Roy Hofheinz

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Roy Mark Hofheinz (April 10, 1912–November 22, 1982), popularly known as Judge Hofheinz, was mayor of the city of Houston, Texas from 1953 to 1955. He was also the county judge of Harris County, Texas. He was part of the group that brought a Major League Baseball franchise (which became the Houston Astros) to Houston, as well as built the Astrodome sports stadium and the Astroworld amusement park.

Because Hofheinz was the first baseball team owner to put his team in a domed stadium and the first to use artificial turf, it has been suggested that "the baseball gods" placed a curse on the team (or even possibly the city). Some say the Curse of Judge Hofheinz prevented the team from winning a National League pennant from their 1962 debut through 2004, despite appearances in the National League Championship Series in 1980, 1986 and 2004, and in the National League Division Series in 1981, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001. Others claim the lack of a pennat was due to the curse of a billy goat. In 2005, the Astros finally won the NL pennant and played in the World Series, although they lost to the White Sox. As a result, there is some "debate" over whether the curse applies to the NL pennant or to the World Series championship. The curse may also affect other major Houston teams, as the basketball team, the Houston Rockets, is the only one to have won a championship of their own. The National Football League franchise, the Houston Oilers (now the Tennessee Titans, never played in the Super Bowl.