1981 Houston Astros

61-49 • .555 Win% • 3rd in NL W

The 1981 Houston Astros went 61-49 (.555) finishing 3rd in the NL W division. They won their division. The club scored 394 runs, allowed 331, and played home games at Astrodome. Team leaders included Jose Cruz (13 HR, 55 RBI) and Nolan Ryan (11-5, 1.69 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

61 Wins
49 Losses
.555 Win %
3rd Rank
394 R 331 RA
Diff +63

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⚡ Quick Stats

394 Runs Scored
331 Runs Allowed
+63 Run Diff
1,321K Attendance

📈 vs. 1981 NL Average

Batting Avg .256 1% above the 1981 league average (.255)
OBP .317 equal to the 1981 league average (.319)
SLG .355 2% below the 1981 league average (.363)
Team ERA 2.66 24% better than the 1981 league average (3.49)
Runs Scored 394 6% below the 1981 league average (420 R)

🏟️ Home Ballpark

🏟️
StadiumAstrodome
📅
Home Games 51
👥
Total Attendance 1,321,222
📊
Avg per Game 25,906

⚾ Batting Leaders

Team HR Leaders — 1981

Batting Avg

1 Art Howe 0.296 2 Tony Scott 0.293 3 Joe Pittman 0.281 4 Dickie Thon 0.274 5 Kiko Garcia 0.272

Home Runs

1 Jose Cruz 13 2 Cesar Cedeno 5 3 Denny Walling 5 4 Alan Ashby 4 5 Craig Reynolds 4

RBI

1 Jose Cruz 55 2 Art Howe 36 3 Cesar Cedeno 34 4 Alan Ashby 33 5 Craig Reynolds 31
1981 Houston Astros — RBI
Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG
Jose Cruz 107 409 53 109 16 5 13 55 35 49 5 0.267
Art Howe 103 361 43 107 22 4 3 36 41 23 1 0.296
Terry Puhl 96 350 43 88 19 4 3 28 31 49 22 0.251
Craig Reynolds 87 323 43 84 10 12 4 31 12 31 3 0.260
Cesar Cedeno 82 306 42 83 19 0 5 34 24 31 12 0.271
Alan Ashby 83 255 20 69 13 0 4 33 35 33 0 0.271
Tony Scott 55 225 28 66 13 2 2 22 15 32 8 0.293
Denny Walling 65 158 23 37 6 0 5 23 28 17 2 0.234
Kiko Garcia 48 136 9 37 6 1 0 15 10 16 2 0.272
Joe Pittman 52 135 11 38 4 2 0 7 11 16 4 0.281
Luis Pujols 40 117 5 28 3 1 1 14 10 17 1 0.239
Phil Garner 31 113 13 27 3 1 0 6 15 11 6 0.239
Gary Woods 54 110 10 23 4 1 0 12 11 22 2 0.209
Danny Heep 33 96 6 24 3 0 0 11 10 11 0 0.250
Dickie Thon 49 95 13 26 6 0 0 3 9 13 6 0.274
Rafael Landestoy 35 74 6 11 1 1 0 4 16 9 4 0.149
Dave Roberts 27 54 4 13 3 0 1 5 3 6 1 0.241
Joe Niekro 24 51 1 9 1 0 0 6 2 10 0 0.176
Nolan Ryan 21 51 3 11 1 0 0 1 5 18 0 0.216
Don Sutton 23 51 1 7 0 0 0 3 5 12 0 0.137
Bob Knepper 22 47 3 7 2 0 1 3 0 15 0 0.149
Mike Ivie 19 42 2 10 3 0 0 6 2 11 0 0.238
Harry Spilman 28 34 5 10 0 0 0 1 2 3 0 0.294
Vern Ruhle 20 24 1 6 1 0 0 3 6 11 0 0.250
Jeffrey Leonard 7 18 1 3 1 1 0 3 0 4 1 0.167
Dave Smith 42 8 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0.250
Tim Tolman 4 8 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.125
Alan Knicely 3 7 2 4 0 0 2 2 0 1 0 0.571
Scott Loucks 10 7 2 4 0 0 0 0 1 3 1 0.571
Dave Bergman 6 6 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0.167
Bobby Sprowl 15 6 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0.167
Joe Sambito 49 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0.000
Joaquin Andujar 9 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0.000
Frank LaCorte 37 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.333
Bert Peña 4 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.500
Billy Smith 10 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.000
Gordie Pladson 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000

