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Minute Maid Park - Buy Houston Astros tickets for Minute Maid Park at TickCo.com!
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Minute Maid Park /
Houston Astros
| Year Opened | 2000 |
| Capacity | 40,950 |
| Architect | HOK |
| Dimensions | 315L, 362LC, 435C, 436RC, 373RC, 326R |
| Playing Surface | Grass |
| Last Visit | 2005 |
| Web Site | houston.astros.mlb.com |
| Online Broadcasts | Yes |
| Online Ticket Sales | Yes |
| Phone | 713/259-8000 |
| Ticket Prices (2005) | Dugout Boxes, $44; Field Boxes, $35; Crawford Boxes, $27; Bullpen Boxes, $22; Tier I Club Seats, $45; Tier II Club Seats, $38; Mezzanine, $15; Terrace Deck, $19, View Deck I, $12; View Deck II, $10; Outfield Deck, $5; Outfield Deck (Children), $1 |
| League | National League |
| Parking | Minute Maid Park is on the northeastern edge of downtown Houston, adjacent to the city's convention center and Toyota Center, the home of the NBA's Houston Rockets. As such, there's an abundance of parking lots in the surrounding area -- 25,000 spots are available most nights. In addition, there's free street parking to the south of the ballpark if you arrive early enough. |
| Directions | U.S. Highway 59 and Freeways I-45 and I-100 converge in downtown Houston. You can use any of them to get close to the ballpark; all three feature signs directing the way to the ballpark. |
| Written by: | Kevin Reichard |
| Rating |   |
(click on the image
for a larger photo)
The folks in Houston aren't afraid to think big. The original home of the Houston Astros, the Astrodome, was hailed a modern wonder of the world.
Curiously, Minute Maid Park doesn't seem to be quite as impressive an undertaking as the Astrodome, at least when you approach it from downtown Houston. True, the plan is immense, especially when the roof is closed. But when compared to the other mega-ballparks built in the last 10 years, the place is definitely on a human scale from the outside. Perhaps that's because there's really no theme to the exterior: form follows function in that the exterior really serves as a support for the huge retractable roof. There's a reason why we are not running a photo of the exterior: it defied all efforts to provide a signature exterior shot.
(click on the image
for a larger photo)
And, curiously enough, from the inside as well. The signature architectural element of Minute Maid Park is the 242-foot-high retractable roof. Houstonians like to block out the elements (though with the elements as they are in Houston it's understandable), and the roof keeps it cool in summer. Early in the season -- when we visited -- the roof is left open, as the lovely spring weather makes for a perfect outdoor ballpark experience. The roof does dominate the proceedings at Minute Maid Park: after a while you get used to its rather massive presence (and these photos tend to minimize its impact, as opposed to when you're there in person), but everything is larger than life in Texas, and Minute Maid Park is no exception.
(click on the image
for a larger photo)
One negative to our visit: because the weather was so gorgeous, the roof was open when we arrived at the ballpark. so we couldn't judge how the ballpark felt with it closed. However, we did talk to some season-ticket holders who said the ballpark feels fairly open even with the roof closed: because the wall in back of the railroad track is glass, you can still see the downtown Houston skyline and feel the sunlight pouring in.
Aside from the roof, the ballpark is curiously understated when it comes to bells and whistles, though the curvilinear look to the grandstand is a little more reminiscent of European sports facilities than ballparks. In fact, one of the coolest things about the ballpark is the interplay between the sensually curved elements (like the roofline down the third-base line and the retracted roof) and the rigid straight lines of the diamond, the foul poles and the adjoining train station. In that sense there's a somewhat European feel to Minute Maid Park -- and Houston would be one of the last places you'd expect it.
(click on the image
for a larger photo)
In most other ways Minute Maid Park follows the physical and financial model of new downtown MLB ballparks built in the last 10 years. The location is pretty decent: it's easily accessible from the entire Houston area thanks to the freeways flowing close to the ballpark, and there's plenty of parking thanks to a next-door convention center and Toyota Center down the way. There is a variety of seat price points, ranging from the pricey lower-level seats and the obligatory club-levels seats to midrange bleacher seats and very cheap seats ($1!) in right field. With a concourse ringing the ballpark, there are plenty of places to stand around and watch the action. And the concessions are plentiful, through there are some Texas touches (which we'll discuss later).
(click on the image
for a larger photo)
Besides
the roof, there are a few signature touches to the
ballpark. One of the main entrances to the
ballpark -- and the one used by most fans -- is
Union Station, the city's former train station.
Opened in 1911, Union Station was the main entry
to Houston for three generations of Texas
Now, as far as former train stations go, Union
Station is on the smaller side, but it suits the
scale of the ballpark perfectly. You walk through
the former station and encounter left field as
seen through a series of arches designed to evoke
a rail bridge. (The station is also functional: it
contains the Astros team offices and the roof
features a group party space.) This part of the
concourse actually extends over the field of play,
giving you a pretty unique view of a left fielder
when he scrambles to chase a ball rolling to the
fence. In the photo above
you can see Union Station in the background; you
can also see the rail bridge along the outfield.
To the right is the view from the concourse under
the arches; it's a popular place to gather and
watch the game. Below is the obligatory nod to the
balcony's sponsor; the gas pump also tracks how
many homers have been hit at Minute Maid Park.
The railroad theme is extended from the Union Station entrances; concession booths are built like cabooses, and a locomotive runs along the track above the left-field concourse. (This is a real train, by the way, weighing over 500,000 pounds.) When the Astros hit a homer, the engineer climbs aboard and the train chugs a little way down the track. Now, we've expressed some displeasure before with overly themey ballparks (see our look at Great American Ball Park for an example), but here the themed elements were appropriate and not overdone.
Left field is also home to some of the coolest bleachers in the majors, the Crawford bleachers. At $27, the Crawford Box seats are fairly spendy for left-field bleachers, but at only 315 feet from home plate, they're a pretty intimate set of bleachers.
There are a few drawbacks -- fans sitting there can't see the train or the old-fashioned hand-operated scoreboard beneath them -- but most fans seemed happy to be there nevertheless.
(click on the image
for a larger photo)
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