Minute Maid Park is a
retractable roof
A retractable roof is a roof system designed to roll back the roof of a structure so that the interior of the facility is open to the outdoors. Retractable roofs are sometimes referred to as operable roofs or retractable skylights. The term op ...
stadium
A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...
in
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, United States. It opened in 2000 as the
home ballpark of
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
's
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...
. It has a seating capacity of 41,168, which includes 5,197 club seats and 63 luxury suites.
The stadium has a natural grass playing field. It was built as a replacement for the
Astrodome
The NRG Astrodome, also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, is the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas. It was financed and assisted in development by Roy Hofheinz, mayor of Houston ...
, the first domed sports stadium ever built, which opened in 1965.
History
Union Station and pre-ballpark era
In 1909, during the time when
West End Park was Houston's premier residential area, the Houston Belt and Terminal Railway Company commissioned the design of a new
union station
A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...
for the city from
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
-based architects
Warren and Wetmore
Warren and Wetmore was an architecture firm in New York City which was a partnership between Whitney Warren (1864–1943) and Charles Delevan Wetmore (June 10, 1866 – May 8, 1941), that had one of the most extensive practices of its time and w ...
. The location called for the demolition of several structures of Houston prominence.
Horace Baldwin Rice
Horace Baldwin Rice was a businessman and a mayor of Houston, Texas. He was important in the development of the Houston Ship Channel.
Personal life
Horace Baldwin Rice was born March 29, 1861, in Houston, Texas, to Captain Frederick Allen Rice ...
's residence and
Adath Yeshurun Congregation's synagogue among other structures were removed.
![HoustonUnionStation1913](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/HoustonUnionStation1913.png)
With an original estimated cost of US$1 million,
Union Station
A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...
was constructed by the American Construction Company for an eventual total of five times that amount. Exterior walls were constructed of
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
,
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
, and
terracotta
Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous.
In applied art, craft, construction, a ...
, while the interior used an extensive amount of
marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...
. It was completed and opened on March 1, 1911. At the time, Houston, with 17 railways, was considered the main railroad hub of the
Southern United States
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
. This is also evident by the
Seal of Houston
The Seal of the City of Houston is the insignia seal of the city of Houston. The Houston City Council, on Monday February 17, 1840, passed a resolution calling for the designing of a city seal. The council adopted the seal, designed by state senato ...
, which prominently features a locomotive. Two more floors were added the following year.
The station served as the main inter-city passenger terminal for Houston for over seven decades thereafter. Passenger rail declined greatly after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, and the last regularly-scheduled train, the ''
Lone Star'', moved its service to Houston's current
Amtrak station
This is a list of train stations and Thruway Motorcoach stops used by Amtrak (the National Railroad Passenger Corporation in the United States). This list is in alphabetical order by station or stop name, which mostly corresponds to the city ...
on July 31, 1974. With this move, the building became only office space for the HB&T as well as the Missouri Pacific Railroad.
On November 10, 1977, the building was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
by the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
.
Planning and funding
In August 1995, Astros owner
Drayton McLane
Drayton McLane Jr. (born July 22, 1936) is an American billionaire businessman. He is chairman of the McLane Group, a holding company with a portfolio of various diverse enterprises. He was, until 1990, the CEO of the McLane Company, a grocery an ...
, then leasing the
Astrodome
The NRG Astrodome, also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, is the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas. It was financed and assisted in development by Roy Hofheinz, mayor of Houston ...
from
Harris County, commented to the ''
Houston Chronicle
The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...
'' that he was not in the market for a new ballpark. In reference to Pittsburgh's
Three Rivers Stadium
Three Rivers Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1970 to 2000. It was home to the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL).
Built ...
and Cincinnati's
Riverfront Stadium
Riverfront Stadium, also known as Cinergy Field from 1996 to 2002, was a multi-purpose stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States that was the home of the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball from 1970 through 2002 and the Cincinnati Bengals o ...
, McLane noted, "
..I remember when those were built in the 1970s and those were as good a stadiums as there were. They were the most modern stadiums in the world, and now they're saying they're all bad. That they can't make a go of it without a new stadium. It helps, but there are other things involved."
Later that year, Houston's
NFL franchise and joint-tenant of the Astrodome, the
Houston Oilers
The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 as ...
, announced they were leaving to
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...
in order to have a new stadium built for the team there. Citing a lack of adequate
luxury box
The luxury box (or skybox) and club seating constitute the most exclusive class of seating in arenas and stadiums, and generate much higher revenues than regular seating. Club ticketholders often receive exclusive access to an indoor part of th ...
es, in October, Astros vice-president Bob McClaren claimed that renovations to the Astrodome would help increase revenue. Drayton McLane pointed toward Astrodome renovations as necessary saying "It's 30 years old and not a lot of money has been spent to remodel it." According to the organization, the team was in danger of being sold to a
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
businessman who was expected to move the Astros to the
Washington D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
area because of poor revenue.
