Star Burst: New Astros Logo Leaked After Sporting Goods Shop Releases Shirts

The Astros’ new logo was "publicly unveiled Friday afternoon -- at a local sporting goods store, with no fanfare and without the support” of the team, according to Brian Smith of the HOUSTON CHRONICLE. An "eager local fan" posted a tweet containing the new logo Friday afternoon. Several Houston-area Academy Sports & Outdoors locations released a "limited quantity of shirts bearing the new logo," but the product was “removed and is no longer for sale.” The tweeted photo “displayed a dark-blue T-shirt and a large five-point star in two shades of orange, topped off by an equally large white capital ‘H.’” Smith wrote, “The image doesn’t just sound familiar: It is.” The logo is "highly similar to the dominant logo worn by Houston teams from 1965-1993.” It is “being rolled back out during an unprecedented time of change for the organization, which has recorded 213 combined losses the last two seasons and overhauled much of its staff.” Initial fan reaction “was mostly positive.” However, a "long-planned official launch party" this Friday at Minute Maid Park with scheduled appearances by Astros 2B Jose Altuve and '12 No. 1 overall draft pick Carlos Correa has "lost some of its pop” (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 10/27).

SO SORRY: Academy Sports & Outdoors CEO & President Rodney Faldyn in a statement said, “We express our apologies to Houston Astros fans, our partners at the Houston Astros ball club, along with major League Baseball for inadvertently releasing the new Astros t-shirts in limited quantity” (Academy). MLB Properties and MLBAM also apologized for the mistake, saying, "It is an error that should have been caught and an error we regret" (AP, 10/27).