Minute Maid Park Ball Hits Roof

Minute maid park previously named the ballpark at union station enron field and astros field is a ballpark in downtown houston texas united states which opened in 2000 as the home stadium of the houston astros of major league baseball mlb.

Minute maid park ball hits roof.

Uni systems provided the technical expertise to design the best roof structure for minute maid park. The boston infielder had to settle for a double on a drive that came off the bat at 105 mph because the ball bounced off a girder of minute maid park s roof and landed in the field of play. Specifically the minute maid park roof helped out the astros against the atlanta braves. The ballpark is houston s first retractable roofed stadium and features a natural grass playing field.

The two year old girl who suffered a skull fracture in may after being struck by a foul ball hit by chicago cubs outfielder albert almora at houston s minute maid park suffered permanent brain. Minute maid park located in houston texas was baseball s second retractable roof ballpark but the first for houston s. The ballpark was built as a replacement for. However i can share an interesting story of the fallout when this actually occurred.

With two on and two out in the second inning houston s craig biggio popped up a 2 0 pitch near third base. The roof moves back and forth an estimated 160 times a year a distance of 14 6 miles. Royals right fielder alex rios appeared to be lining the ball up so it s not clear rasmus hit would have gone out. Hall of fame slugger mike schmidt of the phillies was.

All ballpark specific retractable roof ground rules concern opening of the roof after a game has started. Mechanized roof panels open and close in 12 20 minutes. The ball struck a ceiling beam and was caught in fair territory by atlanta pitcher russ ortiz. To cover the ballpark steel panels roll in sequence along tracks on the east and west sides of the.

It was the predecessor to the astrodome which at the time was the first stadium that allowed fans to enjoy baseball in a climate controlled environment. But roof shots aren t exactly a common occurrence at minute maid park. I believe every individual stadium has their own ground rules that dictate the outcome should this happen. The umpires got both calls correct but the astros were left wondering when the roof was going to provide them a break other than protecting them from the weather.