In June 1996,
University of Houston
The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...
alumnus,
BMC Software
BMC Software, Inc. is an American multinational information technology (IT) services and consulting, and Enterprise Software company based in Houston, Texas.
Gartner has positioned BMC as a Leader for the eighth consecutive year in Gartner' ...
and
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...
owner,
John J. Moores, who wanted to own the next NFL franchise in Houston, met with Texas State Senator
Mario Gallegos, Jr., and other local
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
leaders in regard to the future of a football-only Astrodome and a new baseball-only ballpark in
Downtown Houston
Downtown is the largest central business district in the city of Houston and the largest in the state of Texas, located near the geographic center of the metropolitan area at the confluence of Interstate 10 in Texas, Interstate 10, Interstate 45, ...
. Meanwhile, Harris County Judge
Robert Eckels
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
pieced together a plan to build a new ballpark next to the Astrodome in the
Astrodomain. The Astros echoed the Astrodomain location sentiment because they believed construction time would be shorter. Eckels, who convinced then Mayor
Bob Lanier
Robert Jerry Lanier Jr. (September 10, 1948 – May 10, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who was a center for the Detroit Pistons and the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Lanier was inducted int ...
of the lack of viability for the ballpark in a downtown location, was quoted as saying, "They keep telling me about these miracles in other cities, but it doesn't work in Houston
..If we are going to put this stadium some place, let's stick with a proven place." This plan was considered to be nearly finalized when the Astros and Harris County agreed to a US$250 million county-funded stadium whose overrun costs would be funded by the Astros.
![Minute Maid Park - Crawford Street at Texas Avenue](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Minute_Maid_Park_-_Crawford_Street_at_Texas_Avenue.JPG)
In August 1996, Houston's Union Station received a US$2 million grant from the
Texas Transportation Commission
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT ) is a government agency in the American state of Texas. Though the public face of the agency is generally associated with the construction and maintenance of the state's immense state highway system ...
for renovation in a separate project. Plans for the new ballpark's location drastically changed by September mostly in response to
Enron
Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was founded by Kenneth Lay in 1985 as a merger between Lay's Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both relatively small regional companies. ...
Chairman
Kenneth Lay
Kenneth Lee Lay (April 15, 1942 – July 5, 2006) was an American businessman who was the founder, chief executive officer and chairman of Enron. He was heavily involved in the eponymous accounting scandal that unraveled in 2001 into the large ...
's input and pledge to substantially contribute to funding if placed downtown. It was at this time where the Union Station location was proposed by Lay. Upon an agreement between all of the leadership entities, the idea of a retractable roof stadium was confirmed for the new ballpark. A November
referendum
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
was planned for Harris County residents to approve the deal.
The Harris County referendum that took place on November 5, 1996, to help fund the ballpark passed by a narrow margin of 51% to 49%. In response to the referendum, during the
75th Texas Legislature Texas State Senator
John Whitmire
John Harris Whitmire (born August 13, 1949) is an American Lawyer, attorney and politician who is the longest-serving current member of the Texas Legislature, Texas State Senate. Since 1983, he has represented Texas Senate, District 15, Distri ...
of Houston sponsored a bill supported by five of the six area Harris County senators that would create the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority. With companion House Bill 92 authored by Houston-born Representative
Kim Brimer
Kenneth Kimberlin Brimer Jr., known as Kim Brimer (born 5 March 1945),
is a Republican former member of the Texas State Senate from Fort Worth, Texas. He represented District 10. He was the only GOP member of the 31-member chamber to have been ...
voted upon and adopted by both chambers, the authorization for creation of a sports authority was approved. It was signed into law by Governor
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
on June 2, 1997. The Harris County-Houston Sports Authority would assist in financing for the new ballpark as well as allow for renovation of the Astrodome by allowing for special county-wide taxation of rental cars, tickets, parking, and hotel use.
In June 1997, with the ability to create a sports authority signed into law, concurrent votes of the Harris County Commissioners' Court and the
Houston City Council
The Houston City Council is a city council for the city of Houston in the U.S. state of Texas.
Currently, there are sixteen members, 11 elected from council districts and five at-large. The members of the Council are elected every four years, w ...
to establish the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority on effective September 1, 1997. Its chairman and 12 other directors were jointly appointed by the
Mayor of Houston
The following is a list of people who have served as mayor of the city of Houston in the U.S. state of Texas.
Until 2015, the term of the mayor was two years. Beginning with the tenure of Bob Lanier, the city charter imposed term limits on offi ...
and Harris County Judge. The institution remains in existence today.
The ballpark was named "Enron Field" after a $100 million, 30-year naming rights deal was made with Enron on April 7, 1999. After the
Enron scandal
The Enron scandal was an accounting scandal involving Enron Corporation, an American energy company based in Houston, Texas. Upon being publicized in October 2001, the company declared bankruptcy and its accounting firm, Arthur Andersen then on ...
of 2001, the Astros and the now-bankrupt Enron came to an agreement to end the deal and rename the stadium in February 2002.
