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Houston Sports: San Jacinto Day with the Astros and Rockets

By Stephen Whitaker

HOUSTON, TX - APRIL 02: A general view of Minute Maid Park during player introductions on opening day at Minute Maid Park on April 2, 2018 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX - APRIL 02: A general view of Minute Maid Park during player introductions on opening day at Minute Maid Park on April 2, 2018 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) /
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Saturday is San Jacinto Day. Saturday is a busy day for Houston sports. The Astros and the Rockets have a storied history on this day.

Things are looking good these days for Houston sports teams. The Houston Astros are at the Chicago White Sox. The Houston Rockets will play game three of their series against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Saturday will be the 17th time since 1980 that both play on San Jacinto Day. Here’s a glimpse at how they’ve done.

First, a look back at sports on San Jacinto Day.

The first record of a baseball game being played in Texas comes from April 21, 1867 when the Houston Stonewalls beat the Galveston Robert E. Lees 35-2 on the ground just outside La Porte where 31 years before Sam Houston and the Texan army had defeated Santa Anna’s Mexican army.

In 1888 the Texas League began with the Houston Babies as one of the founding teams. In 1889 the team changed their name to the Buffalos, later shortened to Buffs and until 1961 (minus three years during World War II) Houston’s minor league team would be the only game in town on San Jacinto Day.

The record of the Buffs on San Jacinto day is not found as easily as that of the Astros and Rockets but it is probable they played on it nearly every year.

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