Getting your questions ready
Getting your questions ready
Beat the crowd
10 questions No timer
This Astros trivia quiz has 50 free questions with answers and runs from the franchise's birth as the Houston Colt .45s in 1962 through the Astrodome era, the rainbow uniforms, Nolan Ryan and Mike Scott, the Killer B's of the 1990s, the 2005 pennant, the analytics-driven rebuild under Jim Crane and Jeff Luhnow, and the modern powerhouse that reached seven straight ALCS and won it all in 2017 and 2022. It covers players, managers, ballparks, mascots, uniforms, records and the sign-stealing scandal. Early questions are fine for casual fans who know Altuve and Orbit; later ones reward people who remember who scored the team's first run, which manager won his first game with a no-hitter, and how many innings the 1968 marathon against the Mets went. Every answer was checked against encyclopaedia entries before publishing.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What was the Houston franchise called when it entered the National League in 1962?
The Colt .45s
The Colt .45s name came from a fan-naming contest won by William Irving Neder; the Colt .45 revolver was billed as 'the gun that won the West'.
Q 02Which other expansion team joined the National League alongside Houston in 1962?
New York Mets
The two clubs took turns picking unprotected players in an expansion draft after the 1961 season.
Q 03What did the team's new name, adopted for 1965, reflect?
Houston's role in the space program
The Astros name reflected Houston's role in the space program as home of NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center; the change was announced in December 1964.
Q 04What was the Astrodome nicknamed when it opened in 1965?
The Eighth Wonder of the World
The Astrodome was billed as 'The Eighth Wonder of the World'; it opened in April 1965 as the Harris County Domed Stadium, the first domed major-league ballpark.
Q 05Why was AstroTurf invented for the Astrodome in 1966?
Grass would not grow after the roof panels were painted
Grass would not grow after the roof panels were painted to cut the glare that had fielders losing pop flies, so Monsanto's AstroTurf was installed in 1966.
Q 06Which legendary pitcher threw the Astrodome's first test pitches to see how breaking balls behaved indoors?
Satchel Paige
He was 58 at the time; the stadium's official opening day came two months later, April 9, 1965.
Q 07How many innings did the Astros' famous 1968 marathon against the Mets last?
24
The game went 24 innings and six hours before Norm Miller scored the only run on a grounder through Al Weis's legs in the bottom of the 24th.
Q 08Which Astros pitcher threw the Astrodome's first no-hitter in 1967 and another in 1969?
Don Wilson
Don Wilson no-hit the Braves on June 18, 1967, the Astrodome's first no-hitter; he died in January 1975 at 29 and his number 40 was retired that April.
Q 09Which Hall of Fame second baseman did the Astros send to Cincinnati in the lopsided 1971 'Big Trade'?
Joe Morgan
Joe Morgan went to Cincinnati with Denis Menke, Jack Billingham, César Gerónimo and Ed Armbrister for Lee May, Tommy Helms and Jimmy Stewart in November 1971.
Q 10What did the Astros' famous 1975 home-and-road uniforms feature from the chest down?
Yellow, orange and red stripes
Yellow, orange and red stripes covered the jersey from the chest down, a look nicknamed the 'rainbow' that was meant to suggest a rocket's fiery trail; it debuted in 1975.
Q 11Which Alvin, Texas native did the Astros sign to baseball's first seven-figure annual contract?
Nolan Ryan
Nolan Ryan signed with Houston in November 1979 for roughly $1 million a year; he threw his fifth career no-hitter as an Astro in 1981 and led the majors with a 1.69 ERA.
Q 12Which Astros pitcher clinched the 1986 NL West with a no-hitter?
Mike Scott
Mike Scott no-hit the San Francisco Giants 2-0 on September 25, 1986 to clinch the NL West, and won that year's National League Cy Young Award.
Q 13Whose 18th-inning home run won Game 4 of the 2005 NLDS for the Astros?
