Just got back from Texas last night. It was a very full few days as I saw a game in Arlington, then drove down to Houston to see the Astros at Minute Maid, then back up to Dallas again to fly out of DFW.
It was a really interesting time to be down there. I went down with a friend of mine. We'd seen the news about the upcoming hurricane coming through New Orleans, Mississippi, and Alabama. I'd wondered if we were going to get some stormy weather out of it, but the days we were there were clear and hot (although not uncomfortable like the week before). We were taking a break on Monday afternoon before heading to the park when we started hearing more and more news about the aftermath -- We heard about how many people from Louisiana were coming to Houston to escape the storm.
I'll touch on the parks in just a paragraph or so, but wanted to touch on what I saw in Houston first. We got into Houston about 1pm, arrived at our motel, and the lobby was packed. I mean packed. There were around 20-30 people in the lobby, though none of them were in line to check in. Families, couples, pets on leashes. It was a madhouse. I made a point to just check in and head up to the room, get out of the way -- I told my friend that in a way I felt bad. We were staying at a pretty low-end place, trying to keep the trip relatively cheap. I'd wished that we'd stayed someplace nicer so that it opened up another room. But the whole town is full, it's unbelievable. Good thing we made reservations. When we headed out to the game, we looked -- around 80% of the cars were from Louisiana. Wow. I could go on about the families in front of us at Minute Maid Park -- families that didn't even know each other, both from Louisiana, both of their houses gone. (One of the guys saw his street on the news, under water.) I'll just say that while I felt bad for the families in front of me, I knew at the same time that "Hey, they're in Houston. They're at a ballgame. I'm sure they have insurance, and while shitty, they're going to be OK." Where I really feel bad if for all of the families that you know are totally screwed -- There's a reason 30,000 people are in the Superdome, they didn't have money to go and travel out of town, let alone to a ballgame. Visit
www.redcross.org today and donate, it was the first thing I did when I got home.
Onto the ballparks:
Ballpark At Arlington (Ameriquest Field): Surprisingly, I think this park actually looks better on TV. The outside really has a Polo Grounds feel to it, but damn, it is HUGE. Everywhere I went felt gigantic in that park.
I've got to say, parking at that place is absolutely stupid. I pulled into the parking lot by the freeway, figuring it would cut closer to the park, only to find I was stranded on the outskirts. Grumble, grumble. Once inside, everything felt big, really felt a little too big for a ball park. Don't get me wrong, it looks nice. I really like all of the billboard area in center field.
Seats were great, I was 9 rows up from 3rd base, and according to my buddies brother (who also hit the game with us,) we spent most of the night on TV (every time a right hander was up). I think I spent way too much on tickets though, these puppies were $58 a piece before tax and convenience -- The park isn't the only thing bigger in Texas, $58?! Sheesh. The place was absolutely empty. Night game with an announced attendance of around 21,000 -- but there was no way there were more than 10,000 there. The fans that were there, well, were pretty mediocre.
Food? First ballpark I didn't eat anything at (other than an ice cream cone). I hit a BBQ place called Shady Oaks for dinner, that was good.
Minute Maid Park: I liked this park quite a bit. Looks nice from the outside, I like the courtyard area with the statues, and the central station entrance is nice (and air conditioned!). It seems pretty weird to have statues of dudes that are still playing for your team though, talk about tieing your hands, have fun getting rid of them.
Unlike Arlington, where there is virtually nothing to do within a mile radius/walking distance, there are quite a few bars and restaurants in the area. Like Arlington, I didn't have anything at the park, damned if Texas doesn't have plenty to eat outside of the park. I'd heard good things about Irma's, so we hit that for dinner. I really liked the fruit lemonade, shrimp tacos, fajitas, and enchiladas. Yeah, I was full. Great dinner.
The park itself is very nice. The air conditioning is a nice change from the upper 90's heat outside. With the windows and the grass, you still feel like you're almost outside. I would have liked for them to have opened the roof after sundown, but oh well. The park itself is very much like Safeco here in Seattle. Between the two, I'm still more inclined to choose Safeco. No, not because I'm a homer. Let me explain.
I felt pretty far off the field at Minute Maid. I was 24 rows up from first base/right field. I walked the park before the game, and was surprised how high everything was. Left center looks cool on TV, but when you're looking over that section you feel really divorced from the field. Same goes for Right. There are very few areas in the park where you're "right there". Safeco on the other hand has the area behind the bullpens (which are located in Left center) where the fans can literally be next to a major league pitcher, seperated only by a chainlink barrier. There's also a secondary raised area in Left center above the bullpen and below the seating level where you can see right down onto the field. And let's not forget dead Center at Safeco where you can reach over and catch a home run ball that bounces off the CF's glove.
I thought Minute Maid looked terrific, but was not as practical as Safeco. (Similar criticism of SBC Park.) Fan wise, seemed pretty similar to Seattle. Have a real penchant for showing up after the game has already started, for some reason need to get up and down fifty times, and get more excited for the opportunity to throw a nerf ball into a hoop on a guys head (for no prize), than they get when the game is on. Still, they cheer when it's exciting and show up, which is more than they did in Arlington.
Overall, I had a nice time in Texas. Really friendly people (but really bad drivers.
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www.redcross.org
Doug
