The noise reverberated across the ballpark and seared itself into memory. It was the droning whistle of the Minute Maid Park train, the sound emitted when the Houston Astros scored a run. A cacophony would follow: Bursts of fireworks, clouds of smoke, whooping and hollering as 40,000 fans rose from their seats. The enclosed roof produced some of the acoustics. The players in the home dugout were responsible for the rest.



In the fall of 2017, the Astros stood atop the baseball world. They stomped the Red Sox, outlasted the Yankees and thwarted the Dodgers en route to the franchise’s first championship. They blended 21st-century savvy with baseball’s ageless aesthetics. General manager Jeff Luhnow applied analytics to the tried-and-true process of player development. Manager AJ Hinch displayed humility and humor as the front-facing leader of the organization. The players combined exuberance with grace. They were tenacious and talented, light-hearted and luminous.