1979 Houston Astros season - Misplaced Pages

The 1979 Houston Astros season was the 18th season for the Houston Astros, a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 15th as the Astros, 11th in the National League West, and 15th at The Astrodome. The team finished second in the National League West, 1½ games behind the first-place Cincinnati Reds. The 1979 Astros were the last National League franchise in the 20th century to hit more triples than home runs. The club had 52 triples compared to 49 home runs.

Offseason

December 8, 1978: Floyd Bannister was traded by the Astros to the Seattle Mariners for Craig Reynolds.

Regular season

Season standings

v
t
e
NL West
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	90	71	.559	—	48‍–‍32	42‍–‍39
Houston Astros	89	73	.549	1½	52‍–‍29	37‍–‍44
Los Angeles Dodgers	79	83	.488	11½	46‍–‍35	33‍–‍48
San Francisco Giants	71	91	.438	19½	38‍–‍43	33‍–‍48
San Diego Padres	68	93	.422	22	39‍–‍42	29‍–‍51
Atlanta Braves	66	94	.412	23½	34‍–‍45	32‍–‍49

Record vs. opponents

1979 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	4–8	6–12	7–11	12–6	1–9	4–8	7–5	4–8	6–12	11–7	4–8
Chicago	8–4	—	7–5	6–6	5–7	6–12	8–10	9–9	6–12	9–3	8–4	8–10
Cincinnati	12–6	5–7	—	8–10	11–7	6–6	8–4	8–4	8–4	10–7	6–12	8–4
Houston	11–7	6–6	10–8	—	10–8	7–5	9–3	5–7	4–8	14–4	7–11	6–6
Los Angeles	6–12	7–5	7–11	8–10	—	6–6	9–3	3–9	4–8	9–9	14–4	6–6
Montreal	9–1	12–6	6–6	5–7	6–6	—	15–3	11–7	7–11	7–5	7–5	10–8
New York	8–4	10–8	4–8	3–9	3–9	3–15	—	5–13	8–10	4–8	8–4	7–11
Philadelphia	5–7	9–9	4–8	7–5	9–3	7–11	13–5	—	8–10	9–3	6–6	7–11
Pittsburgh	8–4	12–6	4–8	8–4	8–4	11–7	10–8	10–8	—	7–5	9–3	11–7
San Diego	12–6	3–9	7–10	4–14	9–9	5–7	8–4	3–9	5–7	—	8–10	4–8
San Francisco	7–11	4–8	12–6	11–7	4–14	5–7	4–8	6–6	3–9	10–8	—	5–7
St. Louis	8–4	10–8	4–8	6–6	6–6	8–10	11–7	11–7	7–11	8–4	7–5	—

Notable transactions

April 27, 1979: The Astros traded a player to be named later to the Kansas City Royals for George Throop. The Astros completed the deal by sending Keith Drumright to the Royals on October 26.
June 13, 1979: Bob Watson was traded by the Astros to the Boston Red Sox for Pete Ladd, a player to be named later, and cash. The Red Sox completed the deal by sending Bobby Sprowl to the Astros on June 19.

Draft picks

June 5, 1979: 1979 Major League Baseball draft
- John Mizerock was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 1st round (8th pick).
- Bill Doran was drafted by the Astros in the 6th round.
- Mark Ross was drafted by the Astros in the 7th round.
- Lemmie Miller was drafted by the Astros in the 1st round (20th pick) of the secondary phase, but did not sign.

Roster

1979 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers 47 Joaquín Andújar 37 Tom Dixon 43 Ken Forsch 31 Frank LaCorte 39 Pete Ladd 39 Bo McLaughlin 54 Mike Mendoza 36 Joe Niekro 46 Randy Niemann 34 Gordie Pladson 45 Frank Riccelli 50 J. R. Richard 42 Bert Roberge 48 Vern Ruhle 35 Joe Sambito 41 Bobby Sprowl 33 George Throop 38 Rick Williams 41 Gary Wilson		Catchers 14 Alan Ashby 6 Reggie Baldwin 13 Bruce Bochy 11 Alan Knicely 8 Luis Pujols Infielders 16 Dave Bergman 23 Enos Cabell 28 César Cedeño 9 Julio González 18 Art Howe 17 Rafael Landestoy 12 Craig Reynolds 24 Jimmy Sexton 27 Bob Watson		Outfielders 22 Jesús Alou 25 José Cruz 20 Danny Heep 30 Jeffrey Leonard 21 Terry Puhl 29 Denny Walling 19 Tom Wiedenbauer		Manager 7 Bill Virdon Coaches 4 Deacon Jones 5 Bob Lillis 3 Tony Pacheco 2 Mel Wright

