1979 Houston Astros
[edit] Summary
The 1979 Houston Astros finished with a record of 89-73. They scored 583 runs and belted 49 home runs to go along with a .256 batting average. The offense was powered by Jose Cruz, who led the team with 9 home runs and 72 RBI. Terry Puhl led the team with 172 hits for a .287 average. Enos Cabell had a great year on the basepaths with 37 stolen bases.
The team allowed 582 runs and had a team ERA of 3.20. Joe Niekro was the winningest pitcher, with 21 games won. J.R. Richard led the team with 313 strikeouts. Joe Sambito was the team's best fireman, with 22 saves.
[edit] Roster and Statistics
| Player Name | Pos | G | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | SB | OBP | SLG | OPS | AVG |
| Infielders | ||||||||||||
| Dave Bergman | 1B | 13 | 15 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .400 | .600 | 1.000 | .400 |
| Enos Cabell | 3B | 155 | 603 | 60 | 164 | 6 | 67 | 37 | .299 | .368 | .667 | .272 |
| Cesar Cedeno | 1B | 132 | 470 | 57 | 123 | 6 | 54 | 30 | .348 | .374 | .722 | .262 |
| Julio Gonzalez | 2B | 68 | 181 | 16 | 45 | 0 | 10 | 2 | .280 | .298 | .578 | .249 |
| Art Howe | 2B | 118 | 355 | 32 | 88 | 6 | 33 | 3 | .316 | .352 | .668 | .248 |
| Rafael Landestoy | 2B | 129 | 282 | 33 | 76 | 0 | 30 | 13 | .338 | .344 | .682 | .270 |
| Craig Reynolds | SS | 146 | 555 | 63 | 147 | 0 | 39 | 12 | .292 | .333 | .625 | .265 |
| Jimmy Sexton | SS | 52 | 43 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .320 | .209 | .529 | .209 |
| Bob Watson | 1B | 49 | 163 | 15 | 39 | 3 | 18 | 0 | .304 | .319 | .623 | .239 |
| Outfielders | ||||||||||||
| Jesus Alou | OF | 42 | 43 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 10 | 0 | .347 | .349 | .696 | .256 |
| Jose Cruz | OF | 157 | 558 | 73 | 161 | 9 | 72 | 36 | .367 | .421 | .788 | .289 |
| Danny Heep | OF | 14 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .176 | .143 | .319 | .143 |
| Jeffrey Leonard | OF | 134 | 411 | 47 | 119 | 0 | 47 | 23 | .360 | .350 | .710 | .290 |
| Terry Puhl | OF | 157 | 600 | 87 | 172 | 8 | 49 | 30 | .352 | .377 | .729 | .287 |
| Denny Walling | OF | 82 | 147 | 21 | 48 | 3 | 31 | 3 | .394 | .497 | .891 | .327 |
| Tom Wiedenbauer | OF | 4 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .667 | .833 | 1.500 | .667 |
| Catchers | ||||||||||||
| Alan Ashby | C | 108 | 336 | 25 | 68 | 2 | 35 | 0 | .262 | .277 | .539 | .202 |
| Reggie Baldwin | C | 14 | 20 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .200 | .250 | .450 | .200 |
| Bruce Bochy | C | 56 | 129 | 11 | 28 | 1 | 6 | 0 | .294 | .271 | .565 | .217 |
| Alan Knicely | C | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 | .000 | .250 | .000 |
| Luis Pujols | C | 26 | 75 | 7 | 17 | 0 | 8 | 0 | .247 | .280 | .527 | .227 |
| Team Totals | - | - | 5394 | 583 | 1382 | 49 | 542 | 190 | .309 | .344 | .654 | .256 |
| Player Name | G | GS | IP | W | L | Win % | SV | SO | BB | ERA | WHIP | |||
| Pitchers | ||||||||||||||
| Joaquin Andujar | 46 | 23 | 194 | 12 | 12 | .500 | 4 | 77 | 88 | 3.43 | 1.320 | |||
| Tom Dixon | 19 | 1 | 25.7 | 1 | 2 | .333 | 0 | 9 | 15 | 6.66 | 2.101 | |||
| Ken Forsch | 26 | 24 | 177.7 | 11 | 6 | .647 | 0 | 58 | 35 | 3.04 | 1.069 | |||
