WRAPPIN UP THE ROAD TRIP DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS





It was a fun 3 days here in Houston, especially with the Blue Crew taking the latter 3 games of this 4 game series , and me attending all 3 of the wins. ( Maybe I should have been here Monday, perhaps we may have had a sweep....) It was good to see the Dodger offense heat up, hopefully they can keep it going into San Francisco this weekend. Kent, Ethier, and Loney in particular came through big in this series, especially Kent, hitting a solo shot in the 10th in Tuesday's game to win it, coming back on Wednesday with a pair of RBI doubles. Ethier had a couple of solo shots in this series and was actually a triple away from a cycle in the Wednesday game. ( A triple, you know, the hardest hit in baseball...) He had a shot at it in the 9th inning and I had commented to a fan next to me that MMP was the perfect ballpark to hit a triple if he could send a shot up Tal's Hill ( More on that later ) , but he grounded out to short. Matt Kemp earlier in the game hit a triple up the hill, one of the few times the hill came into play as Astros CFielder Michael Bourne had to chase Kemps shot up the hill. Loney , a native of Missouri City , Texas just outside of Houston, had a good series as well, which included a solo shot into the Crawford Boxes in LF. Minute Maid Park is a nice cozy ballpark. A bandbox. For the most part, you really are close to the action, even in the upper deck seats too. It's got a retractable roof to protect the fans from the harsh summer elements in these parts, the roof is in use mostly from June on toward the end of the season. Other features here include Tal's Hill, beyond the CF warning track that is reminiscent of old Crossley Field in Cincinatti, and the field is in play. The hill also has a flag pole out there, reminiscent of old Tiger Stadium. And should a potential HR hit the pole and bounce back into the field, the ball is in play. This has happened only once, last season, when Richie Sexon of the Brewers accomplished the feat and had to settle for a triple.
If you are on a budget, you may want to buy the cheap seats then claim a spot out in the home run porch in left center, where there is a balcony hanging above the warning track. Out there , you'll likely to encounter the Puma's, a devoted following of Astro Lance Berkman, dubbed The Big Puma.
MMP is worth a stop for your ballpark road trip, and while in Houston, you may also want to check out the Johnson Space Center about 30 minutes south of the ballpark. And of course, no trip to Texas would be complete without sampling some BBQ, which I did over at Goode Company.
OTHER NOTES
Thur 7/3 there were many armed forces tributes during the game in the day before the 4th, including a nice video tribute to Rick Monday rescuing the US Flag at Dodger Stadium in 1976 as a member of the Chicago Cubs.
HAVE A GREAT 4TH OF JULY EVERYONE !!!!


