Orioles in the American League East division. He won The Sporting News Manager of the Year Award. The Yankees signed him to a two-year contract after the 1974 season, with a raise from $50,000 to $65,000 per year. However, Virdon clashed with Bobby Murcer. He received a death threat due to his preference of playing Elliott Maddox over Murcer in center field. The Yankees struggled in 1975. When Billy Martin was fired as manager of the Texas Rangers during the 1975 season, the Yankees fired Virdon on August 2 and hired Martin. The Houston Astros hired Virdon as their manager on August 20, 1975, succeeding Preston Gómez. Tal Smith, who had served as executive vice president for the Yankees, had become the Astros' general manager on August 7. Virdon led the Astros to third-place finishes in 1976 and 1977, but the Astros slipped to fifth place in 1978. The 1979 Astros fell one game short of winning the NL West division championship. The Astros tied the Los Angeles Dodgers for the division championship in 1980, and defeated them in the 1980 NL West tie-breaker game. The Astros played the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1980 NLCS, losing the series in five games. He again won the Manager of the Year Award in 1980. Due to the 1981 Major League Baseball strike, the 1981 season was split into halves with each half's winner appearing in the 1981 NL Division Series. The Dodgers won the first half, while the Astros won the second. In the Division Series, the Dodgers defeated the Astros in five games. During the 1982 season, the Astros fell to fifth place. Virdon was fired during the season and replaced by Bob Lillis. The Montreal Expos hired Virdon as their manager before the 1983 season, replacing Jim Fanning, and signed him to a two-year contract. During the 1984 season, Virdon expressed to Expos general manager John McHale that he did not want to return to the Expos in 1985. With a 64–67 record in August 1984, the Expos fired Virdon, replacing him with Fanning. Gary Lucas, a pitcher for the Expos, felt that they had lost many one-run games because Virdon was too conservative in his managing, not employing the hit and run play and relying on the starting pitcher for too long into the game. Virdon returned to the Pirates as the hitting coach under Jim Leyland in 1986,