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LETTER FROM THE EDITORMy dad raised me topitch for the St. LouisCardinals, the overwhelmingfavorite ofall of our country boy/dads who had grownup during the GreatDepression listeningto the Cardinals’“gas house” gang onthe radio. I seemedwell on my way to thebig leagues at age 12,when I pitched a onehitshut out in a LittleLeague All-Star gamewith much of my townin attendance. Unfortunately,that marked thepeak of my baseball career; when I finally made it to St. Louisyears later, it was as a graduate student, not a pitcher.But I always remained a baseball fan. Growing up in aworld without much chance to travel, I embraced baseball asa window on the world. I came to enjoy reading in part byfollowing the major leagues in our local newspapers and byreading biographies of baseball players. Baseball taught megeography, giving me a reason to locate on a map New YorkCity, home of the mighty Yankees, and then to move on to thelocation of both the Bronx (site of Yankee Stadium) and Brooklyn(home of the Dodgers). Photos of the amazing baseballstadiums of the 1950s introduced me to the basics of architectureand even of urban planning. Math was much more funonce I learned how to figure batting averages and earned runaverages. History was everywhere in baseball, from the greatnames in the Hall of Fame to the records of such mythic figuresas Babe Ruth.More than anything, baseball gave me a cast of larger-thanlifecharacters with exotic names and unfamiliar backgrounds.Mickey Mantle, country boy from Oklahoma whose dad hadraised him to be a switch-hitter for the Yankees, was recognizableto me. But my world had to be expanded to include otherplayers such as Willie Mays, Ted Kluszewski, “Big Chief”Allie Reynolds, Minnie Minoso, or Yogi Berra. These baseballheroes gave me a parallel universe somewhat like later generationshad with the Star Wars movies or video games or theHarry Potter books. The universe of major league baseball hadthe great advantage, however, of being populated by real peoplesucceeding and failing at a game I played and knew.Unfortunately, few of us had the chance to see these playersin a real live major league baseball game, since St. Louis, theclosest major league city, might as well have been in a galaxyfar, far away. We knew, however, that the major leaguers werereal because we had seen a few of them pass through the minorleague team in nearby Beaumont, and a few of us had even beenprivileged to take the hundred mile trip to see the Houston Buffsplay. Those of us with access to televisions could also watch thegame of the week and then the World Series, an event so importantin my family that my parents at times allowed me to skipschool when a series game was played on my birthday.So it was an amazing development when we learned that majorleague baseball was coming to Houston. On several memorableoccasions my dad and I drove to Houston to games at theteam’s temporary stadium. Sitting out in the sun without a rooffor a July Fourth doubleheader at Colt .45s Stadium, I learnedthe true meaning of hot. Later, at a somewhat cooler night game,I experienced one of my favorite baseball moments, when StanMusial unwound on a fastball and drove a high line drive far,far out into the darkness of the parking lot beyond the right fieldfence. The ball curved foul, but that did not change the thrill ofseeing it jump off of the bat of Stan the (Old) Man, who retiredthe next year.Despite the temperature and bugs at the temporary stadium,I was one of the few people disappointed in the move to the newAstrodome. As is clear from the article in this issue by MikeAcosta, it was an amazing structure. But I have to agree withmuch of Larry McMurtry’s reprinted essay. The Dome was astrange, disorienting place, as well as a bad place for a traditionalfan to watch baseball. Astroturf had an evil impact on thegame I loved. Although major leaguers played there, the Domenever seemed to me like a proper field for major league baseball.This did not keep me from going to games. In my yearsat Rice in the late 1960s, I discovered the right field pavilionbargain seats, and I made it a habit to go watch the great pitchersof that era—Drysdale and Koufax, Juan Marichal, and myfavorite, Bob Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals. I also began togo out and watch the Astros’ young star