Design and construction
Early stadium sketches from Kansas City-based HOK Sport (now
Populous) using the working title "The Ballpark at Union Station" were released to the public on October 11, 1996, where Astros President
Tal Smith
Talbot Merton Smith (born September 27, 1933) is an American former professional baseball executive who has served in high baseball operations positions—including general manager and club president—as well as the founder of a firm that advises ...
was open about his suggestions for the stadium including the location of the flagpole in center field and a traditional dirt path from the
pitcher's mound
A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers ...
to
home plate
A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers ...
. While the dirt path was not implemented, the flagpole idea became known as "
Tal's Hill
Minute Maid Park is a retractable roof stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. It opened in 2000 as the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Houston Astros. It has a seating capacity of 41,168, which includes 5,197 club seats and 63 lu ...
" and remained a signature feature of the ballpark until 2016.
The design of the new park integrated the former Union Station building's main concourse, reutilizing the space for a clubhouse, cafe, team store, and office space. A large model train was also included within the park's design as an homage to the station.
In late 1997, it was announced that local
Brown & Root
KBR, Inc. (formerly Kellogg Brown & Root) is a U.S. based company operating in fields of science, technology and engineering. KBR works in various markets including aerospace, defense, industrial and intelligence. After Halliburton acquired Dress ...
would manage construction of the stadium, while Populous with
Walter P. Moore would design it. The
electrification
Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source.
The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic histor ...
of Minute Maid Park's
retractable roof
A retractable roof is a roof system designed to roll back the roof of a structure so that the interior of the facility is open to the outdoors. Retractable roofs are sometimes referred to as operable roofs or retractable skylights. The term op ...
was developed by VAHLE, Inc.
Groundbreaking for The Ballpark at Union Station was on October 30, 1997. Its groundbreaking ceremony was attended by
Enron
Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was founded by Kenneth Lay in 1985 as a merger between Lay's Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both relatively small regional companies. ...
CEO
Kenneth Lay
Kenneth Lee Lay (April 15, 1942 – July 5, 2006) was an American businessman who was the founder, chief executive officer and chairman of Enron. He was heavily involved in the eponymous accounting scandal that unraveled in 2001 into the large ...
, Houston Mayor
Bob Lanier
Robert Jerry Lanier Jr. (September 10, 1948 – May 10, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who was a center for the Detroit Pistons and the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Lanier was inducted int ...
, Astros owner
Drayton McLane
Drayton McLane Jr. (born July 22, 1936) is an American billionaire businessman. He is chairman of the McLane Group, a holding company with a portfolio of various diverse enterprises. He was, until 1990, the CEO of the McLane Company, a grocery an ...
, Harris County Judge Robert Eckles, Harris County Commissioner El Franco Lee, and Harris County-Houston Sports Authority Chairman
Jack Rains
Jack Morris Rains (born November 23, 1937) is a Houston, Texas, attorney who was the 95th Secretary of State of Texas, having served from 1987 to 1989. He left the position to contest unsuccessfully for the Republican gubernatorial nomination ...
.
Statues of longtime Astros players
Jeff Bagwell
Jeffrey Robert Bagwell (born May 27, 1968) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and coach who spent his entire 15-year Major League Baseball (MLB) playing career with the Houston Astros.
Originally a Boston Red Sox fourth- ...
and
Craig Biggio
Craig Alan Biggio (; born December 14, 1965) is an American former second baseman, outfielder and catcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire career from 1988 through 2007 for the Houston Astros. A seven-time National League (NL) All ...
are located in the exterior of the ballpark in a space known as The Plaza at Minute Maid Park. The two former teammates are depicted playing baseball with each other. The plaza also displays
pennants for all Astros division and league championships, as well as two World Series titles. There are also several plaques to commemorate notable Astros and their achievements.
Opening and current use
The ballpark was first named "Enron Field" on April 7, 2000, with
naming rights
Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of t ...
sold to the Houston energy and financial trading company in a 30-year, $100 million deal. However, Astros management faced a public relations problem when the energy corporation went bankrupt in 2001 due to a
financial scandal. Quickly wanting to distance themselves from Enron, Astros ownership asked to prematurely end naming rights, but Enron refused. On February 5, 2002, Astros ownership filed a motion with the court overseeing the company's bankruptcy to force Enron to make an immediate decision on the matter. By February 27, the two entities agreed to end the naming rights, and settled with the Astros paying $2.1 million to Enron. Without a naming rights agreement in place, the ballpark became officially known as "Astros Field".
The Astros sold naming rights of the ballpark in 2002 to locally based
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...
subsidiary
Minute Maid
Minute Maid is a product line of beverages, usually associated with lemonade or orange juice, but which now extends to soft drinks of different kinds, including Hi-C. Minute Maid is sold under the Cappy brand in Central Europe and under the bran ...
for $100 million over 30 years. Its official name was then changed to "Minute Maid Park".
