2017 World Series Champions Houston Astros

Celebrate the Houston Astros 2017 World Series Championship with the official publication from Major League Baseball! 2017 World Series Champions: Houston Astros takes fans out to the ball game and right down to the field-level action at Minute Maid Park and beyond. Published in conjunction with MLB and researched and written by their own in-house team of dedicated baseball experts, this commemorative book offers baseball fans not only a detailed game-by-game recap of Houston's run to a World Series title, but also a history of the Astros franchise and how this championship team was assembled. With more than 200 incredible photographs, exclusive Q&A's with stars like George Springer and Carlos Correa, regular season highlights from players like Jose Altuve, and postseason statistics and box scores, this official MLB publication celebrates all the unforgettable moments of this championship run. As fans learned after comebacks in both the ALCS and in Games 2 and 5 of the World Series, the Astros truly are Houston Strong.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The inside story of the Houston Astros, whose relentless innovation took them from the worst team in baseball to the World Series in 2017 and 2019 “Reiter’s superb narrative of how the team got there provides powerful insights into how organizations—not just baseball clubs—work best.”—The Wall Street Journal Astroball picks up where Michael Lewis’s acclaimed Moneyball leaves off, telling the thrilling story of a championship team that pushed both the sport and business of baseball to the next level. In 2014, the Astros were the worst baseball team in half a century, but just three years later they defied critics to win a stunning World Series. In this book, Ben Reiter shows how the Astros built a system that avoided the stats-versus-scouts divide by giving the human factor a key role in their decision-making. Sitting at the nexus of sports, business, and innovation, Astroball is the story of the next wave of thinking in baseball and beyond, at once a remarkable underdog tale and a fascinating look at the cutting edge of evaluating and optimizing human potential.

During three consecutive 100-loss seasons, Houston Astros management asked fans to be patient, promising them there was a plan in place that would result in success. That patience was rewarded with the ultimate prize in 2017, as the Astros knocked off the Los Angeles Dodgers in thrilling fashion to claim the first World Series crown in team history. During the regular season they ran away with the American League West, winning the division by a massive 21 games. Anchored by a dynamic offense and boosted by the late-season acquisition of a resurgent Justin Verlander, this historic team would not be denied on their way to the long-awaited title. Packed with superb coverage and vivid color photography from the Houston Chronicle, Astros Strong: Houston's Historic 2017 Championship Season guides fans through the Astros' entire amazing journey - from the devastation of Hurricane Harvey and resiliency of the Houston community, to the Astros' quick work of the powerful Red Sox in the ALDS; from their hard-fought ALCS win over the young Yankees, all the way through their incredible World Series triumph over the dominant Dodgers. This commemorative edition also includes feature stories on Astros stars Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, George Springer, and other fan favorites, and is a must-have keepsake for Astros fans of all generations.

History Earned! chronicles the Houston Astros incredible run to their first ever World Series championship. This dazzling hardcover keepsake includes highlights from the Astros 101-win regular season, special playerfeatures, game-by-game recaps of all the playoff games, and extended coverage of the World Series triumph over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Over 100 full-color photos included. The perfect holiday gift for Astros fans.

“A baseball book that reads like a spy novel—a story about cheaters and the cheated that has the power to forever change how we feel about the game.” —Brian Williams, MSNBC anchor and host of The 11th Hour The definitive insider story of one of the biggest cheating scandals to ever rock Major League Baseball, bringing down high-profile coaches and players, and exposing a long-rumored "sign-stealing" dark side of baseball By the fall of 2019, most teams in Major League Baseball suspected that the Houston Astros, winners of the 2017 World Series, had been stealing signs for several years. Deconstructing exactly what happened in this explosive story, award-winning sports reporter and analyst Andy Martino reveals how otherwise good people like Astros manager A. J. Hinch, bench coach Alex Cora, and veteran leader Carlos Beltrán found themselves on the wrong side of clear ethical lines. Along the way, Martino explores the colorful history of cheating in baseball, from notorious episodes like the 1919 “Black Sox” fiasco all the way to the modern steroid era. But as Martino deftly shows, the Astros scandal became one of the most significant that the game has ever seen—its fallout ensnaring many other teams, as victims, alleged cheaters, or both. Like a riveting true sports whodunit, Cheated is an electrifying, behind-the-scenes look into the heart of a scandal that shocked the baseball world.

There's never been a better time to be an Astros fan, and this lively, detailed book explores the personalities, events, and facts every fan should know. Whether you're a die-hard booster from the days of the Colt .45's or a new supporter of Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa, these are the 100 things all fans need to know and do in their lifetime. It contains every essential piece of Astros knowledge and trivia, as well as must-do activities, and ranks them all from 1 to 100, providing an entertaining and easy-to-follow checklist as you progress on your way to fan superstardom. This World Series edition has been updated to include the team's 2017 championship season as well as a new generation of stars, including Altuve, Correa, George Springer, Dallas Keuchel, Justin Verlander, and more.

An inside look at the 2017 Houston Astros championship season, focusing on the epic seven-game World Series, the front office decisions that built a winning team, and the resilience of the city in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. On November 1, 2017, the Houston Astros defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in an epic seven game battle to become 2017 World Series champs. For the Astros, the combination of a magnificently played series, a 101-victory season, and the devastation Hurricane Harvey brought to their city was so incredible it might give Hollywood screenwriters pause. The nation's fourth-largest city, still reeling in the wake of disaster, was smiling again. The Astros' first-ever World Series victory is a great baseball story, but it's also the story of a major American city--a city (and a state) that the rest of the nation doesn't always love or understand--becoming a sentimental favorite because of its grace and good will in response to the largest natural disaster in American history. The Astros' miracle season is also the fascinating tale of a thoroughly modern team. Constructed by NASA-inspired analytics, the team's data-driven system took the game to a more sophisticated level than the so-called Moneyball approach. The team's new owner, Jim Crane, bought into the system and was willing to endure humiliating seasons in the baseball wilderness with the hope, shared by few initially, that success comes to those who wait. And he was right. But no data-crunching could take credit for a team of likeable, refreshingly good-natured young men who wore "Houston Strong" patches on their jerseys and meant it--guys like shortstop Carlos Correa, who kept a photo in his locker of a Houston woman trudging through fetid water up to her knees. The Astros foundation included George Springer, a powerful slugger and rangy outfielder; third-baseman Alex Bregman, whose defensive play and clutch hitting were crucial in the series; and, of course, the stubby and tenacious second baseman José Altuve, the heart and soul of the team. Hurricane Season is Houston Chronicle columnist Joe Holley's moving account of this extraordinary team--and the extraordinary circumstances of their championship.