Minute Maid Park

Minute Maid Park opened in April 2000 as Enron Field and was the centerpiece of Houston’s downtown revitalization effort, replacing the suburban Astrodome as the Astros’ home. The ballpark was built into the shell of Houston’s historic Union Station, preserving the 1911 brick façade and incorporating the station’s clock tower into the left-field entrance. A vintage replica locomotive and a 50,000-gallon water tank mounted above the left-field wall travel along a 800-foot track whenever an Astro hits a home run or the team wins.

The 2022 trip’s Mariners-Astros matchup came with extra significance — Houston was on its way to a World Series championship that fall, while Seattle was in the midst of ending a 21-year playoff drought, the longest active streak in North American professional sports. The park’s retractable roof, essential for Houston’s notoriously humid July evenings, kept conditions comfortable throughout the game.