Minute Maid Park
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The ballpark was Houston's first retractable-roofed stadium, protecting fans and athletes from Houston's notoriously humid weather like its predecessor, the Astrodome, but allowing fans to also enjoy outdoor baseball, something they couldn't enjoy in the Astrodome. It also features a grass field, compared to the Astrodome's astroturf which was generally disliked by professional baseball players. Its largest entrance 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).
Previous names
The ballpark was first christened as Enron Field on April 9, 1999, with naming rights sold to the Houston energy corporation 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 business 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. 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.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 sometimes heard today.
Features
The stadium 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 tall. Conversely, it is quite difficult to hit a ball out in center field, though fielding is a challenge there as well, due to the 30-degree steep up-sloped 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 and Tiger Stadium among others. The difference is that the Crosley Field "terrace" 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 that have had to patrol those areas.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.
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.
Major events
- On July 13, 2004, Minute Maid Park hosted the 2004 MLB All-Star Game
- 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 game lasted eighteen innings and took 5 hours and 50 minutes to play. Ortiz, Jose De Jesus (October 10, 2005) ["A win like no other"] The Houston Chronicle
- On October 25, 2005, Minute Maid Park hosted the first World Series game ever played in Texas. Ortiz, Jose De Jesus (October 26, 2005) ["Astros lose heartbreaker at bitter end"] The Houston Chronicle
Ballpark firsts
| Statistic | Person(s) | Date |
| First Ceremonial First Pitch | Ken 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 |
| First Triple | Tim Bogar | April 8, 2000 |
| 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 09, 2000 |
| First Winning Pitcher | Randy Wolf (Philadelphia Phillies) | April 7, 2000 |
| First Astros Winning Pitcher | Mike Maddux | April 8, 2000 |
| First Save | Wayne Gomes (Philadelphia Phillies) | April 7, 2000 |
| First Astros Save | Billy Wagner | April 8, 2000 |
| First Shutout | Minnesota Twins 2-0 | June 7, 2000 |
| First Astros Shutout | 3-0 over the Chicago Cubs | July 22, 2001 |
| First No-Hitter | --- | --- |
References
- [Minute Maid Park: Facts and Figures]. Accessed May 24, 2006.
- [Ballpark Digest Visit to Minute Maid Park]
Notes
| Preceded by: Astrodome 1965–1999 | Home of the Houston Astros 2000–present | Followed by: Current |
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