The morning after seeing the two worst teams in baseball, I woke up early and flew south to see the reigning World Series Champions play against a division rival.
I made the mistake of flying United, thinking that a direct flight would be nice, but I should’ve known better. We were delayed two hours. Still, I made it to my hotel about 4 hours before the game started. I had only been to Houston one time for work, so I was mostly hanging out around the Texas Medical Center and NRG Stadium on that trip. I was excited to explore the downtown area a bit.
It was hot and muggy, and as I turned the corner to see Minute Maid Park off in the distance, I was thankful for the roof and the air conditioning.
On my way, I stopped into a large sports bar name Biggios—named after former Astro Craig Biggio. It was a huge bar in the Marriott Marquis building, with absurdly large TVs. It was already crowded with college football and baseball fans, so I couldn’t get a seat. I walked toward the stadium to dive bar called Home Plate.
But as I approached the ballpark, I noticed that there was a line of people wrapping around the entire stadium. It was 3 hours before the game. It took me a while to realize, but they were waiting in line for an Alex Bregman bobblehead. They only give out 10,000 bobbleheads. But the game was almost sold out with more than 40,000 fans.
Why isn’t Altuve on here?
I was annoyed at the artificial scarcity that made people wait in the heat just to get something they could’ve easily made more of. If the Milwaukee Brewers can give away 40,000 bobbleheads, the World Series Champs can surely afford it.
Anyway, the Home Plate bar was everything you want in a baseball dive bar—lots of memorabilia, good local beer and greasy fried food.
About an hour before the game, I checked out the block party on the other side of the stadium—it was called the “Boot Scoot ‘n BBQ,” complete with live country music and lots of barbecue stands. All in all, it was a great atmosphere for a sold out (and meaningful) September baseball game.
I entered the park about an hour early and promptly had a near death experience. I entered through an outfield gate, underneath the train. Walking along the concourse, a baseball came flying and bounced about 3 feet in front of me. I had no idea what was happening, but was promptly swarmed by about 10 people chasing the ball. It was a Mike Trout batting practice home run, and I was oblivious to it.
Minute Maid Park is pretty neat. The train in the outfield is a nice touch. I sat in right field, underneath the large scoreboard. It was a cool perspective that I hadn’t seen at a ballpark in a while. I would’ve been close to Mike Trout in Center Field, but sadly he was the DH that night.
Since we were in Texas, the food options at the park were crazy—Cheetos popcorn, steak fries, and even actual steak. There was a lot of craft beer, too. St. Arnold had a large bar underneath the train in left field. And while I was grabbing a beer there, Alex Bregman channeled his bobblehead night powers and hit a home run (again, right toward me), so I missed the train go down the tracks in celebration.
However, there’s just something about indoor baseball that feels weird. It doesn’t feel like a ballpark. It feels like a large arena. Still, I was very thankful for the roof, because a pretty scary storm blew through while we were in the game. Check out these two pics taken about a half hour apart.
The Astros called up a new pitcher, Josh James, to take his first MLB start. He gave up a 3-run homerun in the second, but otherwise held his own. Houston then spent the rest of the game working back from that 3-0 deficit, and the sold-out crowd of 41,622 hinged on every play. In the bottom of the 8th, the Astros knocked in 5 runs and the crowd was deafening.
With such a large crowd, and me sitting in the outfield, you’d think I would have encountered a few drunk jerks. But it was the opposite. Everyone was wonderful. There was a lesbian couple in front of me, a group of friends speaking Spanish to my right, and an Angels fan to my left. Everyone was civil, and they still managed to be extremely loud.
Overall, the fans were the best I’ve seen so far. The atmosphere was wonderful, and the ballpark is pretty cool—even if it doesn’t feel like a classic ballpark.
Minute Maid Park Report Card:
- Ballpark: B
- Pre-/Post-Game Atmosphere: A+
- Fans: A+
Out in Left Field 