SPORTS MEMOIR
The Astrodome Did Not Disappoint: Opening Night Through the Eyes of a Kid
It was an excellent time to be a baseball fan
I was excited. I was pumped. I couldn't wait for school to end that day. I was only ten years old, but the day is as vivid now as it was then.
The day was April 9, 1965. The biggest sports news of the year was about to break, and I was there.
It was the grand opening of the Astrodome, which included an exhibition game between the Houston Astros and the New York Yankees.
My grandad had tickets.
It was the eve of my eleventh birthday, and Gramps told me we would celebrate in style. Little did I know how historic the evening would be.
At 5:30 p.m., I heard the muffler of his Corvette convertible as he swung around the corner with the top down. His French beret, flashy sunglasses, and a signature cigar told me it would be a fun night.
I climbed in, and we zoomed off to baseball's most incredible event.
The Astrodome was the first stadium of its kind. It had a covered roof, air conditioning, cushioned seats, artificial grass, and one of the first electronic animated scoreboards in the country—all luxurious things in the…
