The 1976 Houston Astros season was the 15th season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 12th as the Astros, 15th in the National League (NL), eighth in the NL West division, and 12th at The Astrodome. They entered the season as having tied for the most losses in franchise history, at the time, with a 65–97 record, and the most games behind first place, behind the division-champion and World Series-winning Cincinnati Reds.
On April 8, J. R. Richard made his first of five consecutive Opening Day starts for Houston, at Riverfront Stadium to face Cincinnati, but were defeated, 11–5. The Astros attained an all-time franchise record 25 hits on May 30. The Astros' first round selection in the amateur draft was pitcher Floyd Bannister at first overall. Bannister became the Astros' first-ever number one overall draft pick. On July 9, Larry Dierker tossed the fifth no-hitter in franchise history, a 6–0 win over the Montreal Expos.
Center fielder César Cedeño and pitcher Ken Forsch were selected to the MLB All-Star Game; it was the fourth time Cedeño and first for Forsch. Pitcher Robin Roberts, who briefly played for Houston in 1965 and 1966, became the first former Astro to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
On August 9, Cedeño hit for the cycle at Busch Memorial Stadium, the second of two he hit for the Astros, highlighting a 13–4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Cedeño at the time had been the only Houston Astro to hit for the cycle.
The Astros concluded the regular season third in the NL West with a record of 80–82, 22 games behind Cincinnati, who repeated as World Series champions.
Cedeño also won his fifth career Gold Glove Award following the season.
Offseason Transactions October 24, 1975: The Astros traded players to be named later to the Cincinnati Reds for Joaquín Andújar. The Astros completed the trade by sending Luis Sánchez and Carlos Alfonso (minors) to the Reds on December 12. December 6, 1975: The Astros sent Milt May, Dave Roberts and Jim Crawford to the Detroit Tigers for Leon Roberts, Terry Humphrey, Gene Pentz and Mark Lemongello.
Exhibition play The Astros participated in the first-ever baseball game ever hosted at the Louisiana Superdome, in New Orleans, on April 6, 1976, matching up against the Minnesota Twins. Built for American football, the new stadium was the home of the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). In front of just over 10,000 fans, the Astros defeated the Twins, 10–5. Cliff Johnson propelled Houston's offense with three hits, including blasting a home run. Not engineered for baseball, primary issues included a concrete warning track, gridiron sidelines down third base, and poor visibility led to a scoreboard being shut off.
Regular season Summary April + Opening Day starting lineup Player Position 26 Wilbur Howard Left fielder 23 Enos Cabell Third baseman 28 César Cedeño Center fielder 27 Bob Watson First baseman 6 Cliff Johnson Catcher 21 Greg Gross Right fielder 10 Larry Milbourne Second baseman 14 Roger Metzger Shortstop 50 J. R. Richard Pitcher Venue: Riverfront Stadium • Cincinnati 11, Houston 5 Sources:
The Cincinnati Reds hosted the Astros at Riverfront Stadium for Opening Day on April 8. J. R. Richard made his first career Opening Day start, which lasted four innings as he gave up four runs. Rookie José Sosa relieved and was ambushed for six hits and five runs over just one inning. Former Astro Joe Morgan collected three hits and scored three runs. During the top of the sixth, César Cedeño and Bob Watson connected for successive home runs off Reds starter Gary Nolan to highlight the Astros offense. However, Cincinnati took the opener, 11–5. Enos Cabell became just the third player to start at third base on Opening Day for Houston. Cabell succeeded Bob Aspromonte, who started each of the first seven in club history (1962 to 1968), and Doug Rader, who started each of the next seven (1969 to 1975).
Twice of behalf of Ken Forsch's efforts on April 15, the Astros were rescued from reversal by the San Diego Padres. With Houston leading 5–4 in the ninth inning and the tying runner aboard, Forsch induced Ted Kubiak to ground to second for the inevitable end to the contest, except that catcher Cliff Johnson was checked for interference, awarding Kubiak first base. Now facing Merv Rettenmund, Forsch induced a fly ball to Greg Gross in right field that he converted to the final out to polish off the victory.
From April 17 to May 14, César Cedeño authored a career-high 19-game hitting streak, batting .378. Infused with consistency, Cedeño tallied nine multi-hit games, none with more than two. He also swatted five home runs, collected 19 runs batted in (RBI) eight stolen bases, .662 slugging percentage (SLG) and 1.080 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS). The following year, he aggregated another streak of 22, from August 25—September 21, 1977, making him the only player in club history with two hitting streaks each of 19 games or more.
On April 21, J. R. Richard tossed the first 10 innings of a 16-inning, eventual 1–0 shutout of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Richard struck out seven, walked three and allowed four hits for a game score of 88, his highest of the season. José Cruz, who had pinch hit for Richard in the bottom of the 10th, roped a walk-off single off Stan Wall to score Larry Milbourne in the bottom of the 16th inning. Mike Barlow, who entered for Houston for the final inning, picked up his second victory. This was the Astros' longest game of the season in terms of innings played and second longest by time.
May On May 7, J. R. Richard tossed a complete game six-hitter against the St. Louis Cardinals to lead 3–1 Astros victory. Richard registered a game score of 71, six walks and six strikeouts. José Cruz propelled the offense with 2 hits and 2 RBI, Roger Metzger and Wilbur Wood each added two hits and Richard added an insurance run with a sacrifice fly.