🎯 Pitching Leaders

Team K Leaders — 1981

ERA

1 Nolan Ryan 1.69 2 Joe Sambito 1.84 3 Bob Knepper 2.18 4 Don Sutton 2.61 5 Dave Smith 2.76

Wins

1 Nolan Ryan 11 2 Don Sutton 11 3 Bob Knepper 9 4 Joe Niekro 9 5 Joe Sambito 5

Strikeouts

1 Nolan Ryan 140 2 Don Sutton 104 3 Joe Niekro 77 4 Bob Knepper 75 5 Dave Smith 52
1981 Houston Astros — Strikeouts
Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H ER BB SO
Joe Niekro 9 9 2.82 24 24 0 166.0 150 52 47 77
Don Sutton 11 9 2.61 23 23 0 158.2 132 46 29 104
Bob Knepper 9 5 2.18 22 22 0 156.2 128 38 38 75
Nolan Ryan 11 5 1.69 21 21 0 149.0 99 28 68 140
Vern Ruhle 4 6 2.91 20 15 1 102.0 97 33 20 39
Dave Smith 5 3 2.76 42 0 8 75.0 54 23 23 52
Joe Sambito 5 5 1.84 49 0 10 63.2 43 13 22 41
Frank LaCorte 4 2 3.64 37 0 5 42.0 41 17 21 40
Bobby Sprowl 0 1 5.97 15 1 0 28.2 40 19 14 18
Joaquin Andujar 2 3 4.94 9 3 0 23.2 29 13 12 18
Billy Smith 1 1 3.05 10 1 1 20.2 20 7 3 3
Gordie Pladson 0 0 9.00 2 0 0 4.0 9 4 3 3

🏆 Postseason Results

NWDIV
Lost to LAN 3-2

👥 Roster (37)

Joaquin Andujar Alan Ashby Dave Bergman Cesar Cedeno Jose Cruz Kiko Garcia Phil Garner Danny Heep Art Howe Mike Ivie Bob Knepper Alan Knicely +25 more

37 players

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The 1981 Houston Astros in brief

A 61-49 record (.555) put the 1981 Houston Astros 3rd in the NL West. That season the Houston Astros took the division title. The Houston Astros scored 394 runs and allowed 331, a run differential of +63. At the plate the Houston Astros hit .256, 1% better than the league's .255. Pitchers allowed 2.66 earned runs per nine innings, against a league figure of 3.49.

The 1981 Houston Astros scored 6% fewer runs than the average club (394 against 420). Astrodome was home in 1981, drawing a total attendance of 1,321,222. Jose Cruz led the club in home runs with 13. Nolan Ryan was the top winner, with 11 victories. Joe Sambito closed out 10 saves. In the NL West division playoff, the Houston Astros lost to LAN 3-2.

Frequently Asked Questions about the 1981 Houston Astros

What was the 1981 Houston Astros record?
The 1981 Houston Astros finished 61-49 (.555 win pct).
Who led the 1981 Houston Astros in home runs?
Jose Cruz led the 1981 Houston Astros with 13 home runs.
What was the 1981 Houston Astros team ERA?
The 1981 Houston Astros posted a team ERA of 2.66.
Did the 1981 Houston Astros win the World Series?
No. The 1981 Houston Astros did not win the World Series.
Where did the 1981 Houston Astros play?
The 1981 Houston Astros played home games at Astrodome.
Who led the 1981 Houston Astros in hitting and pitching?
Team leaders were Jose Cruz (13 HR, 55 RBI) and Nolan Ryan (11-5, 1.69 ERA).
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