Charleston

• 1977 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference