Minute Maid Park (Houston Astros)

Just not a fan.

I was there when it was Enron Stadium or Park or Jail Cell or whatever they called it. Decent park and immensly better than the Astrodome, which was hellish. The fans are bland, as are the staff, and the food and the beer.

I Love the sights! The train and roof that opens and closes...Not to mention the GREAT food!

Not a very nice field. Improvement over Astrodome, but still not impressive. The hill in center field is interesting though.

Everything you'd want in a baseball park...if you were 6 years old. WAY too busy with gimmicks an stupid angles...the flagpole inside the park, the incline in centerfield (Tal's Hill, what a joke), and those easily reachable "Crawford Boxes" in leftfield. Whoever designed it must've been OD-ing on Ritalin. This place stinks.

A naming rights disaster

Maybe moving out of the dome makes it look better than it is. Objectively, you gotta give it a 5.

Best built ballpark in any sport in the country. It has it's own unique look and the retractable roof is awesome. And thankfully they got rid of Enron Field. What a stupid name! Minute Maid Park sounds much better. No team will ever have as much an support as the Red Sox do, but the Astros do create a great atmosphere.

cubfanbudman is totally on the nose about that left field wall and fence, especially the short porch,about knocking it down and moving everything back about 20 feet,and also the flag pole in center.Still,overall,Leaps and bounds greater than the Astrodome(YUCK!)on every level.

Saw Bonds hit a homer there last opening day. Excellent park with great ladies. Stumbled over to a bar after the game to watch the national championship. Real good day. Great scoreboard.

I'm surprised it isn't ranked higher. I love this new stadium! What a difference with that dull ugly dump that was the Astrodome! This is such a nice unique stadium. It has a retractable roof, and I like the train when the Astros hit a HR, and I don't mind that hill in center field.

I really like it.

Minute maid park is one of the worst baseball stadiums in the country. Their is absolutely no reason to have that hill and pole in center field its truly ridculous. The short porch in left is also a travesty. They need to knock down that hill and remove the pole in centerfield and also move the fence back about 20 feet in left. I would rather watch a game in an obstructed view seat at Wrigley Field than to ever watch another game at Enron Minutemaid or whatever the hell they call that cesspool in the ghetto of Houston Texas.

Compared to the Astrodome, this place does nothing for me. The awe I felt the first time I entered the Dome is nothing compared to this place or even the new Reliant Arena for football. I'm a Domer tried and true!! Nothing else will even do!! Good thing they got rid of that Enron name.

Minute Maid Park is truly a Houston gem. Not only is it a modern stadium (retractable roof, restaurants& bars, kids zone, etc...)but just as in other cities, it was built in one of the worst parts of downtown Houston. Besides provding entertainment it also serves as a downtown revitalization hub. Since it is not a super big stadium it easily nestles into the downtown area. This makes it easy for the visitor and is nothing like trying to get to a game at the old Astrodome. This idea was recently put to the test during Super Bowl week here in Houston. Minute Maid provided concerts and entertainment which was easily accessible just by walking to the stadium. Finally, what makes this stadium great is the fact that there is no bad seat in the house. Anyplace you sit will allow you to see the field and to actually see the players faces. Although, professional baseball is played in the park, the park has a strong community feeling. You actually feel as you though know the players and are sitting with neighbors watching the game.

Minute Maid Park is one of the most underrated stadiums in baseball. This is a great and fun place to watch a baseball game. Its interior architecture is among the top five in baseball. The railroad tacks in leftfield with the high archways gives this park a very distinctive appearance. The main entrace to the ballpark takes you into the renovated Union Station as it appeared in the 1920's in Houston. It's one of a kind in the majors. The concourses are wide, the restrooms are plentiful, and the kids will have a good time in the kid zone at the park. You can view the game while walking around the field, and the outfield standing areas on the concourse, especially around the Conoco Pump, are a fun place to view the game. The negatives would be, first, the playing field dimensions. The 280 ft. left field foul line is a joke and something to be ashamed of by those who decided to incorporate it. It's doubtful that the foul line will be extended because the Crawford Boxes would have to be removed, and they are sold-out for nearly every game. The food is a negative because Astros management for the most part use a contracted food concessionaire service like they did at the Astrodome. Last, the Astros don't take advantage of what a beautiful place Minute Maid is when the roof is opened. They usually wait until the 8th inning to open the roof from June through early September. That's a shame because Minute Maid can really be truly appreciated with the roof opened. Comparing it with the other retractable-roof stadiums, Minute Maid's field is more open than Bank One and Miller Park with the roof opened, but not as open as Safeco. I would rate Minute Maid as the 2nd best retractable roof stadium after Safeco, but considering that Minute Maid cost $250 million to build compared to the $517 million tag for Safeco, 2nd place is nothing to be ashamed of for the city of Houston and Astros management.

Stupid, contrived park.

not very good,

This stadium has at least two things going against it: (1) it's located in that repulsive and primitive third world country that calls itself "Texas"; and (2) it's named after a bankrupt company that was little more than a criminal conspiracy to defraud which rightfully crashed and burned, taking with it the pensions of The Little Guys while The Scumbag Fatcats abandoned the financial ship on their golden parachutes. It must be a major embarassment to play in a ballpark thus named, and depressing to go to, as well.

An awesome park for the fan. 98% of the seats give you great views of the action. As in right on top of it. It is night and day difference from the Astrodome. Parking, getting in, seat prices are all reasonable. Retractable roof guarantees comfortable conditions year round, a big plus in humid, rainy Houston.

I had a fun time when I visited Houston. Going to Enron Field was a major highlight of the trip. It is a little too decorative, but still interesting. The workers in Enron are great and the crowd really know and support their team. Every thing from the food, to the games here are top notch. I am giving it a four only because it really insults a REAL home run (the left field is like 315 ft I think).

Houston has done a good of putting the Astrodome "out to pasture" and returning baseball to downtown. Enron is comfortable (good site lines and climate-controlled), architecturally interesting, and the food is above-average (esp. at Ruggles Grill). It makes for a very pleasant experience. As far as left field - yea, its short, but so what? Either team can take advantage...

A great idea would have been better without the roof and short distances to left field. Outfield inclines should be reserved for Cincinnatti. But overall this is a good park.

The still wont win

Great downtown location, but kind of funky setup.

awesome park, has everything

Essentially it's a knock-off of the Safeco Field design, dressed up to look more like Texas. The long scoreboard, reminiscent of the original Astrodome scoreboard, makes Enron stand out. The arches in left & the connecting train station are nice touches as well. The center field slope is a cute idea, but it should have been reserved for the future park in Cincinnati. Anyway, we'll see if the Astros keep the slope after some millionaire finally turns an ankle on it. The cement base along the left-center fence is another needless hazard to the outfielders' health. My final gripe with the park is that the short porch in left stretches far too long. It's fun to have a short poke down the line, but at Enron the whole LF is pretty much a short poke. Rating purely on looks, I'd say Enron is one of the prettiest new parks, 4 stars. But as a play field, I don't like it so much.

The balls are flying out of this park!