Game 14: Minute Maid Park, Houston, TX
Chicago White Sox vs Houston Astros – Monday, June 17, 2o13
We took a late afternoon flight out of Tampa and arrived in Houston, just before 4 pm. We rented a car at the airport, checked into our hotel, and drove to Houston’s historic Theatre District where we had a late lunch at the Hard Rock Café. It was a much smaller place than the one we were at yesterday. We then walked to the ballpark, which was about a mile away. It was another hot and humid day. The daytime high here was near 100! As soon as we got outside from any place that was air-conditioned, our glasses would fog up instantly. Viva la Condensation!
The ballpark came to our rescue again! For the third straight day, we watched a major league game indoors. And for the second day in a row, we were at a venue named after an orange juice manufacturer. Viva la Vitamin C!
The Minute Maid Park has a retractable roof, but from what we learned, it is closed off most of the time. As we got there nearly 45 minutes before game time, we got to walk around the perimeter of the park and take pictures. This is a really nice place. A big attraction was the plaza outside where there was a statue of Craig Biggio throwing to another statue of Jeff Bagwell. Viva la Killer B’s!
We made our way inside the ballpark and stopped at a team store to pick up a cap and ball. After that, we strolled around leisurely for a few minutes before heading to our seats. We were sitting just a few rows back from the third base line, about half way between home plate and the left field wall. The view was fantastic. The inside of the ballpark reminded us more of Marlins Park than Tropicana Field. The place was cavernous and it was a good 435 feet from home to the centerfield wall
The crowd was paltry, but those who were there were truly passionate fans. We saw one fan whose entire face was painted with the Astros logo and the three ladies who were sitting were behind us came armed with several placards, a scorecard, glove, and large cut-out alphabets to spell “Jose.” One of them had on a real cool sweater that looked like a wrap around baseball. In the late innings, they moved closer to the field and were lucky to get a ball tossed to them by Astros third baseman Matt Dominguez. Good for them!
The Astros have struggled this year, but have played well lately. This was the fourth game of their series against the White Sox and they won the first three. They jumped ahead 1-0 in the first inning when Jason Castro ripped a double to center that scored Jose Altuve, all the way from first. In the third, Castro came up with an encore. He hit another RBI double, this time to right, that scored Brandon Barnes from third and put the Astros up 2-0. The game stayed that way after five innings and it sure looked like the White Sox were on their way to suffering a four game sweep and dropping their fifth straight. Their starter Jose Quintana was sent to the showers after just four and two thirds and the Astros’ starter Bud Norris was pitching like the staff ace and cruising through a shutout.
But one of baseball’s special charms is its utter unpredictability. Just when you think you have the game figured out, it taps you on the shoulder and shakes its head.
It happened in this one via an improbable sixth inning for the visitors. Alejandro De Aza led off the frame with a single to right, but the next two hitters lined out to the outfield and it looked like Norris was going to get around the De Aza hit. With two men down, Adam “Biggin” Dunn hit a well placed single up the middle that advanced De Aza to third. That brought Paul Konerko to the plate and he hit a ball that just barely made it past the pitcher and by the time the shortstop Ronny Cedeno got to it, Konerko was safe at first, and De Aza had scored to make it 2-1. The next batter Conor Gillaspie hit a grounder that was fielded well by second baseman Altuve, who fired to Norris covering first, but the pitcher apparently lost the ball in the lights and did not make the play. Just like that the bases were loaded, but not for long. The next hitter Dayan Viciedo sent a fly ball to deep center and for a while, it looked like center fielder Barnes would get to it. The ball, however, fell just out of his reach and by the time it was fielded and thrown back in, the bases had cleared and Viciedo was at third with a triple. Suddenly, the White Sox were up 4-2 with all four runs in the inning coming after two were out! The ‘Stros had a golden opportunity to come back in the seventh when they had men on first and second with nobody out. The White Sox bullpen, however, asserted itself by striking out the next three hitters to preserve the lead. Neither team scored any more runs for the rest of the game and Chicago was able to salvage this one.
During the game we got to walk around the inside of the ballpark and take pictures. This place has some of the nicest ballpark workers we have met so far. When one of the ushers found out that this was our first trip to Minute Maid, he personally escorted us to the PR office, where they issued us certificates for attending the game. So we now have official proof that we were here.
After the game, we walked back toward the Hard Rock Café, retrieved our car from the parking garage, drove back to our hotel, and turned in for the night.
We will see you soon from our next stop. So long!
