Houston Astros (National League)
8/10
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| A classic redbrick facade greets the Sunday afternoon crowd. |
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| The humidity in Houston forced the game to be played under a closed roof, but there was still a good view of downtown through the giant windows in left field. |
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| Looking back on the seating bowl from the right field corner, you can see video board on the wall, for the folks in the outfield. Nice touch. |
This was the first of three new MLB parks on my June 2015 loop of 5 states. I had my first game in nearby Sugar Land nixed the day before, as I had travel issues and the game was cancelled anyway due to the massive downpour in the Houston area making the field unplayable. Apparently that same day at Minute Maid, drains in the outfield concourse were overflowing to the point they were shooting in the air. Anyway, Sunday was a much nicer day, hot with some humidity, causing the game to be played under a closed roof. This is one of three parks, the other two being Miami and Phoenix, in southern states, where most games in the middle of the season are played under a closed roof, because of uncomfortably hot weather outside. This park is right downtown, with the Arena, Football Stadium and Soccer Stadium all within about a mile of one another. The soccer stadium can be seen out the concourse windows, on the other side of I-69.
At any rate, that afternoon saw a red hot Houston Astros team, that I would see again later that summer in Oakland take on a mediocre version of the Chicago White Sox. The South Siders ended up taking it 6-0, after a run for Houston was called back upon video review. The ballpark is a relatively nice retro-modern park, with it's neat features being a small hill in centre field, with one of the three flagpoles in fair territory and a small train that runs above the left field concourse when the Astros hit a homerun. The food was average, although a mix up at a concession ended up with me having a Michelob Ultra, which is easily, without a shadow of a doubt, the worst beer I've ever had. The main plus here I found was the atmosphere. Texans are derided for being part-time baseball fans, who pack it in once football starts. While football may be king in the Lone Star State, baseball fans are very much into it here, which was surprising, given the lopsided game.
Overall, the atmosphere here is a plus, I'd recommend it and will likely end up here again in the future.
Update 2020: Well, the Astros won their first World Series only two seasons after my visit, but it's now under a bit of a cloud. I'm planing to go to Texas hopefuly next year, so this could totally end up on the list.
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