Roy Hofheinz

One of the founding fathers of the Astros, Judge Roy Hofheinz was the first owner of the Houston franchise. A state legislator at age 22, a Harris County judge at age 24 and the mayor of Houston at age 40, Hofheinz played an instrumental role in getting the Colt .45s to Houston in 1962, and in 1965 renamed the club the Astros to coincide with the opening of the first domed stadium in professional sports history, the iconic Astrodome. Hofheinz revolutionized baseball and the sports industry in many ways, including his decision to utilize an artificial playing surface in 1966 which he dubbed “AstroTurf”.