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Old 12-03-2015, 12:55 AM   #26653
SDL
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Join Date: Jul 2013
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Merkle923 View Post
Right as the season ended in 1964, the Colt .45s were notified by Colt Firearms that while the company wasn't objecting to the team using what was its copyrighted name, it did object to the owners sub-licensing the name to the makers of souvenirs and "novelties" sold at stadiums around baseball.

When owner Roy Hofheinz bailed out from that potential festival of lawsuits and chose a name reflective of Houston being the 'home of the Astronauts,' he wound up jumping into yet another legal hassle. By 1968 the manufacturers of AstroTurf got an injunction against the club using the star logo or the Astros' name to sell anything. That was resolved at some point in 1969. Hence, "Houston."
That why from '68-'69 Topps had to airbrush out the hat logos and call the team "Houston" instead of the Astros?
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