Ultimate Baseball Road Trip (95 page)

Originally the big leaguers played outdoors in Houston. For three seasons, the Colt .45s hosted NL opponents in a thirty-two-thousand-seat temporary facility called Colt Stadium, which was dubbed “Mosquito Heaven” by locals. With its hummingbird sized mosquitoes and oppressive heat, the ballpark didn’t draw well. The Houston expansion team averaged just 789,000 fans per season from 1962 to 1964 while the dome was being constructed.

Kevin:
That old guy was kidding about the hummingbird sized mosquitos, right?

Josh:
I don’t know. I’ve heard the bass grow larger down here so it stands to reason the bugs would too. A smallmouth in Maine is lucky to reach four pounds whereas a largemouth in Mississippi or Texas can …

Kevin:
The only time I want to hear you use the word “Bass” is if you’re getting me a Black and Tan.

When the Harris County Domed Stadium was completed in 1964 and promptly renamed the Astrodome in recognition of Houston’s contribution to the US space program, the team too was renamed. And fans started turning out to see the local nine. More than 2.15 million fans visited the Astrodome in its initial season. That seems impressive at first, but not when you consider that the dome seated 54,370, which means it was more than half empty each night as the Astros drew about 26,500 per game. As for Colt Stadium, it was disassembled in the early 1970s and shipped to Torreon, Mexico, for use in the Mexican League. Its old footprint is now buried beneath asphalt in the Astrodome parking lot.

Many have mistakenly called the Astrodome the first weatherproof American ballpark, which is not exactly correct. It was indeed the first dome, but the New York Cubans of the Negro National League played at a ballpark beneath the 59th Street Bridge in Queens during the 1930s. The field was entirely covered by the bridge.

Kevin:
I bet the ushers didn’t wear funky silver space suits like at the Astrodome either.

Josh:
I’m thinking you’re right.

Another thing many people may not remember is that initially the Astrodome had a real grass infield that featured special Bermuda grass engineered for indoor play. The grass field necessitated a see-through roof that allowed some sunlight to reach the field. When the glare from the sunroof gave infielders fits on pop-ups, the roof was painted white, and as a result the grass died. And the trademark plastic grass dubbed “Astroturf” was laid in 1966. At first, the team left the normal amount of dirt on the infield, but in 1970 the switch was made to virtually maintenance-free dirt sliding pits, a model that would become the norm at domed stadiums and multipurpose stadiums across the nation.

The Astrodome hosted its fair share of memorable moments—including several no-hitters, Willie Mays’s five hundredth round-tripper, and Nolan Ryan’s four thousandth strikeout. On April 15, 1968, the Astros beat the Mets in twenty-four innings at the Astrodome in the longest 1-0 game in history. Later that year the National League beat the American League 1-0 at the Astrodome in the first one-run All-Star Game. On May 4, 1969, the Astros turned seven double plays against the Giants on the slick turf to set a big league record. On September 25, 1986, Houston’s Mike Scott clinched the AL West title at the Astrodome with a no-hitter against the Giants.

Josh:
Talk about getting it done in style.

Kevin:
That’s as good as it gets.

Scott then shut out Dwight Gooden and the Mets 1-0 in the opening game of the National League Championship Series at the Astrodome, and pitched a complete game three-hitter in Game 4 at New York to even the Series at two games apiece. But Houston lost gut-wrenching twelve- and sixteen-inning affairs in Games 5 and 6, and Scott never got a chance to start a potential Game 7.

The Astrodome also had its share of wacky moments, like the time in 1965 when Mets announcer Lindsey Nelson broadcast a game from a gondola suspended from the apex of the dome; or the time in 1965 when the Mets accused the Astrodome groundskeepers of manipulating the air-conditioning to blow toward the outfield when the Astros were batting and then reversing the currents when the visitors were at the plate, thereby helping fly balls travel farther for the home team. In 1974, a fly ball by Philadelphia’s Mike Schmidt struck a P.A. speaker in center field. The slugger was awarded only a single, even though the speaker was 330 feet from home plate and 117 feet above the field and the blast would have surely cleared the outfield fence. In 1976, a game was rained out, or “rained-in” as some said, when flooding in the streets prevented players and fans from reaching the dome.

By the 1990s just about everyone agreed that the Astrodome had outlived its day. Cavernous, dark, and sterile, it wasn’t conducive to festive ballpark revelry. Though conceived with the future in mind, its time had passed. Minute Maid Park—a real jewel—arrived just in time to give Houston fans the breath of fresh air they craved and inject new energy into the Astros franchise. That was the plan. And it actually worked. Minute Maid arrived amidst the most successful run in franchise history. After reaching the post-season just three times in their first thirty-five years, the Astros qualified for October play six times in a nine-year run, spanning 1997 to 2005. They closed the Astrodome and opened Minute Maid right in the middle of this era of excellence and rode a wave of fan enthusiasm all the way to the 2005 World Series.

After losing a heartbreaking seven-game National League Championship Series against the Cardinals in 2004, that 2005 team may not have been the best in team history but it was surely the most exciting. Despite winning just eighty-nine regular season games, the Astros claimed the NL Wild Card and made the most of the opportunity. In a short series, their top three starters could shine. Roy Oswalt, who went 20-12 with a 2.97 ERA, was joined by a pair of former Yankee stable-mates who had decided to return to their home state to pitch for the team they’d grown up loving. Andy Pettitte (17-9, 2.39) and Roger Clemens (13-8, 1.87) combined with Oswalt to give Houston as dominant a top three as any in the National League. But it was an unheralded hitter that used the postseason platform to author what would come to be the most memorable moment in Minute Maid Park’s early history. Chris Burke connected for a walk-off homer in the bottom of the eighteenth inning of the Astros’ first-round matchup against the Braves’ Joey Devine to deliver a three-games-to-one series win. Because that game took an excruciating five hours and fifty minutes to play, making it the longest in post-season history, and because it ended so dramatically, Burke’s shot immediately became the stuff of legend. And it gave the Astros momentum heading into the NLCS where this time they beat the Cardinals in a six-game match. The Astros ran out of gas against the White Sox in the World Series, though. And so, a World Championship remains the only thing lacking on the resume of this half-century-old franchise that already boasts some great players, colorful moments, and two stadiums both deemed revolutionary in their day.

