1978 Houston Astros

74-88 • .457 Win% • 5th in NL W

The 1978 Houston Astros went 74-88 (.457) finishing 5th in the NL W division. The club scored 605 runs, allowed 634, and played home games at Astrodome. Team leaders included Bob Watson (14 HR, 79 RBI) and J. R. Richard (18-11, 3.11 ERA).

W (Wins):
Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
L (Losses):
Games charged to the pitcher of record when the opposing team took a lead it never surrendered.
RS (Runs Scored (team)):
Total runs a team scored across the season.
RA (Runs Allowed):
Total runs a team allowed across the season.

Data updated

📊 Season Record

74 Wins
88 Losses
.457 Win %
5th Rank
605 R 634 RA
Diff -29

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⚡ Quick Stats

605 Runs Scored
634 Runs Allowed
-29 Run Diff
1,128K Attendance

📈 vs. 1978 NL Average

Batting Avg .257 2% above the 1978 league average (.254)
OBP .312 2% below the 1978 league average (.320)
SLG .355 4% below the 1978 league average (.371)
Team ERA 3.63 2% worse than the 1978 league average (3.57)
Runs Scored 605 6% below the 1978 league average (645 R)

🏟️ Home Ballpark

🏟️
StadiumAstrodome
📅
Home Games 81
👥
Total Attendance 1,128,233
📊
Avg per Game 13,928

⚾ Batting Leaders

Team HR Leaders — 1978

Batting Avg

1 Jesus Alou 0.324 2 Jose Cruz 0.315 3 Enos Cabell 0.295 4 Art Howe 0.293 5 Terry Puhl 0.289

Home Runs

1 Bob Watson 14 2 Jose Cruz 10 3 Enos Cabell 7 4 Cesar Cedeno 7 5 Joe Ferguson 7

RBI

1 Jose Cruz 83 2 Bob Watson 79 3 Enos Cabell 71 4 Art Howe 55 5 Denny Walling 36
1978 Houston Astros — RBI
Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG
Enos Cabell 162 660 92 195 31 8 7 71 22 80 33 0.295
Terry Puhl 149 585 87 169 25 6 3 35 48 46 32 0.289
Jose Cruz 153 565 79 178 34 9 10 83 57 57 37 0.315
Bob Watson 139 461 51 133 25 4 14 79 51 57 3 0.289
Art Howe 119 420 46 123 33 3 7 55 34 41 2 0.293
Denny Walling 120 247 30 62 11 3 3 36 30 24 9 0.251
Julio Gonzalez 78 223 24 52 3 1 1 16 8 31 6 0.233
Rafael Landestoy 59 218 18 58 5 1 0 9 8 23 7 0.266
Cesar Cedeno 50 192 31 54 8 2 7 23 15 24 23 0.281
Dave Bergman 104 186 15 43 5 1 0 12 39 32 2 0.231
Bruce Bochy 54 154 8 41 8 0 3 15 11 35 0 0.266
Luis Pujols 56 153 11 20 8 1 1 11 12 45 0 0.131
Joe Ferguson 51 150 20 31 5 0 7 22 37 30 0 0.207
Wilbur Howard 84 148 17 34 4 1 1 13 5 22 6 0.230
Jimmy Sexton 88 141 17 29 3 2 2 6 13 28 16 0.206
Jesus Alou 77 139 7 45 5 1 2 19 6 5 0 0.324
Roger Metzger 45 123 11 27 4 1 0 6 12 9 0 0.220
J. R. Richard 37 101 8 18 0 0 1 10 1 27 1 0.178
Mike Fischlin 44 86 3 10 1 0 0 0 4 9 1 0.116
Reggie Baldwin 38 67 5 17 5 0 1 11 3 3 0 0.254
Joe Niekro 36 65 6 9 2 0 0 5 0 18 0 0.138
Mark Lemongello 33 64 3 11 1 0 0 3 4 22 0 0.172
Keith Drumright 17 55 5 9 0 0 0 2 3 4 0 0.164
Tom Dixon 30 40 0 4 0 0 0 1 1 7 0 0.100
Ed Herrmann 16 36 1 4 1 0 0 0 3 3 0 0.111
Floyd Bannister 28 31 2 5 1 0 0 0 1 12 0 0.161
Ken Forsch 52 27 1 5 0 0 0 3 0 9 0 0.185
Jeffrey Leonard 8 26 2 10 2 0 0 4 1 2 0 0.385
Joaquin Andujar 36 23 0 3 1 0 0 3 1 11 0 0.130
Joe Cannon 8 18 1 4 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0.222
Vern Ruhle 13 18 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 14 0 0.056
Jim Obradovich 10 17 3 3 0 1 0 2 1 3 0 0.176
Joe Sambito 62 6 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0.167
Rick Williams 17 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.000
Bo McLaughlin 12 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.000
Dan Warthen 5 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.000
Oscar Zamora 10 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.000
Gene Pentz 10 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Frank Riccelli 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000

