The Houston Colt .45s came into the National League in 1960. It was not until 1965 that the team changed its official name to the Houston Astros; this same year, the team began play in its new stadium, the Astrodome. The Astros had impressive hitting in the 1960's with players such as Joe Morgan and Jimmy Wynn, as well as good pitchers such as Bob Bruce and Ken Johnson. 1975 was tainted by the tragic suicide of pitcher Don Wilson, who had pitched two no-hitters for the team. His jersey was retired out of respect for his contribution to the game. In 1980, the Astros won their first NL West championship and went on to win the Divisional Series against the Dodgers. The team accomplished this feat not by power, but by pitching and speed. JosČ Cruz, Sr., Nolan Ryan, and Joe Niekro played huge parts in the team's success.
The 1981 Astros defended the NL West Championship, although the season was shortened by the strike, thanks in large part to free agent acquisition Don Sutton. In 1985, Mike Scott was awarded the Cy Young Award. That same year, the ėStros fell to the Mets in a very dramatic NLCS. The rebuilding period between 1987 and 1993 brought rookie Craig Biggio to the team in 1989. Trading for Jeff Bagwell in 1990 is considered by Astros fans to be one of the best trades in franchise history. Shortly after Drayton McLane took over ownership of the team in 1993, the Astros won consecutive division titles in '97, '98, and '99, only to be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs each season. In 2000, Houston moved to a new stadium with a retractable roof, formerly known as Enron Field. It was later renamed to Minute Maid Park after the Enron scandal and is known to be a great hitter's park.
In 2004, with the help of Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Lance Berkman, and Jeff Kent, the media was quick to predict that the Astros would win the National League. However, they were stopped by St. Louis in the NLCS. With the play of phenom Roy Oswalt in 2005, the Astros ousted the Cardinals in a rematch of the previous year's NLCS to win the NL pennant. They faced the Chicago White Sox, and were swept by them. Since their NL Pennant run in '05 the Astros have not been able to reach the playoffs. Houston finished last season with a 86-75 record falling into 3rd place in the division. Heading into the 2009 season they seem optimistic after their previous winning regular season (despite not making post-season play). Look for Miguel Tejada and Carlos Lee to create a strong line up for Houston as they look to get back into the playoffs.
The third inning of yesterday’s Cubs-Astros game had more offense than most entire games do. Houston fired first, with a Lance Berman RBI double and a Carlos Lee 3-run homer. The Cubs answered with a monster offensive surge. Mark DeRosa hit a monster grand slam, Cubs hurler Jason Marquis helped his own cause with an [...]
This weekend was a tough one for the Red Sox, losing consecutive one-run games to the Houston Astros. On Saturday night the teams had a combined 27 hits for 21 runs, including a wild third inning with 9 two-out runs. Despite the messy start, Sox starter Jon Lester was lined up for the win after [...]
After making it through the top of the 3rd inning, the rains came and washed out the Colorado Rockies and St. Louis Cardinals in their season opener. The defending NL Champions were trailing 5-1 at the time the game was called but it will all be erased and replayed at a later date.The Arizona Diamondbacks [...]
