On Things Being Bigger In Texas
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| Minute Maid Park, 2009 |
Sunday, June 28th, 2009
Detroit Tigers vs. Houston AstrosMinute Maid Park
Major League Baseball, Interleague
Houston, TX
1:05 PM
Outside the Game:
In what would prove to be a pattern, I woke up in the morning without enough sleep to slog out to an airport, watching one of many sunrises to come as I dropped off my rental car.
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| Pretty, at least |
I staggered bleary-eyed through security, got some breakfast at the gate, and sat around proving out my scorecard until the plane boarded. The flight was pleasantly uneventful, touching down a little early, which prompted us waiting for our arrival gate to clear. The rental car desks were thankfully all in the terminal, so that was a quick process. I got to take my pick of the cars, and settled on a blue Kia. I would quickly learn why all the dark colored cars were still unselected in the rental yard.
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| Dark blue, not a great choice |
I say this because Houston is hotter than Hell, and unlike the stratospheric temperatures I encountered last year in Phoenix, Houston goes the extra distance of having three-digit temperatures and being humid enough to choke a large, healthy goat. I drove straight to the game as it was an afternoon contest and promptly made the second mistake of my young day: I didn't drive around to find a covered parking lot. I mean, how bad could it be?
This would be answered emphatically when I came out of the game and my car was in danger of melting. I had to wrap my hands in order to touch anything on the car and get in to roll down the windows, turn on the AC, and retreat to shade a short distance away for the car to return to a fully non-plastic state and become safe to drive out to my hotel.
The Stadium & Fans:
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| Home plate to center field, Minute Maid Park |
Minute Maid Park was the second orange-juice nomenclatured stadium I had been to in two days, and it would be three days into the trip before I would watch a game outside. Not that I was complaining today. With temperatures in the low hundreds and a sun that could only be called oppressive (I fully believed that I could feel it actually searing through my sunblock like phasers blistering away an energy shield), I was happy to be anywhere except outside on this particular day. Sadly, they only opened the stadium an hour and half before game time, so everyone had to line up outside before the doors opened. Thankfully, I found a line in the shade, but it didn't stop the ambient heat and humidity that quickly turned my person into what can only be described as a sweaty bog. I don't think I've ever been happier to get anywhere as I was to get into that building.
The stadium does have some attractions outside the park, such as a statuary ballpark, a commemorative aerospace industry wall, and, for no reason I can discern except to try and sap all the energy out of hyperactive kids as fast as possible, the kids play area inside the stadium walls proper is in the open air.
Minute Maid itself is a very nice next-generation park. The big architectural features are the gutting left field wall, the hill and flagpole in fair territory in deep center, and the Astro train that runs every time a home run is hit by the Astros. (Sadly, there were no home dingers during the game I saw, so the spectacle was lost on me.) There was also an ill-advised advertisement for a local Baptist church boldly proclaiming that "Second Loves Kids." I think they may need to re-think it.
Yes, they play "Deep in the Heart of Texas" during the 7th inning stretch. Yes, everyone does the clapping thing like a well-trained Chinese drill team. I was frankly a little surprised Republican Oil Tycoon Guy from the Simpsons didn't jump out at some part and start shooting into the air while screaming wildly.
Nearly as soon as the last out was recorded, the dome on the stadium was opened as the ground crew nearly sprinted out to the field to begin watering it. The effect of the dome opening into the afternoon sun can only be likened to what it must be like to drop the UV shielding on the ISS: the sun blazed in, raising the temperature by easily ten degrees immediately. This is also apparently an effective way of clearing out the crowd.
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| Here comes the sun |
The aforementioned crowd was enthusiastic and in the game, even after the Astros blew the lead in the ninth. There were a smattering of Detroit fans, but they were largely unheard from.
In keeping with the theme of bird troubles, there was a large squawking bird that managed to get stuck inside in the center field area near the big gas tank that keeps track of the home runs at the park.
At The Game With Oogie:
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| Get it? |
I got tickets behind home plate in the second deck of the park. The seats were quite good, and I was surrounded by families and lots of kids. One particular rambunctious tot behind me kept banging on the seats next to me, prompting unnecessary apologies by his father. That kid had no idea what was going on, but he had a better time than I did, so good for him.
The Game:
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| First pitch, Tigers vs. Astros |
The game went briskly, with both teams trading blank frames until the fourth, when the Astros broke through with two runs. The Tigers scored one in both the fourth and fifth, tying it up. The Astros tacked a run on in the 7th to get ahead, and then the scoring ended until the ninth. The Astros closer Valverde came in to put it away but threw gasoline on the fire with a walk and a home run, putting the Tigers up 4-3. The Astros got a one-out single, but were tidily set away after that, losing by the same score. After watching a dramatic 9th inning win for the home team the night before, I was treated to a 9th inning collapse by the home team on this day.
The Scorecard:
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| Tigers vs. Astros, 06/28/09. Tigers win, 4-3. |
The $1 scorecard was separate from the $4 program, which included its own paper insert as part of the purchase price. The separate scorecard was a cardstock fold-out with only one page for the scorecard proper. It was a little crowded for a NL card and used the weird scoring system that I've only seen elsewhere at Colorado, with the path to first base and home plate handled separately, and an area set aside for recording balls and strikes. The pitching lines are apparently not important enough to warrant space on the scorecard.
The Accommodations:
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| Best Western |
I stayed at a Best Western north of the city center out by the airport. The lady behind the counter was very nice and commiserated with me about the heat for a good, long while. I hit the fitness center for a half hour, showered up, and took a much-needed nap. I went across the street to Cracker Barrel for dinner, because I apparently had to go to a Cracker Barrel while I was in the South. And it was actually pretty good, if they did layer the "folksy" on a tad thick. I hit the rack early that night to make up for the night before and the nights to come, as this would be the last night for a while that I would be able to get a full night's sleep.
2009 The Rest
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