GatewayRedbirds.com

I really find old abandoned ballparks interesting. Amazing that the Astodome was once considered state of the art and is now an abandoned dinosaur...

http://www.houstonpress.com/slideshow/8 ... -36498114/

_________________
The Chicago Cubs: be-LIE-ving since 1908

"Do I want to be in STL forever? Of course. People from other teams want to play in STL and they are jealous that we're in STL because the fans are unbelievable. So why would you want to leave a place like STL to go somewhere else and make 3 OR 4 MORE MILLION A YEAR? IT'S NOT ABOUT MONEY. IALREADY GOT MY MONEY. IT'S ABOUT WINNING, THAT'S IT." Albert Pujols (February 15th, 2009)

Who wants to start the bidding at $200! Do I hear $200 dollars?!

_________________
"I have had craps that make my leg feel like it is being torn off
by a pack of angry chihuahuas, lets hope that is all it is...." -wart57
"Good lord. This is a family site." - G Keenan

Gateway Redbirds Facebook Group

Abandoned and in disrepair or not, that pisser is still in better shape than any you'll find at Wrigley.

_________________
There's a lot to be said for making people laugh. Did you know that that's all some people have? It isn't much, but it's better than nothing in this cockeyed caravan.
-John L. Sullivan, Sullivan's Travels (1941)

I went to many games at the Astrodome from 1978 to 1985, when I lived in Louisiana. I always enjoyed it.

_________________
"You have to be concerned about the future, but you also have to be more concerned about the present. If you have to give up two or three young kids - who may not be able to play for several years - to get help for your team now, you have to do it." - Bing Devine, 1999

"They call baseball a game because it's too screwed up to be a business." - Jim Bouton, 1971.

"Big deal. Anyone can win games when the other team doesn't score any runs." - Curt Flood to Bob Gibson, circa 1968

What a waste, Dewallet would have had those sold in no time flat

_________________



For I am but a simple caveman. I can't understand your fancy modern posts about sabermetrics. I just know that the cardinals rule all.

That's because there are no pissers at Wrigley, at least not that I've found.

Jose Cruz, that is who I associate with the Astrodome.

What is the plan for that place anyway?

_________________
"I have had craps that make my leg feel like it is being torn off
by a pack of angry chihuahuas, lets hope that is all it is...." -wart57
"Good lord. This is a family site." - G Keenan

Gateway Redbirds Facebook Group

Went to many events there when we lived in Houston (1979-1983), from the Livestock Show to the NLCS. Memorable events include the first Oilers home playoff game in the "Love Ya Blue" era (Bum Phillips/Earl Campbell/Dan Pastorini), the 1986 All-Star Game, Games 1 & 2 of the '86 NLCS against the Pond Scum. Mrs. Rad had a work outing in September of that year and saw this game, Mike Scott's division-clinching no-hitter. She was pregnant with Mini-Rad at the time, so I always kid both of them that they've been to a no-hitter which, despite going to 100x more ballgames than them, I've never come close to witnessing.

A unique place being the first of its kind, but really just another cookie cutter stadium with a roof on it.

(oh, yeah, and an exploding scoreboard).

_________________

"I love to play this game of baseball - I love putting on this uniform."

I probably saw as many baseball games in the Astrodome as I did in old Busch. By that point in the late 90s it was a dark, depressing place to be. In Houston though, nobody (especially the powers that be, like the county commissioners and city councilmen) can let go of the old idea that it's still the "8th Wonder of the World." It was once - first major domed stadium, full of technological advances.

But it isn't any longer. For awhile after Enron/Minute Maid opened, the Dome was used for the rodeo (a 3 week event drawing hundreds of thousands of people, like a carnival plus a nightly concert) and the occasional high school game. Then it became too decrepit even for that. The last major use of the Dome, sadly, was housing the refugees from Hurricane Katrina.

I've read that the upkeep on the dome - just to keep it physically standing, yet unusable - is well over $1 mil a year. The city keeps commissioning expensive studies for a new purpose, and the ideas floated have included hotel (cost to convert would be insane compared to just tearing down, building a new hotel), casino (illegal in TX, baptists in charge), or movie studio and set (really no demand, would be a huge boondoggle).

So it stands, and continues to decay. It's really quite sad for anyone who lived in Houston to see it now, but nobody will just let it go and tear the thing down.

_________________