The ultimate book on the history of the Houston Colt .45's/Astros

books:

	• A Six-Gun Salute: An Illustrated History of the Houston Colt .45s Robert Reed Gulf Publishing, 1999 - 266 pages average customer review:based on 9 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A real winner

An excellent and detailed history of the Colts and their origins in the planned Continental League, the National League expansion of 1961-62, and their colorful early days until they became the Astros. Lots of great photos of players, now-defunct ballparks, and memorabilia, and the real inside story of the name changes from Colts to Colt .45s to Astros. A winner all around.

Hot Times In Houston

I grew up and still reside in the Bayou City. I was born in 1967, two years after the Colt .45's moved from Colt Stadium into the Astrodome and changed their name to the Astros.

Even as a young child I remember having an almost mystical interest in the Colt .45's. It was a marvel to me that they could actually play basball outside in the summers in Houston. I clearly remember my little leauge days in Houston thinking about the heat and humidity and the glare of the sun.

There was never an abundance of information on the Colt .45's or pictures of the old stadium unless you heard it about it from older Houstonians or former players that still called Houston home. This book is truly the Bible of Houston baseball. It is comparitive to the Old Testament's GENISIS. I swear if you curl up on a lazy afternoon and let your mind flow with the book you will feel as though you have travelled back into yester-year and you are there at Colt Stadium, mosquitos, humidity and all.

Sadly baseball in Houston now is a joke. The Astros are the epitome of over-paid, grossly under achieving, lazy athletes. I grew up with the Dome and I would have glady gone to Colt Stadium to root on a near last place team. AT LEAST THEY TRIED AND MADE AN EFFORT. The new ballpark downtown I have nicknamed "The Coffin". With it's retractable roof "The Coffin" is either opened or closed depending on what day you drive by. Most every player inside the place is alrady dead or just going through the motions.

This book celebrates the effort, the entertainment and the energy that once exsisted in Astros history but no longer does. This is the written account of the genisis of major leauge baseball in Houston. It also includes INCREDIBLE photographs in color and black and white.

This book is NOT to be missed ! Read it !

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Sweet and well done

I stumbled on this book at a bookstore in upstate NY, a far cry from the Houston area. As a baseball fan, it caught my eye although I had very little knowledge of Houston's MLB origins. What sold me-- at least during that quick perusal in the bookstore -- was its treatment of how Houston and NY both came into the league at the same time. After reading it, though, I'm astounded at the history and story of baseball's first major-league team in the south. The no-hitters, the futility, the tear-jerker about Jim Umbricht .... this story reeks of everything that baseball is -- good things, such as colorful characters, true fans, baseball as a game first and business second, and tragedy as well -- the real "Love of the Game" story, not that Kevin Costner tripe. Whether you know anything about Houston, the Colt 45s, or Texas, do yourself a favor and read this book. Heck, it's a human story, not just a sports story. The younger fan may not "get it," but those of us who grew up with those hot summer nights listening to baseball on transistor radios -- no matter were you lived of what team you claimed -- will enjoy the trip back.

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Best Uniform Ever

Unlike most of the other reviewers, I grew up in Indiana but the Colt .45s were my team. When I first started following sports I wanted my own team, not the Yankees, Cubs or Reds so I picked Houston. Yes, I paid for it my entire life.

In a word, the book was amazing. I would have been the ideal subject for a Norman Rockwell painting, as I sat outside the local drugstore anxiously awaiting The Sporting News to get delivered so I could read everything about my Colts. The book filled in so many of the missing pieces for me especially on the planning before they took the field. The photographs brought to life a lot of what was only mental images of my youth.

I would highly, highly recommend this book. I know my Sixshooter Club card is around here somewhere.

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The ultimate book on the history of the Houston Colt .45's/Astros

Anyone who enjoys reading about the history of baseball will love this book whether one is a Houston fan or not. It is a history book and a human interest story all rolled into one.

One get's the feeling after reading this book a feeling of a little sorrow of not having the opportunity to have known some of the unusual personalities depicted in the book, especially pitcher Dick "Turk" Farrell whom obviously was an under rated but solid major league pitcher and a man of a thousand pratical jokes.

The power struggles between the men who helped bring major league baseball to Houston is a story that is almost too intriguing to be true yet is a story that is factual in every detail.

To the fan of the Houston Astros baseball franchise, this is the ultimate book on the history of the origin of the team.

Author Robert Reed definitely did his homework on this one.

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reviews: page 1, 2

This commemorative book pays tribute to a chapter of Houston's baseball history nearly swept away in the fanfare of the Astrodome.

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