2017 Houston Astros season

The 2017 Houston Astros season was the team's 56th season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise in Houston, Texas, their 53rd as the Astros, fifth in both the American League and American League West, and 18th at Minute Maid Park. The Astros won the World Series in seven games over the Los Angeles Dodgers for the first World Series championship in franchise history.^[1]

On September 17, the Astros clinched the AL West with a 7–1 victory over the Mariners, for their first AL West division title, and their seventh division title overall. The Astros defeated Boston 3–2 on September 29 for their 100th win of the season, their first 100-win season since 1998. Overall, the Astros finished with a 101–61 regular season record, their second-highest win total in franchise history, for a .623 winning percentage. Just four days after the end of the regular season, the Astros met the Red Sox at home in the ALDS, and defeated them in four games. Houston then advanced to the ALCS and defeated the New York Yankees in seven games for their first American League pennant. Combined with their NL pennant in 2005, the Astros became the first MLB team to make it to the World Series as members of both the National and American Leagues. Finally, the Astros faced and defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series 4 games to 3.

The 2017 Astros featured the highest-scoring offense in the major leagues (896 runs scored), including the highest batting average (.282), on-base percentage (.346), and slugging percentage (.478). The offense was led by AL batting champion and second baseman José Altuve (.346) who won a number of distinctions, including Most Valuable Player (AL MVP), Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year, and Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year. He became just the second Astro to win the MVP following Jeff Bagwell in 1994. The ALCS MVP was starting pitcher Justin Verlander, and the World Series MVP was center fielder George Springer.

Because of its record-setting numbers and individual accolades, this Astros batting lineup is often cited as one of the highest-performing in history.

Manager A. J. Hinch led the on-field team, and general manager Jeff Luhnow presided over the baseball operations department. The Astros sent six players to the 88th All-Star Game held at Marlins Park in Miami, including Altuve, Springer, shortstop Carlos Correa, and pitchers Dallas Keuchel, Lance McCullers Jr., and Chris Devenski. Bagwell, a first baseman who spent his entire 15-year major league career in an Astros uniform, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 30, 2017.

This season also marked their 53rd as the Astros (the team was the Colt .45s until 1965), their fifth in the American League, and their 18th at Minute Maid Park. The season was later marred by a sign stealing scandal that ultimately led to significant backlash from many baseball fans, the loss of draft picks and a record setting fine from the MLB, and the dismissal of employees in the organization that were directly linked to the scandal.