Minute Maid Park

St. Louis Cardinals @ Houston Astros
August 30, 2007

Astros 2, Cardinals 1

W: Matt Albers
L: Joel Pineiro
S: Brad Lidge
HR: Lance Berkman (HOU)
Attendance: 37,520
Time of Game: 2 hours, 30 minutes

Stadium Facts

Location: Houston, TX
First Game: April 7, 2000
Capacity: 40,950
Type: Retractable roof
Surface: Grass

At long last, my 30 ballpark tour came to an end in Houston. Following a few days in the Dallas area, I drove down to Houston for a Thursday afternoon game between the Astros and Cardinals. As has been the case on several of these long baseball trips, I was a bit worn down by the end of this one. So I didn't spend a lot of time exploring Houston. Not that it would have been terribly pleasant to do so anyway in the late August heat. I drove straight to Minute Maid Park, which is located right in the heart of downtown Houston.

Minute Maid Park is another one of the modern retractable roof stadiums. From the exterior, it looks much like Chase Field in Arizona. In other words, it doesn't really look like a baseball stadium. But, again just like Arizona, the choice to build a retractable roof stadium in Houston made a lot sense. Unfortunately, the roof was closed the entire time I was in the stadium, so I didn't get a sense what the park would feel like with the roof open. I've said it before, but I'll say it one more time: I do not like indoor baseball. When the roof is closed at Minute Maid Park, it feels exactly like a closed dome stadium. There are large glass windows in left field allowing some of the natural sunlight to seep in, but other than that, you aren't going to be fooled into thinking you are outside when the roof is closed.

Originally called Enron Field, they quickly changed the ballpark sponsorship and name following the energy company's demise. Minute Maid Park replaced another stadium that was once considered a marvel of modern architecture some 35 years earlier, the Astrodome. While Minute Maid Park did not take on many of the characteristics of the Astrodome, it does have a few quirks that are reminiscent of other historic parks, namely an inclined hill in straight away center field that outfielders must scale as they run back for balls hit near the wall. On that same hill is an in-play flag pole, much like the one they had at old Tiger Stadium.

Another historic aspect of the stadium is it's connection to the train industry. The main entrance of the stadium was once part of Houston's old Union Station. In a tribute to that history, the stadium features a large wall in left field with a replica train that runs along the top of the wall whenever an Astros player hits a home run.

This is one of the more unique modern stadiums in terms of the design and seating arrangement. It is not an especially large park with a capacity just over 40,000. There are very few seats in left to left-center field, just the Crawford Boxes in left field. These seats are situated above a fairly tall wall in left, but are frequent recipients of home run balls due to the short distance to the wall. There are a lot of great standing room vantage points in left field too. Large arches in the wall allow people to see the field from the outfield concourse. There are two levels of seating in right field, and the standard three levels around the rest of the park. Although I didn't get to check out the view from there, the club level seats seem to be especially close to the field in this stadium. Overall, it doesn't appear that there are many bad seats in this park. I sat out in the lower level in right field.

The interesting design of the seating area also creates a very unique playing surface. Besides the hill and flag pole in center field, there are a lot of other interesting aspects of the outfield. In many locations in left field, there are literally lines on the wall to indicate what is a home run and what is in play. Moving out towards center from the Crawford Boxes, the wall dimensions shoot out quit a bit and there are several corners where balls can take funny bounces. Minute Maid Park is generally considered a good hitters park, but that is mostly because of the short porch in left. The rest of the field is relatively pitcher friendly. It is 436 feet from the plate to the wall in dead center, which is about as deep of a distance as you will find in all of baseball. Oh, and the playing surface is real grass, as opposed to the Astrodome which introduced AstroTurf to the world.

I have one small logistical gripe from this particular game that I feel compelled to share. As I always do, I bought a program before the game, but was shocked to find out it was $10 (at least twice the normal price). Later I discovered I was given an Astros yearbook rather than a program. So when I went back to try to make an exchange, I was informed that they didn't have any programs left. They had sold out of them a day or two earlier on Craig Biggio Day when they commemorated his 3,000 hit. I guess they don't have many printing presses on call in Houston. Anyway, the yearbook didn't have a scorecard, so I had to buy one of them as well. It had to have been the first stand-alone scorecard I had ever seen that didn't include a place to write in the pitchers and their stats, so I had to do that separately on the roster sheet, as you can see in my photos below. So that situation was a little odd, but back to more important things...

This game featured two NL Central rivals who had been the pride of the division in recent years, each having won a pennant over the previous two seasons. However, both came into this one below .500. In fact, the Astros had just fired their manager, Phil Garner, earlier that week. That didn't keep the fans away though. Over 37,000 were present for this Thursday afternoon rubber match of the three game series. The pitching matchup featured Matt Albers for the Astros and Joel Pineiro for the Cardinals.