Houston's catching corps combined to hit for the cycle on May 9 at Busch Memorial Stadium during a 10–5 beating of St. Louis. Johnson pounded four hits—including two singles, a double and a home run—before spraining his ankle. Backup Skip Jutze completed the effort with a triple in the seventh inning. Meanwhile, Enos Cabell turned four at bats into three hits. Gross drew a base on balls in each of his four plate appearances. José Cruz smashed his first double of the season. The Astros piled on 13 hits while striking out just once. Larry Dierker (4–3) added another hit and hurled eight solid innings, yielding seven hits and two runs.
On May 29, Joe Niekro faced brother and fellow knuckleball hurler Phil for the first bout in team history where one player pitched against his brother. Joe led the Astros to a 4–3 triumph over Phil and the Atlanta Braves. With this win, Joe improved his career record against his brother to 3–2. Nine years earlier, as a member of the Chicago Cubs, Joe had pitched against Phil for the first time, but suffered an 8–3 defeat to the Braves on July 4, 1967. That was the first MLB contest to feature two brothers pitch against each other since Jesse Barnes opposed Virgil on September 11, 1926. The Barnes brothers formed the first four such pitching matchups, but the Niekros hold the major league record with nine total such matchups. Moreover, the only home run hit by Joe Niekro during his 21-year major league career occurred on May 29, when he connected off his brother, Phil. The drive took place in the seventh inning off a knuckleball during an Astros' 4–3 win over the Atlanta Braves.
During the second game of a May 30 doubleheader later that same series, Houston set a club record with 25 hits for a 16–5 defeat of Atlanta. Twenty-three of the hits were singles, and Jerry DaVanon led the Astros with five runs batted in (RBI) and Cliff Johnson doubled and led Houston with four hits.
June—July Holding their first-ever first overall pick, on June 8, Houston selected pitcher Floyd Bannister from Arizona State University in the MLB draft. Meanwhile, Dierker blanked St. Louis, 2–0, on just five hits, three walks, and nine strikeouts, qualifying a game score of 83. On the basepaths, Dierker scratched through both of the Astros' runs via a single and an error during plays involving at bats by Bob Watson.
With flooding in Greater Houston, the Astros were forced to cancel their game on June 15, 1976, against the Pittsburgh Pirates. This became the first and remained the only rainout that ever occurred in the 35 seasons that the team played at the Astrodome. To pick up their rain checks, some fans resorted to riding in canoes in of rain to travel to the stadium.
During a doubleheader in Cincinnati on July 2, César Cedeño took center stage by driving in both game-winners to seal the sweep, while going 7-for-11, and singling for his 1,000th career hit. Houston racked up 25 hits during the opener, which tied the club record established just one month earlier on May 30. Cedeño, Greg Gross, and Enos Cabell each grooved four hits. Meanwhile, Pete Rose had five hits for the Reds, and Joe Morgan coaxed four walks. In the 14th inning, Cedeño crushed a two-run blast off Rich Hinton to break the tie and give the Astros a 9–7 lead, retaining difference in a 10–8 final. Cedeño doubled twice among three hits in the nightcap. In the eighth inning, he doubled in Cabell off Fred Norman for the decisive run and 3–2 Astros triumph.
Navigating 10 bases on balls issued and eight hits on July 6, J. R. Richard prevailed to lock down a 10-inning, 1–0 complete-game shutout of the New York Mets. In the bottom of the 10th inning, Jerry DaVanon singled home Wilbur Howard to cap the walk-off win. This victory commenced a span of eight starts through August 4 during which the hurler crafted a 0.90 earned run average (ERA), was 6–2 over innings pitched, with 42 hits surrendered, 41 walks and 43 strikeouts.
Larry Dierker's no-hitter Larry Dierker tossed a no-hitter on July 9, a 6–0 triumph over the Montreal Expos. He struck out eight, walked four, and posted a game score of 91. Ed Herrmann, who served as Dierker's batterymate, homered in the fourth inning. The first no-hitter ever pitched against the Expos, this was Dierker's fifth career shutout of two hits or fewer. Dierker had taken two prior no-hit bids into the ninth inning, including one for a perfect game on September 30, 1966, and another no-hit bid on September 13, 1969. His 137th win, at the time of his crowning achievement, Dierker was the Astros' franchise leader in nearly every pitching category.
Hermann led a balanced offensive approach by reaching base thrice via two hits and one walk. Bob Watson and Roger Metzger added two hits and one walk each, while José Cruz collected two hits. Dierker chipped in an RBI via a sacrifice fly. The Astros collected 11 base hits and four walks in total.
The most recent no-hitter for Houston had been by Don Wilson on May 1, 1969, 4–0 triumph over Cincinnati. The next no-hitter by Astros pitching transpired on April 7, 1979, by Ken Forsch in a 6–0 win over the Atlanta Braves.
MLB All-Star Game Center fielder César Cedeño and pitcher Ken Forsch were selected to the MLB All-Star Game, hosted at Veterans Stadium. Cedeño became Houston's first player to homer at an All-Star Game, blasting a two-run shot off Frank Tanana to score Ken Griffey and punctuate a 7–1 National League victory. Forsch closed out the contest with a scoreless ninth. His fourth selection, Cedeño matched Turk Farrell—also the Colt .45s/Astros first-ever All-Star—for most in club history. This stood as club record until Craig Biggio would receive his fifth selection in the 1996 All-Star Game. Moreover, Biggio joined Cedeño in 1995 as the next Astro to homer during the Midsummer Classic.
Rest of July