The days are getting longer, the sun is higher in the sky. Temperatures are inching their way up the thermometer. This can only mean one thing-Spring is upon us and the fans of the Houston Astros are in for yet another heartbreak.

The Astros weren't always the Astros. The National League team began in the early 1960's as the expansion Houston Colt 45's. Their jerseys had a Colt .45 pistol across the chest, hardly politically correct today, but we're talking 1960's here. Just about the time the world was discovering the Beatles, the Colt 45's were born. That is the only thing the two have in common, besides the obvious fact that both groups were all males. Well, at least we're sure that the Beatles were all males.

The Colts played in Colt Stadium, a former minor league park on the southwest side of Houston. The crowds were good, the team was dreadful, and the stadium was beyond dreadful. Players and fans used to complain about the mosquitoes being the size of enemy aircraft as often as they'd complain about Houston's stifling humidity.

Not to worry, a new stadium, the world famous Astrodome slowly arose out of the Texas dust and humidity next door to old Colt Stadium. A name change soon followed and "Astros"(short for Astronauts) was chosen. As you know Houston was the new home of NASA, and the space program was big news, so Astros seemed fitting.

The Astros had company, too. The New York Metropolitans (we all know and love them as "Mets") joined the National League at the same time as the Colts/Astros. The first season for the two resulted in the worst season in big league history. The Mets managed to lose an unbelievable 120 games! It's a record that should last a long time. How about the Colts? Well, they were bad, just not as bad as the Mets, and the Houston franchise has been playing catch-up ever since.

By 1969 the "miracle" Mets won the World Series, an amazing feat considering their dismal beginning earlier in the decade. As of today's date, the Astros have NEVER won the World Series. In fact, just two years ago they played (participated might be a better descriptor) in their first and only World Series-and lost to the Chicago White Sox without winning even one game. The Mets, by the way, have won the World Championship three times and have appeared in the Fall Classic five different times.

So, forty plus years of futility, leads me to the conclusion that Astros fans, and I am one of the biggest, will face certain heartache and doom

• 1
• 2
• 3
• next page >>

---

Add your voice

Know something about MLB: Spring training with the 2007 Houston Astros?
We want to hear your view. Write now!