1979 Houston Astros

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

7 Bill Virdon

Coaches

Game log

Regular season

1979 regular season game log: 89–73 (Home: 52–29; Away: 37–44)

April: 15–6 (Home: 8–1; Away: 7–5)

#	Date	Time (CT)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak
1	April 6		Braves							1–0	W1
2	April 7		Braves							2–0	W2
3	April 8		Braves							3–0	W3
4	April 9		Dodgers							3–1	L1
5	April 10		Dodgers							4–1	W1
6	April 11		Dodgers							5–1	W2
7	April 13		@ Giants							5–2	L1
8	April 14		@ Giants							5–3	L2
9 (1)	April 15		@ Giants						–	6–3	W1
10 (2)	April 15		@ Giants							7–3	W2
11	April 16		@ Dodgers							8–3	W3
12	April 17		@ Dodgers							8–4	L1
13	April 18		@ Dodgers							9–4	W1
14	April 20	7:35 p.m. CST	Pirates	W 5–4 (10)	Sambito (1–0)	Bibby (1–1)	–	3:16	19,834	10–4	W2
15	April 21	7:35 p.m. CST	Pirates	W 5–4 (10)	Andújar (2–0)	Tekulve (0–3)	–	3:23	48,977	11–4	W3
16	April 22	3:00 p.m. CST	Pirates	W 3–2	Andújar (3–0)	Candelaria (0–1)	Sambito (2)	2:27	22,403	12–4	W4
—	April 24		@ Cubs	Postponed (Rain) (Makeup date: July 7)
17	April 25		@ Cubs							12–5	L1
18	April 26		@ Cubs							13–5	W1
19	April 27	6:35 p.m. CST	@ Pirates	W 9–8 (11)	Riccelli (1–0)	Whitson (1–1)	–	3:30	5,767	14–5	W2
—	April 28		@ Pirates	Postponed (Rain) (Makeup date: July 19)
20	April 29	12:05 p.m. CDT	@ Pirates	L 5–10	Kison (1–0)	Niekro (1–2)	Jackson (3)	3:07	7,598	14–6	L1
21	April 30		@ Cardinals							15–6	W1

May: 14–17 (Home: 9–8; Away: 5–9)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak
22	May 1	@ Cardinals							15–7	L1
23	May 2	@ Cardinals							15–8	L2
24	May 3	@ Cardinals							16–8	W1
25	May 4	@ Reds	L 5–6 (10)		Riccelli (1–1)	–	3:47	20,988	16–9	L1
26	May 5	@ Reds	L 2–6		Andújar (3–1)		2:13	25,044	16–10	L2
27 (1)	May 6	@ Reds	L 5–17				2:48	–	16–11	L3
28 (2)	May 6	@ Reds	W 8–2				3:00	33,618	17–11	W1
29	May 8	Cardinals							17–12	L1
30	May 9	Cardinals							18–12	W1
31	May 10	Cardinals							18–13	L1
32	May 11	Cubs							18–14	L2
33	May 12 (1)	Cubs						–	19–14	W1
34	May 12 (2)	Cubs							19–15	L1
35	May 13	Cubs							20–15	W1
36	May 15	Giants							20–16	L1
37	May 16	Giants							20–17	L2
38	May 17	Giants							20–18	L3
39	May 18	Padres							21–18	W1
40	May 19	Padres							21–19	L1
41 (1)	May 20	Padres						–	22–19	W1
42 (2)	May 20	Padres							23–19	W2
43	May 21	@ Braves							23–20	L1
44	May 22	@ Braves							24–20	W1
45	May 23	@ Braves							24–21	L1
46	May 25	@ Padres							24–22	L2
47	May 26	@ Padres							25–22	W1
48	May 27	@ Padres							26–22	W2
49	May 28	@ Padres							26–23	L1
50	May 29	Reds	W 2–1				2:09	17,458	27–23	W1
51	May 30	Reds	W 6–3	Niekro (7–2)		Sambito (4)	2:32	21,757	28–23	W2
52	May 31	Reds	W 3–0				2:07	25,453	29–23	W3

