The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after spending their first 51 seasons in the National League (NL). The Astros were established as the Houston Colt .45s and entered the NL as an expansion team in 1962. The Astros moved to Minute Maid Park in 2000. They played in the NL West from 1969 to 1993, then the NL Central from 1994 to 2012, before being moved to the AL West in 2013. The Astros posted their first winning record in 1972 and made the playoffs for the first time in 1980, and they won three division titles in the 1980s. The Astros began reaching major prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s with four further division titles and two Wild Card appearances, culminating in their first World Series appearance in 2005. After a major slump throughout the next decade, the team was purchased. And by the mid-2010s the Astros has transformed from a poor franchise into one of MLB’s most dominant and successful clubs. Since then, the Astros have won over 100 games in 4 seasons, appeared in a record 6 consecutive AL Championship Series, and won 4 of the last 6 AL pennants. During this time, the Astros won the 2017 World Series, their first championship. They made later appearances in 2019, 2021 and 2022, winning their second title in the latter series.