Misplaced Pages

#480519

44-572: Before Buff Stadium, baseball teams in Houston played at West End Park from 1905 until 1928; Buff Stadium was built on the East End of Houston . West End Park was located at the southeast corner of Andrews and Heiner Streets, on the southwest edge of present-day downtown. Home plate's specific location, until 2013, was commemorated by a plaque in the Houston Sports Hall of Fame, which comprised part of

88-479: A Spanish-style tiled-roof entryway with large pictures of buffaloes on the adobe wall and in the late 1950s, ladies' rooms became air-conditioned. 12,000 fans attended the first night game at Buffalo Stadium on July 22, 1930. The cost of the lighting structures cost $ 250,000. In 1948, the stadium received substantial renovations including new seats, increased parking, more convenient concession stands, and spacious foyer. Two large black buffaloes stood on both sides of

132-553: A doubleheader on Saturday, September 8, 1962. The three seasons combined to 2,369,731; the first season at the Astrodome drew 2,151,470 in 1965. By the early 1970s, Colt Stadium had become a county tax liability, with a lien on it. In 1971, it was sold to the owners of the Algodoneros del Unión Laguna , a Mexican League team, and was dismantled and shipped in pieces over the next four years to Torreón , Coahuila , Mexico , for use as

176-497: A mere $ 19,750 USD. It was the single bid for the stadium. Sammy Finger, owner of the Houston-based Finger Furniture, purchased the stadium, and then demolished it in order to build a furniture showroom and warehouse which was completed in 1965. The stadium had been badly damaged by Hurricane Carla two years prior. Finger Furniture built their showroom around the home plate, and retained a commemorative plaque for

220-528: A new grass diamond. During their annual festival, the No-Tsu-Oh Carnival Association had originally erected the stands at the ballpark as a temporary measure, but they were soon purchased by the Buffaloes to expand the grandstand. Other materials used for renovations, such as fences and more bleachers were purchased from nearby Marmion Park. On December 5, 1911, the grandstand of West End Park

264-554: Is occupied by a CenterPoint Energy substation. The Sells Floto Circus used the West End Park grounds for their show when they came to Houston in September 1907. West End Park was often used as a site for American football games. In 1908, the ballpark was the host of what was dubbed the "state championship" in high school football with a game between Houston High School and San Antonio High School . This championship preceded

308-399: 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 field was conventionally aligned northeast (home to center field) at an elevation of 50 feet (15 m) above sea level . Temporary from the outset, the stadium was abandoned when

352-682: The AFL Houston Oilers . Charlie Hennigan , who was trying to make the team in 1961 as a walk-on, remembers: I wanted to play football so bad. I drove down with Charlie Tolar and there were 62 guys in the Oilers camp when we got there. We trained at the University of Houston in an old baseball stadium, Buff Stadium, and some of the guys they had in camp were out of shape; they literally crawled in there. Within two weeks, they had eliminated all but 50 of us. At that time, they only kept 33 ballplayers on

396-510: The Cincinnati Reds hitless on April 23, but an unearned run scored by Pete Rose in the ninth broke a scoreless tie and the Reds won, 1–0. With one out, Rose bunted and reached second on Johnson's throwing error, advanced to third on a fielder's choice, and scored after another error. Against the hapless New York Mets late in both teams' first season, only 1,638 attended the first game of

440-599: The Cotton States League . Houston lost, 0–2. The ballpark later received its name through a contest conducted by a committee consisting of the Houston Chronicle sports editor, the Houston Post baseball editor, and South Texas League President Bliss P. Gorham. The suggested name chosen would allow its submitter to receive a season ticket to the new park. Ultimately, John T. Schulte of 1018 LaBranch Street

484-691: The East End . Houston's new ballpark, Buffalo Stadium was then constructed for the 1928 season, and the Buffaloes moved from West End Park to the new stadium. On August 1, 1928, the Houston Board of Education officially purchased the park from the Houston Baseball Association for $ 100,000 for use as school athletic fields. The park continued under the same name and continued to be used for secondary school, amateur and collegiate athletics, and for Negro league baseball games. With football being

SECTION 10

#1732859383481

528-543: The Houston City Council for construction to begin on West End Park. During construction, a sandy soil was used for the field, so as to absorb moisture more easily. By March 15, the ball park's construction was nearly completed only lacking paint on the grandstand and field preparation. West End Park opened on April 1, 1905 as an unnamed park with an exhibition game between Houston and the Baton Rouge Cajuns of

572-509: The Rice Owls against Houston High School in 1912. The Rice teams moved to Rice Field when it opened in 1913. Rice later hosted Notre Dame , Texas A&M, and LSU in football competitions at the ballpark in the 1915 season . In 1929 the first edition of the Prairie View Bowl , which was the first bowl game played by historically black colleges and universities , took place at

616-925: The spring training facility of the St. Louis Browns (known today as the Baltimore Orioles ) as well as the 1914 New York Yankees of the American League and the 1906 through 1908 St. Louis Cardinals of the National League in Major League Baseball . After its use by its primary tenant, the Houston Buffaloes of the Texas League , the ballpark was sold to what is now known as the Houston Independent School District for its use until it

660-694: The 11th hour, Saigh took a somewhat lower offer from Anheuser-Busch . The stadium was renamed, in similar fashion to the St. Louis Cardinals' Sportsman's Park , to "Busch Stadium" in 1958 to honor the Busch family. At the same time, the Buffs transferred to the Triple-A American Association as the Cardinals' top affiliate. Although the team was sold to Marty Marion on November 26, 1958, Busch Stadium remained under