June: 20–8 (Home: 13–2; Away: 7–6)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak
53	June 1	Expos					30–23	W4
54	June 2	Expos					31–23	W5
55	June 3	Expos					32–23	W6
56	June 4	Phillies					33–23	W7
57	June 5	Phillies					33–24	L1
58	June 6	Phillies					34–24	W1
59	June 8	@ Mets					35–24	W2
60	June 9	@ Mets					35–25	L1
61	June 10	@ Mets					36–25	W1
62	June 11	@ Phillies					36–26	L1
63	June 12	@ Phillies					36–27	L2
64	June 13	@ Phillies					37–27	W1
65	June 15	@ Expos					38–27	W2
66	June 16	@ Expos					38–28	L1
67	June 17	@ Expos					38–29	L2
68	June 18	Mets					39–29	W1
69	June 19	Mets					40–29	W2
70	June 20	Mets					41–29	W3
71	June 22	Padres					42–29	W4
72	June 23	Padres					43–29	W5
73	June 24	Padres					44-29	W6
74 (1)	June 25	Reds	L 1–2		2:31	–	44–30	L1
75 (2)	June 25	Reds	W 4–0		2:22	46,313	45–30	W1
76	June 26	Reds	W 6–5	Sambito (7)	2:32	37,114	46–30	W2
77	June 27	@ Giants					46–31	L1
78	June 28	@ Giants					47–31	W1
79	June 29	@ Padres					48–31	W2
80	June 30	@ Padres					49–31	W3

July: 12–16 (Home: 6–8; Away: 6–8)

#	Date	Time (CT)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak
81	July 1		@ Padres							50–31	W4
82	July 3		@ Reds	W 3–2				2:13	36,787	51–31	W5
83	July 4		@ Reds	W 3–2	Andújar (10–4)		Sambito (9)	2:24	25,713	52–31	W6
84	July 5		@ Reds	L 4–5				2:48	28,249	52–32	L1
85	July 6		@ Cubs							53–32	W1
86 (1)	July 7		@ Cubs						–	53–33	L1
87 (2)	July 7		@ Cubs							53–34	L2
88	July 8		@ Cubs							53–35	L3
89	July 10	7:30 p.m. CDT	Pirates	L 3–4	Bibby (4–2)	Andújar (10–5)	Tekulve (12)	3:09	31,341	53–36	L4
90	July 11	7:35 p.m. CDT	Pirates	L 1–5	Kison (5–4)	Richard (7–9)	–	2:10	25,330	53–37	L5
91	July 12	7:35 p.m. CDT	Pirates	L 3–5	Blyleven (7–3)	Niekro (13–4)	Tekulve (13)	2:44	22,956	53–38	L6
92	July 13		Cardinals							53–39	L7
93	July 14		Cardinals							54–39	W1
94	July 15		Cardinals							54–40	L1
50th All-Star Game in Seattle, Washington
95 (1)	July 19	5:05 p.m. CDT	@ Pirates	L 5–9	Roberts (1–2)	Forsch (5–6)	–	2:41	–	54–41	L2
96 (2)	July 19	8:16 p.m. CDT	@ Pirates	L 2–4	Kison (6–4)	Niekro (13–5)	Jackson (11)	2:12	33,464	54–42	L3
97	July 20	6:35 p.m. CDT	@ Pirates	L 3–9	Candelaria (9–7)	Richard (7–11)	–	2:40	23,585	54–43	L4
98	July 21	1:15 p.m. CDT	@ Pirates	L 5–6	Romo (5–3)	Sambito (4–3)	Tekulve (14)	3:00	19,570	54–44	L5
99	July 22		@ Cardinals							55–44	W1
100	July 23		@ Cardinals							56–44	W2
101	July 24		Cubs							57–44	W3
102	July 25		Cubs							58–44	W4
103	July 26		Dodgers							58–45	L1
104	July 27		Dodgers							58–46	L2
105	July 28		Dodgers							59–46	W1
106	July 29		Dodgers							60–46	W2
107	July 30		Giants							60–47	L1
108	July 31		Giants							61–47	W1

