ADV Draft Baseball League Other

Ugh, here again?

By happenstance, I have a friend that needed help moving to Houston. Seeing this as an opportunity to help her move in alongside knocking out a stadium I knew would be a bit of a reach to attend from Chicago, I gladly accepted and began a road trip down to the Space City with her and one of my roommates at the time (neither of which are big into baseball). As I had just been there three months prior, I was familiar with the city layout and the spots to hit. However, this time around I entered somewhere new: Minute Maid Park.

Despite my dislike towards the Astros, I do have to admit there are a lot of positives to the stadium itself. It’s well-integrated into the city and the area outside of the stadium is lively and full of history (as I had seen a few months prior). I remember parking was relatively easy and the inner ring of Houston is quite walkable. The concourse is standard, with nothing particularly memorable to me that stuck out. This particular game saw the dome over the stadium, despite it being only 80 degrees Fahrenheit outside with around 70% humidity -- humid, to be sure, but only actually feeling closer to 85 as opposed to a triple-digit day. A fair bit of natural light filters in through the windows behind the train tracks. The ventilation in the stadium is top-notch, with the section we had behind home plate feeling chilly. The field itself has a lot going for it, with fun dimensions and the train in the back providing the park some flavor. Bobby Dynamite, despite being an Astros figure, is one of the coolest and most heartwarming stories in baseball. There seems to not be too many bad seats in the park, with standing room all around the main concourse and ample seating throughout the edges of the field. The park also had something called Breggy Bomb Swamp Sauce at the condiments sections in the upper concourse, which was fun.

All domed stadiums create an interesting experience. At the time of writing, I’ve been to three baseball stadiums where the dome was up at the game(s) I’ve attended: American Family Field in Milwaukee, Minute Maid, and Globe Life Field across the state in Arlington. When the roof is closed and the entire stadium is indoors, I feel that it creates a bit more pressure as a fan. Sound is contained and echoed all around the stadium, which creates a loud environment that felt more like when I attended a Vikings game in 2021 as opposed to the more relaxed atmosphere I tend to seek when I go to baseball games. It was, however, a pretty welcome experience -- especially given the game we had witnessed that day.

This game was a pitching masterclass by Houston’s Framber Valdez: a complete game shutout, with four hits, no walks, and seven strikeouts. A truly terrible day as an Astros hater but an amazing spectacle to witness as a great pitching enjoyer. The 2023 Athletics weren’t exactly a paragon of success, but it was still very impressive to see the lineup carved up and down so thoroughly. My roommate was not impressed with the lack of scoring, however. His favorite moment came when the A’s Esteury Ruiz stole third base in the sixth: one of 67 to set the AL rookie record that season. Despite making it there, though, Brent Rooker struck out to end the inning. A forgettable single from José Altuve and a wild pitch made up the Astros’ two runs in the game, and Valdez’s seventh strikeout of the night wrapped it up. This was the only time the train moved all night, which I was happy to see. It feels like it would have been a waste to come and not see the train move at least once. With only nine hits and two runs in the game, all focus was on Valdez to see if he could extend his run of form. And, inning after inning, he delivered.

Another thing worth noting is that despite Minute Maid Park being the home field of the Astros, Altuve and other Astros involved in the cheating scandal still got booed. These boos were, of course, mostly drowned out by cheers from the adoring Astros fans -- but I still managed to hear some (besides my own). My roommate, who does not typically watch sports and generally likes to root for heels of the games he does watch, claimed Altuve was his favorite player headed into the game and cheered just as loud as any Astros fan. However, after seeing Esteury Ruiz steal third, the friendship ended with Altuve and Ruiz was his new best friend. Hopefully Ruiz can escape the Athletics’ organization someday.

As stated: despite my dislike for the Astros, Minute Maid Park is a stadium with a lot going for it. I never got to experience the open roof, but I imagine that it makes the environment more open (at the cost of the pressure that I was talking about earlier). If I ever find myself in Houston again, I’d want to go to a game here again. I would also want to wear opposing team merchandise, if possible.