Minute Maid Park

[missouri tigers]

I don't understand why the Astros organization ever approved the design for Minute made park, I think that it is by far the worst ball park in the MLB today.

I want to know who thought it was a good idea to put a hill in center field, or even why in a league that has so many strict rules that this plan was approved by the MLB,

not even to mention the flag pole that is in the playing field, Or the train....

In case you don't know or don't believe me about the flag pole in center field

here it is:

[TFoA]

As long as the A's are still playing in their current dump, THAT is the worst ballpark in baseball.

[Gothamite]

No, he's right. The Coliseum doesn't pretend to be anything other than what it is.

Enron Field is a mishmash of notable attributes from the old parks of other teams, stealing tiny pieces of their histories without creating its own. It's awful.

I almost prefer the Astrodome.

[BigMac12]

If Centerfield wasn't 436 feet, Minute Maid Park would be the ultmate band box in the history of baseball.

I'm not going to complain; Chase Field is way to symmetrical for my tastes.

[dfwabel]

Older MLB parks have "Ground Rules" and new parks realize that history.

[NJTank]

Remember Minute Maid Park was originally Enron Field, that hill is where they hid all the evidence of their wrong doing.

[BigMac12]

Remember Minute Maid Park was originally Enron Field, that hill is where they hid all the evidence of their wrong doing.

So why haven't they plowed the hill level by now? (/joking)

[Eye]

Remember Minute Maid Park was originally Enron Field, that hill is where they hid all the evidence of their wrong doing.

So why haven't they plowed the hill level by now? (/joking)

American Asphalt Company should swoop in and turn the hill into a parking lot when the current naming rights run out.

[nash61]

Remember Minute Maid Park was originally Enron Field, that hill is where they hid all the evidence of their wrong doing.

So why haven't they plowed the hill level by now? (/joking)

American Asphalt Company should swoop in and turn the hill into a parking lot when the current naming rights run out.

Or when the Astros move to Winnipeg.

[Lights Out]

Remember Minute Maid Park was originally Enron Field, that hill is where they hid all the evidence of their wrong doing.

So why haven't they plowed the hill level by now? (/joking)

Repent of your evil fruits now, sinner! The Astros will sac bunt on the crushed bones of the non-believers!

[Firefly]

I was at the last game at the Astrodome, believe me when I say that the Juice Box for all its flaws is a hell of a lot better. Parking is so much better, the sightlines are great from even the cheapest seats. The train fits right in with the stadium and goes into action when runs are scored, how can a hometown fan hate that?

The hill hasn't made screwed up any games (yet) and the Crawford boxes have a hell of a view.

The real problem with the stadium is this jackass:

Go to hell Juntion Jack. Orbit forever.

[CubsFanBudMan]

What sparked the rage toward an 11-year old ballpark in the middle of March? Just curious.

And we believe you about the flagpole and hill. As I said, it's not new. But I like that you put that photo in.

I visited Minute Maid Park in 2009 and I have to say that it has not aged well. I don't mind the gimmicks so much -- even saw Michael Bourn (I believe) make a great catch on that hill -- but the place looked really dated for being such a young park and the atmosphere left a little to be desired. (Pretty empty for the two Cubs games I saw.) I enjoyed Houston and that downtown area, but it really surprised me that such a new park felt so old. Maybe it was mainly the scoreboard, which was black and white with a lot of lights out. I'll have to look back at my pictures and see what else bugged me.

[BBTV]

It's a shame that a major league team feels that they require so many gimmicks in order to attract people - most likely kids - to the park. It really looks silly when watching games on TV, and I can't imagine it's much different in person. Ballparks used to have "quirks" due to the fact that they were typically wedged into weird plots of land in urban communities, or had to make sacrifices in order to expand the seating. This park (and other parks that suffer from similar issues) had neither of those problems. Even besides the dimensions, the dumb hill, the pole, and the overall steril look caused by the tall walls and roof, WTF is a team who's identity is based on space travel doing having a stupid kids train going around in the stadium, and having an old western theme to everything? Change the team name if you're going for that identity. Its stupid.

This place should be #2 on the list of arenas that need to be blown up and turned into parking lots.

[the admiral]

Minute Maid Park could stand to lose at least half the quirks. What a mess. The weirdest part is that all the gimmicks are concentrated on left and center field, leaving right field as this weird, dark void. (And even that, in the loosest sense, may be kind of ripped off from Fenway Park's Monster/Triangle/??? outfield.) I think there's a scoreboard from 1992 in it. Nobody knows for sure...

[FiddySicks]

I went to Minute Maid Park for the 2004 All Star Game and was really shocked at how odd the place felt. While I like the short porch in left and the rock structure that the train sits on is nice, It was Cavernous and boring like a Costco out in center and right field. It's like the whole right side of the park was completely ignored when it comes to aesthetics. The big glass windows in left when the roof is closed seems to cause a multitude of issues when it comes to shadows as well. Overall the place is oddly built, dimly lit, and that big metal roof turns the place into a sauna in the summer. But, I still like the joint. It's definitely not what I expected, and it's definitely quirky, but that's the cool thing. It's easily the most unique new park I've been to.

BTW speaking of that crazy flag pole, anyone remember when Richie Sexson hit a HUGE homer that stayed in the park because it hit off of that stupid thing? That's one thing I wish they removed, but the rest of the park isn't all that bad.

[the admiral]

I'm not going to complain; Chase Field is way to symmetrical for my tastes.

Speak for yourself. Symmetry is highly underrated. Spastic zigzags have their place, and that place is shoehorned into an odd city block, or carved out of a football stadium, or up against the Pacific Ocean (and even AT&T Park isn't THAT angular). Without constraints, they're mere contrivances. The gentle curve of a Dodger Stadium/Kauffman Stadium outfield is very aesthetically pleasing. Shame the Nats went with some random collection of angles instead of (mostly) replicating the dimensions of RFK Stadium in a modernist attempt at the Anti-Camden. So obvious a move, who else but the Nats could whiff it?

[BBTV]

The Phillies put one of those stupid contrived old-timey notches in the center field at CBP. It's garbage. Actually, when you think about it, baseball is pretty silly for not having a standard playing dimension. In what other team sport are guys not playing on the same field? Players have incentives in their contracts for home runs, or for leading the league, etc., but sometimes they're at a disadvantage just because of were they play. It'd be like if the Lions decided to move their goalpost back up to the goal line, and widen them, but the other teams didn't. You don't think whoeverthefcuk their kicker is wouldn't lead the league in FGs every year?

[the admiral]

I think a better analogy is that everyone has the same field markings in football (it is, after all, 90 feet to home in every park), but the Colts play on carpet in a deafening warehouse, the Giants play in a wind tunnel, the Bears play in a swamp, and so forth. Of course, while the '99 Rams could never do their act in Pittsburgh, it's not quite the same because the field is still 100 yards long and so forth, but then again nothing can be the same as baseball because baseball is and has always been weird. Personally, I love the variables of baseball parks, the way it's kind of the "third factor" in games. Not just outfield dimensions but foul territory, elevation, temperature, wind, humidity, all that stuff that makes St. Louis different from San Diego, and Boston different from New York, and Wrigley on an April evening different from Wrigley on a June afternoon. I suspect this same principle has a lot to do with why people romanticize golf.

[Gothamite]

Actually, when you think about it, baseball is pretty silly for not having a standard playing dimension. In what other team sport are guys not playing on the same field?

Soccer.

[bosrs1]

Actually, when you think about it, baseball is pretty silly for not having a standard playing dimension. In what other team sport are guys not playing on the same field?

Soccer.

Cricket. Aussie Rules Football.