Chris Burke
Chris Burke homered off Joey Devine in the 18th inning on October 9, 2005, ending a 7-6 Astros win over the Braves in the series' deciding game.
Q 21What was the quirky feature named for Tal Smith that was removed from the ballpark after 2016?
A center-field incline with a flagpole in play
A center-field incline with a flagpole in play, Tal's Hill sloped up to the 436-foot wall; it was removed after the 2016 season and the fence came in to 409 feet.
Q 22Which pitcher won a record seventh Cy Young Award with the Astros in 2004?
Roger Clemens
Roger Clemens won his seventh Cy Young Award at 42 in 2004, going 18-4; a year later he led the majors with a 1.87 ERA.
Q 23Who swept the Astros in their first World Series appearance in 2005?
Chicago White Sox
Q 14Which two Hall of Famers led the 'Killer B's' of the 1990s and 2000s?
Bagwell and Biggio
Bagwell and Biggio anchored the Killer B's; Derek Bell and Sean Berry rounded out the original 1990s quartet, and Lance Berkman joined the club later.
Q 15Which team originally drafted Jeff Bagwell before trading him to Houston in 1990?
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox dealt him for reliever Larry Andersen on August 30, 1990; Bagwell won Rookie of the Year in 1991 and the MVP three years later.
Q 16In which year did Jeff Bagwell win the National League MVP award?
1994
Bagwell was the unanimous NL MVP in 1994, hitting .368 with 39 homers in a season the players' strike ended in August; he had just broken his hand.
Q 17Craig Biggio is the only player to be an All-Star and win a Silver Slugger at which two positions?
Catcher and second base
Catcher and second base were his positions: Biggio won a Silver Slugger as a catcher in 1989 and made the 1991 All-Star team there before moving to second base in 1992.
Q 18How many hits did Craig Biggio collect on the night he reached 3,000?
Five
He needed three and got five, becoming the 27th player to reach the mark — all with one team.
Q 19Biggio's career total of 285 in which category trails only Hughie Jennings in MLB history?
Times hit by pitch
Times hit by pitch: Biggio's 285 sit two behind Hughie Jennings's 287 career plunkings; his single-season high was 34 in 1997.
Q 20What was the Astros' downtown ballpark called when it opened in 2000?
Enron Field
After the energy company's collapse the name went to Minute Maid in 2002, and it was renamed Daikin Park in 2025.
The Chicago White Sox swept the 2005 Series for their first title since 1917; MLB overruled Houston and ordered the Minute Maid Park roof open for Game 3.
Q 24Which businessman bought the Astros in 2011?
Jim Crane
Jim Crane's roughly $610 million purchase was approved in November 2011; agreeing to move the club to the American League was a condition, and MLB knocked about $70 million off the price.
Q 25In which season did the Astros begin play in the American League West?
2013
The Astros moved to the AL West for 2013, opening against Texas on March 31, after 51 National League seasons in the West and then the Central division.
Q 26What is the name of the Astros' lime-green, antennae-wearing mascot?
Orbit
Orbit debuted in 1990, was replaced by Junction Jack after 1999 and returned in November 2012 ahead of the move to the American League.
Q 27What kind of animal was Junction Jack, the mascot introduced for the 2000 move downtown?
A rabbit
A rabbit: Junction Jack was a jackrabbit in railway-engineer overalls, matching the new ballpark's train theme, and served as mascot from 2000 through 2012.
Q 28In which country was Jose Altuve born?
Venezuela
Altuve was born in Maracay, Venezuela in 1990 and signed with Houston as an amateur free agent in 2007 for a $15,000 bonus; he debuted in July 2011.
Q 29In which year was Altuve named American League MVP?
2017
Altuve won the award in 2017, leading the majors with a .346 average and reaching 200 hits for the fourth straight season as Houston won 101 games.
Q 30How did Altuve end the 2019 ALCS against the Yankees?
A walk-off home run
A walk-off home run off Aroldis Chapman in the ninth inning of Game 6 sent Houston to its third World Series, which it lost to Washington.