Five years removed from opening Minute Maid Park, the Astros hosted the All-Star Game, which was the first held in Houston since 1986.
[2] When he hit his sixth career grand slam against the Milwaukee Brewers on April 9, first baseman Jeff Bagwell tied a club record.
[8] Clemens passed Steve Carlton to move into then-second place behind Nolan Ryan on the all-time strikeout list on May 6 against the Pittsburgh Pirates in a 6–2 victory while striking out nine and bringing his career total to 4,140.
[9] In May, outfielder Lance Berkman produced a .785 slugging percentage with 24 runs batted in (RBI), winning his first career National League Player of the Month honors.
[10] In a three-team deal involving the Kansas City Royals and Oakland Athletics, the Astros acquired center fielder Carlos Beltrán.
With a 44–44 record, the team had been slumping after spending the first month and a half of the season in first place in the National League Central division.
That was considered a disappointment due to hopes of reaching the World Series after signing free agent starting pitchers Clemens and Pettitte, and acquiring Beltrán weeks earlier.
[14] Bagwell recorded his 200th career stolen base on August 30 against the Cincinnati Reds to become the tenth player in MLB history to reach that plateau while hitting 400 home runs.
[15] After the Astros acquired Beltrán from the Royals, he played 90 games batting .258 with 23 home runs, 53 RBI, and 28 stolen bases.
[20] After seven failed attempts[21] in 43 years of franchise history to win a playoff series, the Astros defeated the Atlanta Braves in five games for their first.