He was the Astros minor league player of the year in 1996 and made his Major League debut on September 1, 1996 against the Pittsburgh Pirates when he was announced as a " pinch hitter " but did not get to bat because he was subsequently pinch hit for himself ..

In 2002 the Houston Astros baseball team sold the naming rights for their venue, subsequently named Minute Maid Park, and the company now owns 8. 5 % of the team.

Selig has made some decisions involving the Houston Astros that were unpopular with their supporters.

In, he hired former Indian Mike Hargrove to manage and traded catcher Eddie Taubensee to the Houston Astros who, with a surplus of outfielders, were willing to part with Kenny Lofton.

Major losses were all to free agency ( second baseman Kaz Matsui went to the Houston Astros and pitcher Josh Fogg went to the Cincinnati Reds ).

The Astros were established as the Houston Colt. 45s in.

The Colt. 45s were renamed the Astros.

In 1970, the Astros were expected to be a serious threat in the National League West.

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

The Astros got off to a slow start and the pitching and hitting averages were down.

The Astros run production was down, even though the same five sluggers the year before were still punching the ball out of the park.

Many teams were going away from the traditional uniform and the Astros were no exception.

The two biggest moves the Astros made in the offseason were the acquisitions of Joe Niekro and José Cruz.

One of the big problems the Astros had in the late 1970s was that they were unable to compete in the free agent market.

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.

The Astros were playing great baseball throughout the season.

The rumors of the Astros moving out of Houston started to crumble and the Astros were now able to compete in the free-agent market.

The Astros won the first two games of that series and the two teams were tied for the division lead.

The Astros were out of pennant contention by August and began rebuilding for the near future.

In Game 3, the Astros were ahead at Shea Stadium, 5 – 4, in the bottom of the 9th when closer Dave Smith gave up a two-run home run to Lenny Dykstra, giving the Mets a dramatic 6 – 5 win.

The early 1990s were marked by the Astros ' growing discontent with their home, the Astrodome.

After two fairly successful seasons without a playoff appearance, the Astros were early favorites to win the 2004 NL pennant.

Though the Astros were poised to close out the series in Game Five in Houston, Brad Lidge gave up a monstrous two-out three-run home run to Albert Pujols, forcing the series to a sixth game in St. Louis, where the Astros clinched a World Series appearance.

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.

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.

On April 23, 1964, in the top of the ninth inning of a scoreless game in Colt Stadium, Rose reached first base on an error and scored on another error to make Houston Astros Ken Johnson the first pitcher to lose a complete game no-hitter.

One important highlight of the first half of 1984 took place on May 4, when Jim Deshaies pitched the club ’ s first no-hitter against the Columbus Astros in the second game of a seven-inning doubleheader.

On June 5 Zambrano made another bid for a no-hitter against the Astros in Houston.

The park became the first neutral site in Major League history to host a no-hitter, when Carlos Zambrano of the Chicago Cubs threw the first no-hitter in the history of the park against the Houston Astros on Sunday, September 14, 2008.

To date, it is the most recent Astros no-hitter.

On May 26, 1976, Murcer hit a grand slam against the Astros and on September 22, 1976, he stole home in a 3 – 1 victory against the rival Dodgers and a week later, on September 29, 1976, he gloved the final out in John Montefusco's no-hitter.

In addition, on September 25 of that season, he threw a 2-0 no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants at the Astrodome to clinch the National League West division title for the Astros.

On May 1, 1969, the day after the Reds ' Jim Maloney no-hit the Astros 10 – 0 at Crosley Field for his second career no-hitter, Wilson returned the favor and no-hit the Reds 4 – 0 for his second career no-hitter.

This second no-hitter was vengeance for Wilson: in his previous start against the Reds nine days earlier, he had given up seven runs in five innings and was the losing pitcher in the Reds ' 14 – 0 drubbing of the Astros at the Astrodome.

The second no-hitter at Greer was Jim Deshaies ' 5 – 1 win over the Columbus Astros on May 4, 1984.

He served as the second base umpire when Chicago Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano threw a no-hitter against the Houston Astros at Miller Park on September 14,.

On the very next day, Don Wilson of the Astros returned the favor to the Reds, pitching his second career no-hitter in a 4-0 Astro victory.

Until Carlos Zambrano no-hit the Houston Astros on September 14, 2008, Pappas ' had been the last no-hitter the Cubs had been involved in — either pitching it or having it pitched against them.

He ordered the roof at Minute Maid Park to be opened for games three and four of the 2005 World Series, pre-empting the authority held by the Astros.

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.

The Astros ' batting average was up by 19 points compared to the season before.

The Reds pulled ahead of the Astros by a game and a half.

The former was supplanted by Dick Wagner, the man whose Reds defeated the Astros to win the 1979 NL West title.

However, the move was not approved by other National League owners, thus compelling the Astros to remain in Houston.

He would be replaced by Gerry Hunsicker, who until 2004 would continue to oversee the building of the Astros into one of the better and most consistent organizations in the Major Leagues.

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.

The Astros had also developed an excellent pitching staff, anchored by Roy Oswalt ( 20 – 12, 2. 94 ), Andy Pettitte ( 17 – 9, 2. 39 ), and Roger Clemens ( 13 – 8 with a league-low ERA of only 1. 87 ).

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 Astros released Wilson and he was signed by St. Louis.

The Astros struggled throughout a season that was marked by trade-deadline deals that sent long time Astros to other teams.

But in his final game that year, playing against the Houston Astros ( led by manager Leo Durocher, who had once roomed with Babe Ruth ), he was unable to achieve this.

* 1998 – Kerry Wood strikes out 20 Houston Astros to tie the major league record held by Roger Clemens.

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.

The Astros lost five Clemens starts by scores of 1 – 0.

However, the Astros lost all three of those starts by a 1 – 0 score in extra innings.

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.

* 1986 – Jim Deshaies of the Houston Astros sets the major-league record by striking out the first eight batters of the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.