Houston Astros

The Houston Astros began life as the Colt .45s in 1962 before moving into the Astrodome in 1965 and adopting their space-age identity, a tribute to NASA's Johnson Space Center and Houston's role in the Apollo program. The Astrodome itself was a marvel -- the world's first domed, air-conditioned stadium, which also inadvertently gave the world AstroTurf when the natural grass failed to grow under the roof. For decades, the Astros were a solid but star-crossed National League franchise, producing great players like Nolan Ryan, Craig Biggio, and Jeff Bagwell without ever reaching the summit.

Everything changed in the 2010s. After a painful, deliberate teardown that saw the Astros lose more than 100 games three years in a row, the franchise rebuilt through the draft with ruthless efficiency, assembling a core of Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman, and George Springer that became the most formidable in baseball. The 2017 World Series victory -- Houston's first ever -- provided a cathartic lift to a city devastated by Hurricane Harvey. But the subsequent revelation of an elaborate electronic sign-stealing scheme during that championship season engulfed the franchise in the biggest scandal since the steroid era, stripping the Astros of their manager, general manager, and much of their public goodwill.

The Astros responded not with contrition but with continued dominance, reaching the World Series in four of six seasons and claiming another title in 2022. Minute Maid Park, with its retractable roof and its iconic train above left field, has been the stage for some of the most dramatic -- and divisive -- baseball of the twenty-first century. The Astros are now one of baseball's true power franchises, admired for their on-field excellence and resented in equal measure for how they got there.