The1978Houston Astros season was the17th season for theMajor League Baseball (MLB) franchise located inHouston,Texas, their 14th as the Astros, 17th in theNational League (NL), tenth in theNL West division, and 14th at TheAstrodome. The Astros entered the season having completed an 81–81record for third place and 17games behind the division-champion and NLpennant-winningLos Angeles Dodgers.

AtRiverfront Stadium on April 6,J. R. Richard made his third of five consecutiveOpening Day starts for Houston, who were defeated by theCincinnati Reds, 11–9. The Astros'first round pick in theamateur draft was pitcherRod Boxberger at 11th overall; in the second round, they chose outfielderDanny Heep.

Center fielderTerry Puhl was Astros' representative at theMLB All-Star Game and played for the National League, his lone career selection. Third basemanEddie Mathews, who briefly played for Houston in1967, became the second former Astro to beinducted into theBaseball Hall of Fame.

The Astros concluded the season fifth in the NL West with a record of 74–88, 21 games behindLos Angeles, who repeated as both division champions and NL pennant winners. J. R. Richard became the first right-handed pitcher in National League history to reach 300strikeouts, as well as the first Houston Astros pitcher to lead the league, with 303.

• October 13, 1977:Al Javier was traded by the Astros to theChicago Cubs forKeith Drumright.^[1]
• November 18, 1977:Oscar Zamora was signed as a free agent by the Astros.^[2]
• December 19, 1977:Jesús Alou was signed as afree agent by the Houston Astros.^[3]

The Astros turned their firsttriple play on anOpening Day on April 6, and third in club history,^[6] Though the contest began auspiciously for Houston, they fell to theCincinnati Reds, 11–9, atRiverfront Stadium.Terry Puhl cranked ahome run tolead off the game and season, andCésar Cedeño andJoe Ferguson joined Puhl with longballs. During the bottom of the seventh,Joe Sambito relieved and struck outDan Driessen. On a botched doublesteal, Ferguson gunned downGeorge Foster, whileJoe Morgan was caught in a rundown between second and third base to turn the triple play.^[7][8]

On April 26, Houston turned a triple play^[6] atDodger Stadium, marking their second instance to have turned two within the same season,^[a] while being the first to occur within the same month.^[6] Simulating aHollywood ending, catcherJoe Ferguson cranked a three-run home run in the top of the eighth to give Houston the lead. WithKen Forsch on during the bottom of the ninth,Bill Russell andReggie Smith each singled, resulting in runners on first and second forRon Cey. Cey slashed a liner toBob Watson, which he snagged and stepped on first, and spun, rifled the ball toRoger Metzger, racing ahead of Russell to the bag to effectuate their trifecta, and ice an 8–6 triumph over theLos Angeles.^[7][9][10]

On May 20,José Cruz got the Astros off to fast start with a two-run first-inning bomb as they lifted off on theAtlanta Braves, 13–0.^[11] He never looked back, capturing both career highs of four hits and sixruns batted in (RBI),^[12] and added a stolen base.^[11]Denny Walling connected for his first major league home run,^[9] and added three RBI.Enos Cabell collected three hits as Astros hitters struck out just once. In his second straightshutout,^[9]J. R. Richard was brilliant, striking out 8 to yield agame score of 80, while, at the plate, he added a hit, run scored and an RBI.^[11]

Threewild pitches in one inning on May 30 during an overwise gem of an outing byJ. R. Richard set up the lone run of the contest to score as theSan Francisco Giants prevailed, 1–0.^[13]

In spite of setting a new record as a team with 7errors on June 12, the Astros'Jesús Alou hit a leadoffdouble to start a rally in the top of the eighthinning. The Astros followed with six runs scored that led to 6–5 win over thePittsburgh Pirates.^[14]

On June 9, Cruztripled twice for the only time in career, attained his fifth career four-hit game, and third with five RBI.^[12] He also pilfered a base. Cruz' final safety was a bases-loaded triple which extended the lead to 11–5 during the top of the eighth.Art Howe andDenny Walling each added a pair of RBI, whileCésar Cedeño stroked three hits and stole a bag. Meanwhile, J. R. Richard (5–6) qualified for a victory though he surrendered 5 hits, 6 walks, and 5 runs to theSt. Louis Cardinals in5+1⁄3 frames in an 11–7 Houston triumph. Twelve of his 16 outs were whiffs.Ken Forsch entered during the bottom of the eighth and extinguished a Cardinals threat with two runs in, while retiring four of fivebatters faced to earn a third save.^[15]

