1.
Houston Astros
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The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros are members of the American League West division in Major League Baseball, the Astros have played their home games at Minute Maid Park since 2000. The Astros were established as the Houston Colt. 45s and entered the National League in 1962 with the expansion New York Mets. The current name—reflecting Houstons role as the center of the U. S. space program—was adopted three years later, when they moved into the Astrodome, the worlds first domed sports stadium. The Astros played in the NL from 1962 to 2012 and they played in the West division from 1969 to 1993, and the Central division from 1994 to 2012. The Astros have played in one World Series in 2005 against the Chicago White Sox, from 1888 until 1961, Houstons professional baseball club was the minor league Houston Buffaloes. Although expansion from the National League eventually brought an MLB team to Texas in 1962, Houston officials had been making efforts to do so for years prior. There were four men responsible for bringing Major League Baseball to Houston, George Kirksey and Craig Cullinan. They formed the Houston Sports Association as their vehicle for attaining a big league franchise for the city of Houston and they called the new league the Continental League. Wanting to protect potential new markets, both existing leagues chose to expand from eight teams to ten, however, plans eventually fell through for the Houston franchise after the Houston Buffaloes owner, Marty Marion, could not come to an agreement with the HSA to sell the team. To make matters worse, the Continental League as a whole folded in August 1960, however, on October 17,1960, the National League granted an expansion franchise to the Houston Sports Association in which their team could begin play in the 1962 season. Eventually, the Houston Sports Association succeeded in purchasing the Houston Buffaloes, at this point majority-owned by William Hopkins, the Buffs played one last minor league season as the top farm team of the Chicago Cubs in 1961 before being succeeded by the citys NL club. The new Houston team was named the Colt. 45s after a Name The Team contest was won by William Irving Neder, the Colt.45 was well known as the gun that won the west. The colors selected were blue and orange. The first team was formed mostly through a draft after the 1961 season. The Colt. 45s and their cousins, the New York Mets. Many of those associated with the Houston Buffaloes organization were allowed by the ownership to continue in the major league, Manager Harry Craft, who had joined Houston in 1961, remained in the same position for the team until the end of the 1964 season. General manager Spec Richardson also continued with the organization as business manager, similarly, the radio broadcasting team remained with the new Houston major league franchise
2.
Major League Baseball
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Major League Baseball is a professional baseball organization, the oldest of the four major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. A total of 30 teams now play in the National League and American League, the NL and AL operated as separate legal entities from 1876 and 1901 respectively. After cooperating but remaining legally separate entities since 1903, the merged into a single organization led by the Commissioner of Baseball in 2000. The organization also oversees Minor League Baseball, which comprises about 240 teams affiliated with the Major League clubs, with the World Baseball Softball Confederation, MLB manages the international World Baseball Classic tournament. Baseballs first professional team was founded in Cincinnati in 1869,30 years after Abner Doubleday supposedly invented the game of baseball, the first few decades of professional baseball were characterized by rivalries between leagues and by players who often jumped from one team or league to another. The period before 1920 in baseball was known as the dead-ball era, Baseball survived a conspiracy to fix the 1919 World Series, which came to be known as the Black Sox Scandal. The sport rose in popularity in the 1920s, and survived potential downturns during the Great Depression, shortly after the war, baseballs color barrier was broken by Jackie Robinson. The 1950s and 1960s were a time of expansion for the AL and NL, then new stadiums, Home runs dominated the game during the 1990s, and media reports began to discuss the use of anabolic steroids among Major League players in the mid-2000s. In 2006, an investigation produced the Mitchell Report, which implicated many players in the use of performance-enhancing substances, today, MLB is composed of thirty teams, twenty-nine in the United States and one in Canada. Baseball broadcasts are aired on television, radio, and the Internet throughout North America, MLB has the highest season attendance of any sports league in the world with more than 73 million spectators in 2015. MLB is governed by the Major League Baseball Constitution and this document has undergone several incarnations since 1875, with the most recent revisions being made in 2012. Under the direction of the Commissioner of Baseball, MLB hires and maintains the sports umpiring crews, and negotiates marketing, labor, MLB maintains a unique, controlling relationship over the sport, including most aspects of Minor League Baseball. This ruling has been weakened only slightly in subsequent years, the weakened ruling granted more stability to the owners of teams and has resulted in values increasing at double-digit rates. There were several challenges to MLBs primacy in the sport between the 1870s and the Federal League in 1916, the last attempt at a new league was the aborted Continental League in 1960. The chief executive of MLB is the commissioner, Rob Manfred, the chief operating officer is Tony Petitti. There are five other executives, president, chief officer, chief legal officer, chief financial officer. The multimedia branch of MLB, which is based in Manhattan, is MLB Advanced Media and this branch oversees MLB. com and each of the 30 teams websites. Its charter states that MLB Advanced Media holds editorial independence from the league, MLB Productions is a similarly structured wing of the league, focusing on video and traditional broadcast media
3.
