The Minute Maid Park

Minute Maid Park is a ballpark in Houston, Texas, United States that opened in 2000 to house the Major League Baseball Houston Astros. Minute Maid Park is home to the Houston Astros and is located in downtown Houston at Union Station. The ballpark features quirks like Tal's Hill, a small hill in far center field elevated at ten degrees. The ballpark also reflects Houston's relationship with the railroad with a locomotive that travels across the left field wall. Here is how you can get a glimpse of the workings of Minute Maid Park.

The ballpark was Houston's first retractable roofed stadium, protecting fans and athletes from Houston's notoriously humid weather as its predecessor, the Astrodome, did, but also allows fans to enjoy outdoor baseball during favorable weather. The ballpark also features a grass field, compared to the Astrodome's artificial Astroturf, which was generally disliked by professional baseball players. This park has covered a big piece of property. The largest entrance to the park is inside what was once Houston's Union Station, and the left-field side of the stadium features a train as homage to the site's history. The train moves along a track on top of the length of the exterior wall beyond left field whenever an Astros player hits a home run, or when the Astros win a game. The engine's tender, traditionally used to carry coal, is filled with giant oranges in tribute to Minute Maid's most famous product, orange juice.

The dubbing of the park as an extreme hitter-friendly park has been called into question in recent years. In fact, the 2009 season saw the park ranked 24th out of 30 Major League parks in terms of runs scored in the park, meaning only six other stadiums saw fewer runs scored during the season, and ten other ballparks saw more home runs hit.

This hill has caused some of the most replayed catches in recent baseball history, and plenty of controversy as well. Then there's the chance of running into the flagpole real estate that's on it and getting hurt.” Fans started an online petition to remove the hill and flagpole, though the petition has since been discontinued.

A concourse above Tal's Hill features the Conoco Home Run Porch in left-center field that is actually over the field of play, and features a classic gasoline pump that displays the total number of Astros home runs hit since the park opened. Larry's Big Bamboo is a bar based on the popular Big Bamboo Lounge in Kissimmee, Florida near the Astros spring training facility. The simple bar was well known to Astros players, staff and fans that frequented the Florida bar after games.