The Houston Astros Tickets : The Astros Are The Oldest Franchise To Have Never Won The World Series
The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team located in Houston
, Texas. They are a member of the Central Division of the National League. Since 2000, they have played their home games at Minute Maid Park, formerly known as Enron Field.Their current majority owner is Drayton McLane, Jr. The Houston-based fruit juice manufacturer Minute Maid owned by The Coca-Cola Company, after whom the Astros' stadium is named, holds a minority stake in the team.
The Astros were established as the Houston Colt .45s in 1962. They changed to their current name three years later, when they moved into the iconic Astrodome, the world's first domed sports stadium. The name references Houston's role as the center of the U.S. astronaut program.
The Astros are the oldest MLB franchise to have never won the World Series while remaining in the same city over their history. After heart-breaking playoff losses in 1980, 1981, and 1986, and more playoff appearances in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Astros finally appeared in their first and (to date) only World Series, in 2005 against the Chicago White Sox.
Houston had been making efforts to bring a Major League franchise to the city before the expansion in 1962.There were four men chiefly responsible for bringing Major League Baseball to Houston: George Kirksey and Craig Cullinan, who had led a futile attempt to purchase the St. Louis Cardinals in 1952; R.E.
"Bob" Smith, a prominent oilman and real estate magnate in Houston who was brought in for his financial resources; and Judge Roy Hofheinz, a former Mayor of Houston and Harris County Judge who was recruited for his salesmanship and political style. They formed the Houston Sports Association as their vehicle for attaining a big league franchise for the city of Houston.
Given MLB's refusal to consider expanding, Kirksey, Cullinan, Smith, and Hofheinz joined forces with would-be owners from other cities and announced the formation of a new league to compete with the established National and American Leagues. They called the new league the Continental League. Wanting to protect potential new markets, both existing leagues chose to expand from eight teams to ten. Houston won a franchise in the National League to begin play in 1962.
The Continental League folded before it ever started. But if its real object was to secure Houston a Major League franchise, it clearly succeeded.The new Houston team was named the Colt .45s after a "Name The Team" contest was held. The name "Colt .45s" won out, as the Colt .45 was well-known as "the gun that won the west."
The colors selected were navy blue and orange. The first team was a collection of cast-offs culled mostly through an expansion draft held after the 1961 season. The Colt .45s and their expansion cousins, the New York Mets, took turns choosing players left unprotected by the other National League franchises.
The Colt .45s began their existence playing at Colt Stadium. Colt Stadium, however, was just a temporary field until Judge Hofheinz could build an indoor stadium.
Hofheinz had convinced the National League owners that the sweltering Houston summers would not be a problem as he would build an indoor baseball stadium based loosely on the Colosseum in Rome. Bonds were passed and construction began but, until it was ready, the team played on some reclaimed marshland south of town. Colt Stadium was built on the same land that would eventually hold its famous successor. It was built on the cheap with little to protect fans from the weather or other hazards. True baseball fans hardly cared. Houston had become a "major league" city.
As of 2008, the Astros' flagship radio station is KTRH, 740AM. Milo Hamilton, a veteran voice who was on the call for Hank Aaron's 715th career home run in 1974, is the current play-by-play announcer for home games. Dave Raymond and Brett Dolan share play-by play duty for road games, while Raymond additionally works as Hamilton's color analyst.Spanish language radio play-by-play is handled by Francisco Romero, and his play-by-play partner is Alex Trevino, a former backup catcher for the club.
Television coverage is mainly on Fox Sports Houston (formerly a subfeed of Fox Sports Southwest, now its own network; logo on top-right of the screen reads FSASTROS), although some games are on My Network TV affiliate KTXH (My 20), with the games produced by FSN Houston. Bill Brown and Jim Deshaies compose the broadcast team on TV.
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