The Story of Houston Astros

The Story of Houston Astros — page 1 — Published by Creative Education P O Box 227 Mankato Minnesota 56002 Creative Education is an imprint of The Creative Company www thecreativecompany us Design and production by Blue Design Art direction by Rita Marshall Printed by Corporate Graphics in the United States of America Photographs by Corbis Bettmann Henry Diltz Getty Images Brian Bahr Brian Bahr Allsport Elsa Focus on Sport Otto Greule Jr John Grieshop MLB Photos Bill Heinsohn Paul S Howell Jed Jacobsohn Allsport Bob Levey Andy Lyons National Baseball Hall of Fame Library MLB Photos Rich Pilling MLB Photos Hy Peskin Sports Illustrated Robert Riger Rogers Photo Archive Jamie Squire Martha Jane Stanton Time Life Pictures Rick Stewart Ron Vesely MLB Photos Dilip Vishwanat Mark Wilson Copyright 2012 Creative Education International copyright reserved in all countries No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data for the hardcover edition Gilbert Sara The story of the Houston Astros by Sara Gilbert p cm Baseball the great American game Includes index Summary The history of the Houston Astros professional baseball team from its inaugural 1962 season to today spotlighting the team’s greatest players and most memorable moments ISBN 978-1-60818-042-4 hardcover ISBN 978-1-56660-012-5 eBook 1 Houston Astros Baseball team History Juvenile literature I Title II Series GV875 H64G55 2011 796 357’64097641411 dc22 2010024399 CPSIA 110310 PO1381 First Edition 987654321 Page 3 Catcher Brad Ausmus Page 4 Left ﬁelder Carlos Lee

The Story of Houston Astros — page 2 — Sara Gilbert BASEBALL THE GREAT AMERICAN GAME CREATIVE EDUCATION

The Story of Houston Astros — page 3 — A s t r o s 4

The Story of Houston Astros — page 4 — A s t r o s 5 CONTENTS CHAPTERS Big Beginnings 6 Shooting for the Stars 15 Pitching for the Postseason 22 Down and Out 29 Chasing a Championship 41 AROUND THE HORN The Three-Peat 12 The Grass Is Always Greener 20 A Hard Day’s Night 24 The Weird Season 31 The Great Debate 38 The Impact of Hurricane Ike 43 ALL-TIME ASTROS P J R Richard 8 C Brad Ausmus 13 1B Jeff Bagwell 14 2B Craig Biggio 18 3B Ken Caminiti 23 SS Craig Reynolds 28 LF Jose Cruz 30 CF César Cedeño 35 RF Lance Berkman 39 M Larry Dierker 40 Index 48

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