KnuckleballerJoe Niekro started against thePhiladelphia Philles on July 17, opposingLarry Christenson. Niekro pitched an 11-inningcomplete game, struck out eight, surrendered five hits and one run for agame score of 88. During the bottom of the 11th inning,José Cruz led off againstRawly Eastwick, and blasted Eastwick's first offeringwalk-off home run, his fifth longball and eighth game-winning hit of the campaign. Cruz' blast furnished a 2–1 Astros' triumph while punctuating the victory for Niekro in hismarathon bout.^[16] The 11 innings represented a career-high for Niekro.^[17]

On July 31, Niekro fired a two-hit, one-run complete game victory, his lowest-hit complete-game outing since a one-hit shutout masterpiece on July 2,1970, as a member of theDetroit Tigers.^[17]

Richard surpassedTom Seaver's record of 289 strikeouts on September 19, by whiffing the Braves'Bob Horner on a 1–2 offering in the seventh inning. The strikeout set the record for right-handers in the National League.^[18]

Niekro whiffed a career-high 11 on September 20, during a nine-inning complete game;^[17] however, Niekro (12–14) suffered the defeat as theAtlanta Braves.Glenn Hubbard singled inpinch runnerEddie Miller for the go-ahead tally.^[19]

On September 28, J. R. Richard recorded his 300thstrikeout of the season in a 4–3 win over the Braves, tallying six whiffs to get to 303. Richard became the first right-handed pitcher inNational League history to achieve this milestone in one season, He also homered in the third inning offLarry McWilliams. The Astros rallied to win in the seventh inning with a double byReggie Baldwin and a single byRafael Landestoy.^[20]

The Astros concluded the 1978 season 74–88 (.457) performance, in fifth place in the NL West, and trailing the NL pennant-winning Dodgers by 21 games.^[21] This represented a decline in performance by 7 wins and a drop from third place in the standings, from the year prior.^[22]

With 303 whiffs, J. R. Richard became the premier Astros pitcher to lead the league in strikeouts,^[23] and the first to reach 300-plus while establishing a new club record, supplanting the 235 byDon Wilson in1969. Moreover, Richard become Houston's first three-time 200-strikeout moundsman (214 each in1976 and1977).^[b][24]

Enos Cabell became the first Astro to play the full 162-game schedule, while establishing other single-season franchise records. including hits (195) andat bats (660). His hits record stood until1998 whenCraig Biggio collected 210.^[25] Hence, Cabell was named the Houston Astros' teamMost Valuable Player (MVP).^[26]

For the second consecutive season, Richard led the NL inhits per nine innings (6.278 H/9), the third time by an Astros pitcher.^[27]

Richard's 56 wins also led NL right-handers over the previous three seasons.

• April 6, 1978:Bob Coluccio was signed as a free agent by the Astros.^[28]>
• June 6, 1978:Danny Heep was drafted by the Astros in the 2nd round of the1978 Major League Baseball draft.^[29]>
• June 8, 1978: Bob Coluccio was traded by the Astros to theSt. Louis Cardinals forFrank Riccelli.^[30]
• September 2, 1978:Dan Larson was traded by the Astros to thePhiladelphia Phillies forDan Warthen.^[31]
• September 5, 1978:Gene Pentz was released by the Astros.^[32]

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Career honors

Annual awards

• Houston Astros' teamMost Valuable Player^[26]Enos Cabell
• MLB All-Star Game—Reserve outfielder:Terry Puhl^[35]
• National League (NL)Pitcher of the Month—July:J. R. Richard^[36]
• NL Player of the Week:^[37]
  • May 21—J. R. Richard
  • September 10—José Cruz

Pitching achievements

Batting leaders^[38]

• At bats:Enos Cabell (660)
• Games played:Enos Cabell (162)
• Stolen base percentage:César Cedeño (92.00)

Pitching leaders^[39][40]

• Bases on balls: J. R. Richard (141)
• Fielding Independent Pitching: J. R. Richard (2.51)
• Hits per nine innings: J. R. Richard (6.3)
• Strikeouts: J. R. Richard (303)—major league leader
• Strikeouts per nine innings: J. R. Richard (9.9)
• Wild pitches: J. R. Richard (16)—major league leader

• 300 strikeout club
• List of Major League Baseball annual strikeout leaders

• 1978 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference

• Houston Astros seasons
• 1978 Major League Baseball season
• 1978 in sports in Texas

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