Both starters pitched quite well in this one. The Astros got on the board first in the bottom of the second inning. Following a Mike Lamb walk, Luke Scott doubled down the left field line to knock in Lamb, but was thrown out at third trying to stretch it into a triple. The lead didn't last long though. In the top of the third, the eighth place hitter, Pineiro, led off with a single and advanced to third on a double by Brendan Ryan. Pineiro scored on a David Eckstein ground out. So Tony LaRussa's unusual batting order with the pitcher hitting 8th paid off this time.

Lance Berkman gave the Astros the lead in the fourth inning when he led off with a long home run to right field to give the Astros a 2-1 lead. Surprisingly, that score held up the rest of the game. After that, neither team had multiple hits in an inning until the 8th. The Cards got a couple singles off reliever Chad Qualls, but could not score. Craig Biggio had a pinch hit infield single in the bottom of the 8th for the Astros, but he was stranded as well. Then Brad Lidge pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to record the save and preserve an Astros win.

2007 was a very disappointing season for both of these teams. With the loss, the defending World Series champion Cardinals fell two games below .500, but remarkably they were only three games out of first place. They did not pick up the pace in September though and finished a distant third. The Astros finished even further behind the leaders and wound up in fourth place.

Following my brief stay in Houston, I flew to Chicago the next morning and spent the weekend in South Bend for the Notre Dame football season opener. So after thousands upon thousands of miles traveled by car, plane, train and foot, I had finally completed my six year, 30 MLB ballpark tour. It was a very rewarding experience and certainly something I would recommend to any big baseball fan. I have often been asked if I would consider doing something like this for other sports and the answer is no. For one thing, I don't love any other sport like I do baseball. But besides that, no sport features venues with such unique characteristics. Only in baseball is each playing field completely different. And similarly, the ballpark surrounding these fields are so much more interesting than those used for football, basketball or hockey.

So that pretty much wraps it up. But not really! I will continue to use this blog to add my visits to new stadiums that have opened since I completed my tour in 2007. Already by the time I finished, one stadium I had visited had been replaced (St. Louis) and another was scheduled to open the following year (Washington). In order to continue to be able to say I've been to every MLB stadium, I have been visiting each of these new parks as they have opened. So I actually have four more stadium reviews to write (Washington, St. Louis and both New York parks), plus I'll be adding Minnesota to that list later this week. So more to come soon!

Photo Album

From Houston

From Houston

From Houston

From Houston

From Houston

From Houston

From Houston

Next stadium: Nationals Park, Washington

Rangers Ballpark in Arlington

Chicago White Sox @ Texas Rangers
August 28, 2007

Rangers 4, White Sox 3

W: Wes Littleton
L: Mike MacDougal
S: Joaquin Benoit
HR: Paul Konerko (CHW), Jim Thome (CHW), Ian Kinsler (TEX), Gerald Laird (TEX)
Attendance: 20,261
Time of Game: 2 hours, 54 minutes

Stadium Facts

Location: Arlington, TX
First Game: April 11, 1994
Capacity: 49,115
Type: Open
Surface: Grass

My first trip to the state of Texas was during the last week of August 2007. That probably isn't the best time of the year to visit Texas, but nonetheless, I was ready to see just how hot it could get. Fortunately, it "only" reached the mid-90's in the couple days I spent in the Dallas area. I flew from Denver to Houston on a Monday and rented a car which I drove up to Dallas that afternoon. I stayed at a hotel in Arlington and was able to walk to Rangers Ballpark in Arlington for a Tuesday night ballgame. I wound up spending almost all of my time in Arlington, so I really didn't see much of Dallas on this trip.

Arlington is about 20 miles west of Dallas. This makes the Rangers one of very few MLB teams that calls the suburbs home. The park is right down the street from the brand new Cowboys Stadium. At the time I was there, the football stadium was still in the early stages of construction. However, I did get a nice view of the progress as I walked right by it on my way to the ballpark. I'm curious to see what that area looks like these days with both stadiums up and running. In 2007, there wasn't a lot around there other than parking lots, although the Six Flags theme park is nearby as well. Originally named The Ballpark in Arlington when it opened in 1994, the park was later renamed to Ameriquest Field in Arlington, before switching to the current name in the year I visited.

No modern stadium has incorporated more retro ballpark themes than this one. From the red brick exterior, to the two level/porched right field seating, this stadium screams yesteryear. In true local fashion, everything really is bigger in Texas. An upper deck surrounds almost the entire stadium, except in center field where a four story office building creates a completely enclosed stadium. The lower level concourse has to be as large and wide as any concourse in baseball. The only problem is that it is located below the seating area, so you can't see the field from the concourse. This is definitely one of the most unique stadiums built in the last 20 years.

