By Robert Snyder
Editor’s note – This article originally appeared on AstrosConnection.com on March 23, 2000.
Since late 1997 when construction of Enron Field started I have avidly followed its progress. In my relatively short lifetime I have lived in Houston all of my life and have never been a witness to a new stadium being built. Even then the thought of seeing a new stadium go up gave me a never-before felt excitement. Throughout my lifetime I have seen a variety of baseball stadiums. In order of attendance and first year there is parentheses: the Astrodome (’84), Veterans Stadium (’87), Wrigley Field (’87), old Comiskey Park (’88), Busch Stadium (’89), new Comiskey (’90, and its horribly slanted upper deck), Riverside Stadium in Harrisburg, PA- Home of the AA Senators (’92), and single A, Kane County Ballpark- in Kane County, Illinois (’99- West of Chicagoland- in a location like Plano, or The Woodlands in comparison to their respective metropolitan areas). These stadiums have given me a background of sorts when comparing ballparks.
The Dome and Nostalgia
First, I want to talk about the old before going to the new. In ’86 for the Astrodome?s 20th Anniversary the Astros did a historical look, in the game programs every month, about the Dome and how it was built. Looking at those black and white pictures with monster metal supports beams meeting to the center apex were amazing, especially for a 5 year old. They had the famous pictures of the groundbreaking with Colt .45 revolvers, and a test run of the Scoreboard Spectacular with the red seats of the pavilion in view. Unfortunately, there were not many more photos of nostalgia from the construction days, or from the 60s for that matter. As a youngster trying to learn more about the Dome, and later on as someone seeing how the past would connect to the future this absence of history was disturbing to me.
The Astros on this go around with Enron Field have left no stone unturned when it comes to preserving the historical significance of the new stadium. The hundreds of pictures on the Astros, Harris County Houston Sports Authority, and Ballparks.com websites will provide a glimpse into the past when a youngster 5-10 years from now wants to know, “Dad, how did they build Enron Field?” Also, I?m sure the Astros will sell a book and maybe even a video showing the 2 plus years of work it took to build Enron Field. I would gladly put a book about Enron Field beside the book about the life of Nolan Ryan, written by the Chronicle’s Mickey Herskowitz, I had received this past Christmas. A book like that can take you back places.
My first experience in the Dome came in 1984 when I was only 3 years old. My parents must have believed that I was behaving well enough to be taken to a place with screaming old men who may have had a few too many. From the ’84 season I have a tattered program from that game. The Astros were hosting the Padres that day. Obviously, I don?t remember the game details, but I do remember in the program that Bob Lillis was Manager, and reserve infielder Bert Pena wore number 1. My first real memory of attending an Astros game comes from the 1987 season. I remember being in my black, mesh Astros Spring Training Jersey, wearing my Astros hat, and getting a game program. The game was Jose Cruz’s last game as an Astro player. It was late in the game when he came up, he may have pinch hit, and it was loud. Everyone was cheering, and the PA Announcer yelled, “Crrrrrrrrruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuzzzzz” forever. I remember the “Crrruuuuuzzz” running along the RF message board taking up the whole board in the process. I saw on average about 2-3 games a year in the Dome between 1988-1999, and loved every minute of it. The only time in which I was less than enthused about being at the Dome was in late 1988. The Dome was being decimated in the OF for more seats, and the place looked a mess.
Some fans were ready to write off the Dome as early as 1988 when Rodent-wearing Bastard Bud Adams, decimated the Dome for eternity. The Home Run Spectacular (HRS) page has the gruesome details. My dad from a giveaway to season ticket holders has a red light bulb from the HRS. Going back to the Dome in 1989 was very different. Having two Diamond Visions instead one was interesting, but the dot matrix board in LF wasn?t even worthy of being called a third-cousin to the HRS. Watching the games was never the same after that. I still loved the Dome and its indoor comfort, but it?s like losing a kidney or a finger. You can still live after it happens, but you?re not the same. George Lucas?s Industrial Light & Magic was at one point rumored to be talking with the Astros about a new laser-based HRS, but those talks never got off the ground.
