Amanda purchased 4 tickets to the Houston Astros vs Chicago White Sox game for us a few weeks ago. And it was Hot Dog Night…you can’t beat a $1/dog at a ballpark! We arrived early to spend some time exploring Minute Maid Park as it was our first visit here. Kaitlyn was unexpectedly out of town on business, so their friend, Angela, joined us.
We checked out team stores, team exhibits, and lots of food options (although we ended up sticking with the hot dogs!).
The stadium is very impressive with a retractable roof (no rainouts), air conditioning (never been in an air-conditioned ball park before!), and a huge wall of windows.
The Astros team mascot, Orbit, entered the stadium through the tunnel in the back of truck. And a local middle school chorus and band performed the national anthem (well done!
Below are the starting lineups for each team.
The theme of this game was the pitching excellence of Justin Verlander, (Astros). You can see a blurry image of the ball in the first photo below.
A home run by Astros’ Gurriel in the 4thinning enabled us to experience one of the team traditions here at Minute Maid Park. When the home team hits a home run, the Astros ornamental train (90’ above the field) travels down the track (800’) while fans cheer wildly. Conductor, Bobby “Dynamite” Vasquez, is a very popular guy with the best seat in the house!
With bases loaded for the Astros in the 5th inning, we were hoping to see a grand slam. But a couple of wild pitchers and a couple of hits tallied up 4 more runs for the Astros.
Verlander was throwing a no-hitter going into the 6thinning. In the 7th, he gave up a solo home run which ended up being the only hit for the White Sox. Following the traditional singing of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” everyone joined in to sing “Deep in the Heart of Texas.” We loved it!
They played it again at the end of the game when Orbit game out to celebrate the win.
The stats for Verlander’s dominant performance were 12 strike-outs, 1 hit, and 1 walk. The final scoreL Astros 5, White Sox 1. It was a fun and exciting game to watch!
We walked back to the car, passing the large model of the Astros’ World Series Ring and then Jones Hall.
For additional information about Minute Maid Park or the Houston Astros schedule, go to www.mlb.com/astros/ballpark.
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