About This Quiz
The Yankees, the Giants, the Dodgers … Major League Baseball’s royalty will never truly understand the everyday suffering of teams like the Brewers, Indians or Twins. Some teams seem destined for routine glory, while others, like the Houston Astros, always seem to wind up on the wrong side of history. But every season is a chance for redemption, and in 2017, this once-mediocre Texas club took history and blasted it with a Colt .45 – what do you know about the Astros and their incredible recent run of success?
Few Texas teams have ever broken through the MLB’s glass ceiling. Sure, the Rangers had some amazing seasons, and the Astros found the limelight once in a while, but neither team could win a title, even with guys like Nolan Ryan, Jeff Bagwell and Jimmy Wynn playing their hearts out. Do you know any of the other star players who racked up amazing statistics in Houston?
Compared to MLB’s charter members, the Astros really haven’t been around all that long. But the club built one of the most amazing venues in history. What do you know about the place that the Astros used to call home? And how much do you know about the team’s current field?
After decades of futility, Houston’s management set out with a rebuilding plan in 2014, gutting parts of the team in hopes of finding a better path. Little did they know, their strategy would pay immediate dividends. Race into the outfield and see if you can catch all of the facts in our Houston Astros quiz!
The Astros play in the American League; it's been their home since the beginning of the 2013 season. Before that, the Astros played in the National League.
The Astros are a long-suffering club that's grappled with more than its share of frustration. But in 2017, the team won its first-ever World Series title.
In 2017, the Astros finally pushed over the hump and seized their first World Series championship. Their victims? The L.A. Dodgers, one of baseball's red-carpet teams.
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The Astros are right at home in the American League West Division. There, they do battle with teams like the Mariners and Rangers, among others.
A.J. Hinch now works as the Astros' manager, formulating the strategies that helped the team win its first World Series. Hinch is a former MLB player who bounced around until his retirement in 2004.
The Astros play in Minute Maid Park. The 41,000-seat venue has been their home since the 2000 season. It was originally called Enron Field, but we all know what happened to Enron ...
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Houston made it all the way to the title series in 2005, when they took on the Chicago White Sox for the world championship. But the Sox swept the Astros, four games to none.
The team was founded in 1962 as the Houston Colt .45s, which sounds more like a seedy malt beverage than a pro sports team. The club updated its name in 1965.
Houston fans waited decades and decades for the team to finally complete at the highest levels. The team has made it to just two World Series, and both of those appearances have happened since the turn of the century.
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The current Astros insignia is sweet and simple, featuring an "H" overlaying a star symbol. The team's colors are white, blue and orange.
The Astros played as part of the National League for half a century. Then, in March 2013, they started their run in the American League.
The team made its first world title especially dramatic and harrowing. The series went to its seventh and final game, which the Astros won, 5-1.
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In a dramatic, last-second move, the Astros decided to go all-in, grabbing pitcher Justin Verlander from the Tigers. In the postseason, Verlander tallied a 4-1 record.
In late summer 2017, Hurricane Harvey devastated parts of the United States and caused miles of flooding in Houston. Like the New Orleans Saints football team in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the Astros took it upon themselves to boost the spirits of area residents. Only a Hollywood script writer could've imagined the ultimate outcome.
Dallas Keuchel is a left-handed pitcher who was drafted out of Arkansas in 2012. He's been a consistent force in Houston and won the 2015 Cy Young Award.
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The Astros cratered during 2014, logging a miserable record of 51-111. It was the worst season in Houston's anguished history.
After stints with the Mets and Angels, pitcher Nolan Ryan brought the heat in Houston. And although he was in his 40s by the time his Astros run was over, he was still at the top of his game.
The Astros needed a whole lot of heroics to make their ALCS comeback versus the Yankees. In Game 2, Justin Verlander delivered the goods, pitching a complete game for a big win. He was later named the ALCS MVP.
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In 2017, the Astros won their first AL West title. Then, of course, they pushed on to win the pennant and the World Series.
Second baseman Craig Biggio played his entire career ('88-'07) for the Astros. During that time, he topped 3,000 hits and smacked 1,175 RBIs.
Game 2 was a dramatic affair in which Houston and L.A. traded big play after big play. The 11-inning game was the first World Series contest in history to feature home runs in the 9th, 10th, and 11th innings.
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At just 5'6, José Altuve is the shortest player in MLB. He's also a five-time All-Star whose batting average is well above .300.
It's true, the Astros were the first. No other pro baseball team from the Lone Star State has ever won a World Series title.
In 1989, the Red Sox drafted star first baseman Jeff Bagwell, and then traded him to the Astros. It was a trade that went down in flames for the Red Sox, who received a burn-out named Larry Andersen in return.
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In 1975, Astros uniform designers went for a bold look that featured stacked stripes evoking a rainbow. Many people initially scoffed at the new uniforms, which eventually won over their fair share of fans.
Houston is well-known as a headquarters of the NASA space program, so the name fit. Before Minute Maid Park, the team played in the "Astrodome," in which every seat was equipped with Space Shuttle harnesses and ejection boosters, and we probably made that last part up.
OK, so that was sort of a trick question. Keuchel started his 2017 with promise but then aggravated a neck injury in June. His missed the rest of the season, including the World Series.
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The Astrodome opened to immense fanfare in 1965. It was the world's first domed stadium, and people came from miles around not to watch the struggling team play, but to see the cool venue.
It took the Astros a long time to win big, but their performances turned out to be especially extraordinary in light of MLB's divisional realignment. Houston is the first and only team ever to win a pennant in both the AL and NL.
Rarely have sports pundits been so eerily accurate with their prediction. In 2014, Sports Illustrated witnessed Houston's aggressive rebuilding plan and predicted that the team would win the title three years later. They were right.
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