August: 15–11 (Home: 8–4; Away: 7–7)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak
109	August 1	Giants			62–47	W2
110	August 3	Braves			63–47	W3
111 (1)	August 4	Braves		–	64–47	W4
112 (2)	August 4	Braves			65–47	W5
113	August 5	Braves			66–47	W6
114	August 7	@ Dodgers			66–48	L1
115	August 8	@ Dodgers			67–48	W1
116	August 9	@ Dodgers			67–49	L1
117	August 10	@ Braves			68–49	W1
—	August 11	@ Braves	Postponed (Rain) (Makeup date: September 24)
118	August 12	@ Braves			68–50	L1
119	August 13	Expos			69–50	W1
120	August 14	Expos			70–50	W2
121	August 15	Expos			70–51	L1
122	August 17	Phillies			70–52	L2
123	August 18	Phillies			70–53	L3
124	August 19	Phillies			70–54	L4
125	August 20	@ Mets			71–54	W1
126	August 21	@ Mets			71–55	L1
127	August 22	@ Mets			72–55	W1
128	August 24	@ Phillies			72–56	L1
129	August 25	@ Phillies			73–56	W1
130	August 26	@ Phillies			74–56	W2
131	August 27	@ Expos			75–56	W3
132	August 28	@ Expos			75–57	L1
133	August 29	@ Expos			75–58	L2
134	August 31	Mets			76–58	W1

September: 13–15 (Home: 8–6; Away: 5–9)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak
135	September 1	Mets							77–58	W2
136	September 2	Mets							77–59	L1
137	September 3	Dodgers							77–60	L2
138	September 4	Dodgers							78–60	W1
139	September 5	Padres							79–60	W2
140	September 6	Padres							80–60	W3
141	September 7	Giants							80–61	L1
142	September 8	Giants							80–62	L2
143	September 9	Giants							81–62	W1
144	September 11	@ Reds	L 8–9		Sambito (7–6)	–	3:14	40,574	81–63	L1
145	September 12	@ Reds	L 4–7		Niekro (18–10)		3:00	42,035	81–64	L2
146	September 14	@ Giants							82–64	W1
147	September 15	@ Giants							82–65	L1
148	September 16	@ Giants							82–66	L2
149	September 17	@ Padres							83–66	W1
150	September 18	@ Padres							83–67	L1
151	September 19	Braves							83–68	L2
152	September 20	Braves							84–68	W1
153	September 21	Reds	W 3–2 (13)	Sambito (8–6)		–	3:30	44,975	85–68	W2
154	September 22	Reds	W 4–1	Niekro (20–10)		Sambito (20)	2:50	46,037	86–68	W3
155	September 23	Reds	L 1–7			–	2:47	42,067	86–69	L1
156 (1)	September 24	@ Braves						–	86–70	L2
157 (2)	September 24	@ Braves							86–71	L3
158	September 25	@ Braves							87–71	W1
159	September 26	@ Braves							87–72	L1
160	September 28	@ Dodgers							87–73	L2
161	September 29	@ Dodgers							88–73	W1
162	September 30	@ Dodgers							89–73	W2

Legend: = Win = Loss = Postponement
Bold = Astros team member

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	Alan Ashby	108	336	68	.202	2	35
1B	César Cedeño	132	470	123	.262	6	54
2B	Rafael Landestoy	129	282	76	.270	0	30
SS	Craig Reynolds	146	555	147	.265	0	39
3B	Enos Cabell	155	603	164	.272	6	67
LF	José Cruz	157	558	161	.289	9	72
CF	Terry Puhl	157	600	172	.287	8	49
RF	Jeffrey Leonard	134	411	119	.290	0	47

