Houston Astros

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Established as the Houston Colt .45s, the Astros entered the National League as an expansion team in 1962 along with the New York Mets. The current name was adopted three years later, when they moved into the Astrodome, the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium. The Astros moved to Enron Field (now Daikin Park) in 2000. The team played in the NL West division from 1969 to 1993, then the NL Central division from 1994 to 2012, before being moved to the AL West as part of an MLB realignment in 2013.

In Their Own Story

The air inside PNC Park is thick with humidity and anticipation as the ninth inning unfolds under the Friday night lights. The scoreboard reflects a tense deadlock, the Pirates clinging to a one-run lead against a Houston lineup that has been relentless all game. A veteran Pirate pitcher wipes sweat from his brow, staring into the on-deck circle where an Astros star batter steps up, the crowd roaring a mix of anxiety and hope. In this moment, decades of divisional battles converge into a single pitch, where the history of both franchises hangs in the balance.

Reader's Guide

The Astros posted their first winning record in 1972 and made the playoffs for the first time in 1980, before winning a total of three division titles throughout the 1980s. Spearheaded by the Killer B's, a collection of prominent hitters that included the Astros' Hall of Fame members Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell, along with closer Billy Wagner, the Astros began reaching major prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s with four further division titles and two Wild Card appearances, culminating in their first World Series appearance in 2005 where they were swept by the Chicago White Sox. After a major slump throughout the next decade, the team was purchased by business owner Jim Crane in 2011 for $680 million. Under Crane's ownership and the tenure of former GM Jeff Luhnow, the Astros embraced sabermetrics and pioneered new analytical technologies in their transition to the American League, and by the mid-2010s transformed from a historically middling franchise into one of MLB's most dominant and successful clubs, as headlined by stars such as Jose Altuve. Since then, the Astros have won over 100 games in four seasons, and appeared in a record seven consecutive American League Championship Series between 2017 and 2023, winning the American League pennant four times. During this era, the Astros won the 2017 World Series, their first championship, against the Los Angeles Dodgers; however, this win drew controversy and backlash from fans after the Astros were implicated in a sign stealing scandal. The Astros made later World Series appearances in 2019 against the Washington Nationals, 2021 against the Atlanta Braves, and 2022 against the Philadelphia Phillies, winning their second title in the latter series. Often cited as one of the best teams in the American League, the team's sustained success since 2015 has led some to declare the Astros a dynasty. They are the only team to win a postseason series in seven straight seasons. Their fifth pennant in 2022 made them the second team created in the expansion era to win five league pennants (after the Mets) and the fifth expansion team to have won two World Series championships. In 2024, the Astros clinched their AL West division title for the seventh time in eight years and became the first team to win the AL West division in four straight years since the 1971–1975 era Oakland Athletics. Since 2017 when the Astr

Did You Know?

• The Astros are the first and only team in MLB to win pennants in both leagues.
• They are the only expansion era team with an all-time winning record.
• The Astros played in the NL West from 1969 to 1993 and the NL Central from 1994 to 2012 before moving to the AL West in 2013.
• Their first World Series appearance was in 2005, where they were swept by the Chicago White Sox.