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Imagine your memory has been wiped clean, but you somehow know you love baseball. Or maybe you grew up in Iceland and learned to love baseball. You have no loyalty to specific laundry, no obligation to cheer for the same team as your dad. You can pick any team to be your team.

For 2017, you just might want to pick the Houston Astros, the most fun-to-watch team in the majors.

Here’s what makes Houston a must-see club:

The core four

Even if you’re not an Astros fans, it’s OK to admit the following. There are no repercussions, no need to turn in your team loyalty card. You love it when Jose Altuve gets four hits in a game — something he did eight times last season — even when he does it against your team. When we watch Altuve play, we see the potential for greatness in ourselves.

Maybe you know the story. When he was 16 years old and showed up for an Astros tryout camp in Venezuela, he was cut the first day. Too small, of course. No chance a player shorter than the bat boy was a future major leaguer. Altuve showed up the next day anyway, then-Astros scout Al Pedrique saw something in the kid and the team signed him for $15,000. It was like buying Apple stock in 1997.

The Astros have built their foundation around their exciting group of four young stars, all 27 or younger this season. Carlos Correa, George Springer and Alex Bregman all were first-round picks with classic baseball bodies, lean and powerful. Altuve was the 5-foot-6 lottery ticket who became the heart and soul of the franchise. What was so impressive about his 2016 campaign is that Altuve found a way to get better, even after winning a batting title in 2014, capturing stolen-base crowns in 2014 and 2015, and leading the AL in hits both seasons. He improved his patience at the plate and added more power, posting career-best totals with a .396 OBP and 24 home runs. He finished third in the MVP voting.

The other three are pretty good as well. Corey Seager and Francisco Lindor might have stolen the spotlight last year from Correa in the pantheon of great young shortstops, but Correa’s polished approach and power potential mean he could be the guy who finishes in the top three in the MVP voting in 2017.

Here’s a fun stat to consider: Only two teams since 1901 have had four position players age 27 or younger post 5-plus WAR in the same season — the Red Sox and Yankees both did it in 1942. The Astros could do it this year, considering Altuve, Correa and Springer were all five-win players in 2016. Maybe that’s a little ambitious for Bregman in his first full season, but even if we lower the standard to 4-plus WAR, only two teams have done it in the past 30 years.

Beyond the numbers, Altuve, Correa and Springer possess an infectious zest for the game. Yes, there’s the obvious athleticism and skills to appreciate, but these guys are fan favorites for signing autographs and stacking cups in the dugout and having fun with Miguel Cabrera and becoming Internet memes (“How many Altuves?”) and, yes, hitting home runs for cancer patients.

Put it this way: Astros fans would love Altuve even if he hit .238 instead of .338. It just helps that he hits .338.

The wily veteran

The Astros had the youngest average position player age in the AL in 2016. That won’t be the case in 2017 after Houston signed Carlos Beltran and Josh Reddick, traded for Brian McCann and claimed Nori Aoki on waivers. Beltran is no longer a smooth-gliding Gold Glover in center field and will probably be relegated to DH duties (he turns 40 on April 27), but his late-career consistency has turned him into a strong Hall of Fame candidate. He’s also on a quest: He has played in six postseasons with five clubs, but he has never won a ring.

One of just 37 players with at least 1,500 runs and 1,500 RBIs, Beltran could be the fifth Hall of Famer from Puerto Rico, joining Roberto Clemente, Orlando Cepeda, Roberto Alomar and Ivan Rodriguez, who will be inducted this summer. He’s a hero in Puerto Rico, and his Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy — one of five private baseball schools on the island — has helped create a baseball renaissance there after a dry spell in talent in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Correa is part of that renaissance.

If you want drama, check out the 19 Astros-Rangers games. Like Beltran, Adrian Beltre is looking for his first championship. The Rangers have won the past two AL West titles in large part by kicking the Astros’ butts, going 15-4 against Houston in 2016 and 13-6 in 2015. Plus, the addition of McCann and his “play the game my way” philosophy means there’s a 92.4 percent chance he and Rougned Odor throw down at some point during the season.

In fact, McCann’s addition should create an interesting dynamic with his more exuberant teammates. What will he do the next time Springer dresses up in a dinosaur costume?