From the Houston Colt 45s to the Houston Astros

The Houston Astros are a baseball team that was created because there was a need for a professional baseball team in Houston, Texas towards the end of the 1950s. The people who are to be credited with the creation of the Houston Astros are a group of local businessmen that was headed by oiler Craig Cullinan Jr. This group was able to get a professional baseball team franchise approval in 1960 and the Houston Astros professional baseball team was born.

While the team now carries the name Houston Astros, it was originally called the Houston Colt 45s. The Colt 45s were first seen in action in April, 1962 when they played the Chicago Cubs, which they defeated with a score of 11-2. They called the ballpark at Colt Stadium their home for two years before the team was moved to the Astrodome in Harris County. With this move, the Houston Astros were born. The change of name and the move was said to have been the result of a protest by a firearms company called Colt Firearms since the merchandise that the team was selling carried the nickname that the firearms company was using. This move also got the Harris County Dome renamed to the Astrodome to further cement the connection between the Houston Astros and the stadium they now called home.

The team celebrated the move and the new names with an exhibition game against the New York Yankees which resulted in a 2-1 win for the Astros. Today, the Houston Astros play out of Minute Maid Park, and they have shown their peers and the world that they are a force to be reckoned with due to their West and Central Division titles as well as their National League pennant. They have yet to win a World Series title though, and hopefully, one day these former Colts will get the chance to be world champions.