🎯 Pitching Leaders

Team K Leaders — 1978

ERA

1 Vern Ruhle 2.12 2 Ken Forsch 2.70 3 Joe Sambito 3.07 4 J. R. Richard 3.11 5 Joaquin Andujar 3.42

Wins

1 J. R. Richard 18 2 Joe Niekro 14 3 Ken Forsch 10 4 Mark Lemongello 9 5 Tom Dixon 7

Strikeouts

1 J. R. Richard 303 2 Joe Niekro 97 3 Joe Sambito 96 4 Floyd Bannister 94 5 Mark Lemongello 77
1978 Houston Astros — Strikeouts
Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H ER BB SO
J. R. Richard 18 11 3.11 36 36 0 275.1 192 95 141 303
Mark Lemongello 9 14 3.94 33 30 1 210.1 204 92 66 77
Joe Niekro 14 14 3.86 35 29 0 202.2 190 87 73 97
Tom Dixon 7 11 3.99 30 19 1 140.0 140 62 40 66
Ken Forsch 10 6 2.70 52 6 7 133.1 136 40 37 71
Joaquin Andujar 5 7 3.42 35 13 1 110.2 88 42 58 55
Floyd Bannister 3 9 4.81 28 16 0 110.1 120 59 63 94
Joe Sambito 4 9 3.07 62 0 11 88.0 85 30 32 96
Vern Ruhle 3 3 2.12 13 10 0 68.0 57 16 20 27
Rick Williams 1 2 4.67 17 1 0 34.2 43 18 10 17
Bo McLaughlin 0 1 5.01 12 1 2 23.1 30 13 16 10
Gene Pentz 0 0 6.00 10 0 0 15.0 12 10 13 8
Oscar Zamora 0 0 7.20 10 0 0 15.0 20 12 7 6
Dan Warthen 0 1 4.22 5 1 0 10.2 10 5 2 2
Frank Riccelli 0 0 0.00 2 0 0 3.0 1 0 0 1

👥 Roster (39)

Jesus Alou Joaquin Andujar Reggie Baldwin Floyd Bannister Dave Bergman Bruce Bochy Enos Cabell Joe Cannon Cesar Cedeno Jose Cruz Tom Dixon Keith Drumright +27 more

39 players

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The 1978 Houston Astros in brief

A 74-88 record (.457) put the 1978 Houston Astros 5th in the NL West. With 605 runs scored and 634 given up, the 1978 differential was -29. Against a league average of .254, the 1978 Houston Astros batted .257. The Houston Astros staff finished with a 3.63 ERA; the league as a whole was at 3.57. League clubs averaged 645 runs that year, so the Houston Astros scored 6% fewer. The home park, Astrodome, recorded 1,128,233 in attendance, about 13,928 a game.

The home run leader was Bob Watson, who hit 14. Jose Cruz drove in a team-high 83 runs. The hits leader was Enos Cabell with 195. J. R. Richard led the pitchers with 18 wins. Joe Sambito closed out 11 saves. In all, the roster shows 39 players.

Frequently Asked Questions about the 1978 Houston Astros

What was the 1978 Houston Astros record?
The 1978 Houston Astros finished 74-88 (.457 win pct).
Who led the 1978 Houston Astros in home runs?
Bob Watson led the 1978 Houston Astros with 14 home runs.
What was the 1978 Houston Astros team ERA?
The 1978 Houston Astros posted a team ERA of 3.63.
Did the 1978 Houston Astros win the World Series?
No. The 1978 Houston Astros did not win the World Series.
Where did the 1978 Houston Astros play?
The 1978 Houston Astros played home games at Astrodome.
Who led the 1978 Houston Astros in hitting and pitching?
Team leaders were Bob Watson (14 HR, 79 RBI) and J. R. Richard (18-11, 3.11 ERA).
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