Episode 3 - HCB-TV

In this third episode of HCB-TV, we introduce Celebrating HOU with Philip Barrington from Edward Jones. We also share a couch interview with one of our favorite Houston area artists, Cassandra Bohne-Linnard. You'll also be introduced to the Space City Screwballs. Tune in to catch the fun!

About Astrotalk 

Baseball season is once again upon us and in this edition of Astrotalk our very own Mike Acosta takes us back to 1965 when the Houston Astros played their first ever Opening Day in the Astrodome. 

April 12, 1965 was a big day for baseball in Houston, Texas. People from just about anywhere were fascinated with the new and revolutionary Astrodome where Houston culture, Texas heritage, and American innovation came together. This was Opening Day for the 1965 season. Houston played for three seasons just a few hundred feet away on the north side of the Astrodome as the Colt .45s. On this night the team emerged for the first time in a regular season game as the Houston Astros. 

Inspired by the innovation of NASA’s manned spacecraft center in Houston, team president and Astrodome visionary Roy Hofheinz wanted a new name that looked towards the future. Something that would blaze new trails. Nineteen of America’s astronauts tossed the first pitch from behind the Astros dugout and were presented with lifetime gold passes from Warren Giles, president of the National League in a pregame ceremony. The Astros also retired #32 in honor or the late Jim Umbricht. The tall right-handed pitcher passed away just a year before after a battle with cancer. 

Also making a debut on Opening Day with a pregame comedy sketch was TV celebrity Bill Dana, who was hired by the Astros as the first ever team mascot. 

As for the game, the Philadelphia Phillies won 2-0 and Richie Allen hit the first regular season home run in the Astrodome (a two-run shot) in the third inning off Houston starter Bob Bruce. Philadelphia starter Chris Short pitched a complete game, striking out 11 Astros batters and earned the win. 

The Astros schedule took them on the road after playing the single Opening Day game. During that time the Astros front office painted the skylights of the Astrodome, which had produced an enormous amount of glare in the day time. Fortunately, Opening Day, 1965 was a night contest. 

Astrotalk 

The Houston Colt .45s became the first Major League team to play in Texas back in 1962 and played for three seasons at Colt Stadium, a temporary ballpark that was actually built by a scaffolding company from Houston. The Wild West ruled the domain of Colt Stadium for three seasons through 1964 while a new home was constructed several hundred yards to the south. 

Rising over the the first base risers of Colt Stadium was the steel skeleton of the world's first domed stadium. Nothing like it existed in the world. A building of this magnitude had never been attempted. Colt .45s president, Roy Hofheinz, was well aware of the branding opportunity for the ball club’s new futuristic stadium and decided the current team name would not extend past the 1964 season. The Colt .45s firearm company saw the success of the Houston team named after their revolver and was going to want a piece of revenue from the team. Hofheinz did not want anything to distract from the opening of the new domed stadium so he decided to simply change the name of the team and start with something fresh. 

Hofheinz never really liked the Colt .45s name, as he felt it was too much in Houston’s past. The city was the fastest growing in the United States and was evolving from a big town to a major city. 

Houston was a leader in the medical field with the state-of-the-art Texas Medical Center, energy was a major part of the economy, and now NASA based its astronaut operations here as well. 

Hofheinz hired an artist to attend Colt .45s games throughout the 1964 season and sketch ideas for a new team identity. Various logos and names were considered, including Stars and Rockets. It was clear that Hofheinz wanted something that would tie into space exploration, an industry which was fast growing and looked to the future with innovation, much like the new domed stadium. By December, 1964, as the Major League Baseball winter meetings were held in Houston, Roy Hofheinz announced the team would be changing its name to the Astros, a shortened version for Astronauts, who were based and trained in Houston. 

The team carried the same navy and orange, but all that was tied to the old west and the Colt .45s pistol was gone. The new Astros logo featured with baseballs flying in orbit around what was now called the Astrodome as the focal point. The Astros font featured serifs that implied fast movement. A shooting star blazed across the new home uniforms, while the road jerseys featured a look almost identical to what was used during the Colt .45s years, with a simple arched Houston across the front. The Astros hats now featured an orange lone star with a block H inset in white against a navy crown. A new chapter that included a new stadium and a new team identity was now underway in 1965. 

Thank you to our sponsors FunFaces.fun and Organized for Me. 

Contributing Writer: Mike Acosta, Executive Producer @Houston City Beat 

Host: Lisbet Marquez, Founder @Houston City Beat