On July 16, 1980, Despite much speculation that he is simply malingering, the Astros place star pitcher J.R. Richard on the 21-day disabled list with a mysterious arm problem. The 6′ 8″ right-hander is 10-4 with a 1.89 ERA and 119 strikeouts in 114 innings, but has removed himself from 10 games this year complaining…
On July 4, 1980, at Riverfront Stadium, Nolan Ryan of the Houston Astros collects his 3,000th strikeout during an 8-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. “The Express” fans Cesar Geronimo, becoming the fourth major league pitcher to reach the milestone. Ironically, Geronimo was also Bob Gibson’s 3,000th career strikeout victim six years earlier. Despite the milestone,…
1980 – Nolan Ryan ‘s first win as an Astro comes in an 8-0 victory over Cincinnati. It’s the initial dividend from baseball’s first million-dollar-per-year contract. Ryan fans seven and walks six in seven innings. Jose Cruz is the star with three hits and five RBIs, including a bases-loaded triple in the first inning.
After eight years with the California Angels, Nolan Ryan makes his debut with the Houston Astros. Ryan, who did not come to bat the previous seven seasons, hits a 3-run homer in the 4th inning. The Astros lose to the Dodgers in 17 innings, 6 – 5.
1980 – Craig Reynolds, homerless the year before, blasts a leadoff homer against Don Stanhouse to spark a five-run eighth-inning rally that topples Los Angeles, 10-6. Dave Smith wins in his first big league appearance.
1980 – The Houston Astros sign free agent second baseman Joe Morgan. Houston was the first major league team the two-time National League MVP played with before he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds and became a force in the Big Red Machine.
1979 – The Houston Astros sign free agent pitcher Nolan Ryan. The former California Angels ace and future Hall of Fame member signs a four-year deal worth $4.5 million, making him the highest-paid player in major league history. Ryan also becomes the first player to earn a $1 million annual salary.
Atlanta’s Phil Niekro notches his 20th win of the season by beating his brother Joe, the National League’s only other 20-game winner this season, 9 – 4. The Niekro brothers are the second pair (the other was Jim Perry and Gaylord Perry) to win 20 games in the same year, and Phil Niekro, who finishes at 21-20, is the first pitcher since Wilbur Wood in 1973 to win and lose 20 games the same year, and the first NL pitcher to do so since 1905.
1979 – J.R. Richard tops the 300-strikeout barrier for the second straight year, fanning 13 during a four-hit, 8-0 blanking of Atlanta . He would add eleven more four days later against the Dodgers to close with a team record of 313 for the season.
1979 – Mickey Mahler and Rick Mahler hurl in the same game as the Braves fall to the Astros, 8 – 0. It is the most recent instance of brothers pitching for the same team in the same game.
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