Alterations
In 2004, the Astros launched
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...
throughout the ballpark, allowing fans to use the Internet while attending a game for a fee. In addition, the ballpark was the first major sports facility to use a separate video board exclusively for
closed captioning
Closed captioning (CC) and subtitling are both processes of displaying text on a television, video screen, or other visual display to provide additional or interpretive information. Both are typically used as a transcription of the audio por ...
for the hearing impaired of PA system and video board content, rather than appearing along the bottom of the main board.
![Minute Maid Park 2010](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Minute_Maid_Park_2010.JPG)
In 2006, the
Chick-fil-A
Chick-fil-A ( , a Word play, play on the American English pronunciation of "wikt:filet#Pronunciation, filet") is an American fast food restaurant chain which is the country's largest which specializes in chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Coll ...
cows were unveiled on the foul poles, saying EAT MOR FOWL, and the cows have Astros caps on. If an Astros player hits the pole, all fans in attendance get a coupon for a free chicken sandwich from
Chick-fil-A
Chick-fil-A ( , a Word play, play on the American English pronunciation of "wikt:filet#Pronunciation, filet") is an American fast food restaurant chain which is the country's largest which specializes in chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Coll ...
.
Hunter Pence
Hunter Andrew Pence (born April 13, 1983), nicknamed "The Reverend", is an American former professional baseball right fielder and designated hitter. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, San F ...
is the first and second Astros player to ever hit the left field "Fowl Pole" when he did it twice in the 2007 season.
Ty Wigginton
Ty Allen Wigginton (born October 11, 1977) is an American former professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Houston Astros, Baltimore Orioles, Colorado ...
became the third Astro to hit the left field pole on September 16, 2007.
Kazuo Matsui
is a Japanese retired professional baseball player who played as a shortstop and is the current manager of the Saitama Seibu Lions. He is a switch-hitter.
Matsui signed with the New York Mets on December 17, 2003, becoming the first Japanese i ...
hit the right field foul pole on August 3, 2009, with a two-run homer in the sixth inning to beat the
Giants
A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore.
Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to:
Mythology and religion
*Giants (Greek mythology)
*Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'gi ...
.
Carlos Lee
Carlos Noriel Lee (born June 20, 1976), nicknamed "El Caballo", is a Panamanian former professional baseball first baseman and left fielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1999–2012 with the Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, ...
hit the left field pole on July 28, 2010, giving the Astros an 8–1 win against the
Cubs. Two days later,
Jeff Keppinger
Jeffrey Scott Keppinger (born April 21, 1980) is an American retired Major League Baseball infielder. He played for the New York Mets, Kansas City Royals, Cincinnati Reds, Houston Astros, San Francisco Giants, Tampa Bay Rays, and Chicago White So ...
hit the left field pole to help the Astros win, 5–0, against the
Brewers.
After the 2008 season, the Astros' groundskeepers began installing of a new turfgrass playing surface at Minute Maid Park. The Astros also became one of the first to use the new
Chemgrass
AstroTurf is an American subsidiary of SportGroup that produces artificial turf for playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto. Since the early 2000s, AstroTurf has ...
, later known as AstroTurf after its first well-publicized use at the Houston Astrodome in 1966.
In honor of longtime Astros broadcaster
Milo Hamilton
Leland Milo Hamilton (September 2, 1927 – September 17, 2015) was an American sportscaster, best known for calling play-by-play for seven different Major League Baseball teams from 1953 to 2015. He received the Ford C. Frick Award from t ...
, the City of Houston officially renamed a portion of the Ballpark District to the "Hall of Fame District", and the portion of Hamilton Avenue that runs within that district to "Milo Hamilton Way" on April 8, 2009.
For the 2011 season, the park added a large
Daktronics
Daktronics is an American company based in Brookings, South Dakota that designs, manufactures, sells, and services video displays, scoreboards, digital billboards, dynamic message signs, sound systems, and related products. Founded in 1968 by ...
HD screen nicknamed "El Grande" replacing the original one in right field. At high and wide, it is the fourth largest scoreboard in Major League Baseball, behind
T-Mobile Park
T-Mobile Park is a retractable roof stadium in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Seattle Mariners and has a seating capacity of 47,929. It is in Seattle's SoDo neighborhood, near the western t ...
(home of the
Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...
),
Progressive Field
{{Infobox stadium
, name = Progressive Field
, nickname = ''"The Jake"''
, logo_image = Progressive_Field_Logo.svg
, logo_caption =
, image =
, caption = Progressive Fiel ...
(home of the
Cleveland Guardians
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central division. Since , they have ...
), and
Kaufmann Stadium
Kauffman Stadium (), often called "The K", is a baseball stadium located in Kansas City, Missouri. It is home to the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). It is part of the Truman Sports Complex together with the adjacent Arrowhe ...
(home of the
Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...