A small ballpark by today’s standards, Minute Maid contains plenty of excellent seats. Most of the field-level sections provide solid views of the action. The upper-level seats are also decent since the deck only extends back seventeen rows and doesn’t extend all the way across the outfield. As for pricing, the box seats around the infield seem underpriced compared to similar seats at other MLB parks. We should mention that there is a sun-effect here. If you are visiting for a late-afternoon game on a Saturday or even for a night-game during the summer and the sun is shining, a seat on the first base side of the park—whether along the first-base line or even out in the right-field home run seats—you had better keep your sunglasses handy. Otherwise you’ll spend the first couple innings squinting. The setting sun shines through the massive panels in left field, soaking a large swath of outfield, infield and stands. You think you have it tough? Because the full stadium is not open, only the portion exposed by the window, there are some pretty severe shadows on the field too—around home plate and deep in the outfield—and the contrast makes it difficult for batters to pick up the ball.

The architects were no doubt going for an old-time feel when they designed Minute Maid’s lower bowl. The seats begin low to the field and close to fair territory, and extend back in rows that rise at a very low pitch. The stadium-seating effect is minimal, putting Row 2 only about six inches higher than Row 1 and so on. This won’t be an issue for tall guys like Kevin, but fans under six feet, like Josh, will find themselves having to sit on the edge of their seats all game long to see over the head of the person directly in front of them. Keep in mind that the seats extend back thirty-nine rows on the first level. And seats are the same price in Row 1 as Row 39, so don’t take it for granted that a Field Box seat is going to be
right on the field. And if you sit in Rows 34–39 you won’t be able to see the full flight of fly balls because of the overhang of the Club deck and the HVAC pipes.

One flaw in the ballpark’s design is that fans seated directly behind home plate on the first level can’t see the entirety of fair territory. From the dugout seats, the left-field corner is partially blocked due to the Field Boxes, which jut out midway down the left-field line—reminiscent of the left-field stands at Fenway Park in Boston. The left-field grandstand at Minute Maid rises much higher than the grandstand in right field as it straddles the foul line. Thus the left-field corner is only fully visible from Sections 122 to 134 on the right-field side of the diamond, but by then the view of the right-field corner has begun to wane. We do applaud the Astros for adding three-foot-high screens instead of a solid wall to separate the seats from the field of play, but we still think it best to shoot for seats on the first-base side, rather than third, considering that fans seated in right field also enjoy a view of the setting sun and then later of the stars through the window above left field. Just be sure to bring those sunglasses!

These begin just past the first- and third-base bags and extend out to the foul poles. The sections nearest the infield provide good views, while the ones out near the poles are rather fowl. As with the Dugout Seats, try for tickets in Row 33 or lower to minimize the effects of the overhanging Club deck. We especially recommend Sections 127 to 129 on the first-base side. Sections 110 and 111 on the third-base side are also good. Be sure to avoid Section 108, which is tucked behind Sections 107 and 109 and doesn’t contain any seats close to the field. Before buying tickets in Section 134 deep in the right-field corner, consider that a seat in Section 152 of the Bullpen Boxes is 33 percent cheaper while providing a superior view of the field. A fairly significant obstruction affects Section 105 in left field, where you’ll want to stay in Row 28 or lower to avoid losing much of center field from view because of the Crawford Boxes that jut out in home run territory.

Named after Crawford Street, which runs along the ballpark’s left-field perimeter, these home run territory seats are close to the action to begin with, because the left-field foul pole is just 315 feet from the plate. The twenty-five hundred seats in this price range are elevated. And they project right out into left field. The view of deep center isn’t very good because fans have to look over their left shoulders to see plays there. And fans can’t see plays up against the left-field wall or the left-field scoreboard. They’re good seats for home run territory—don’t get us wrong—but they may be a bit over-hyped. The worst of the lot is Section 104 where the foul pole blocks much of the view.

The bad news is that the so-called boxes in right field are no better than the “boxes” in left. In fact, they’re not as good. These seats are very far from the plate and they’re lower to the field, which makes it more difficult to see balls on the infield. Making matters worse, the Mezzanine deck casts a significant overhang above a large portion of these sections. Unless your seat is in Row 10 or lower don’t plan on seeing the tops of any fly balls. So take your pick, would you rather contend with the overhang that afflicts these first-level right-field seats, or the underhang that hampers the left-field Crawford Boxes? We prefer sitting in the Crawford Boxes.

Sections 150 and 151 are tucked way behind the foul pole and are the worst in this price range. Sections 155 and 156 provide a nice look into the Astros bullpen. But for the most part, we take a pass on these seats that angle fans more toward the left-field line rather than toward home plate. One other thing to keep in mind: because of the space the home bullpen takes up, the first row of Section 155 is numbered Row 8. Yet the first row of Section 156—parallel to Section 155’s Row 8—is numbered Row 1. Go figure. In any case, it’s better to sit in Rows 1–8 of Sections 153 or 154 where Row 1 really is the first row and Row 8 really is the eighth row. At least then you’ll be able to find your seat if you misplace your ticket stub.