1980 Houston Astros season

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1980 Houston Astros
National League West Champions
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record93–70 (.571)
Divisional place1st
Other information
Owner(s)John McMullen
General manager(s)Tal Smith, Al Rosen
Manager(s)Bill Virdon
Local televisionKRIV
Local radioKPRC (AM)
(Gene Elston, Dewayne Staats, Larry Dierker)
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The 1980 Houston Astros season was the 19th season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise in Houston, Texas.

After a late collapse in 1979, the Astros finished in a tie for first place in the National League West with a record of 92–70 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, having lost three in a row in Los Angeles on the final series of the season. The teams played a one-game playoff to determine the division champion, which the Astros won, marking the first time in franchise history that the team qualified for the postseason. They went on to face the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS, losing three games to two.

Offseason[]

  • October 26, 1979: Keith Drumright was sent by the Astros to the Kansas City Royals to complete an earlier deal (the Astros sent a player to be named later to the Royals for George Throop) made on April 27, 1979.[1]
  • November 19, 1979: Nolan Ryan was signed as a free agent by the Astros.[2]
  • January 31, 1980: Joe Morgan was signed as a free agent by the Astros.[3]
  • February 21, 1980: Frank Riccelli was released by the Astros.[4]

Regular season[]

On July 4, pitcher Nolan Ryan recorded the 3,000th strikeout of his career by striking out César Gerónimo of the Cincinnati Reds.

Season standings[]

  • v
  • t
NL West 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
Houston Astros 93 70 0.571 — 55–26 38–44
Los Angeles Dodgers 92 71 0.564 1 55–27 37–44
Cincinnati Reds 89 73 0.549 3½ 44–37 45–36
Atlanta Braves 81 80 0.503 11 50–30 31–50
San Francisco Giants 75 86 0.466 17 44–37 31–49
San Diego Padres 73 89 0.451 19½ 45–36 28–53

Record vs. opponents[]

1980 National League Records
  • v
  • t

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 — 8–4 2–16 7–11 11–7 5–7 3–9 5–7 11–1 12–6 11–6 6–6
Chicago 4–8 — 7–5 1–11 5–7 6–12 10–8 5–13 8–10 4–8 5–7 9–9
Cincinnati 16–2 5–7 — 8–10 9–9 3–9 8–4 7–5 6–6 15–3–1 7–11 5–7
Houston 11–7 11–1 10–8 — 9–10 5–7 8–4 3–9 7–5 11–7 11–7 7–5
Los Angeles 7–11 7–5 9–9 10–9 — 11–1 7–5 6–6 6–6 9–9 13–5 7–5
Montreal 7–5 12–6 9–3 7–5 1–11 — 10–8 9–9 6–12 10–2 7–5 12–6
New York 9–3 8–10 4–8 4–8 5–7 8–10 — 6–12 10–8 1–11 3–9 9–9
Philadelphia 7-5 13–5 5–7 9–3 6–6 9–9 12–6 — 7–11 8–4 6–6 9–9
Pittsburgh 1–11 10–8 6–6 5–7 6–6 12–6 8–10 11–7 — 6–6 8–4 10–8
San Diego 6–12 8–4 3–15–1 7–11 9–9 2–10 11–1 4–8 6–6 — 10–8 7–5
San Francisco 6–11 7–5 11–7 7–11 5–13 5–7 9–3 6–6 4–8 8–10 — 7–5
St. Louis 6–6 9–9 7–5 5–7 5–7 6–12 9–9 9–9 8–10 5–7 5–7 —


Opening Day starters[]

Roster[]

1980 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager
  •  7 Bill Virdon

Coaches

Game log[]

1980 Game Log
April: 13–5 (Home: 9–3; Away: 4–2)
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record
May: 12–14 (Home: 4–4; Away: 8–10)
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record
June: 18–9 (Home: 13–4; Away: 5–5)
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record
July: 13–16 (Home: 8–6; Away: 5–10)
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record
August: 18–12 (Home: 9–4; Away: 9–8)
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record
September: 16–11 (Home: 10–5; Away: 6–6)
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record
October: 3–3 (Home: 2–0; Away: 1–3)
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record
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 116 352 90 .256 3 48
1B Art Howe 110 321 91 .283 10 46
2B Joe Morgan 141 461 112 .243 11 49
3B Enos Cabell 152 604 167 .276 2 55
SS Craig Reynolds 137 381 86 .226 3 28
LF José Cruz 160 612 185 .302 11 91
CF César Cedeño 137 499 154 .309 10 73
RF Terry Puhl 141 535 151 .282 13 55

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
Rafael Landestoy 149 393 97 .247 1 27
Denny Walling 100 284 85 .299 3 29
Luis Pujols 78 221 44 .199 0 20
Jeffrey Leonard 88 216 46 .213 3 20
Dave Bergman 90 78 20 .256 0 3
Danny Heep 33 87 24 .276 0 6
Gary Woods 19 53 20 .377 2 15
Julio González 40 52 6 .115 0 1
Bruce Bochy 22 22 4 .182 0 0
Scott Loucks 8 3 1 .333 0 0
Mike Fischlin 1 1 0 .000 0 0
Alan Knicely 1 1 0 .000 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
Joe Niekro 37 256 20 12 3.55 127
Nolan Ryan 35 233.2 11 10 3.35 200
Ken Forsch 32 222.1 12 13 3.20 84
Vern Ruhle 28 159.1 12 4 2.37 55
J. R. Richard 17 113.2 10 4 1.90 119

