I was reading a novel the other day in which a main character played pro football for the New York Astros. this lead me to wonder if there was such a team, or whether the author made it up to suit her purposes.
Related questions: Is there a pro football team now called the Astros? Where are the pro baseball-playing Astros from?
The Houston Astros (short for astronauts) were named in the 1960s when LBJ brought the NASA Space Center to that city. (It’s now called the Johnson Space Center.)
I can’t think of any reason for a New York team to be called the Astros. Maybe if they were from Florida…
Anybody remember the Astros’ ugly uniforms back in the 80s?
I liked the old Houston Astro’s bright uniforms. I liked the old Denver Bronco’s and Tampa Bucaneer’s, too.
The new ones are probably easier to clean.
Cheesehead- I think the bright colors work for a “modern” sport like football, however, baseball is so steeped in the traditions of the 19th century, that neon really seems out of place. If Yogi Berra didn’t say it, he shudda, “I like my baseball like the 1952 Brooklyn Dodgers: In black and white!”
The Houston Astros were originally known as the Houston Colt .45’s. They changed their name in 1967 (I believe), when they moved into the Astrodome.
I’m not aware of any football team named the Astros, or why someone thought this would be a good name for a team from NYC. “Metros” makes more sense.
Or “Mets” perhaps?
Thank you all for confirming my suspicions. Although, ever since I found out where the lakes referred to in “L. A. Lakers” were located, I have not considered logic to be a neccessary component of team names. (OK, so the team in question started out by the lakes, and just later moved halfway across the country). It is entirely possible that the author chose New York Astros because it would be obvious to football fans like herself that it was a slightly absurd name. Thus, one could pretend that the book was occurring in the present, and not be bothered by the fact that the team was populated by a bunch of fictional characters.
Authors frequently make up teams, companies, congressional districts, etc., when it suits thier needs. Since a work of fiction must contain elements of truth to make it plausible, making up an entire city large enough to sustain a professional sports team is stretching it a bit, but a fictional team for a real city works. Calling a fictional character a star player on the New York Yankees is historically inaccurate and even a little absurd, so they make up a team. The New York Knights from “The Natural” is another example of this.
The Dave-Guy
“since my daughter’s only half-Jewish, can she go in up to her knees?” J.H. Marx
Yep… There are a few of those teams whose nicknames worked in the first city, but not in the second.
LA Lakers fka Minneapolis Lakers
Tennessee Oilers fka Houston Oilers
Utah Jazz fka New Orleans Jazz
But the Whalers, Nordiques, and Jets changed their names to the more appropriate Hurricane, Avalanche, and Coyotes, once they moved. And the North Stars dropped the “north” part when they went to Dallas I guess Hockey is the only sport that gets it right.
And the Fort Wayne Pistons moved to Detroit, where, strangely, the nickname makes more sense. Just like the Washington Senators becoming the Minnesoita Twins. And, yes, Tennessee changed, but how are Titans any more related to Tennessee than oil? I would have preferred the Hound Dogs.
I can think of a few other teams that moved too, but they didn’t have regional names to begin with, so I’ve left them out.
Wow. Long post.
Unless, of course, you’re the Chicago White Sox, who, in the 1970s, I believe, wore [B}coal black{/B] uniforms. Not to mention the short pants they wore on occasion . . .
Actually, those uniforms were dark blue, and featured the ever popular collars. They only wore the shorts on a few occasions… once on my birthday (coincidence?).
You want to go one on one with The Great One?