There was a reference to foamers in today's sports section. I gather you got a free beer if there was a strikeout or something. How did it work?
In no particular order: -I was at the imfamous Buddy Ryan vs. Kevin Gilbride game. Didn't know what happend until I got home and watched the news. -Running on the field and sliding into 2nd base in a druken stuper after the 'Stros division clinching game in 99. -Seeing the last (regular season) 'Stros game in the dome and watching Willie Nelson "turn out the lights" -Sitting in the endzone seats on the field and getting flipped off by a Detroit Lion special team player I was heckling at a game during the "House of Pain" era. He also grabbed his crotch and pointed at me. Good times... -Seeing Ozzie Smiths last game (and kartwheel) against the 'Stros. -Finally, props to Rosie the beer lady where ever you are. She ran a beer stand near my Astro seats and gave us free refills with the same cup, for a $2 "tip", at all the games she worked.
How many of you remember going to the dome to attend the pep rally for the Rockets after their first championship? That was a friggin blast.
My best personal memory of the Dome was probably attending the Oilers-Jets Sunday Night Football Buddy Ryan/Gilbride fight. That game was awesome for so many reasons. 1. Oilers just destroyed the Jets. 2. Buddy punched Kevin. 3. Sunday Night Football Crowd 4. Oilers looked like they were going to win it all. 5. I was sitting a row in front of Art Howe!
I remember sitting in the outfield as a little kid with my family during countless ballgames in the '70s. I loved the old scoreboardand and watching it light up for home runs. I was a kid but I barely remember the free beer after certain home runs...How did that work again??? My dad and I ran into J.R. Richard in the parking lot after a game. (not with a car). He just said a pleasant "hello" and kept walking. I did not know who it was until my dad told me later. Got my picture taken with Joe Sambito when I was 7. (different players were in different section of the dome for photos) I skipped shcool with my best friend when I was 16 to go see Mike Scott's division clinching no-hitter. 1986 all-star game 1986 playoffs I went and saw some guy die diving from the ceiling during some stunt show. (if i remember that right) Saw Randy Johnson ptich his first game as an Astro with my wife-to-be.
Yikes, you ain't kiddin' Bill Peterson-- don't know how he ever got hired. Ever notice how ex-Oiler head coaches were never or rarely seen in the NFL again? Peterson, Hugh Campbell, Ed Hughes, Ed Biles. They make Jerry Glanville look like a Hall of Famer. Sid Gillman was the GM. I worked the summer at training camp in Kerrville and worked home games and The Super Bow for that season. It was a great job for a 19YO football nut.
I was at one of the last games Ozzie played at the Dome. It was the one where the Astros presented Ozzie with a pair of cowboy boots before the game, and he came out to turn in the lineup card wearing those boots. Was this the game you are talking about?
My worst memory of that season was that POS Wr for the Chiefs spiking that ball on the Buddy Ryan mural just outside of the end zone...what a terrible game...
Here is an excellent article about the entire 1979 Houston Oilers season. Great read for those of us that experienced it: http://www.houstonprofootball.com/log/log7.html
Yep I'm talking about the 1993 season. We finished the regular season like 13-3 and hosted Kansas City in the Divisional Playoffs. Should have been a win if not for Joe Montana.
Oh, that little thing. I saw that one coming from a mile away. Now the Renfro no-call, Denver, Buffalo (sigh), now those hurt. But you do make a good point. KC was the only one played in Houston. We lost to a bland Seattle team on an overtime field goal if I'm not mistaken one of those years too. I'm not sure whose dome that was played in though.
From an article in today's Chronicle about the 10 nohitters in Astros history: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/bb/1948856 5. LARRY DIERKER ·Score: Astros 6, Expos 0 ·Date: July 9, 1976 ·Site: Astrodome . . . . Some in the crowd of 12,511, meanwhile, missed the final two innings because Dierker struck out Pete MacKannin in the seventh inning when the "foamer" light was lit, meaning fans got free beer. After the game, general manager Tal Smith gave Dierker a $2,500 raise. ************************ So, all you old time Astros fans, how did the "foamer" light work? How often was it on? Did anything other than a strikeout get you a free beer? Could you get as many as you wanted? Did half the crowd bail to the beer stand? Any good foamer stories? Details, man, I want details!
In the 93 season, had we won, would we have played the AFC Championship game in Buffalo or would the Bills have come to Houston? Man that was our year to go to the Super Bowl. It was all downhill after that.
My most memorable Astrodome experience was a 1998 game against the White Sox. Albert Belle hit what would be one of only 13 upper deck home runs in Astrodome history. A monster, the longest ball I have ever seen by far. Also, a run scored on the strangest play I have ever seen when a wild pitch bounced into the umpire's shirt pocket. Nobody knew where the heck the ball had gone to - it seemed like it just disappeared! *************************** ASTROS 10, White Sox 4 Copyright © 1998 Nando.net Copyright © 1998 Associated Press Chicago 000 011 200-- 4 9 1 Houston 220 002 22x--10 12 1 COMPLETE BOX SCORE HOUSTON (Jul 2, 1998 - 0:04 EDT) -- Moises Alou drove in four runs and Sean Berry tied his career-high with four hits as the Houston Astros continued their scoring splurge with an 10-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday night. Alou hit a two-run double in the first inning and a two-run homer in the seventh, giving him eight RBIs over the past two games and four homers in his last 11 at-bats. Jeff Bagwell added a two-run homer in the eighth for the Astros, who have scored 48 runs in their last four games. Chicago's Albert Belle hit a 426-foot homer into the Astrodome's left-field upper deck in the sixth inning. It was only the 12th homer into the Astrodome's upper deck and the first since Mark McGwire's homer on June 18. The White Sox scored a run in the seventh on a strange play. A wild pitch by Doug Henry bounced into home plate umpire Gerry Davis' front shirt pocket, scoring Ray Durham from third while catcher Brad Ausmus scurried around home plate trying to find the ball. The Astros used an 18-hit attack to beat beat the White Sox 17-2 on Monday, and they kept up their offensive onslaught Tuesday. They took a 4-0 lead against Jim Parque (2-2) on Alou's two-run double in the first and Derek Bell's two-run double in the second. The White Sox didn't get a run off Pete Schourek (5-5) until the fifth inning, when pinch-hitter Jeff Abbott doubled, took third on Ray Durham's groundout and scored on Mike Caruso's groundout. Charlie O'Brien homered for the White Sox in the sixth, cutting Houston's lead to 4-2. But Berry homered in the bottom half and Craig Biggio added a sacrifice fly for the Astros. Berry also had three singles. Schourek allowed eight hits and three earned runs in 6 2-3 innings. Parque pitched four innings, giving up seven hits and four earned runs.
Before I forget, I remember Hideo Nomo's first appearance in the Dome. He gave up a first inning HR to Bagwell. When he was a rookie he was a big name...I remember Nomo mania.
If I remember correctly it was usually the 7th inning. The red light would go on up on the scoreboard. The crowd would start yelling for a strikeout and when there was a strikeout everyone, and I mean EVERYONE in the place would make a mad dash to the nearest beer stand. It was hilarious. People would be trying to carry 5-6 cups of beer back to their seats. By the time they got to their seats, the cups would be half full.
That's the one. I saw him turn in the lineup card on one of the closed circut TVs....I was in the beer line.