Other pitchers[]

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Joaquín Andújar 35 122 3 8 3.91 75
Gordie Pladson 12 41.1 0 4 4.35 13

Relief pitchers[]

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

Player G IP W L SV ERA SO
Joe Sambito 64 90.1 8 4 17 2.19 75
Dave Smith 57 102.2 7 5 10 1.93 85
Frank LaCorte 55 83 8 5 11 2.82 66
Randy Niemann 22 33 0 1 1 5.45 18
Bert Roberge 14 24.1 2 0 0 5.92 9
Bobby Sprowl 1 1 0 0 0 0.00 3

National League Championship Series[]

Main article: 1980 National League Championship Series

Game 1[]

October 7: Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Houston 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 7 0
Philadelphia 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 X 3 8 1
W: Steve Carlton (1–0)   L: Ken Forsch (0–1)   S: Tug McGraw (1)
HR: HOU – None  PHI – Greg Luzinski (1)
Pitchers: HOU – Forsch  PHI – Carlton, McGraw (8)
Attendance: 65,277

Game 2[]

October 8: Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
Houston 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 4 7 8 1
Philadelphia 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 4 14 2
W: Frank LaCorte (1–0)   L: Ron Reed (0–1)   S: Joaquín Andújar (1)
HR: HOU – None  PHI – None
Pitchers: HOU – Ryan, Sambito (7), Smith (7), LaCorte (9), Andújar (10)  PHI – Ruthven, McGraw (8), Reed (9), Saucier (10)
Attendance: 65,476

Game 3[]

October 10: Astrodome, Houston, Texas

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E
Philadelphia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 1
Houston 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 6 1
W: Dave Smith (1–0)   L: Tug McGraw (0–1)   S: None
HR: PHI – None  HOU – None
Pitchers: PHI – Christenson, Noles (7), McGraw (8)  HOU – Niekro, Smith (11)

Attendance: 44,443

Game 4[]

October 11: Astrodome, Houston, Texas

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
Philadelphia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 2 5 13 0
Houston 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 3 5 2
W: Warren Brusstar (1–0)   L: Joe Sambito (0–1)   S: Tug McGraw (2)
HR: PHI – None  HOU – None
Pitchers: PHI – Carlton, Noles (6), Saucier (7), Reed (7), Brusstar (8), McGraw (10)  HOU – Ruhle, Smith (8), Sambito (8)

Attendance: 44,952

Game 5[]

October 12: Astrodome, Houston, Texas

Game 5 capped the series in fitting fashion, with seemingly endless surprises and excitement. The Astros jumped to an early lead in the first on a run-scoring double by José Cruz. Philadelphia bounced back to take the lead on a two-run single by Bob Boone in the second. The Astros saw Luis Pujols and Enos Cabell thrown out at the plate in the second and fifth, but finally broke through to tie the game 2–2 on an unearned run in the sixth, thanks to an error by Philadelphia's less than surehanded left fielder Greg Luzinski.

Houston took what seemed like a solid 5–2 lead in the seventh on an RBI single by Denny Walling, a wild pitch from Phillies reliever Larry Christenson, and a run-scoring triple by Art Howe. A three-run deficit in the eighth inning against Nolan Ryan seemed insurmountable. But the Phillies would not die. They loaded the bases with nobody out on three straight singles, including two infield hits, and then got two runs on a walk to Pete Rose and a groundout by Keith Moreland. An RBI single by Del Unser tied the game 5–5, and then Manny Trillo put the Phillies ahead with a two-run triple.

The Astros promptly came back to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth, with Rafael Landestoy and José Cruz each singling in a run. Neither team scored in the ninth, but the Phillies got doubles from Unser and Garry Maddox in the tenth to take an 8–7 lead. Philadelphia's Dick Ruthven retired the Astros in order in the bottom of the tenth, and the Phillies had won their first pennant since 1950. They went on to defeat the Kansas City Royals four games to two in the World Series.

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
Philadelphia 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 1 8 13 2
Houston 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 2 0 0 7 14 0
W: Dick Ruthven (1–0)   L: Frank LaCorte (1–1)   S: None
HR: PHI – None  HOU – None
Pitchers: PHI – Bystrom, Brusstar (6), Christenson (7), Reed (7), McGraw (8), Ruthven (9)  HOU – Ryan, Sambito (8), Forsch (8), LaCorte (9)
Attendance: 44,802

Farm system[]

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Tucson Toros Pacific Coast League Jimmy Johnson
AA Columbus Astros Southern League Matt Galante
A Daytona Beach Astros Florida State League Carlos Alfonso
Rookie GCL Astros Blue Gulf Coast League Eric Swanson
Rookie GCL Astros Orange Gulf Coast League Fernando Tatís

References[]

  1. ^ Keith Drumright at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ Nolan Ryan at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Joe Morgan at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Frank Riccelli at Baseball Reference

External links[]

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