). The old screen was taken out and replaced by billboards. Additionally, a smaller HD screen was added on the far left field wall. The ring of advertisement screens around the park were replaced in favor of HD ribbon boards.
After the Astros reverted to their original colors and logo in 2013, much of Minute Maid Park was repainted to navy and orange from brick red. Signs with the previous logo and colors were also replaced. More than of paint were used and over 1,000 signs were replaced.
In June 2015 the Astros announced Tal's Hill would be removed in a major renovation project during the 2015-2016 offseason, to be replaced with additional seating, concessions, and escalators for fans. This would result in center field dimensions of 436 feet (then the longest in MLB) being reduced to 409 feet. In addition, seating sections 256, 257, and 258 in the outfield mezzanine would be removed. However, the project had to be postponed due to the Astros' unexpected American League Wild Card championship and subsequent postseason appearance, along with the stadium's offseason event schedule. The renovation was completed during the 2016-2017 offseason. The flagpoles became out of play.
In April 2022, Minute Maid Park received
Amazon's "Just Walk Out" technology for two of its concession stands, becoming the first MLB stadium to incorporate
cashierless store
A cashierless store (also called a till-less store, checkout-free store or Just walk out store) is a store which allows customers to shop their products and leave without having to wait in line and pay at a checkout. Stores use a combination of te ...
s.
Major events
* On October 9, 2005, Minute Maid Park hosted the then-longest postseason game in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
history, both in terms of time and number of innings. The Astros defeated the
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...
7–6 in a game lasting 18 innings, which took 5 hours and 50 minutes to play. The record was beaten by Game 3 of the
2018 World Series, which went 18 innings and lasted 7 hours and 20 minutes.
* On October 25, 2005, Minute Maid Park hosted the first
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
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
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
7–5 in 14 innings; this game lasted 5 hours and 41 minutes. The following night, the White Sox won their third title—and first in
88 years—at Minute Maid Park.
* On September 30, 2007, in
Craig Biggio
Craig Alan Biggio (; born December 14, 1965) is an American former second baseman, outfielder and catcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire career from 1988 through 2007 for the Houston Astros. A seven-time National League (NL) All ...
'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 capacity.
* On April 5, 2010, Opening Day of 2010, Minute Maid Park surpassed its highest attendance total once again by selling 43,836 tickets, 13 more tickets than its previous record.
* The Astros transferred to the American League for the 2013 season, resulting in the
designated hitter
The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...
rule coming into effect at Minute Maid Park. The last pitcher to bat at an MLB game in Houston was Astros pitcher
Bud Norris
David Stefan "Bud" Norris (March 2, 1985) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, Baltimore Orioles, San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles ...
until May 11, 2021, when
Shohei Ohtani
, nicknamed "Shotime", is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher, designated hitter and outfielder for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional B ...
of the Los Angeles Angels started on the mound and batted second in the lineup.
* In his third start as an Astro, pitcher
Mike Fiers
Michael Bruce Fiers (; born June 15, 1985) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros, Detroit Tigers and Oakland Athletics. Fiers has ...
threw the stadium's first
no-hitter
In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...
in a 3–0 victory over the
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
on August 21, 2015.
* In late October 2017 the Astros hosted three
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
games against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Astros would go on to win the 2017 World Series, winning 2 of 3 games in Houston and 2 of 4 games in Los Angeles.
* In late October 2019, the Astros hosted four games of the
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
versus the
Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...
. While the Astros won all three away games, they lost all four games played at Minute Maid Park.
* It was one of two hosts (
Globe Life Field
Globe Life Field is a retractable roof stadium in Arlington, Texas. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Texas Rangers. It is located just south of Choctaw Stadium, the Rangers' former home ballpark.
History Background
On Ma ...
being the other) for the
2020 NLDS.
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
swept
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
3–0 to advance to the NLCS.
* Three games of the
2021 World Series
The 2021 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2021 season. The 117th World Series was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Atlanta Braves and the American League (AL) champion H ...
were held at Minute Maid Park, with the Braves winning Games 1 and 6 (they also won Games 3 and 4 at
Truist Park
Truist Park (originally SunTrust Park) is a baseball stadium in the Atlanta metropolitan area, approximately 10 miles (16 km) northwest of downtown Atlanta in the unincorporated community of Cumberland, in Cobb County, Georgia. Opened in 2 ...
in Atlanta) to claim their fourth World Series championship. Houston's only home victory came in Game 2.
* Games 1, 2 and 6 of the
2022 World Series were held at Minute Maid Park. The Astros won their second World Series championship in Game 6, marking the fourth time a World Series championship was hoisted at the park and the first time the Astros won on their home field. Houston also won Game 2, as well as two of three games at
Citizens Bank Park
Citizens Bank Park is a baseball stadium located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the city's South Philadelphia Sports Complex. It is the home playing field of the Philadelphia Phillies, the city's Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise. The stad ...
against the
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...
.
