Houston Astros

 

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Well, I haven’t been anywhere to see a picturesque sunrise in quite a while.  I am glad I was awake for this one.  I went to the USS Lexington this morning, which is docked in CC.  It is a WWII era aircraft carrier.  It has some cool planes and quite an extensive tour and museum.  I kept finding more and more things to look at.  It did reaffirm the fact that I am too tall to have been in the navy.  Short bunks, short ceilings, it would have been terrible.

Some people have asked about how many hats I have, or past parks I have been too.  So when I get home, I think I am going to try and write something up about the past parks I have seen.  Although I believe my count for minor league ballparks is 46 and majors 13.  But some of those were before my hat souvenir binge, and some of the majors I just took tours(5) at, no games.

Houston- big city again, also non-conforming Texas toll again.  Argh.  Minute Maid Park is right downtown, and it is a dome.  Very odd, I had never seen a game in a dome before.  One foul ball actually hit the roof.  It was pretty nice, I got there when the Cubs were finishing up batting practice, so I waited in the outfield for a homerun, but none came near me, although one hit off the second deck’s facade above me.  Big concourses, lots of place to get food or souvenirs, A Train above the left field wall for excitement when the Astros hit a homer.  Not sure what a train has to do with astros.  Neat having the window behind it, seeing the skyline.  I sat in the second row of the upper deck, pretty good seats for $22.  But the stadium was 70%full (yeah right) so I was able to move down later, and the ushers didn’t care.

Zambrano started the game, but the Cubs couldn’t swing the bats, so they lost 3-1.  It is amazing how well cubs fans travel.  Everywhere you see a Cubs game, you see plenty of Cubs fans.  That was even true for the Iowa Cubs.  I remember when I saw them in Atlanta in 2003, walking in downtown before the game, Cubs jerseys everywhere.  Quite cool.

They opened up the roof after the game for some fireworks.  Still only 8 minutes worth, compared to the average 7 min for the minors that I have seen.  I thought they might go a little longer, seeing that they are the bigs and all.  But still fun as always.