November 2014 – A Random Journey

‘If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.’ – Will Rogers

‘My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am.’ – Unknown

‘Happiness is a warm puppy.’ – Charles M. Schulz

‘If you think dogs can’t count, try putting three dog biscuits in your pocket and then give him only two of them.’ – Phil Pastoret

‘No one appreciates the very special genius of your conversation as the dog does.’ – Christopher Morley

Bonus!

‘Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.’ – Groucho Marx

My seemingly never-ending quest to see a baseball game in every Major League Baseball stadium continues.

I’ve visited 28 different stadiums* so far, just having executed a whirlwind Texas Two Step to Houston and Arlington.

Only five more stadiums to go.**

Now, let’s look at the 27th one I’ve visited. We went to two games.

Minute Maid Park (Houston, Texas) – Home of the Houston Astros

Highs

The stadium is right downtown. We stayed at Embassy Suites, a mere 10 minute walk, through a nice little city park affectionately dubbed Discovery Green.
In Center Field, for some reason there is a large bump or hill, called Tal’s Hill with a flag pole in the middle. It pisses outfielders off. I like quirks that make no sense. Good job, Houston, for showing us your bump.
They closed the retractable roof for the second game. So refreshingly cool inside, so hot outside.
St. Arnold’s Brewery, local to Houston, had a big stand selling their beers. Their beers were found everywhere in the stadium. All of which were wet and good.
We had a friendly grasshopper hanging out until the kids in front of us abused it too much and it hightailed it out of there.
The outside facade probably had a nice color scheme. If I were into that sort of thing.

Lows

I’m a Seattle Mariners fan. The Mariners lost both games we attended. Badly. They only missed the playoffs by one game. Just saying.
It is always hot and sweaty during the game. When the roof is open…like the first day…yikes! And this was September, so it’s not really the bad part of the year.
Not a lot of bars and restaurants nearby. You have a walk a bit.
I don’t think too many people go to see the Astros…and the people who were there were discussing the Houston Texans game.

Verdict: A solid stadium and worth a visit. Doesn’t do enough to be in the top 10 that I’ve been to, but there is nothing wrong with it and Astros’ fans (such as they exist), should take pride in it and attend more games!

Next: Globe Life Park in Arlington

* Mathletes take note: There are 30 MLB teams. I’ve been to two DIFFERENT stadiums for three teams (Seattle, Texas and Washington).

** Remaining: Kansas City, St. Louis, Colorado, Arizona, San Diego