Houston's baseball beginnings

The birth of professional baseball in Houston started with a bang

The birth of professional baseball in Houston started with a bang
The 2012 Astros sport throwback Colt 45's uniforms. Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images

Fifty-five years ago, the Houston Astros entered Major League Baseball — just not as the Astros. Back then, they were the Colt 45s. Named after the gun. Before establishing a pro team, Houston had a minor league team from 1888 until 1961 that went by the name of the Houston Buffaloes. In 1962, Major League Baseball allowed the Houston team to enter the National League along with the New York Mets as expansion franchises.

The first job was coming up with a name. The owners of the new franchise crowdsourced the idea to people around Houston. They held a “Name the Team” contest that was eventually won by William Irving Neder. The Houstonian argued that the Colt .45 was emblematic of the Texas frontier’s reputation and fit well with Houston’s image. The owners agreed, and the Colt .45s were born.

On opening day of 1962, the Colt .45s won their first game 11-2 against the Cubs behind a six RBI day from Roman Melias, playing in front of 25,271 people at Colt Stadium. From there, the team went through mostly early expansion woes. The Colt .45s went 196-288 over their first three seasons. Then, three years later, the Colt .45s were gone. It wasn’t because the name was mediocre. There was just a clearly better option.

America’s Manned Spacecraft Center, which was a training facility for astronauts, was 25 miles from Houston. In a little over two years, Houston becoming the epicenter of American space exploration completely altered the country-wide perception of the city. It became known as the home of astronauts, so the new team name ideally would reflect that.

One of the primary reasons Houston was granted a franchise in the first place was the promise of a new stadium. The idea was that Houston would have a beautiful place with modern amenities that would be high-tech to mirror the burgeoning space program in the city. The stadium would be climate controlled so that summertime Houston heat would not discourage fans from coming to day games.

In January 1962, a ceremony was held at the site of the dome where Colt .45s (the guns, not the team) were shot into the flat, bare land. Three years later, the city delivered when it unveiled a brand-new domed stadium. The name of the structure: the Astrodome. With a home called the Astrodome, it was only a matter of time until the name changed. The new name announcement came on December 1, 1964.

The president of the club, Judge Ray Hofheinz, told the UPI that the change was to keep up with the times and that “the name was taken from the stars and indicated we are on the ascendancy.” He also said that Houston “is the space age capital of the world and with our new domed stadium, we think it will also make Houston the sports capital of the world.”

Over a half-century later, the Astros are still the Astros, even if the Astrodome isn’t where they play. But, no matter how many times they change venues or names, the Astros will always be the original Colt .45s.

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Jon Singleton is on the move. Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images.

First baseman Jon Singleton was released Tuesday by the Houston Astros.

Singleton had hit .171 with a .239 on-base percentage, no homers and two RBIs in 17 spring training games. The 33-year-old batted .234 with a .321 on-base percentage, 13 homers and 42 RBIs while playing 119 games last season.

The Astros signed Singleton to a $10 million, five-year contract in 2014 just before he made his major league debut, and after he had served two suspensions in the minor leagues for positive marijuana tests.

He batted below .200 in 2014 and 2015 before getting sent to the minors. He spent the entire 2016 and 2017 seasons in the minors and then tested positive for marijuana a third time.

Singleton requested his release from the Astros after receiving a 100-game suspension for that third positive test. He left the game before returning to organized baseball in the Mexican League.

He got back into the majors in 2023, first with the Milwaukee Brewers and later with the Astros.

Singleton agreed on March 8 to a contract paying $850,000 while in the major leagues and $425,000 while in the minors.

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