Non-baseball events
Soccer
While primarily a baseball venue, Minute Maid Park can adequately host sports such as
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
and both codes of
rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
. The venue can also play host to large-scale music concerts. It is not large enough to comfortably accommodate
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
. However, the opening of
BBVA Compass Stadium
Shell Energy Stadium (formerly BBVA Compass Stadium, BBVA Stadium, then PNC Stadium) is an American multi-purpose stadium located in Houston, Texas that is home to Houston Dynamo FC, a Major League Soccer club, the Houston Dash of the Nation ...
four blocks southeast on Texas Avenue for the
MLS
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
's
Houston Dynamo
Houston Dynamo FC (formerly officially, but still commonly, called the Houston Dynamo) is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The Dynamo compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Establi ...
in 2012 has effectively made its use for future soccer games moot.
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
Portmore United Football Club is a Jamaican football team in the top flight Jamaica National Premier League.
The team trains and plays home matches at the Prison Oval.
History
Hazard United
The club was formed as ''Hazard United'' and has bee ...
of
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
(the "home" team) and
Club América
Club de Fútbol América S.A. de C.V., commonly known as Club América or simply América, is a professional football club based in Mexico City. Nicknamed ''Las Águilas'' (The Eagles), it competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football ...
of Mexico.
Professional wrestling
Minute Maid Park hosted the
2020 Royal Rumble on January 26, one of the promotion's four annual flagship
professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...
events. This was the first time it has hosted a
WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...
pay-per-view event.
Concerts
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
,
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...
,
Beyoncé
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...
,
Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...
,
Nelly
Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, actor and entrepreneur. He embarked on his music career with the hip hop group St. Lunatics in 1993 and signed to Universal ...
,
Tim McGraw
Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has released 16 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, four for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those album ...
,
Staind
Staind ( ) is an American rock band from Springfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1995. The original lineup consisted of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Aaron Lewis, lead guitarist Mike Mushok, bassist and backing vocalist Johnny April, and dr ...
,
Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
,
Bad Bunny
Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio (born March 10, 1994), known professionally as Bad Bunny, is a Puerto Rican rapper and singer. His musical style is defined as Latin trap and reggaeton. He rose to prominence in 2016 with his song "Diles", wh ...
and
Lady Gaga
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...
have all performed at Minute Maid Park.
TV
The nationally syndicated TV talk show ''
Rachael Ray
Rachael Domenica Ray (born August 25, 1968) is an American cook, television personality, businesswoman, and author. She hosts the syndicated daily talk and lifestyle program ''Rachael Ray'', and the Food Network series '' 30 Minute Meals''. ...
'' held a mass wedding at the park following
Hurricane Ike
Hurricane Ike () was a powerful tropical cyclone that swept through portions of the Greater Antilles and Northern America in September 2008, wreaking havoc on infrastructure and agriculture, particularly in Cuba and Texas. Ike took a sim ...
for 40 couples who were unable to get married after a company they paid to hold the weddings went bankrupt. Comedian
Jeffrey Ross
Jeffrey may refer to:
* Jeffrey (name), including a list of people with the name
* ''Jeffrey'' (1995 film), a 1995 film by Paul Rudnick, based on Rudnick's play of the same name
* ''Jeffrey'' (2016 film), a 2016 Dominican Republic documentary film ...
served as best man for all 40 couples. The ceremony was aired as part of a special episode of the talk show on November 21, 2008.
Other events
![SB51 Opening Night](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/SB51_Opening_Night.jpg)
The stadium also is the host of the
Houston College Classic
The Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic is an annual six-team college baseball tournament held in Houston and hosted by the Astros Foundation. The 15th annual tournament was held at Minute Maid Park in March 2015. It was initially cal ...
college baseball
College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...
tournament, part of the winter fan festival held in February. The tournament features local schools the
University of Houston
The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...
and
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...
every year, a pair of major conference schools, alternating between Big 12 members
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
,
Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...
,
Baylor University
Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...
and SEC member
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...
, as well as two other teams from around the country.
On May 9, 2015,
Canelo Alvarez fought
James Kirkland in the first boxing match fought in the stadium. Alvarez defeated Kirkland via knockout in the third round.
The
University of Houston–Downtown
The University of Houston–Downtown (UHD) is a public university in Houston, Texas. It is part of the University of Houston System and has a campus that spans in Downtown Houston with a satellite location, UHD-Northwest in Harris County. Fo ...
also holds their commencement ceremony in Minute Maid Park.
Minute Maid Park hosted a
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
match on November 11, 2015, the second in a series of three
Cricket All-Stars
Cricket All-Stars (better known as Cricket All-Stars Series) was an exhibition Twenty20 cricket series took place in the United States in 2015. The series features two lineups of renowned retired cricket players from around the world, led by cric ...
matches played by retired greats of the game.
