Bull Butter
08-07-2007, 12:41 AM
Aug. 6, 1975
Owner Roy Hofheinz fires GM "Spec" Richardson who was known for trading away talent and getting nothing in return and hires Tal Smith as General Manager.
One of Smith's first moves was to fire manager Preston Gomez, who led the team to a 47-80 record and replace him with Bill Virdon. Together, Smith and Virdon build the club into the winning organization they became in the late 1970's
The Astros had their worst record ever in '75 at 64-97, but rebounded to 80-82 in '76 and 81-81 in '77. Injuries hampered the team in '78 as they stumbled to 74-88, but in 1979, the Astros spent the majority of the season in 1st place, only to lose the division by 1 game to the Reds, going 89-73. 1980 was the pinnacle, winning the NL West (93-70) and giving us the most exciting NLCS in history, losing to the Phillies 3 games to 2 (with the last 4 games going extra innings), all under the regime of Tal Smith & Bill Virdon:clap:
Owner Roy Hofheinz fires GM "Spec" Richardson who was known for trading away talent and getting nothing in return and hires Tal Smith as General Manager.
One of Smith's first moves was to fire manager Preston Gomez, who led the team to a 47-80 record and replace him with Bill Virdon. Together, Smith and Virdon build the club into the winning organization they became in the late 1970's
The Astros had their worst record ever in '75 at 64-97, but rebounded to 80-82 in '76 and 81-81 in '77. Injuries hampered the team in '78 as they stumbled to 74-88, but in 1979, the Astros spent the majority of the season in 1st place, only to lose the division by 1 game to the Reds, going 89-73. 1980 was the pinnacle, winning the NL West (93-70) and giving us the most exciting NLCS in history, losing to the Phillies 3 games to 2 (with the last 4 games going extra innings), all under the regime of Tal Smith & Bill Virdon:clap: