Agreed on MMP. Baseball has the most variability in stadiums which is what makes visiting a bunch of them a neat experience but there are still many that are of the cookie cutter variety. Minute maid park is not one of those. It does need to get rid of those hideous advertisements under the track however.
NRG and Toyota Center are multi-purpose use facilities... they're always going to have a "generic" feel to it (although Toyota finally decided to put up some walls dedicated to the Rockets... I swear, when that place first opened you would not be able to tell me who played there by walking around the concourse). MMP is a baseball-only facility. Sure, they may have other events there, but there will be no mistaking what its true purpose is.
Perspective. Some people the hill makes MMP one of the worst. Personally, I liked it... just think the overall depth should've been 410' instead of 420'+
Reid Ryan was on Sirius MLB Network a couple of days ago When asked about the removal of Tals Hill he said that teams are always looking for new ways to create revenue, and a group area with that view would be a great area to create a way for more revenue. He also mentioned that some of the players thought it was unfair to hit a ball to that part of the park and get an out, and even said they worry about a high paid player like Springer getting hurt out there although he did follow that by saying there has never been a significant injury on the hill in 15 years. But he made no attempt to hide the fact that what drove the decision, was looking for an additional revenue stream. And i'm not complaining, the more revenue streams the better as far as i'm concerned, as long as that revenue is put back into baseball operations in some way And where is that $5 beer in MMP??
The Astros revealed yesterday that fans will be able to sit on the field in 2016, stating that unlike the Hill, fans can run out of the way if they are so inclined.
I think I have seen it but that it is 14oz may be incorrect, from what I remember it looks much smaller than that (maybe 8 or 10oz)
Yea i've always bought the 20 oz ones for like $7.50, which really isn't terrible when you are getting 20 oz
The Budwiser Patio has $5 beer sometimes and there is a happy hour each Friday home game until 6pm at the bar behind section 104 in the Atrium.
It would be nice if they brought the fence in and made it short like the Fenway right field wall and kept the hill in place for like a picnic area.
Uh, what. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Astros are postponing centerfield renovations</p>— Brian McTaggart ⚾️ (@brianmctaggart) <a href="https://twitter.com/brianmctaggart/status/654726081522458624">October 15, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tal's Hill lives! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a> <a href="http://t.co/1zydw8y0Lv">pic.twitter.com/1zydw8y0Lv</a></p>— MoiseKapenda Bower (@moisekapenda) <a href="https://twitter.com/moisekapenda/status/654726248040558592">October 15, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
How hard can it be to flatten a hill and take out a flag post? It seems like a project that should take a few weeks - not 6 months!
They seem to be a little too defensive in this whole thing (A full Q&A press briefing?)... its not like the taxpayers are funding it, and its not like an overwhelming amount of fans had their hearts set on this. Frankly, I forgot about the entire renovation till I was at game 4, walking around the center field area, and it hit me that it could be the last time it was like it was. Also wouldn't surprise me if the costs for the project started to get a bit out of line from original estimates... and that played a role.
