Colt Stadium
Encyclopedia
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
stadium
Stadium
A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...
that formerly stood in Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
. It was the home of the Houston Colt .45s
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team located in Houston, Texas. They are a member of the National League Central division. The Astros are expected to join the American League West division in 2013. Since , they have played their home games at Minute Maid Park, known as Enron Field...
. It was their temporary home from 1962
1962 Houston Colt .45s season
The Houston Colt .45s season was a season in American baseball, and the first season in franchise history. Harry Craft was named Houston's first manager...
-1964
1964 Houston Colt .45s season
The Houston Colt .45s season was the team's third season in Major League Baseball. It involved the Houston Colt .45s finishing in ninth place in the National League with a record of 66-96, 27 games behind the eventual World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals...
while the Astrodome was being built, just to the south of it. The stadium consisted of an uncovered grandstand stretching from foul pole to foul pole and small bleacher stands in right and left field. One baseball annual published just before the 1962 season referred to it as "a barn-like thing". It is best remembered for the horribly hot and humid weather (and attendant mosquito population) that had necessitated building the first domed stadium.
The stadium was abandoned when the Astrodome was completed. The Astros would occasionally use it for running and exercising to acclimatize players to warm weather before a road trip. However, the players had to be careful as rattlesnakes would often take up residence on the field. Monsanto engineers also used it as a testing ground for what would become known as Astroturf
AstroTurf
AstroTurf is a brand of artificial turf. Although the term is a registered trademark, it is sometimes used as a generic description of any kind of artificial turf. The original AstroTurf product was a short pile synthetic turf while the current products incorporate modern features such as...
, inviting cars and horses to ride on the synthetic surface to gauge its durability. It sat abandoned for ten years, accumulating random odds and ends from near-by Astroworld and weathering in the blistering Texas sun. It was eventually broken down and moved to Gómez Palacio to serve as the home of a Mexican League baseball team. Its site was paved over, adding some area to the Astrodome parking lot.
The right field corner of the stadium was located in what is now the northeast corner of the Reliant Center
Reliant Center
Reliant Center is a convention center in Houston, Texas, USA, part of the Reliant Park complex that was constructed around the Astrodome and Reliant Stadium. Reliant Center hosts various events year-round, including portions of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, who maintains its offices on the...
. Much of the northern half of the stadium (center field, left field and the third base stands) is occupied by a power station, and home plate was approximately located where a light pole in the adjacent parking lot is.