Harry Kalas
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Harold Norbert Kalas was an American sportscaster, best known for his Ford C. Frick Award-winning role as lead announcer for Major League Baseballs Philadelphia Phillies. Kalas was also identified with the National Football League, serving as a voice-over narrator for NFL Films productions. Kalas collapsed in the Washington Nationals broadcast booth on April 13,2009, about an hour before a Phillies game was scheduled to begin against the Nationals, and died soon afterward. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Kalas graduated from Naperville High School in 1954, upon graduation, he was immediately drafted into the United States Army and stationed in Hawaii. After his discharge in 1961, Kalas began calling minor-league baseball games for the Hawaii Islanders, Kalas had three sons, Todd, Brad, and Kane. Todd Kalas was a Phillies broadcaster, worked as a pregame/postgame–show host, Kalas made his major-league debut in 1965 with the Houston Astros, replacing Al Helfer and working alongside Gene Elston and Loel Passe. He called the first game at Houstons Astrodome, on April 12,1965 and he was hired by the Phillies in 1971 to succeed Bill Campbell, and was the master of ceremonies at the 1971 opening of Veterans Stadium. After the retirement of By Saam, Kalas was paired with Andy Musser, during his Phillies career, he called six no-hit games, six National League Championship Series, and three World Series. However, due to MLB rules at the time, he could not call the 1980 World Series, as local broadcasters were not allowed to call due to contract conflicts with MLB, NBC. Public outcry caused MLB to change its policies the following year, Kalas also called the first game at Veterans Stadium, the last game at Veterans Stadium, and the first game at Citizens Bank Park. Kalas was sidelined for a few days in late July 2008 to treat a detached retina, on April 8,2009, the Phillies honored Kalas by having him throw out the first pitch before a game against the Atlanta Braves. Kalass pitch was part of the ceremony in which the Phillies received their 2008 World Series championship rings. The ceremony would be part of Kalass last home game, on May 15,2009, during a series in Washington, the Phillies visited the White House and were congratulated by President Barack Obama for their 2008 World Series championship. The visit had been postponed from April 14, due to Kalass death the preceding day, the President mentioned Kalas, his voice, his love for the Phillies, and his legacy. This was the second of two tributes to Kalas in Washington, on April 21, eight days after Kalass death, then-U. S. Congressman Joe Sestak paid tribute to Kalas in the House of Representatives, at the time, Sestak represented Pennsylvanias 7th congressional district, where Kalas resided. Kalas and Ashburn became beloved figures in Philadelphia, and also became best friends and they worked together for 27 seasons until Ashburns death on September 9,1997 of a heart attack in his sleep in a New York City hotel room after broadcasting a Phillies/Mets game at Shea Stadium
4.
Houston
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Houston is the most populous city in the state of Texas and the fourth-most populous city in the United States. With a census-estimated 2014 population of 2.239 million within an area of 667 square miles, it also is the largest city in the southern United States and the seat of Harris County. Located in Southeast Texas near the Gulf of Mexico, it is the city of Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land. Houston was founded on August 28,1836, near the banks of Buffalo Bayou and incorporated as a city on June 5,1837. The city was named after former General Sam Houston, who was president of the Republic of Texas and had commanded, the burgeoning port and railroad industry, combined with oil discovery in 1901, has induced continual surges in the citys population. Houstons economy has an industrial base in energy, manufacturing, aeronautics. Leading in health care sectors and building equipment, Houston has more Fortune 500 headquarters within its city limits than any city except for New York City. The Port of Houston ranks first in the United States in international waterborne tonnage handled, the city has a population from various ethnic and religious backgrounds and a large and growing international community. Houston is the most diverse city in Texas and has described as the most diverse in the United States. It is home to cultural institutions and exhibits, which attract more than 7 million visitors a year to the Museum District. Houston has a visual and performing arts scene in the Theater District. In August 1836, two real estate entrepreneurs from New York, Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen, purchased 6,642 acres of land along Buffalo Bayou with the intent of founding a city. The Allen brothers decided to name the city after Sam Houston, the general at the Battle of San Jacinto. The great majority of slaves in Texas came with their owners from the slave states. Sizable numbers, however, came through the slave trade. New Orleans was the center of trade in the Deep South. Thousands of enslaved African Americans lived near the city before the Civil War, many of them near the city worked on sugar and cotton plantations, while most of those in the city limits had domestic and artisan jobs. Houston was granted incorporation on June 5,1837, with James S. Holman becoming its first mayor, in the same year, Houston became the county seat of Harrisburg County and the temporary capital of the Republic of Texas
5.
