[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 18]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 25295]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             HOUSTON ASTROS, 2005 NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONS

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, November 7, 2005

  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, this October, for the first time in Major 
League Baseball history, the city of Houston, Texas was represented in 
the World Series. The Houston Astros, a team that I have followed since 
their days as the Colt .45s, completed an extraordinary season by 
facing the Chicago White Sox in the Fall Classic. Although Houston fell 
short of a World Championship, they achieved a level of success that 
had never before been seen by the organization or their fans. I join 
all of Texas in recognizing the players, Owner and CEO Drayton McLane, 
Jr., General Manager Tim Purpura, Manager Phil Garner, also known as 
``Scrap Iron,'' and the entire Houston Astros organization for their 
outstanding performance in 2005.
  The city of Houston was awarded a Major League franchise on October 
17, 1960. The team, then known as the Colt .45s, began play in the 1962 
season. With the opening of the Houston Astrodome in 1965, the Colt 
.45s became the Astros, and they have been recognized by that name for 
the past 40 years. Led by players such as Cesar Cedeno, Joe Niekro, 
Larry Dierker, Nolan Ryan--baseball's all-time strikeout king, Mike 
Scott--Houston's first Cy Young Award winner, Jose Cruz, Jeff Bagwell, 
Craig Biggio and the other ``Killer B's,'' Houston has been a first-
class franchise over the course of four decades. While reaching the 
playoffs in six of the past nine years, the Astros have proven their 
skill on the diamond and in the front office.
  With the addition of hometown heroes Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte 
to their already impressive roster, the Astros reached the National 
League Championship Series in 2004. Expectations were high going into 
2005, but the team faced several roadblocks to begin the season. By the 
end of May, the Astros were 15 games below .500 and had been written 
off by many baseball fans and members of the media. Those doubters 
could not have been more wrong. Houston emerged as the most dangerous 
team in baseball over the last four months of the season, making a 
historic run to the World Series.
  Whether it was timely hitting by veteran Craig Biggio, a towering 
home run by breakout star Morgan Ensberg, or nearly flawless pitching 
performances by Roy Oswalt, Andy Pettitte and the incomparable Roger 
Clemens, the Houston Astros solidified their status as one of the 
league's elite teams. I join the city of Houston and the great state of 
Texas in congratulating the Houston Astros for their remarkable 2005 
season, the greatest in franchise history.

                          ____________________