Houston Astros

The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team based in Houston, Texas. They are in the Central Division of the National League.

Franchise history

• 1960s
• On October 17th, 1960, Judge Roy Hofheinz and the ownership group from Houston is awarded a franchise in the ten-team National League, called the Houston Colt .45s who begin play on April 10, 1962. On April 9, 1965, the Houston Colt .45s become the Houston Astros and inaugurate indoor baseball in the Astrodome. The franchise's first decade displayed some great hitters (Joe Morgan, Jimmy Wynn) and many great pitchers (Bob Bruce, Ken Johnson, Mike Cuellar, Don Wilson, Larry Dierker, Dave Giusti, Denny LeMaster)
• 1970s
• The Astros first don the "rainbow uniforms" that stay with them with some variation through 1992. Nolan Ryan joins the team in 1979.
• 1980s
• The Astros won their first divisional championship in 1980 and made the playoffs again in 1981 and 1986, culminating in a wild 16-inning loss in Game 6 to the eventual champion New York Mets. Nolan Ryan is sent to the Texas Rangers in 1989, considered too old by then-owner John McMullen. After pitching one for Houston, Ryan would pitch two more no-hitters for the Rangers in the early 90s to achieve a grand total of 7. This is three more than anyone else in major league history.
• 1990s
• After finishing second in their division in 1994, 1995, and 1996, the Astros won consecutive division titles in 1997, 1998, and 1999. Each of these titles was followed by a first round playoff ejection, once by the San Diego Padres and twice at the hands of the Atlanta Braves.
• 2000s
• The Astros won another NL Central title in 2001, and were again eliminated from the playoffs in the first round by the Braves.
• In 2004 the Astros took the National League wild card title and finally got past the first round of the playoffs, beating the Braves in five games of the National League Division Series to advance to the National League Championship Series for the third time (they were previously in the NLCS in 1980 & 1986), where they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in 7 games.
• The Astros' 2004 success had much to do with the cancelled retirement of star pitcher Roger Clemens (a Houston resident), who ended 2004 with a record 7th Cy Young Award (his first in the NL), and the mid-season addition of Carlos Beltrán in a trade with the Kansas City Royals (after claiming a desire to remain with the Astros, Beltran signed with the New York Mets on January 9, 2005).
• In 2005, the Astros got off to a terrible start, sinking as low as 15 games below .500 in late May before suddenly catching fire and becoming nearly unbeatable. From that low point until the end of July, Houston went 42-17 and found themselves in the lead for the NL Wild Card and starting to gain major ground on the NL-leading Cardinals. As of August 8, Houston was only 10.5 games out of first place in the NL Central. The hitting, AWOL in April and May, was suddenly there, when even the pitchers contributing, and the Astros had developed a terrifying pitching staff, anchored by guaranteed Hall of Famer Roger Clemens (who had a league-low ERA of only 1.38 as of August 7), Andy Pettitte, and Roy Oswalt. Newcomers Ezequiel Astacio and Wandy Rodriguez also have been turning in solid efforts. In July alone, the Astros went 22-7, their best single month record in the club's history. The Astros finished the 2005 regular season by winning a wild card berth on the final day of the regular season, just as they did in 2004. They are only the second team to come from 15 games under .500 to enter the post season, the other team being the Braves, a team the Astros have faced several times in previous playoff matchups.