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Rain or Shine:How HoustonDeveloped SpaceCity Baseballby Mike AcostaRain forces fans at ColtStadium to run for cover ayear before the opening ofthe Astrodome.Photo courtesy of theHouston Astros.20 Vol. 6, No. 3–Sports
On a typical Houston summer evening about five decadesago, a girl named Dene and her father headed home afterthe Houston Buffs baseball game they had planned to attendwas rained out. Houstonians know the scenario--hot sunnydays with temperatures in the mid-nineties give way to beautifulevenings that spawn sporadic downpours as the area coolsat sunset. Dene, disappointed that she would miss out on anoutdoor evening with her dad eating hot dogs and enjoyingstrawberry snow cones, sat still without saying much on the ridehome. Then she had a thought. She quickly asked, “Daddy, whycan’t they play baseball indoors?” The car came to a halt alongthe side of a westbound Houston city road. The startled little girllooked up at her father as he smiled and said, “When did youstart taking my smart pills?” That marked the dawn of a grandfuture for sports in Houston. Dene’s father, Roy Hofheinz,would go on to become the driving force in building the HoustonAstrodome and the father of indoor baseball. 1Dene’s disappointment reached beyond missing out onwatching the hometown Texas League team edge out anothervictory. She also looked forward to the experience, enjoyingher surroundings and seeing the sights at the ballpark. For allthe time that it takes to play a baseball game, the main actionoccupies very little time. The grand crack of a bat and the homerun ball soaring out of the park only take seconds. The big playapproximately thirty runs. The Texas League played off andon for a number of years, and in 1905, the Houston club cameunder new ownership and a new name – The Buffaloes or“Buffs.” 2The Houston City League formed around 1912, bringing togethermany semi-pro teams from around the area. Games wereplayed in Alvin, Bay City, College Station, Dayton, Galveston,Humble, Huntsville, Liberty, Richmond, Sugar Land and Trinity.League leader and organizer Fred Ankenman served ascaptain or manager of most of these teams that local businessessponsored. The fields featured very basic designs with grandstandseating for about 200 fans. Some of the better knownfields included Marmion Park in Fifth Ward, North Main StreetPark, and Humble Field near the old Downtown YMCA. Lessformal fields southeast of downtown had fans simply line upalong the baselines to watch the games. By 1920, the HoustonBuffs moved their games to West End Park, located in the shadowsof today’s downtown. A wooden structure, like many majorleague ballparks in those days, it had a covered grandstandbetween the bases with separate risers down the base lines. 3On April 11, 1928, the new Buff Stadium opened east ofdowntown under the direction of Ankenman, now the clubpresident. The ballpark welcomed approximately 15,000 fans(the largest in Houston history at the time) and saw TexasBy January 1, 1964, the outline of the Astrodome was clearly visible to families who drove to the outskirts of Houston to see the steel skeletonrising on the prairie.on the field quickly sparks the roar of the crowd, but the spectatorsspend the rest of the game anticipating these exciting moments.A record-breaking home run. A milestone strikeout. A3,000th career hit. So many things can occur during a baseballgame! No matter how much times change, the sight of a baseballdiamond remains timeless. The players hanging out near thebatting cage chatting, the numbers on the backs of their jerseys,and the shadows across the field remind us of the game’sromance. In no other sport has the venue become so importantin upholding the game’s traditions.Houston’s first baseball game on record was played in 1867near the spot where General Sam Houston and the Texas Armywon independence from Mexico. Although the exact score hasbeen debated over the years, the general consensus holds thatthe Houston Stonewalls beat the Galveston Robert E. Lees byAll photos courtesy of the Houston Astros, unless otherwise noted.Governor Dan Moody toss the ceremonial first pitch to MayorOscar Holcombe behind the plate. The pitch sailed high overHolcombe’s head, but Houston businessman Jesse H. Jones, whoserved as umpire, still called Moody’s pitch a strike. The teamwelcomed Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, Commissioner ofMajor League Baseball, as the day’s speaker. The Buffs beatthe Waco Cubs 7-5 and went on to win the Dixie Series Championship.Buff Stadium, which had two large buffalo cut-outs onboth sides of the center field scoreboard, featured large coolingfans that helped keep mosquitoes away; the aroma of freshbaked goods wafted in from a nearby bakery; and soft drinkswere five cents. Trains whistled a few blocks away on their wayto downtown’s Union Station, the eventual home of Houstonbaseball. 4Ankenman worked to develop today’s minor league system,Vol. 6, No. 3–Sports 21
Page 1 and 2: Volume 6 • Number 3 • Summer 20
Page 3: table of contentsReaders’ Forum P
Page 6 and 7: A Conversation with...MR. ASTRO, LA
Page 8 and 9: young player, you know, to try to m
Page 10 and 11: Astros owners R. E. “Bob” Smith
Page 12 and 13: all the time. And then, I spent my
Page 14 and 15: LD: Yes, I did. Sportsman’s Park
Page 16 and 17: By Ernesto ValdésTrying to instill
Page 18 and 19: ecause I wasn’t very old and . .
Page 20 and 21: Coach Tellez giving pointers to Pat
Page 24 and 25: since the St. Louis Cardinals owned
Page 26 and 27: City on the international map.Peopl
Page 28 and 29: Hofheinz worked with Monsanto to in
Page 30 and 31: Story Sloane’s GalleryHermann Par
Page 32 and 33: THE FIRST PROMISING RUMOUR I heard
Page 34 and 35: Never one to hold back, an animated
Page 36 and 37: Babe Didrikson Zaharias demonstrate
Page 38 and 39: Babe sets up a putt at the Babe Did
Page 40 and 41: 38 Vol. 6, No. 3-Sports
Page 42 and 43: Today, multilingual signage of busi
Page 44 and 45: A large crowd gathered for the much
Page 46 and 47: The neighborhood welcome sign indic
Page 48 and 49: preservation CAN work in houston:Th
Page 50 and 51: of falling to the wrecking ball, as
Page 52 and 53: SpawGlass Construction managed the
Page 54 and 55: “KUHF’s ‘Texas Originals’ w
Page 56 and 57: 24 Ibid; Richard Dean, “BASEBALL
Page 58 and 59: 6 “Houston Deco: Modernistic Arch
Page 60: University of HoustonCenter for Pub

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