planet houston

well, the world series was won a week ago in houston, by a braves team that peaked at the right time. i am happy for captain canuck and dayf and most other brave fans, but i have to say i was kind of hoping dusty baker would get a ring as a manager, even if it meant the astros would have to win for that to happen.

it seems like a long time ago that i went to a game at minute maid park, and i guess it was. 

as you can see by the ticket, it was in 2014, before trash cans were banged upon, before that quirky hill in centerfield was removed, but after the park was renamed following the enron scandal. greed will get you every time - at least that's what i tell myself.

i was in town visiting some family and took the opportunity to head to a game between the astros and the a's. it had the feel of a minor league game to me, in that i wasn't really invested in it and i didn't have any idea about most of the players on the field. i knew josh donaldson and jose altuve, but i don't think i knew who any of the other starters were - george springer was one, but he was only a week or so in to his career, so i didn't know to boo him at that point. old friend nick punto made an appearance later in the game which was nice, i guess.

the roof was open, but while we were walking in i took this photo

because i was suprised at how normal the playing field looked. up until this time, the only other stadium i had been in with retractable roofs were in milwaukee and seattle. this stadium was definitely more like safeco in seattle than miller park in milwaukee - it felt "normal" if you know what i mean.

here's a photo looking out towards right-center, with the roof in full retraction mode

the hill is visible just at the left edge of the photo. and, other either side of the "minute maid" sign are the franchise's retired numbers. here's a closer look:

it's hard to read the names, but those are the numbers for jim umbricht, don wilson, jose cruz, mike scott, nolan ryan, jackie robinson, larry dierker, jimmy wynn, jeff bagwell, and craig biggio. i was a little surprised to not see number 50 up there for j.r. richard.

looking out to left field, 

you can see the home run choo-choo and the various pennants that they had to their name up to that point in time. the 1980 western division pennant hurt the most in 2014, but when i return it will be the 2017 world championship pennant that i take the most umbrage with.  and, of course halliburton was a "community leader" for the astros.  one more item i took note of - the white circle under the "champion" ad and above the bullpen has the initials "dk" in it - a standing memorial to the late darryl kile.

i took one photo of game action (i missed the first pitch i guess)

that's brandon moss at the plate in the top of the first. josh donaldson is on first base. there was a runner (jed lowrie) on second, but with the lefty up, jose altuve was positioned at a deep second base. the a's won the game 12-5 after scoring seven runs in the top of the ninth inning.

minute maid park was the 18th different stadium i have seen a regular season big league game in, and i have this 2018 topps opening day ballparks card

in my collection to represent my visit.  

i had tentative plans to go to the world series in houston had the dodgers advanced, but i guess my next trip to see a game there will have to wait.