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The cavernous feel and echo of the place! Had to be the most un-real place for baseball to be played, and watched. Or maybe it was just the nature of the Houston sports fan; satisfied with sitting politely, listening to the echo at a game with a small audience, just happy to be in air-conditioned comfort.
All of that may be true Jimbob, but until April 2000, it's how I thought a baseball game was supposed to be. Yeah, there were a lot of seats that went unused at an Astros game but man, on the rare occasions when it was packed it was pretty freaking awesome. And it was awesome for me anyway. From the first game I went to in the mid 70's, 'til the last one in '99, it was exciting for me every time I walked through the tunnel and layed eyes on the wide open giant that stood before me.

Yeah, I got spoiled by the comfort at the Dome. The cushioned seats, 72 degrees. I guarantee it ain't 72 degrees at MMP with the lid shut. Of course that's uncle Draytie saving $$$ on the A/C bill.:mad

The first game I ever attended at another ML ballpark was about '97 or so in Arlington. In left field, in the sun, in August. It is still to this day the worst experience at a game I've ever had. You couldn't see because the sun was shining right in your eyes, and if you could get past that, you still couldn't see because of the sweat in your eyes. Can you imagine me actually buying not beer, but WATER???:OMG I was thanking God the whole trip back to Houston for the Astrodome.

But then came April 2000. That's when I learned how it was supposed to be played. The grass, the outdoors, the wind, and when it gets hot, we close the roof, but even then it has an outside feel to it with the Texas sized windows.

The pumpkin patch is a great stadium.
I started out with nothing...and I still have most of it.