A Red Sox fan talks about Minute Maid Field
The Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros will lock longhorns in the ALCS. The starting point for this meeting is Minute Maid Park – formerly named Enron Field. But I go further back into Houston and their ballparks. To the very beginning of what became the Astros.
How far back is to the early 1960s and Colt Field, the home of Houston Colt 45’s expansion team. The team that became one name change later the Astros. I enjoy old ballparks and would suggest the excellent book series “Green Cathedrals.”
I looked up Colt Park on a visit to Houston decades ago, and it had become a junkyard. I took a tour accompanied by a security guard. Remnants still existed, and my escort was steeped in the park’s history. A park noted for rattlesnakes, oppressive heat, and mosquitoes the size of sparrows. The scoreboard still stood like the carcasses of old drive-in screens that litter America’s landscape of a bygone era.
Then there was the Astrodome. The Dome was undoubtedly unique and experimental. If you go to Egypt and visit Giza, you see the great pyramid; you can see the failures if you tour elsewhere. Pyramid building was experimental, culminating in the great pyramids we are familiar with today. It took failure to get the process correct.
The Dome may not have been a failure, but it was, from my view, a monstrosity comparable to Government Plaza in Boston. A giant dirigible hanger in which you played baseball. The idea is to correct mistakes, and Houston certainly did that with Minute Maid Park. To me, one of the best parks in baseball. My personal top three are Wrigley, AT&T, and Minute Maid.
As a side note, for many years, we had a condo in Galveston on Seawall Boulevard. At one point, we had considered retiring to Texas. So I have spent a significant amount of time in the area. One lesson is always fly into Hobby Airport. A second lesson is to be prepared for traffic that makes I-95 appear sane. The only redeeming feature of Houston traffic is it is not Dallas-Fort Worth traffic.
Minute Maid has exceptional seating, a retractable roof, and unique designs incorporating local and baseball history. Once inside, look around and see just how Fenway Park has an influence. Gone is Tal’s Hill that provided a goat-like obstacle in center field. The hill is gone, the center field area is shorter, and the flag pole is no longer in action—Memories of the old Fenway flag pole.
Inside I have found staff Midwest polite similar to Kansas City and St. Louis. If you drive to the park, as I have in the past, they have formulated a plan that gets you right back on the adjacent highway system. And Blue Bell Ice Cream is available along with a top-of-the-line food concession to make the indoor experience as surprising as the exit.
The ballpark has a reputation for being a hitter-friendly park, but that is open to dispute. The Crawford – not in honor of Carl Crawford – are splendid left-field seats and Fenway-like in distance. The foul territory is minimal. The park has a cozy feel even when they don’t “pop the top.” Unlike Toronto and Seattle. Just a personal opinion.
My last visit to the park was similar to Camden Yards or Tropicana Field – many Red Sox fans decorating the park, chanting, and being – unlike Yankee Stadium – quite welcomed. This is a great place to see a ballgame, and Boston has been down this trail before, as Astro fans are well aware.