The pitcher to the showers animation reminds me of a Jay Ward Cartoon. I could see how that display could be astonishing back in the 60's, & it looked like every other baseball stadium took up those type of lightboard displays. Decades later, LED HD displays are in almost every sporting venue.
Wow those skyboxes ! would've been cool to watch a game from.When I used to go to Astro games we always sat in the left field pavillion in the $4 cheapo seats lol! All the years I sat there I only caught one homerun.It was Moises Alou when he still played for Montreal in 1992.After the game I went out to where the players boarded the bus & waited for Alou who graciously signed the ball for me.Great memories of the Dome
This video brought a huge smile on my face while watching. Dad took me to games in the late 60's and I was amazed with that score board as a kid. Thanks for sharing.
My late Uncle Mike Dyer back then was an assistant trainer at Rice U., and he would get me and my Aunt Betty free U.of Houston football tickets for Dome games right after it opened and for another couple of years thereafter because he worked on Saturdays during football season. It was a thrill for a seven-nine year old kid. The Astrodome scoreboard at first looked blurry to me..that led to eyeglasses. What a great time, absolutely electric on Saturday nites.. As far as baseball, my late Dad and I saw Hank Aaron, and Orlando Cepeda with Atlanta, Astros starter Jerry Reuss throw 8 1/3 no-hit innings over Philly on Fathers Day in '72; along with my late Grandma Sprouse we saw Mike Schmidt hit a ball off of the centerfield portion of the roof; Dad and I saw two women streakers jump out of the stands and run down the rightfield line..wearing nothing but pantyhose, it was the same night that rightfielder GREG GROSS threw out two Cards at the plate. Dad and I also saw a Texas State Championship big sized high schools football game featuring Craig James and Billy Ray Smith Jr.; a friend and I saw a doubleheader where Willie McCovey played. Dad and I saw the early version of ROSE, BENCH, etc, and the BIG RED MACHINE sans Joe Morgan, and my whole family saw the late TONY GWYNN batting, and finally, my Wife and I saw one of the last Houston Oiler games, vs. a rookie named Terrell Davis and my Denver Broncos. Oh, I almost forgot, Dad and I saw one of the last AFL games, game 13 for the '69 Houston OILERS, vs. Buffalo and lol, O.J.SIMPSON. My Dad saw a boxing match there, and I spectated, and later a decade forward reported on the radio about, the HOUSTON LIVE STOCK SHOW AND RODEO(Formerly the FAT STOCK SHOW AND..). Yep, I saw a lot in very few visits to the Astrodome. What memories!
I just moved here to Houston last fall after watching the Dome on TV all these years. Great film. Man, it would have been nice if the exploding scoreboard could have been preserved somehow. Please keep the Astrodome alive. I can't even take a tour if I wanted to. Renovate it and keep it structurally sound. UH could play their games there.
Really miss that place. I got to Houston in the early 90s and enjoyed some of the very best Astros baseball ever. Realized today that it will be 10 years since the 2005 World Series team. Hard to believe now. But I miss the good old days.
I just read the book: A Six Gun Salute by Robert Reed. Interesting history of the Colt .45s and a look into Houston baseball from 1800's to 1964. A must read for Astros fans. I love this film. A restored copy would be great. I remember a VHS tape of the history of the Astros for their 25th Anniversary. I never saw it, but would like to.
Please send this to as many people as you can. Harris County could very well pull the plug on the Astrodome. They don't use it anymore for ANYTHING and they leaders keep mentioning how expensive it is to maintain. I believe they will attempt to claim it is too expensive to keep!
Very funny score board, LOL. I wish this stadium could be use one more. It sure was a great place. 2015 will be the 50th anniversity for the Astrodome.
It seems that Harris County's plan is to let it sit vacant for so long that it's ridiculously expensive to renovate and then they can start the movement to demolish. I think they are also waiting until enough people that love the Dome are no longer around to protest. It's a shame.