Shane Warne's Warne's Warriors clinched the series 2–0. Keeping with the naming conventions from the previous match at Minute Maid Park, the ends were named after
Nolan Ryan
Lynn Nolan Ryan Jr. (born January 31, 1947), nicknamed "the Ryan Express", is an American former professional baseball pitcher and sports executive. Over a record 27-year playing career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanning four decades, Ryan ...
and
José Cruz
José Cruz Dilan (born August 8, 1947) nicknamed Cheo, is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball player, coach and baseball front office executive. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from 1970 to 1988, most prominently a ...
, two players that have their numbers retired by the Astros.
On January 30, 2017, the stadium hosted ''Super Bowl Opening Night'' for
Super Bowl LI
Super Bowl LI was an American football game played at NRG Stadium in Houston, Houston, Texas, on February 5, 2017, to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2016 NFL season, 2016 season. The American Football Confer ...
at nearby
NRG Stadium
NRG Stadium, formerly Reliant Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. Construction was completed in 2002, at a cost of $352 million and has a seating capacity of 72,220. It was the first NFL facility to have a retrac ...
.
From 2017 until 2020, the park hosted the final rounds of the Houston leg of the
FIRST Championship
The FIRST Championship is a four-day robotics championship held annually in April at which FIRST student robotics teams compete. For several years, the event was held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, but moved to the Edward Jones Dome in ...
. To avoid damaging the field while the Astros were in season, the competition fields were built on a stage over the infield dirt between first and third base.
Features
Tal's Hill
![Minute Maid Park flag pole configuration](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Minute_Maid_Park_flag_pole_configuration.jpg)
Until 2016, center field featured a wide incline called Tal's Hill, named for former team president
Tal Smith
Talbot Merton Smith (born September 27, 1933) is an American former professional baseball executive who has served in high baseball operations positions—including general manager and club president—as well as the founder of a firm that advises ...
.
The incline was inspired by similar features that used to exist at
Crosley Field
Crosley Field was a Major League Baseball park in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was the home field of the National League's Cincinnati Reds from 1912 through June 24, 1970, and the original Cincinnati Bengals football team, members of the second (1937) an ...
and
Fenway Park
Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and since 1953, its only Major League Base ...
. There was a flagpole in play on the incline, an element inspired by
Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer.
Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the origi ...
before its remodeling in the mid-'70s, and
Tiger Stadium as well. Milwaukee Brewers player
Richie Sexson
Richmond Lockwood Sexson (born December 29, 1974), nicknamed "Big Sexy", is an American former Major League Baseball first baseman who played for five teams from 1997 to 2008. He is also the field manager for the Windy City ThunderBolts in the ...
once hit a ball off the flagpole. There was a mark there until the 2011 season, when the pole was repainted. The hill and the flagpole were scheduled to be removed following the 2015 season, but remained in place due to an unexpected playoff run.
While Crosley Field's infamous left field terrace, which was half as steep (only 15°) as Tal's Hill (30°), was a natural feature of the site on which the park was located, Tal's Hill was purely decorative. On June 4, 2015, the Astros announced that they would be removing Tal's Hill as part of a $15 million renovation for the 2016 season. The center field fence was to be moved in from (which from 2000 to 2016 was the longest in baseball) to from home plate, but the center field renovations were delayed until after the 2016 season, due at least in part to the 2015 playoffs cutting into planned construction time.
Union Station
![Minute Maid Park train, exterior view](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Minute_Maid_Park_train%2C_exterior_view.jpg)
The largest entrance to the park is inside what was once Houston's
Union Station
A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...
, and the left-field side of the stadium features a railway as homage to the site's history. The train moves along an length of track on top of the length of the exterior wall beyond left field when the Astros take the field during the first inning, when an Astros player hits a
home run
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...
, and when the Astros win a game. It is driven by Bobby Vásquez, who goes by the name Bobby Dynamite. The train is an upscaled replica of the General 4-4-0 and is pulled by a cable which is operated by the driver. The engine's tender is filled with giant oranges in reference to Minute Maid's most famous product, orange juice. Prior to Minute Maid buying the stadium's naming rights, the tender was filled with logs.
In a challenge to home run hitters, former Astros owner
Drayton McLane
Drayton McLane Jr. (born July 22, 1936) is an American billionaire businessman. He is chairman of the McLane Group, a holding company with a portfolio of various diverse enterprises. He was, until 1990, the CEO of the McLane Company, a grocery an ...
's office window, located in the old Union Station and directly above the Crawford Boxes, is made of glass and a sign below the window is marked 422 ft (135 m) from home plate.
Crawford Boxes
The Crawford Boxes are a section of seating in Minute Maid Park running parallel to Crawford Street in downtown
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
, Texas. They are located in left field and span sections 100 through 104 (with all but the latter in fair territory).
The home-plate-to-fence measurement there is only 315 feet (96 meters), one of the shortest in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
. A 19-foot wall in front of the elevated boxes houses the hand-operated out-of-town scoreboard, displaying the day's other games.
Landry's, a restaurant group, owns the naming rights to the Crawford Boxes and runs various promotions for its restaurants there.
