1980 Houston Astros season

The 1980 Houston Astros season was a season in American baseball. The team finished in a tie for first place in the National League West with a record of 92–70 with the Los Angeles Dodgers. 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.

1980 Houston Astros
National League West Champions
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1962)
Western Division (since 1969)
Location
Astrodome (since 1965) Houston, Texas (since 1962)
Results
Record	93–70 (.571)
Divisional place	1st
Other information
Owner(s)	John McMullen
General manager(s)	Tal Smith, Al Rosen
Manager(s)	Bill Virdon
Local television	KRIV
Local radio	KPRC (AM) (Gene Elston, Dewayne Staats, Larry Dierker)
< Previous season     Next season >

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

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 Sources:
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

• Alan Ashby
• Enos Cabell
• César Cedeño
• José Cruz
• Art Howe
• Joe Morgan
• Terry Puhl
• Craig Reynolds
• J. R. Richard

Roster

1980 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers 47 Joaquín Andújar 43 Ken Forsch 31 Frank LaCorte 36 Joe Niekro 46 Randy Niemann 26 Gordie Pladson 50 J. R. Richard 42 Bert Roberge 48 Vern Ruhle 34 Nolan Ryan 35 Joe Sambito 45 Dave Smith 41 Bobby Sprowl		Catchers 14 Alan Ashby 13 Bruce Bochy  6 Luis Pujols Infielders 16 Dave Bergman 23 Enos Cabell 10 Mike Fischlin  9 Julio González 20 Danny Heep 18 Art Howe 17 Rafael Landestoy  8 Joe Morgan 12 Craig Reynolds 29 Denny Walling		Outfielders 28 César Cedeño 25 José Cruz 30 Jeffrey Leonard 22 Scott Loucks 21 Terry Puhl 15 Gary Woods Other batters 11 Alan Knicely		Manager  7 Bill Virdon Coaches  4 Deacon Jones  3 Don Leppert  5 Bob Lillis  2 Mel Wright

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

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

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

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

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

• 1980 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference
• 1980 Houston Astros season at baseball almanac