Flash forward to 1995 after the successes of Oriole Park at Camden Yards, The Ballpark in Arlington, Jacobs Field, and the opening of Coors Field. Retro parks became all the rage. All of the national media began to rave about how traditional and grand it all was. The continuous talk about how great these parks are hit me in 1996 when the Astros were going for a new stadium. While watching ESPN and other sports shows it hit me smack in the head. What I had grown up with, and loved was in fact considered “untraditional, and immoral to baseball.” Those views were proliferated by East Coast broadcasters. They looked down upon us, and unfortunately their uneducated views about the Astros and the Oliers debacle from a year earlier were spread to anyone willing to listen.
Houston Makes a Decision
Dateline January 1996: The Oilers are moving closer to lame duck status as Bud Adams has a foot in Nashville?s door. With a relocation agreement signed Houston begins to deal with the possible loss of the Oilers. Meanwhile Astros owner Drayton McLane begins to raise his voice about the inadequacy of the Astrodome and possibly moving the team. McLane and the newly revamped Harris County Houston Sports Authority take up the task to get a new baseball-only stadium.
Houstonians, with the stadium issue thrust upon them, are faced with issues not seen since the early 1960s. The Oilers on April 30th officially announce the ’96 season as a lame-duck year with the move Tennessee about 9 months away. The focus for most of the ’96 season is not just on Terry Collins and his Astros, but on the ownership group from Virginia trying to pry the Astros out of Houston. Thoughts of Houston losing two pro sports teams in a year made me worry. An aggressive and thoroughly thought out proposal to build the Astros a downtown stadium, and attract the NFL back to Houston is put on the November ballot. To make things interesting, broadcaster Larry Dierker replaces Terry Collins as Manager on October 4th. With about a month until the election it’s crunch time for the voters. By a narrow margin the referendum is approved with 2000 projected as the move-in date for the Astros. I rejoiced that day as the Astros were saved from moving, and questions what the new stadium would look like popped into my head.
On to Downtown
The Astros in 1997 constructed a model of The Ballpark at Union Station to complement the drawings and renderings released by HOK in late ’96. The model shows how the new retractable roof works, the playing dimensions and field configuration , seating set-up, new RF scoreboard, and audio of broadcaster Milo Hamilton describing the new features of the ballpark.
With the release of the model and drawings to the public, I was astonished how vastly different the new park was from the Astrodome. The grass, rumors about a new HRS, and the big window in LF made me think about the uniqueness of the Dome (before 1989), and how some of it was being recaptured at the BUS. Along with the first drawings of the park came the reactions of the people: “Is that really a flagpole in center?” “That can?t be a hill. Can it?” “Will they be able to keep the mosquitoes out?” “Why is there only one bullpen?” “Why do we have that dirt runway to home plate?” “Wow. That scoreboard is huge in right field.” Local sportstalk show hosts humored us in our pursuit to the answers. Most of them said something to the effect of: “Wait 3 years for the place to be built, and then you?ll see.” When Gerry the Hun would go on the talk shows to answer questions about the stadium, the flagpole, hill, retractable roof, tickets, and dirt runway would take up most of his time.
As the construction progressed in 1998, I greatly anticipated the updates given about BUS on Astros.com and the Sports Authority?s Website. This also marked for the first in Houston Sports History that a professional facility would heavily archive the progress of construction and provide the photos to the public. Looking back on those archives from the big hole in the ground to the stadium the Astros have now is astonishing.
In 1999 and 2000 the amount of progress made on Enron Field has been mind-blowing. In early 1999 the shaping of the seating bowl, and the beginnings of the roof was all that was built. Now it’s a fully functional stadium a little over a year later. The closer it has gotten to 2000 the more photo and written stadium updates were released to the public. Some surprises also came out to the public. In mid-1999 the Astros announced that a train would run along the left field wall. It would run the track after home runs, wins, and would also complement the action on the field. Later on in ’99, as the scoreboard started taking shape my enthusiasm grew. I am now feverishly checking the sites everyday for those few new pictures showcasing the new details at Enron. Visions of this ballpark and its quirky effects dance in my head. I can?t wait to see the Yankee exhibition game on TV March 30th. However, I won?t be completely satisfied until I can head to Enron in person sometime this summer.
While seeing this all come to fruition I feel a sense of pride, that Houston, as they did with the Dome, is building another first class stadium to complement their baseball team, and for the fact that Houston did step up to the plate when deciding to keep the Astros. Even for the non- sports fan this marks the beginning of a new Houston. The downtown part of Houston will no longer be ignored as it has been realized that a city’s downtown is a vital to any thriving metropolis, and that will benefit us all.
P.S. I say Biggio will smack the 1st EFUS Homer on March 30th.