The bus ride from Arlington took 4 hours and we arrived at the hotel around 3:00. We met a long time family friend who went to school with The Scientist at Baylor. Alex Gentry is a lifetime Astros fan and is a walking encyclopedia of Astros baseball. The theme of the park is trains. The park is adjacent to the refurbished Union Station which is a main entrance into the park for many fans. There is a replica locomotive that runs on a track high above left field when an Astro hits a home run. With the state of the Astros I asked Alex if the train had rusted in place since it had not moved very much in recent years. We entered the park about 5:45 and the aspect that grabs your attention immediately is the huge glass wall in left field. The roof was closed because of heat and humidity and bright sunlight was flooding the entire stadium. Minute Maid is a downtown stadium and the windows allow for a skyline view if you are sitting upstairs. Alex and I dined on the giant sausage sandwiches at the Texas based Kiolbassa cart off section 116. These sandwiches are good-sized eats and covered in onions, peppers, kraut, and other sundry accouterments. Minute Maid ownership is in relationship with Coke that works very well in this heat and humidity. Above the seats in right field is a huge HD quality video board that is much bigger than the average stadium has. There is moderate ad signage in the stadium. There is a 25 foot wall in left field that needs to be that high to keep the game honest. It is only 315 feet down the left field line so the park gives up a lot of home runs to visiting teams. The manual out of town scoreboard is on this wall. On the other hand center field is an airport runway distance from home plate , at 436 feet away. In front of the center field fence is an incline that slants up to the wall similar to the arrangement in the old Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Just for fun there is also a flag pole on the playing field at the top of the incline. We sat on the field level down the right field line 32 rows from the playing field. As the game started the sun that was filtering through the windows in left field was right in my eyes. It only lasted an inning or so but it was hard to see without sunglasses. I was surprised to see that the Astros have retired the jersey numbers of 9 Astro players. That is a lot for a franchise that has not been around for all that long. The stadium has a great sound system. Both teams scored a run in the first inning, but that was the last time the Astros had a look at the game. The Cardinals were much more opportunistic and cashed in on a number of scoring chances. By the time Lance Berkman hit a mammoth home run that appeared to travel though the girders in the roof and almost landed at the base of the video board in right field most of the Astros fans had already called it a night. About the only fun had by the Astro fans came when the condiment packet race took place in the fifth inning. In a close race between mild, spicy and fire. Fire squeezed out a close victory. Alex who had wagered more than he should of on mild was a mad man over the loss.
Game: June 9
Ballpark: Minute Maid Park, Houston
Final: Cardinals 9, Astros 2
Accessibility – 8
Stadium Personnel – 9
View – 8
Food – 9
Overall Stadium Experience – 9