George Lopez
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George Lopez is an American comedian and actor. He is known for starring in his self-produced ABC sitcom George Lopez and his stand-up comedy examines race and ethnic relations, including Mexican American culture. He was also named one of The Top 25 Hispanics in America by Time magazine in 2005, Lopez was born on April 23,1961, in Mission Hills, Los Angeles, California, the son of Frieda and Anatasio Lopez, a migrant worker. Lopez attended San Fernando High School, graduating in 1979, in 2000, after several years of performing stand-up comedy, Lopez was approached by actress Sandra Bullock for Lopez to produce and star in a comedy. Long criticized by Hispanic American groups for lack of Latinos on their television shows, in 2002, Lopez became one of the few Latinos to star in a television comedy series, following in the footsteps of Desi Arnaz, Freddie Prinze, and John Leguizamo. George Lopez is an American situation comedy originally aired on ABC from 2002 to 2007. Lopez is the co-creator, writer, producer, and star of the show, on March 8,2007, it was announced that George Lopez would join the Nick at Nite lineup. It first aired on Nick at Nite on September 10,2007, on May 15,2007, ABC announced that the series would be canceled after its sixth season. The show last aired on ABC September 7,2007, the show also entered syndication in the fall of 2007. Never a big Nielsen hit in prime-time, the became a surprise success in syndication. After receiving the news that his show was canceled in 2007, the actor told the Los Angeles Times that TV just became really, really white again, and lashed out against ABC by saying, So a chicano cant be on TV, but a caveman can. In reference to the short-lived sitcom Cavemen, which was replacing George Lopez on the schedule, Cavemen garnered a sharply negative reception from critics and viewers, and was canceled after 13 episodes. Lopez blamed ABC for causing over a hundred of his shows staff to become jobless, Lopez was a cast member and commentator for HBO’s hit sports show Inside the NFL for the 2003–04 football season. Lopez guest-starred as the mayor of Reno, Nevada in season five of Reno 911. in 2008, the show debuted in November 2009. In November 2010, the show moved back to midnight ET to accommodate a new show with former Tonight Show host Conan OBrien. m, on August 10,2011 Lopez received a cancellation notice from TBS. The network decided not to renew Lopez Tonight for a third season, on April 18,2013, it was announced George Lopez would be starring in his own sitcom on FX called Saint George, which premiered on March 6,2014. Failing to do so, Saint George was canceled on June 25,2014, in August,2015, TV Land announced a straight-to-series order for Lopez, a semi-autobiographical single-camera sitcom, which debuted on March 30,2016. Lopezs HBO Films drama Real Women Have Curves premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, previously, Lopez was featured in the 2000 drama Bread and Roses
6.
KTRK-TV
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KTRK-TV, virtual channel and VHF digital channel 13, is an ABC owned-and-operated television station located in Houston, Texas, United States. The station is owned by the ABC Owned Television Stations subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, KTRK maintains studio facilities located on Bissonnet Street in Houstons Upper Kirby district, and its transmitter is located in unincorporated northeastern Fort Bend County. The group also bought the facilities of KNUZ-TV, a DuMont affiliate which had gone dark. The station first signed on the air on November 20,1954 as KTRK-TV, as the Chronicle was the largest shareholder in the company, the callsign was derived from the Chronicles radio station, KTRH. The station has been aligned with ABC since its debut, during the late 1950s, the stations original studio facilities were located at 4513 Cullen Boulevard, this studio later housed KHTV and PBS member station KUHT. In 1955, the Chronicle bought out its partners, although this theoretically left the paper free to change its callsign to KTRH-TV to match its radio sister, it opted not to. However, for years it called itself The Houston Chronicle Station, soon afterward, the station moved to its current Bissonnet Street facility. The studio was the first domed structure in town, predating the better-known Astrodome by ten years, both projects were built by the same architect, Hermon Lloyd. Like many stations located on unlucky channel 13, it used a cat as its mascot. Early programs involved a heavy emphasis on local flavor and reflected themes of the day, some of the more popular local shows included, Kitirik, a childrens program, hosted by an actress in a cat costume. Cadet Don, A space-themed childrens adventure program that focused on the exploits of an interstellar adventurer and his alien puppet friend Seymour was from the planet Katark. Dialing for Dollars, A game show of sorts where a viewer would be phoned by the host, good Morning Houston, The successor to Dialing for Dollars, which debuted in the late 1970s and expanded to include discussions on local events and topics important to viewers lifestyles. In 1967, the Chronicle sold KTRK to Capital Cities Broadcasting, under Capital Cities ownership, KTRK pre-empted some ABC programs, though not nearly as much as some of the networks other affiliates, such as Philadelphia sister station WPVI-TV. m. Capital Cities bought ABC in 1986, making KTRK an ABC owned-and-operated station and that year, the trailing portion of the stations logo was trimmed and was turned slightly horizontal in a similar fashion to the present-day version. Capital Cities/ABC was sold to The Walt Disney Company in early 1996, not long after, the new Disney-led ownership directed KTRK-TV to clear the entire ABC schedule, though there have been instances where local special events have aired in place of network programming. On April 30,2000, a dispute between Disney and Time Warner Cable resulted in KTRK being pulled from TWCs Houston service area for over 24 hours. KTRK has long differed from many ABC-owned stations in that it never aired The Oprah Winfrey Show, until 2015, it also never carried the current syndicated editions of Jeopardy. and Wheel of Fortune, also mainstays on ABCs O&Os for around the same time period. In fact, at one point during the late 1980s until 1992, starting on September 14,2015, KTRK began airing Jeopardy