pitcher, Larry Dierker.During my freshman year, I would go over and catch a gamewhen I needed to escape the agony of trying to pass calculus andGerman. There on the mound would be Dierker, only two yearsolder than me and already in his third year in the majors. Fortyyears later, it was a cheap thrill to interview him for this “SummerSports” issue of Houston History. Once a fan, always a kid.Joel Draut has found his dream job. Having spent thirty-five years as a newspaper photographer,he now combines his passion for photography and history as the senior communicationsspecialist responsible for maintaining the collection of over four million images housed at theHouston Metropolitan Research Center (HMRC) in the Julia Ideson Building at the HoustonPublic Library. Every day reveals new treasures—from the oldest photo taken of Main Street in1856, to a panoramic shot of the Goose Creek oil fields, to pictures of notable Houstonians likeHoward Hughes and visitors such as the Beatles.Draut is overseeing preparations to move the collection into the building’s new wing. Thisfacility will control temperature, humidity, pollution, and light to maximize the life of the originals,which include glass plates, negatives, prints, and film. He is also working to scan images,making them more accessible to the public while maintaining the integrity of the artifacts. Toaccess the collection you can request assistance at the information desk in the HMRC or browsethe catalogs and bound copies of the more popular images, but don’t forget to ask for Joel—hewill probably be your most valuable resource!Joel contributed the Spring 2009 Houston History cover photo of the Julia Ideson building.Holding a panoramic camera circa1915, Joel Draut shares his office witha collection of photographic equipmentspanning 100 years of technology.
table of contentsReaders’ Forum Page 2Volume 6 • Number 3 • Summer 2009Editorial StaffJoseph A. Pratt, Editor-in-ChiefDebbie Harwell, Managing EditorJamie Quiroga, Associate EditorKristin Deville, Program CoordinatorMarsha Van Horn, DesignerAdvisory BoardBetty Trapp ChapmanBarbara EavesSteven FenbergCliff GillockPenny JonesWilliam KellarFred KorgeJim SayeMartin MelosiKathleen BrosnanEditorial PolicyHouston History is published three times a yearby the Center for Public History at the Universityof Houston. We welcome manuscripts, interviews,and photographic essays on the history and cultureof the Houston region, broadly defined. All correspondenceshould be sent to Houston History,University of Houston, Department of History,547 Agnes Arnold Hall, Houston, TX 77204-3007(713-743-3123). The web site is www.history.uh.edu/houstonhistory. We also welcome ideas for topicalissues; these can be sent to the above address or toHoustonHistory@uh.edu.Subscriptions are $10 per year for students, $15 peryear for individuals, and $25 per year for institutions.Single issues and back issues are available for$10.© 2009 by the Center for Public History. All rightsreserved. Reproduction of this issue or any portionof it is expressly prohibited without written permissionof the publisher. The Center for Public Historydisclaims responsibility for statements of fact andopinions of contributors.Postmaster Send address changes to:University of HoustonCenter for Public History547 Agnes Arnold HallHouston, TX 77204-3007FEATURESA Conversation with...MR. ASTRO, LARRY DIERKER and Joe Pratt Page 4That You May Win: Tom Tellez Teaches UH Athletes Page 14to Go for the Gold By Ernesto ValdésRain or Shine: How Houston Developed Page 20Space City Baseball By Mike AcostaCulture—High and LowLove, Death, and the Astrodome Page 29By Larry McMurtryMuseumLong before the “Battle of the Sexes,” there was Babe…The Babe Didrikson Zaharias Museum Page 32By Debbie Z. HarwellNeighborhoodUrban Village or ‘Burb of the Future?: The Racial and EconomicPolitics of a Houston Neighborhood Page 38By Jordan BauerHistoric PreservationPreservation CAN work in Houston:The Humble Oil & Refining Company Building Page 46By Victoria J. MyersCover photo courtesy Houston AstrosNews Briefs & Books Page 51By Barbara EavesVol. 6, No. 3–Sports 1
Page 1: Volume 6 • Number 3 • Summer 20
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 22 and 23: Rain or Shine:How HoustonDeveloped
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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