Colt Stadium

Colt Stadium
The stadium in 1962.
Location	Houston, Texas
Coordinates	29°41′18″N 95°24′31″W / 29.68833°N 95.40861°W / 29.68833; -95.40861Coordinates: 29°41′18″N 95°24′31″W / 29.68833°N 95.40861°W / 29.68833; -95.40861
Opened	1962
Closed	1964
Demolished	1970s
Owner	Harris County
Surface	Grass
Construction cost	US$2 million ($14.5 million in 2011 dollars[1])
Capacity	33,000
Field dimensions	Left Field - 360 ft (110 m) Left-Center - 395 ft (120 m) Deep Left Center - 427 ft (130 m) Center - 420 ft (128 m) Deep Right Center - 427 ft (130 m) Right Center - 395 ft (120 m) Right Field - 360 ft (110 m)
Tenants
Houston Colt .45s (MLB) (1962-1964)

Colt Stadium junkyard, photo taken February 18, 1973.

Colt Stadium was a Major League baseball stadium that formerly stood in Houston, Texas. It was the home of the Houston Colt .45s. It was their temporary home from 1962-1964 while the Astrodome was being built, just to the south of it. The stadium consisted of an uncovered grandstand stretching from foul pole to foul pole and small bleacher stands in right and left field. One baseball annual published just before the 1962 season referred to it as "a barn-like thing". It is best remembered for the horribly hot and humid weather (and attendant mosquito population) that had necessitated building the first domed stadium.

The stadium was abandoned when the Astrodome was completed. The Astros would occasionally use it for running and exercising to acclimatize players to warm weather before a road trip. However, the players had to be careful as rattlesnakes would often take up residence on the field. Monsanto engineers also used it as a testing ground for what would become known as Astroturf, inviting cars and horses to ride on the synthetic surface to gauge its durability. It sat abandoned for ten years, accumulating random odds and ends from near-by Astroworld and weathering in the blistering Texas sun. It was eventually broken down and moved to Gómez Palacio to serve as the home of a Mexican League baseball team. Its site was paved over, adding some area to the Astrodome parking lot.

The right field corner of the stadium was located in what is now the northeast corner of the Reliant Center. Much of the northern half of the stadium (center field, left field and the third base stands) is occupied by a power station, and home plate was approximately located where a light pole in the adjacent parking lot is.

References

1. ^ Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–2008. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved December 7, 2010.

External links

• www.ballparks.com Colt Stadium page
• www.ballparksofbaseball.com Colt Stadium page
• www.ballparkwatch.com Colt Stadium page
• 1962 video featuring Colt Stadium (YouTube)
• Footage of 1962 game at Colt Stadium (YouTube)
• more Colt Stadium trivia

Preceded by first ballpark

Home of the Houston Colt .45s 1962 - 1964

Succeeded by Harris County Domed Stadium