The MVP award has been given to a player on the losing team twice, in 1986 to Mike Scott of the Houston Astros and in 1987 to Jeff Leonard of the San Francisco Giants.

They led the Wild Card by 1. 5 games over San Francisco and Houston on September 25, and both of those teams lost that day, giving the Cubs a chance at increasing the lead to a commanding 2. 5 games with only eight games remaining in the season, but reliever LaTroy Hawkins blew a save to the Mets, and the Cubs lost the game in extra innings, a defeat that seemingly deflated the team, as they proceeded to drop 6 of their last 8 games as the Astros won the Wild Card.

Grass would not grow in the new park, since the roof panels had been painted to reduce the glare that was causing players on both the Astros and the visiting teams to miss routine pop flies.

Long hair and loud colors were starting to appear on team uniforms, including the Astros '.

Cedeno also led the Astros with a. 320 batting average, 55 stolen bases and made spectacular plays on the field.

The uniform was so different from what other teams wore that the Astros wore it both at home and on the road until 1980.

Ford Motor Credit Company was still in control of the team and was looking to sell the Astros, but they were not going to spend money on better players.

With their season on the line, the Astros would nonetheless rally for two runs to come to within 7 – 6.

Final Astros regular season game ( in the Astrodome ) on October 3, 1999

Roger Clemens, who had retired after the season with the New York Yankees, agreed to join former teammate Pettitte on the Astros for 2004.

After being booed at the 2004 All-Star Game held in Houston, manager Jimy Williams was fired and replaced by Phil Garner, a star on the division-winning 1986 Astros.

Though he had asserted a desire to remain with the Astros, Beltrán signed a long-term contract with the New York Mets on January 9, 2005.

The Astros won a wild card berth on the final day of the regular season, becoming the first team since the world champion 1914 Boston Braves to qualify for the postseason after being 15 games under. 500.

On October 31, the Astros declined a contract option on Jeff Bagwell for 2007, ending his 15-year Astros career and leading to his retirement.

On December 27, the Astros came to terms on a deal with All-star, Gold Glove winner Darin Erstad.

On the other side of the roster, the Astros would start without Kazuo Matsui, who was on a minor league rehab assignment after a spring training injury.

Bench was the Reds ' catcher on April 30, 1969 when Maloney pitched a no hitter against the Houston Astros.

However, the Brewers were eliminated from postseason contention on Spetember 30, a 7-0 loss to the Houston Astros.

In a memorable NLCS, with four of the five games going into extra innings, they fell behind 2 – 1 but battled back to squeeze past the Houston Astros on a tenth-inning, game-winning hit by center fielder Garry Maddox, and the city celebrated its first pennant in 30 years.

Clemens chose to come out of retirement, signing a one-year deal with his adopted hometown Houston Astros on January 12,, joining close friend and former Yankees teammate Andy Pettitte.

The Astros went on to lose all four games of the franchise's first World Series to the Chicago White Sox.

The Astros declined arbitration to Clemens on December 7,, which prevented them from re-signing him before May 1,.

The Astros, Rangers, Red Sox, and Yankees expressed an interest in signing him, but Clemens implied that he was finally retiring after his Team USA was eliminated by Mexico in the second round from the 2006 World Baseball Classic on March 16, 2006.

The team also traded relief pitcher Jose Valverde, who led the major leagues in saves in 2007 with 47, to the Houston Astros for reliever Chad Qualls, RHP Juan Gutiérrez and IF / OF Chris Burke.

In 2011, Selig also demanded that the Astros move to the American League West as a condition of the sale of the franchise to businessman Jim Crane ; the team will switch leagues in 2013.

* Requiring the Houston Astros to move to the American League ( 2013 ), as a condition of the sale of the team to Jim Crane, resulting in an odd number of teams in each league and interleague play throughout the season

On September 14, in a game moved to Miller Park due to Hurricane Ike, Zambrano pitched a no-hitter against the Astros, and six days later the team clinched by beating St. Louis at Wrigley.

The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team located in Houston, Texas.

Wilson's no-hitter lit the Astros ' fire and six days later the team tied a major league record by turning seven double plays in a game.

The team looked good, but the Astros ' ERA was up.

Cedeno made his first All-Star game in 1972 and became the first Astros player in team history to hit for the cycle in August versus the Reds.

Tal Smith returned to the Astros from the New York Yankees to find a team that needed a lot of work and did not have a lot of money.

With Dr. McMullen as sole owner of the Astros, the team would now benefit in ways a corporation could not give them.

Needing a win to get to Mike Scott ( who had been dominant in the series ) in Game 7, the Astros jumped off to a 3 – 0 lead in the first inning but neither team would score again until the 9th inning.

Faced with declining attendance at the Astrodome and the inability of management to obtain a new stadium, in the off-season Astros management announced its intention to sell the team and move the franchise to the Washington, D. C. area.

In the 1998 season, the Astros set a team record with 102 victories.

By the mid-1990s, McLane ( like McMullen before him ) wanted his team out of the Astrodome and was asking the city to build the Astros a new stadium.

The Astros won the National League Division Series against the Atlanta Braves, 3-1, with a game four that set postseason records for most innings ( 18 ), most players used by a single team ( 23 ), and longest game time ( 5 hours and 50 minutes ).

The White Sox owner insisted that since his team played in the open ( they had no roof ), the Astros must play with the roof open, which mitigated the intensity and enthusiasm of the cheering Astro's fans.

On February 27, 2006, to train for the World Baseball Classic, Roger pitched in an exhibition game between the Astros and his son's minor league team.

One of the few bright spots on the team during the early years was first baseman and slugger Nate Colbert, an expansion draftee from the Houston Astros and still the Padres ' career leader in home runs.

Their lone victory made them the first Texas MLB team to win a World Series game, the Houston Astros having been swept in their 2005 World Series appearance.