| Frank LaCorte | 12 | 3 | 27 | 1 | 2 | .333 | 0 | 24 | 10 | 5.00 | 1.148 | |||
| Pete Ladd | 10 | 0 | 12.3 | 1 | 1 | .500 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 2.92 | 1.301 | |||
| Bo McLaughlin | 12 | 0 | 16.3 | 1 | 2 | .333 | 0 | 12 | 4 | 5.51 | 1.595 | |||
| Mike Mendoza | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .00 | 0.000 | |||
| Joe Niekro | 38 | 38 | 263.7 | 21 | 11 | .656 | 0 | 119 | 107 | 3.00 | 1.244 | |||
| Randy Niemann | 26 | 7 | 67 | 3 | 2 | .600 | 1 | 24 | 22 | 3.76 | 1.343 | |||
| Gordie Pladson | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4.50 | 2.750 | |||
| Frank Riccelli | 11 | 2 | 22 | 2 | 2 | .500 | 0 | 20 | 18 | 4.09 | 1.818 | |||
| J.R. Richard | 38 | 38 | 292.3 | 18 | 13 | .581 | 0 | 313 | 98 | 2.71 | 1.088 | |||
| Bert Roberge | 26 | 0 | 32 | 3 | 0 | 1.000 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 1.69 | 1.156 | |||
| Vern Ruhle | 13 | 10 | 66.3 | 2 | 6 | .250 | 0 | 33 | 8 | 4.07 | 1.086 | |||
| Joe Sambito | 63 | 0 | 91.3 | 8 | 7 | .533 | 22 | 83 | 23 | 1.77 | 1.128 | |||
| Bobby Sprowl | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 3 | 2 | .00 | 0.750 | |||
| George Throop | 14 | 0 | 22.3 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 15 | 11 | 3.22 | 1.525 | |||
| Rick Williams | 31 | 16 | 121.3 | 4 | 7 | .364 | 0 | 37 | 30 | 3.26 | 1.253 | |||
| Gary Wilson | 6 | 0 | 7.3 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 12.27 | 2.877 | |||
| Team Totals | 399 | 162 | 1447.5 | 89 | 73 | .549 | 31 | 854 | 504 | 3.20 | 1.231 | |||
[edit] Batting Leaders
| Category | ||
| Games | Jose Cruz and Terry Puhl | 157 |
| At Bats | Enos Cabell | 603 |
| Plate Appearances (approx.) | Terry Puhl | 672 |
| Batting Average | Jose Cruz | .289 |
| On-Base % | Jose Cruz | .367 |
| Slugging % | Jose Cruz | .421 |
| OPS | Jose Cruz | .788 |
| Runs | Terry Puhl | 87 |
| Hits | Terry Puhl | 172 |
| Total Bases | Jose Cruz | 235 |
| Doubles | Jose Cruz | 33 |
| Triples | Craig Reynolds | 9 |
| Home Runs | Jose Cruz | 9 |
| RBI | Jose Cruz | 72 |
| Walks | Jose Cruz | 72 |
| Strikeouts | Alan Ashby | 70 |
| Stolen Bases | Enos Cabell | 37 |
| Caught Stealing | Terry Puhl | 22 |
| Sacrifice Hits | Craig Reynolds | 34 |
| Sacrifice Flies | Cesar Cedeno | 9 |
| Grounded into Double Plays | Enos Cabell | 18 |
[edit] Pitching Leaders
| Category | ||
| Wins | Joe Niekro | 21 |
| Losses | J.R. Richard | 13 |
| Saves | Joe Sambito | 22 |
| Won-Loss % | Joe Niekro | .656 |
| ERA | J.R. Richard | 2.71 |
| WHIP | Ken Forsch | 1.069 |
| Innings Pitched | J.R. Richard | 292.3 |
| Games | Joe Sambito | 63 |
| Games Started | Joe Niekro and J.R. Richard | 38 |
| Strikeouts | J.R. Richard | 313 |
| Complete Games | J.R. Richard | 19 |
| Shutouts | Joe Niekro | 5 |
| Batters Faced | J.R. Richard | 1175 |
| Earned Runs Allowed | Joe Niekro and J.R. Richard | 88 |
| Hits Allowed | Joe Niekro | 221 |
| Walks Allowed | Joe Niekro | 107 |
| Home Runs Allowed | Joe Niekro | 17 |
| Doubles Allowed | J.R. Richard | 38 |
| Triples Allowed | Joe Niekro and J.R. Richard | 7 |
| Wild Pitches | Joe Niekro and J.R. Richard | 19 |
| Hit Batsmen | Joe Niekro | 7 |
| Double Plays Induced | Joe Niekro | 27 |
