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'Minute Maid Park' (formerly 'Enron Field' and 'Astros Field') is a baseball stadium in Houston, Texas, that opened in 2000 to house the Houston Astros.
The ballpark was Houston's first retractable-roofed stadium, protecting fans and athletes from Houston's notoriously humid weather as its predecessor, the Astrodome, did, but allowing fans to also enjoy outdoor baseball; something they couldn't do in the Astrodome. The ballpark also features a grass field, compared to the Astrodome's artificial AstroTurf, which was generally disliked by professional baseball players. The largest entrance to the park is inside what was once Houston's Union Station, and the left-field side of the stadium features a train as homage to the site's history. The train moves along a track on top of the length of the exterior wall beyond left field whenever an Astros player hits a home run, or when the Astros win a game (the engine's tender, traditionally used to carry coal, is filled with giant oranges in tribute to Minute Maid's most famous product, orange juice).
| Contents |
| Previous names |
| Features |
| Gallery |
| Major events |
| Ballpark firsts |
| Sports other than baseball |
| References |
| Notes |
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 corporate scandals in American history in 2001, and they bought back the remainder of Enron's thirty years of naming rights for $2.1 million, rechristening the ballpark as Astros Field on February 7, 2002. The field was unofficially known as "The Field Formerly Known As Enron" by fans and critics alike, in wake of the Enron scandal. On June 5, 2002, Houston-based Minute Maid, the fruit-juice subsidiary of Coca-Cola, acquired the naming rights to the stadium for 28 years at a price exceeding $100 million.
Based on its downtown location next to the old Union Station buildings, one of the suggested names (and nicknames) is the Ballpark at Union Station, or the BUS. During its days as Enron Field, it was also dubbed "Ten-Run" or "Home Run" Field due to its cozy left-field dimensions. In keeping with this theme while paying homage to its current sponsor, the nickname "The Juice Box" is colloquially used today.
Features
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 (5.8 m) tall. In a challenge to home run hitters, Drayton McLane's office windows, located in the old Union Station and directly above the Crawford Boxes, are made of glass and marked as 442 ft (135 m) from home plate.
In contrast to the ease of hitting a home run to the Crawford Boxes, it is quite difficult to hit a ball out in center field. Fielding is a challenge there as well, due to the 90-foot wide, 30-degree incline grade, known as 'Tal's Hill', for team president Tal Smith, an element taken from Crosley Field and other historic ballparks (in a bit of gallows humor, the hill is also known as the "Grassy Knoll"), and the flagpole in play, an element taken from Yankee Stadium (before its remodeling in the mid-70's) and Tiger Stadium among others. The difference is that the Crosley Field "terrace", which was half as steep at 15-degrees, was necessitated by the difference in elevation between field level and street level, while Tal's Hill is purely decorative. Both structures have been held in equal disdain by the respective outfielders who have had to patrol those areas. This hill has caused some of the most replayed catches in recent baseball history, and plenty of controversy as well. Lance Berkman said, "If the ball rolls onto the hill, it's not steep enough to roll back, so you have to go get it. Then there's the chance of running into the flagpole that's on it and getting hurt.” Fans started an online petition to remove the hill and flagpole, the petition has since been discontinued.
A concourse above Tal's Hill features the "Conoco Home Run Porch" in left-center field that is actually over the field of play, and features a classic gasoline pump that displays the total number of Astros home runs hit since the park opened.
In 2004, the Astros launched Wi-Fi throughout the ballpark, allowing fans to use the Internet while attending a game for a fee. In addition, the ballpark is the first major sports facility to have a closed captioning board for the hearing impaired.
The visiting team's bullpen is housed entirely in the exterior left field wall, next to the Crawford Boxes, making it one of the few bullpens in Major League ballparks to be completely indoors. Although windows in the outfield fence offer a view into and from the bullpen, its entrance is actually built into the side of the Crawford Boxes.
In 2006, the Chick-fil-A cows were unveiled on the foul poles, saying EAT MOR FOWL, and the cows have Astros caps on. Anytime an Astros player hits the pole, the fans in attendance get a free chicken sandwich from Chick-Fil-A. Hunter Pence is the first, second, and only Astro to hit the "Fowl Pole" during a game.
Gallery
Major events
★ On July 13, 2004, Minute Maid Park hosted the 2004 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, which the American League won 9-4.
★ On October 9, 2005, Minute Maid Park hosted the longest postseason game in Major League Baseball history, both in terms of time and number of innings. The Astros defeated the Atlanta Braves 7-6 in a game lasting eighteen innings, which took 5 hours and 50 minutes to play. [1]
★ On October 25, 2005, Minute Maid Park hosted the first World Series game ever played in Texas, and the longest World Series game ever played, which the Astros lost to the eventual World Series champion Chicago White Sox 7-5 in 14 innings; this game lasted 5 hours and 41 minutes. [2]
★ On June 28, 2007, Craig Biggio hit his 3000th career hit in a game the Astros won 8-5 over the Colorado Rockies.
★ On July 24, 2007, after announcing earlier that day that he would retire at the end of the 2007 season, Craig Biggio hit a grand slam home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers to break a 3-3 tie in the sixth inning. The Astros went on to win the game 7-4.
Ballpark firsts
Sports other than baseball
While primarily a baseball venue Minute Maid Park can adequately host sports such as American football, soccer, and both codes of rugby.
Its debut as a soccer venue happened during the 2006 edition of the CONCACAF Champions Cup. The stadium hosted the first leg of the quarterfinal between Portmore United of Jamaica (the "home" team) and Club América of Mexico. Portmore United effectively sold the rights to their home leg (Portmore's usual home stadium is the 2,000 seat Ferdi Neita Sports Complex in Portmore, Jamaica) to an American sports marketing company who placed the tie in Houston hoping to attract Mexican-Americans to the match. 12,988 (a "home" record for Portmore) saw America run out 2-1 winners with goals from Christian Gimenez, and Aaron Padilla after Remeel Wolfe had given the CFU side a shock lead.
The stadium also is the host of the Houston College Classic college baseball matches, part of the winter fan festival held in February. The tournament features three teams from Texas and three top college teams from other conferences in three matches played on the field.
References
★ Minute Maid Park: Facts and Figures. Accessed May 24, 2006.
★ Ballpark Digest Visit to Minute Maid Park
★ Dangers of the diamond: TSN picks the nine biggest ballpark obstacles—from the brightest lights to the most unusual landscaping—in the majors - Baseball Jeff Ryan
★ Google Maps Aerial View of Minute Maid Field
Notes
1. Ortiz, Jose De Jesus (October 10, 2005) "A win like no other" ''The Houston Chronicle''
2. Ortiz, Jose De Jesus (October 26, 2005) "Astros lose heartbreaker at bitter end" ''The Houston Chronicle''
★ Astros Nation - Your Houston Astros Fan Information Source
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