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.

Name change

The Sporting News Official Baseball Guide for 1965 had this to say about why the team was renamed: "Late in the year the was officially named the Astrodome after the Houston club changed its nickname, December 1, from Colt .45s to Astros. The move resulted from objections by the Colt Firearms Company to the club's sales of novelties bearing the old nickname."

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Regardless of trade mark issues, "Astros" was a good fit for the futuristic embiance of the revolutionary domed stadium and also since Houston was by then the home of NASA's astronaut program. The scoreboard retained subliminal references to the old nickname, as it featured electronically animated cowboys firing pistols, with the "bullets" ricocheting around the scoreboard, when an Astros player would hit a home run. Early on, the groundskeepers also wore astronaut spacesuits to promote that futuristic image.

Related Topics:
NASA - Astronaut

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