re: Astros memories

which he ended up not using very long....

First game sometime back in the middle 60's. Would ride the dbl. decker bus from the motel across the street. I jumped in first so as to get up top, only to find out I was the last one off. Granddad getting some awesome tickets behind home plate. Everytime a pop up was hit you thought it was a home run. You could see the pitches curve, cool. Saw Hank hit one of his 715 hrs there one Sunday only to watch an Astro pitcher hit one later and we win the game. All star game in 68 I believe. Willie Mays hits a triple just underneath the yellow line, and was voted MVP, on his birthday. We alway went to the St. Louis series in May. My whole family were Cardinals fans, wtf. One year I was a jr. in h.s., my brother in law and brother and younger cousin, all living in B.R., drove to L.C. to pick me up on the way to watch the St.Louis series in May of 1974 I was head of my schools ID card program, and made up one that said I was 21. Nickel beer night on Fri. night, walked up to the concession, and handed my fake hs id, 4 beers for 20cents, and 16oz Lone Star. We got hammered, even my 15 yr old cousin. At the game when we clinched the 84 west. Then went back for the loss to the Mets when Ryan pitched. The last game of the season playing the Cubs, and Sosa and McGuire were tied for the hr lead. By the time the game kicked off McGuire already had two home runs already. Funny Colt 45. story. My mother was a 5/6 grade teacher and took her class to Houston for a day at the zoo and a Colt 45 game. Somehow lost a student at the zoo, so waited after the game for the police to bring him to the stadium. Dad buys me one of those little bats, and I'm throwing wadded up cups and hitting em while waiting outside for the lost student. We car pooled, no bus. Little later a black kid approaches me and says I'll throw, you hit. I said okay. He lobbed me a few, and then said, my turn to hit. We exchanged bat/wadded up cup, and I turn around and walk to the make believe mound, turn around and all I saw was the bottom of the kids feet hauling arse. I holler, hey, I can't throw it that far. He runs out of sight like the players in Field of Dream dissapear in the corn. Took me a few seconds to realize, he aint coming back. Country boy pawned by a city slicker.

I went down to Houston in July 2005 to go fishing. The first night I was there we went to my uncle's country club to watch the Astros and it was the first night the Mets came to play the Astros, Beltran's first game back. It was a big game, and the Astros won on a walk off.

The one thing I remember was Adam Everett laying down a bunt and some old guy in the club's lounge screaming "THATS ALL ABOUT THAT frickER IS GOOD FOR ANYWAY"

Anyone remember Astrofest? They used to do it in the big hotel across the street from the dome. Brought in the players, and you got to go around and get autographs. Got DKs, Biggio, Derek Bell, Bags, and a bunch of others.

Do they still do that?

Looks like I'm a bit younger than most of this crowd at 21

First game was in 2001, we won 3-0 against the Cubs. It was the first shutout thrown by the Astros in MMP (Enron Field then still). We had super high cheap seats on the third base side, in the corner. Jeff Bagwell hit a line drive HR in the crawford boxes, but I couldn't even see the play

ETA: found the boxscore

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Attendance: 43,011

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The blast of cold air when you walked into the dome on a hot day. (MMP is stuffy by comparison)

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And then when you walked out to the seating area, that fake green grass and the artificial light just made everything look otherworldly. Especially to an 11-year-old.

My dad and I sat behind home plate once when Nolan pitched. That was pretty cool.

The 1980 NLCS against the Phillies. I was 12 during the series, and it made me an Astros fan for life.

The 1986 NLCS against the Mets.

I thought Dickie Thon was going to be a Hall of Famer until he got beaned.