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
Art Howe	118	355	88	.248	6	33
Julio González	68	181	45	.249	0	10
Bob Watson	49	163	39	.239	3	18
Denny Walling	82	147	48	.327	3	31
Bruce Bochy	56	129	28	.217	1	6
Luis Pujols	26	75	17	.227	0	8
Jimmy Sexton	52	43	9	.209	0	1
Jesús Alou	42	43	11	.256	0	10
Reggie Baldwin	14	20	4	.200	0	1
Dave Bergman	13	15	6	.400	1	2
Danny Heep	14	14	2	.143	0	2
Alan Knicely	7	6	0	.000	0	0
Tom Wiedenbauer	4	6	4	.667	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	38	292.1	18	13	2.71	313
Joe Niekro	38	263.2	21	11	3.00	119
Ken Forsch	26	177.2	11	6	3.04	58
Vern Ruhle	13	66.1	2	6	4.07	33

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
Joaquín Andújar	46	194.0	12	12	3.43	77
Rick Williams	31	121.1	4	7	3.26	37
Randy Niemann	26	67.0	3	2	3.76	24
Frank LaCorte	12	27.0	1	2	5.00	24
Frank Riccelli	11	22.0	2	2	4.09	20

Relief pitchers

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

Player	G	IP	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Joe Sambito	63	91.1	8	7	22	1.77	83
Bert Roberge	26	32.0	3	0	4	1.69	13
Tom Dixon	19	25.2	1	2	0	6.66	9
George Throop	14	22.1	1	0	0	3.22	15
Bo McLaughlin	12	16.1	1	2	0	5.51	12
Pete Ladd	10	12.1	1	1	0	2.92	6
Gary Wilson	6	7.1	0	0	0	12.27	6
Gordie Pladson	4	4.0	0	0	0	4.50	2
Bobby Sprowl	3	4.0	0	0	0	0.00	3
Mike Mendoza	1	1.0	0	0	0	0.00	0

Farm system

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	Carlos Alfonso
Rookie	GCL Astros	Gulf Coast League	Julio Linares

References

Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 96, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
Floyd Bannister at Baseball Reference
Keith Drumright at Baseball Reference
Bob Watson at Baseball Reference
"John Mizerock: Career Statistics". Baseball Reference. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
Bill Doran at Baseball-Reference
Mark Ross at Baseball Reference
Lemmie Miller at Baseball Reference

External links

1979 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference

1979 MLB season by team

AL East	Baltimore Boston Cleveland Detroit Milwaukee New York Toronto
AL West	California Chicago Kansas City Minnesota Oakland Seattle Texas

NL East	Chicago Montréal New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis
NL West	Atlanta Cincinnati Houston Los Angeles San Diego San Francisco

Houston Astros

Established in 1962
Formerly the Houston Colt .45s
Based in Houston, Texas

Franchise

Ballparks

Colt Stadium Houston Astrodome Daikin Park
Spring training:	Geronimo Park Cocoa Expo Stadium Osceola County Stadium CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches

Culture

Lore

Rivalries

Key personnel

Owner: Jim Crane
General Manager: Dana Brown
Manager: Joe Espada

World Series
Championships (2)

2017
2022

League pennants (5)

NL:
- 2005
AL:
- 2017
- 2019
- 2021
- 2022

Division titles (14)

NL West:
- 1980
- 1981
- 1986
NL Central:
- 1997
- 1998
- 1999
- 2001
AL West:
- 2017
- 2018
- 2019
- 2021
- 2022
- 2023
- 2024

Wild card titles (4)

NL:
- 2004
- 2005
AL:
- 2015
- 2020

Minors

Media

TV: Space City Home Network
Radio: Houston Astros Radio Network
Announcers: Todd Kalas; Geoff Blum

Seasons (64)
1960s	1960 · 1961 · 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980s	1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990s	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010s	2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2020s	2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025

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