Question: What were the original names for the Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers?
Answer: The Astros were originally the Houston Colt .45s when the team began play in 1962. They changed their name to the Astros for the 1965 season when they began playing in their new indoor stadium, the Astrodome. The new stadium and team name recognized Houston’s significance in space exploration as the home of NASA’s newly opened Manned Spacecraft Center.
The Texas Rangers were established in 1961 as the second incarnation of the Washington Senators. The team played in the nation’s capital until 1972, when it moved to Arlington, Texas, and was renamed the Texas Rangers in recognition of the state’s famed law enforcement agency.
