Minute Maid Park
(formerly The Ballpark at Union Station
, Enron Field
, and Astros Field
) is a ballpark in Houston, Texas, United States that opened in 2000 to house the Houston Astros.
The ballpark was Houston's first retractable-roofed stadium, protecting fans and athletes from Houston's notoriously humid weather as its predecessor, the Astrodome, did, but allowing fans to also enjoy outdoor baseball; something they couldn't do in the Astrodome. The ballpark also features a grass field, compared to the Astrodome's artificial AstroTurf, which was generally disliked by professional baseball players. The largest entrance to the park is inside what was once Houston's Union Station, and the left-field side of the stadium features a train as homage to the site's history. The train moves along a track on top of the length of the exterior wall beyond left field whenever an Astros player hits a home run, or when the Astros win a game. The engine's tender, traditionally used to carry coal, is filled with giant oranges in tribute to Minute Maid's most famous product, orange juice.
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MINUTE MAID PARK TICKETS
EVENT | DATE | AVAILABILITY |
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Houston Astros vs. Cleveland Guardians Tickets 4/30 | Apr 30, 2024 Tue, 7:10 PM | | Houston Astros vs. Cleveland Guardians Tickets 5/1 | May 01, 2024 Wed, 7:10 PM | | Houston Astros vs. Cleveland Guardians Tickets 5/2 | May 02, 2024 Thu, 7:10 PM | | Houston Astros vs. Seattle Mariners Tickets 5/3 | May 03, 2024 Fri, 7:10 PM | | Houston Astros vs. Seattle Mariners Tickets 5/4 | May 04, 2024 Sat, 6:15 PM | |
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Previous names
The ballpark was first christened as
Enron Field on
April 9,
1999, with
naming rights sold to the Houston energy and financial trading company in a 30 year, $100 million deal. Astros management faced a public relations nightmare when the energy corporation went bankrupt in the midst of
one of the biggest corporate scandals in American history in 2001, and they bought back the remainder of Enron's thirty years of naming rights for $2.1 million, rechristening the ballpark as Astros Field on
February 7,
2002. The field was unofficially known as "The Field Formerly Known As Enron" by fans and critics alike, in wake of the Enron scandal. On
June 5,
2002, Houston-based
Minute Maid, the fruit-juice subsidiary of
Coca-Cola, acquired the naming rights to the stadium for 28 years at a price exceeding $100 million.
Based on its downtown location next to the old Union Station buildings, one of the suggested names (and nicknames) is the Ballpark at Union Station, or the BUS. During its days as Enron Field, it was also dubbed "Ten-Run" or "Home Run" Field due to its cozy left-field dimensions. In keeping with this theme while paying homage to its current sponsor, the
nickname "The Juice Box" is colloquially used today.
Features
In dramatic contrast to the
Astrodome, the most pitching-oriented stadium in Major League Baseball for most of its existence, Minute Maid Park is known for being particularly hitter-friendly down the lines, especially in left field where it is only 315 ft (96 m) to the
Crawford Boxes, though the wall there is 19 feet (5.8 m) tall. In a challenge to home run hitters,
Drayton McLane's office windows, located in the old Union Station and directly above the Crawford Boxes, are made of glass and marked as 442 ft (135 m) from home plate.
In contrast to the ease of hitting a home run to the Crawford Boxes, it is quite difficult to hit a ball out in center field. Fielding is a challenge there as well, due to the wide, 30-degree incline grade, known as
Tal's Hill
, for team president
Tal Smith, an element taken from
Crosley Field and other historic ballparks (in a bit of gallows humor, the hill is also known as the "
Grassy Knoll"), and the flagpole in play, an element taken from
Yankee Stadium (before its remodeling in the mid-'70s) and
Tiger Stadium among others. Milwaukee Brewers player Richie Sexson once hit a ball off the flagpole and there is still a mark there. The difference is that the Crosley Field "terrace", which was half as steep at 15-degrees, was necessitated by the difference in elevation between field level and street level, while Tal's Hill is purely decorative. Both structures have been held in equal disdain by the respective outfielders who have had to patrol those areas. This hill has caused some of the most replayed catches in recent baseball history, and plenty of controversy as well.
Lance Berkman said, "If the ball rolls onto the hill, it's not steep enough to roll back, so you have to go get it. Then there's the chance of running into the flagpole that's on it and getting hurt.” Fans started an online petition to remove the hill and flagpole, though the petition has since been discontinued.
A concourse above Tal's Hill features the "
Conoco Home Run Porch" in left-center field that is actually over the field of play, and features a classic gasoline pump that displays the total number of Astros home runs hit since the park opened.
2004
In 2004, the Astros launched
Wi-Fi throughout the ballpark, allowing fans to use the Internet while attending a game for a fee. In addition, the ballpark is the first major sports facility to have a
closed captioning board for the hearing impaired.