Despite these unique features, there are some things I don't like about the ballpark that keep me from naming Rangers Ballpark in Arlington among the best in baseball. First, I don't like the lack of openness. I think it is an especially odd design considering the extreme heat of Texas summers. Another head-scratcher is the location of the main scoreboard above the upper deck in right field. From field level seats, you almost have to strain your neck to peer up to it. Not to mention nobody in any of the numerous right field seats can see it. Finally, I appreciate the nod to old-fashioned ballparks with the right field seating design, however having poles that create obstructed views just doesn't make sense in a new stadium.

Much like my previous stop in Coors Field, Rangers Ballpark is another one that holds almost 50,000 fans. The three main seating levels stretch around foul territory, all the way out to left-center field. There are bleacher seats in left and right-center field surrounding a grassy backdrop in dead center. There is very little overlap between the main seating levels, so the upper deck is removed quite a bit from the playing field, however there are a lot of great seats in the lower level. For this game, I sat in the first row in right field.

Rangers Ballpark has a reputation as a great hitters park. This is primarily because the ball carries so well in the warm air. The outfield wall dimensions are very reasonable. In fact, the power alleys are quite deep and center field is very spacious. Perhaps the stadium's reputation is also built upon years of terrible Rangers pitching staffs. There is no reason a good pitcher couldn't be successful here.

I scheduled this trip around another White Sox visit. Unfortunately, I picked a bad summer to follow the Sox across the country. They stumbled into this game against an equally pathetic Rangers team. So it wound up being a battle of last place teams looking ahead to 2008. Gavin Floyd got the start for the Sox while Kason Gabbard took the hill for the Rangers. Both pitched decent games, but it wound up being the bullpens that decided this one.

The Sox struck first in the top of the first. Paul Konerko his a home run to deep right center to give the Sox a two run lead. In the third inning, Jim Thome hit a 422 foot bomb into the Rangers bullpen to increase the lead to 3-0. It was the third Thome home run I saw in person in the span of 10 days. It was also the 494th home run of his career. Ian Kinsler hit a solo home run for the Rangers in the bottom of the third to make it 3-1. The fourth home run of the game came the next inning as Gerald Laird hit a two run shot to tie the game. Home runs accounted for all six of the runs allowed by the starting pitchers.

The key moment of the game came in the top of the 8th with the game still tied at three. A single, walk and hit-by-pitch loaded the bases for the Sox with nobody out. Rangers reliever Wes Littleton managed to escape the jam without allowing a run to score. He induced a fielder's choice and a double play to get out of the inning. After blowing a golden opportunity in the top half, the Sox fell behind in the bottom half. Following a Michael Young single and a wild pitch by Mike MacDougal, Marlon Byrd knocked Young in with a single up the middle. Joaquin Benoit came in for the Rangers in the 9th and retired the Sox in order to secure a 4-3 victory for the Rangers.

Both teams were in last place at this point. The Rangers wound up finishing the season in last, while the Sox moved up a spot. However, the Rangers won 75 games in 2007 compared to just 72 for the White Sox. I wound up going back to the park for the second game in this series the following night. Once again, the Rangers won by a run, 5-4 in 11 innings. That game was even more painful to watch as a Sox fan since the hated Sammy Sosa wound up recording the game tying and game winning hits. Fortunately, I left town before the Rangers finished off the sweep on Thursday. After a few days in the Dallas area, I took off for Houston on Thursday for the 30th and final stop of my tour.

I'm actually making a return trip to Rangers Ballpark in Arlington in just a couple weeks. I will be in Texas for a wedding and coincidentally the Sox are playing in Arlington that same weekend. Even though the wedding is down in San Antonio, I'm planning on driving up there for the Sunday night game. Hopefully the Sox will have better luck this time around.

Photo Album

From Texas

From Texas

From Texas

From Texas

From Texas

From Texas

Next stadium: Minute Maid Park, Houston

Coors Field

Washington Nationals @ Colorado Rockies
August 26, 2007

Rockies 10, Nationals 5

W: Elmer Dessens
L: Joel Hanrahan
HR: Ryan Zimmerman (WAS), Ryan Church (WAS), Matt Holliday (COL)
Attendance: 24,086
Time of Game: 2 hours, 52 minutes

Stadium Facts

Location: Denver, CO
First Game: April 26, 1995
Capacity: 50,449
Type: Open
Surface: Grass

Just a week after my cross country trip to Seattle, I set out on the final trip of my six year tour. This one took me out West again, but not quite to the coast. I flew from DC to Denver (via Houston) and then flew back to Texas after the game in the Mile High City. This was not my first time in Denver. I was there on a family vacation in 1993 and actually saw a Rockies game during their inaugural season. At that time, they were playing at Mile High Stadium, better known as the former home of the Denver Broncos. So this was my first visit to Coors Field. I was able to meet up with a friend in Denver and we took in a Sunday afternoon game between the Rockies and the Nationals.