Other features
Games are typically played with the roof open only in April and May before the Houston summer heat arrives. The roof is occasionally opened during October playoff games.
![Union Station Lobby at Minute Maid Park-no banners](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Union_Station_Lobby_at_Minute_Maid_Park-no_banners.jpg)
There is a manually-operated out-of-town scoreboard in left, below the Crawford Boxes.
The ballpark features 19,201 seats on the lower level,
7,132 seats on the second level,
880 seats on the suite level,
and 13,750 seats on the upper level.
![Phillips 66 Home Run Pump](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Phillips_66_Home_Run_Pump.jpg)
The "
Phillips 66
The Phillips 66 Company is an American Multinational corporation, multinational energy company headquartered in Westchase, Houston, Westchase, Houston, Houston, Texas. Its name, dating back to 1927 as a trademark of the Phillips Petroleum Compan ...
Home Run Porch" is located in left-center field over the field of play. It features a classic gasoline pump that displays the total number of Astros home runs hit since the park opened.
The stadium can be fully
air-conditioned
Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...
when required.
Ground rules
Under the Minute Maid Park
ground rules
In baseball, ground rules are special rules particular to each baseball park (grounds) in which the game is played. Unlike the well-defined playing field of most other sports, the playing area of a baseball field extends to an outfield fence in fa ...
, both Tal's Hill and the flagpole were considered in play. If a ball hit the flagpole on the hill and stayed in the field of play, it was in play. If it went out of the field of play (over the fence), it was a
home run
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...
. The Hill was criticized numerous times owing to the incline having the potential to cause injury to fielders unused to it.
However, there was never an injury to any player in relation to Tal's Hill.
Transportation access
Minute Maid Park is located in Downtown Houston in a centralized area of the city, and accessible via a short driving distance on
Interstate 10
Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pl ...
(Katy Freeway/East Freeway),
Interstate 69
Interstate 69 (I-69) is an Interstate Highway in the United States currently consisting of 10 unconnected segments with an original continuous segment from Indianapolis, Indiana, northeast to the Canadian border in Port Huron, Michigan, at ...
(Southwest Freeway/Eastex Freeway), and
Interstate 45
Interstate 45 (I-45) is a major Interstate Highway located entirely within the US state of Texas. While most Interstate routes which have numbers ending in "5" are cross-country north–south routes, I-45 is comparatively short, with the ...
(Gulf Freeway/North Freeway). Street parking, garage parking, and private lot parking are available, with an estimated 25,000 spots within walking distance to the ballpark. Taxi cabs and
pedicab
The cycle rickshaw is a small-scale local means of transport. It is a type of hatchback tricycle designed to carry passengers on a for-hire basis. It is also known by a variety of other names such as bike taxi, velotaxi, pedicab, bikecab, ...
s are also commonly found near the surrounding ballpark area.
Public transportation allows for accessibility via bus or
light rail service. The
METRORail
METRORail is the light rail system in Houston, Texas (United States). In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . METRORail ranks as the second most-traveled light rail system in the Southern United States and the 12th ...
light rail system has a station located one block south of Minute Maid Park,
Convention District Station, served by the
Green
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...
and
Purple
Purple is any of a variety of colors with hue between red and blue. In the RGB color model used in computer and television screens, purples are produced by mixing red and blue light. In the RYB color model historically used by painters, pu ...
lines. The
Red Line also serves the ballpark at
Preston Station, six blocks to the west.
Hurricane Harvey
In 2017, the park and the entire city suffered from the devastation of
Hurricane Harvey
Hurricane Harvey was a devastating Category 4 hurricane that made landfall on Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, causing catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths. It is tied with 2005's Hurricane Katrina as the costliest t ...
, which flooded many parts of the city with several feet of rain over four days. The Astros reported that despite water entering into the service levels of the stadium, Minute Maid Park remained in "good condition" when the storm cleared out. The lingering effects of Harvey forced the
Astros
The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division, having moved to the div ...
to move their series against the Texas Rangers to
Tropicana Field
Tropicana Field (commonly known as the Trop) is a Multi-purpose stadium, multi-purpose domed stadium located in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. The stadium has been the home of the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB) since the ...
in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The Astros returned to Houston on Friday, September 1 to help the initial recovery efforts. Minute Maid Park hosted the city's first post-Harvey sporting event, and the park's first double-header the next day in an
interleague game
Interleague play in Major League Baseball refers to regular-season baseball games played between an American League (AL) team and a National League (NL) team. Interleague play was first introduced during the 1997 Major League Baseball season. Pri ...
against the
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
.
References
Sources
Minute Maid Park: Facts and Figures Accessed May 24, 2006.
Ballpark Digest Visit to Minute Maid Park*
Astros Daily - Your best source for news and information on the Houston Astros
External links
Stadium site on MLB.comMinute Maid Park Seating Chart* Levine, Zachary.
" ''
Houston Chronicle
The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...
''. October 8, 2010.
Minute Maid Park facts and figures
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