A s t r o s 5 CONTENTS CHAPTERS Big Beginnings 6 Shooting for the Stars 15 Pitching for the Postseason 22 Down and Out 29 Chasing a Championship 41 AROUND THE HORN The Three-Peat 12 The Grass Is Always Greener 20 A Hard Day’s Night 24 The Weird Season 31 The Great Debate 38 The Impact of Hurricane Ike 43 ALL-TIME ASTROS P J R Richard 8 C Brad Ausmus 13 1B Jeff Bagwell 14 2B Craig Biggio 18 3B Ken Caminiti 23 SS Craig Reynolds 28 LF Jose Cruz 30 CF César Cedeño 35 RF Lance Berkman 39 M Larry Dierker 40 Index 48
6 A s t r o s BIG BEGINNINGS he founders of Houston Texas started the city in 1836 with 6,642 acres of land that they bought for 9,428 They had grand expectations for the new town which they promptly named after Sam Houston the first president of the Republic of Texas But as optimistic as those early settlers were they couldn’t have imagined that their little hamlet would become the fourth-largest city in the United States a bustling international port the epicenter of America’s oil operations and as the home of NASA’s Johnson Space Center the hub of the nation’s space exploration program But even a city with so much going on can make room for recreation and baseball has long been one of Houston’s favorite pastimes The first known ballgame in Houston was an informally organized affair that took place on April 21 1867 In front of more than 1,000 people Houston’s team the Stonewalls annihilated the Galveston Robert E Lees 35 2 In 1888 Houston fielded one of six teams in the Texas League which was later incorporated into baseball’s minor-league system to T
The Astros were the second big-time sports franchise to set up shop in Houston forming two years after the Oilers professional football team