After two record setting attendance seasons at Mile High Stadium, the Rockies moved into their new home of Coors Field in 1995. This baseball only facility in the Lower Downtown Denver was built to hold over 50,000 fans, partially due to the smashing success of their first couple years at Mile High. The stadium is in a very nice location with plenty of places to hang out before and after games. There didn't appear to be a lot going on in the city on this late August Sunday afternoon, but I imagine it is a happening place for Friday/Saturday night games.

Coors Field came along just a few years after Camden Yards began the trend of retro looking ballparks, so it definitely has a retro feel to it with the red brick exterior as well as many unique interior features. Off the top of my head, I can't think of another stadium with this high of a seating capacity that has such an open design. The large upper deck swings all the way around the right field foul pole out to center field, however left field has just the bleacher seats at field level. There is a seating area well beyond center field, known as the Rockpile, where the tickets are very affordable. The foul territory seating arrangement is very typical with three seating levels, including a pretty decent sized middle deck.

There is a purple row of seats circling the entire upper deck marking the exact one mile above sea level point. This row is near the top of the stadium, so most of the seats are not quite a mile high, although close enough in my book. Fortunately, our seats were well below those. We were just a few rows from the field down the third base line.

The thin air of Colorado has been a hotly debated topic since the Rockies joined the league in 1993. There is no doubt that balls carry better here than anywhere else in baseball. However, the "Coors effect" has been less prevalent in recent years. Don't get me wrong though: this is a tremendous hitters park. Balls fly over the fences routinely despite the deepest outfield fence dimensions in all of baseball. While the spacious outfield may take away a few home runs, it also leaves a whole lot of ground to cover for outfielders, so plenty of balls fall in for hits that would be outs in other parks. Singles turn into doubles and doubles into triples too. The success of Rockies pitchers in recent years is a real testament to their abilities.

This was the first time I had ever seen the Nationals play on the road. As usual, they were buried in the standings for this late August game. Meanwhile, the Rockies were a few games over .500, but seemingly too far out to be a serious pennant contender. That changed in a big way, but I'll get to that later. Elmer Dessens was the starting pitcher for the Rockies in this game. Joel Hanrahan got the nod for the Nationals.

On this sunny and hot afternoon, Coors Field played very much like the hitters paradise that it is. Ryan Zimmerman launched a home run to left in the first inning to give the Nats an early lead. The Rockies tied the game at one in the bottom half of the first on a RBI single by Todd Helton. Hanrahan allowed two more runs in the second in very ugly fashion. He walked the bases loaded with two outs before allowing a one run single to Troy Tulowitzki and a bases loaded walk to Matt Holliday. Four walks in the inning led to the Rockies 3-1 lead.

The third inning was even worse for Hanrahan and the Nats. After retiring the first two Rockies hitters, the next eight batters reached base safely. Here is the sequence of events: single, wild pitch, double, walk, double, single, home run, pitching change, single, double. The big blow was the two run home run by Holliday. Six runs and seven hits later, the Rockies had a 9-1 lead.

Surprisingly, neither team scored again until the seventh inning. Ryan Church hit a two run home run for the Nats off reliever Ramon Ortiz. A few more meaningless runs were tacked on after that. When it was all said and done, the Rockies came away with a 10-5 victory. Elmer Dessens picked up the win pitching six solid innings, allowing just the one first inning run. Meanwhile, Hanrahan took the loss and was charged with nine runs in 2 2/3 innings.

The Nats fell to 58-73 on their way to a distant fourth place finish. It was their most recent season in which they did not finish in last. The Rockies improved to 67-63, but were still in third place, six and a half games back with barely a month left in the season. Despite sweeping the Nats, they proceeded to play pretty mediocre ball until the middle of September. Then they put on one of the greatest finishing stretches in MLB history. They won 14 of their last 15 games, including a victory in a tie-breaking 163rd game against the Padres to claim the wild card spot. The hot streak continued into the playoffs where they swept the Phillies and Diamondbacks on their way to claiming the 2007 National League pennant, the first in franchise history. They got swept by the Red Sox in the World Series, but it was still a remarkable season for this young franchise.

After this game in the pseudo heat of Colorado, I took off for the REAL heat of Texas. This would be the last leg of my long journey.

Photo Album

From Colorado

From Colorado

From Colorado

From Colorado

From Colorado

From Colorado

From Colorado

Next stadium: Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington, TX