The visiting team's bullpen is housed entirely in the exterior left field wall, next to the Crawford Boxes, making it one of the few bullpens in Major League ballparks to be completely indoors. Although windows in the outfield fence offer a view into and from the bullpen, its entrance is actually built into the side of the Crawford Boxes.
2006
In 2006, the
Chick-fil-A cows were unveiled on the foul poles, saying EAT MOR FOWL, and the cows have Astros caps on. Anytime an Astros player hits the pole, the fans in attendance get a free chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-A.
Hunter Pence is the first and second Astro to hit the left field "Fowl Pole" when he did it twice in the 2007 season.
Ty Wigginton became the third Astro to hit the left field pole on
September 16 2007.
The stadium can also be fully
air-conditioned when required.
Larry's Big Bamboo
is a bar based on the popular
Big Bamboo Lounge in Kissimmee, Florida near the Astros spring training facility. The simple bar was well known to Astros players, staff and fans who frequented the Florida bar after games.
Gallery
Major events
- On July 13, 2004, Minute Maid Park hosted the 2004 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, which the American League won 9-4.
- On October 9, 2005, Minute Maid Park hosted the longest postseason game in Major League Baseball history, both in terms of time and number of innings. The Astros defeated the Atlanta Braves 7-6 in a game lasting eighteen innings, which took 5 hours and 50 minutes to play. [1]
- On October 25, 2005, Minute Maid Park hosted the first World Series game ever played in Texas, and the longest World Series game ever played, which the Astros lost to the eventual World Series champion Chicago White Sox 7-5 in 14 innings; this game lasted 5 hours and 41 minutes. [2] Coincidentally, U.S. Cellular Field, the home stadium of the White Sox, hosted the All-Star Game the year before Minute Maid Park did.
- On September 30, 2007, on Craig Biggio's last game of his career, Minute Maid Park hit the highest attendance in its 8 year history by selling 43,823 tickets, 107% of its total.
Ballpark firsts
Statistic
| Person(s)
| Date
|
First Ceremonial First Pitch
| Kenneth Lay
| April 7, 2000
|
First Hit
| Doug Glanville (Philadelphia Phillies), single to right
| April 7, 2000
|
First Astros Hit
| Craig Biggio, single to center
| April 7, 2000
|
First Double
| Rico Brogna (Philadelphia Phillies)
| April 7, 2000
|
First Astros Double
| Craig Biggio
| April 8, 2000
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First Triple
| Tim Bogar
| April 8, 2000
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First Home Run
| Scott Rolen (Philadelphia Phillies)
| April 7, 2000
|
First Astros Home Run
| Richard Hidalgo
| April 7, 2000
|
First Grand Slam
| Thomas Howard (St. Louis Cardinals)
| April 11, 2000
|
First Astros Grand Slam
| Ken Caminiti
| May 9, 2000
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First Cycle
| Luis Gonzalez (Arizona Diamondbacks)
| July 5, 2000
|
First Astros Cycle
| Jeff Bagwell
| July 18, 2001
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First Winning Pitcher
| Randy Wolf (Philadelphia Phillies)
| April 7, 2000
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First Astros Winning Pitcher
| Mike Maddux
| April 8, 2000
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First Save
| Wayne Gomes (Philadelphia Phillies)
| April 7, 2000
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First Astros Save
| Billy Wagner
| April 8, 2000
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First Shutout
| Minnesota Twins 2-0
| June 7, 2000
|
First Astros Shutout
| 3-0 over the Chicago Cubs
| July 22, 2001
|
First postseason game
| 7 - 4 loss to the Atlanta Braves
| October 9, 2001
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Events other than baseball
While primarily a baseball venue, Minute Maid Park can adequately host sports such as
American football,
soccer, and both codes of
rugby.
Its debut as a soccer venue happened during the
2006 edition of the CONCACAF Champions Cup. The stadium hosted the first leg of the quarterfinal between
Portmore United of
Jamaica (the "home" team) and
Club América of
Mexico. Portmore United effectively sold the rights to their home leg (Portmore's usual home stadium is the 2,000 seat
Ferdi Neita Sports Complex in
Portmore, Jamaica) to an American sports marketing company who placed the tie in Houston hoping to attract
Mexican-Americans to the match. 12,988 (a "home" record for Portmore) saw America run out 2-1 winners with goals from
Christian Gimenez, and
Aaron Padilla after
Remeel Wolfe had given the
CFU side a shock lead.
The stadium also is the host of the Houston College Classic
college baseball, part of the winter fan festival held in February. The tournament features three teams from Texas and three top college teams from other conferences in three matches played on the field.
On November 16, 2008, the park will serve as a concert venue when
Madonna will perform as part of her 2008
Sticky & Sweet Tour, marking her first Houston appearance in 18 years.
References
- Ortiz, Jose De Jesus (October 10, 2005) "A win like no other" ''The Houston Chronicle''
- Ortiz, Jose De Jesus (October 26, 2005) "Astros lose heartbreaker at bitter end" ''The Houston Chronicle''