The Astros gave their name to Astroturf, the plastic grass that came into baseball because the real thing died indoors. It was a new problem, for the Astrodome was the first domed baseball park (opened in 1965), an attempt to avoid the Texas heat. The stadium was the brainchild of Astros owner Roy Hofheinz, who had a Texan's sense of size and spectacle.

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The club was originally to be in the proposed Continental League, an operation forestalled by the major leagues with the old tactic of offering the soundest owners new ML franchises. Unlike the Mets, the Astros (then called the Colt .45s) immediately went with youth under the direction of GM Paul Richards, a master talent evaluator. Products of the Astros' farm system in the 1960s included Joe Morgan and Rusty Staub. The strategy didn't make them instant contenders, like the AL's Angels, but it kept them above the Mets. The club reached the .500 level in the first year of divisional play, 1969, and contended off and on through the 1970s, which featured Cesar Cedeno, called "The New Wille Mays" by manager Leo Durocher. The arrival of overpowering pitcher J.R. Richard in 1976 made the team even stronger. He suffered a career-ending stroke in 1980, but the club went on to its first division title that year, led by franchise favorite Jose Cruz, the reacquired Morgan, and 20-game-winner Joe Niekro. They finished in a tie with the Dodgers but won the one-game playoff. The team won the second half of the 1981 strike-split season, but this time the Dodgers prevailed in postseason play. Led by Cy Young winner and split-finger fastballer Mike Scott, the Astros captured another division title in 1986, but lost to the Mets in a storied LCS that featured Scott's MVP performance in a losing cause, Nolan Ryan's nine innings of two-hit, 12-strikeout pitching to a no-decision in Game Five as the Astros lost in 12 innings, and the climactic Game Six, a 16-inning topsy-turvy marathon won by New York. (WOR)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » June 8, 1976: The Houston Astros, picking first in the baseball draft, select Arizona State P Floyd Bannister, TSN's College Player of the Year. Bannister is one of 12 eventual major leaguers from the ASU team, which finished 3rd in the College World Series. The Tigers take P Pat Underwood with the 2nd pick. OF Rickey Henderson lasts until the 4th round. » November 22, 1978: The Ford Motor Credit Company purchases holdings of the General Electric Credit Company, thereby acquiring 100 percent interest in the Houston Astros. » January 31, 1980: Joe Morgan, a 2-time National League MVP for the Cincinnati Reds, signs as a free agent with the Houston Astros, his first team. » December 3, 1980: Don Sutton, 35, the winningest pitcher in Los Angeles Dodgers' history, signs a 4-year contract with the Houston Astros. Sutton was 13-5 in 1980 with a league-leading 2.21 ERA. » August 10, 1982: Bob Lillis replaces Bill Virdon as manager of the Houston Astros. Virdon was the senior manager in the National League, having managed the Astros since 1975. » November 9, 1992: Drayton McLane Jr. officially becomes owner of the Houston Astros, purchasing the team from John McMullen for $115 million. » July 18, 1994: The Houston Astros spot the visiting St. Louis Cardinals an 11-run lead after three innings, but rally to win 15–12. The Astros score 11 runs in the 6th on the way to matching the largest comeback in National League history. » February 23, 1998: A series of killer tornadoes sweeps through Florida, narrowly missing the Houston Astros clubhouse, and the homes of several players, in Kissimmee. A campground behind Osceola County Stadium, the Astros training base, is destroyed, and seven people are killed by one of the twisters. » May 6, 1998: In one of the finest pitching efforts ever, Chicago Cub rookie righthander Kerry Wood fans 20 Houston Astros in a 2–0, one-hit victory to tie the major league mark for strikeouts in a 9-inning game. Making only his 5th big league start, the 20-year-old ties the record held by Roger Clemens, who performed the feat twice. Wood does not walk a batter in his masterpiece, allowing only an infield single to Ricky Gutierrez in the 3rd inning, that likely would have been an error had it occurred late in the game. The 20-year-old Wood became the 2nd pitcher in baseball history whose strikeout total matched his age (Bob Feller struck out 17 when he was 17-years-old). Wood struck out the first five batters of the game and struck out seven in a row between the 7th and 9th innings, a streak that ties Jamie Moyer's Cubs record. » May 19, 1998: The Montreal Expos defeat the Houston Astros, 4–2, in the first outdoor game played in Montreal's Olympic Stadium since 1991. The retractable roof, which has been prone to tearing in high winds, was removed on May 10. A new permanent roof will be installed after the season. » September 4, 2000: In the Red Sox win over the Mariners, 5-1, Carl Everett of the Sox became only the sixth major-league switch-hitter to drive in 100 runs in both leagues when he knocked in his 100th ribbie of the year. Everett drove in 108 runs for the Houston Astros last season. The other five 100-100 switches were Ted Simmons, Ken Singleton, Eddie Murray, Bobby Bonilla and J.T. Snow. Pedro Martinez is the big star, striking out 11 in eight innings to go 7–0 over the M's. Jamie Moyer loses his 6th in a row, though not his fault as a routine fly ball by Jose Offerman to Mike Cameron becomes a 3-run triple when the center fielder stumbles. Prior to the game, Boston retires Hall of Fame C Carlton Fisk's uniform No. 27. » July 28, 2001: In a day-night DH, Vinny Castilla of the Houston Astros became the 13th player this season to hit three home runs in a game when he does it against the Pittsburgh, but the Pirates still edge the Astros, 9–8, with an amazing comeback. Pittsburgh becomes only the 2nd team in NL history to win a game by scoring seven runs with two outs and nobody on base in the 9th inning. Brian Giles caps the scoring with a walk-off grand slam off Astros ace Billy Wagner to win it. The Cubs did it, against the Reds, in the first game of a doubleheader on June 29, 1952. » November 1, 2001: Former Red Sox manager Jimy Williams signs a 3-year contract to take over the reins of the Houston Astros.