704-417: The Astrodome was completed for the 1965 season. The Astros occasionally used 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 its synthetic ChemGrass, later known as AstroTurf , inviting cars and horses to ride on

748-582: The Astros de Monclova. In 1983, the Astros became the Astros de Tamaulipas, playing three full seasons at the stadium, known in Tampico as the Estadio Ángel Castro. The franchise moved again after the 1985 season, this time without the stadium. The Mexico City Tigers bought the stadium with the intent of moving it yet again to serve as the club's new home, but with the venue already showing structural weakness after years in

792-413: The Cardinals up for sale. The most lucrative offer from a consortium of Houston businessmen who planned to move the Cardinals to Houston. Under major-league rules of the day, since the Cardinals owned the Buffs, they also owned the major-league rights to Houston. For this reason, the only question was whether Buff Stadium could be upgraded to major league standards in time for the 1952 season. However, at

836-659: The Finger Furniture Store. On January 5, 1927, Sam Breadon , then owner of the Major League Cardinals, announced that he wanted to purchase land from the City of Houston to construct a new ballpark for the Texas League Buffaloes On January 18, it was announced that the location had been purchased in the East End . At the St. Louis Cardinals Board of Directors meeting on February 1, 1927, money

880-459: The Houston Buffaloes, which were themselves named after Buffalo Bayou , which divides Houston. The ballpark was very similar in many different ways to the first stadium of the later Colt .45s. First of all, it favored pitchers, wind blew in from right field, and it was outdoors with high humidity. At the time, it was a state-of-the-art minor league facility at a cost of $ 40 million; there was

924-677: The ballpark between the Prairie View A&;M Panthers and Atlanta Lions . West End Park was served by the Houston Electric Company 's San Felipe line, which provided streetcar access during its time. With transfers from Houston's Union Station and Grand Central Station, this allowed for direct public transportation using interurban lines such as the Galveston–Houston Electric Railway and Houston North Shore Railway. Colt Stadium Colt Stadium

SECTION 20

#1732859383481

968-550: The formation of the University Interscholastic League (UIL) that governs Texas high school extracurricular activities today. From 1908 through 1911, the Texas Longhorns and Texas A&M Aggies played football games at West End Park during Houston's annual No-Tsu-Oh festival. On Thanksgiving of 1910, Texas A&M played Tulane there. West End Park was also the venue of the inaugural football game of

1012-477: The game. Instead of leaving, Twente sat himself between Gottlieb and a television engineer. As the engineer attempted to remove Twente from the press box, he revealed a pistol and shot himself. His body then fell across the engineer. The stadium nearly became home to the Cardinals after the 1952 season. Fred Saigh , who had bought both the Cardinals and the Buffs in 1947, was on the verge of being forced out of baseball after being convicted of tax evasion, and put

1056-581: The home plate location on the floor in addition to a Houston Sports Museum on-site. During demolition, pieces of the ballpark were moved to nearby Hitchcock, Texas , and stored at the Naval Air Station Hitchcock . In 2013, the physical building of the Finger Furniture store was closed, and then sold to developer Frank Liu in February 2014. Buffalo Stadium was named after its primary tenant,

1100-549: The left-center field scoreboard facing each other. Originally, outfield distances were 344 feet (105 m) to left field, 430 feet (130 m) to center field, and 344 feet (105 m) to right field and capacity accommodated 12,000. In 1938, outfield dimensions were slightly modified to 345 feet (105 m) to left, 440 feet (130 m) to center, and 325 feet (99 m) to right while capacity increased to 14,000. The heights of outfield fences varied: left and right field fences were 12 feet (3.7 m) high, left-center scoreboard

1144-460: The major event for Houston public schools, West End Park was eventually replaced when Public School Stadium (later known as "Robertson Stadium") opened in 1942. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, most of the land occupied by the ballpark was used for various purposes when Heiner Street was extended and the Gulf Freeway was connected to downtown. The eastern portion of the former ballpark location

1188-647: The owner of Unión Laguna, Juan Abusaid Ríos, had a falling out with Governor of Coahuila José de las Fuentes . Abusaid sold the team to the Sindicato de Trabajadores Petroleros de la República Mexicana (Union of Oil Workers of the Mexican Republic), which moved the franchise to Tampico , Tamaulipas . While the stadium was taken down in Torreón and moved to Tampico, the franchise spent the 1982 season in Monclova, Coahuila as

1232-536: The ownership of the Anheuser-Busch company. Eventually the stadium was purchased from Anheuser-Busch by William Hopkins after he purchased the Houston Buffaloes from Marty Marion. Initially, the stadium was planned to be expanded to a capacity of 30,655 to accommodate a major league baseball team. However, when the owners of the Houston Colt .45s purchased the Buffaloes for territorial rights, they opted to only use

1276-458: The redevelopment of Herald Park into a residential neighborhood during the 1904 season. While a temporary ballpark was used to host the rest of games for that season, poor transportation availability made travel difficult, and a new ballpark in the Westmoreland neighborhood was announced to be finished for 1905. On January 9, 1905, the Houston Buffaloes organization was given authorization by

1320-520: The right field fence, to the south, was the inverted-V-shaped intersection of Jefferson Street and Bagby Street. The location was less than a mile straight west of the eventual site of Minute Maid Park . Today , the Interstate 45 "Pierce Elevated" passes over the area where the ballpark was, from Andrews Street to the Bagby Street exit. Construction of a new ballpark in Houston became necessary after

1364-529: The roster. Making the final cut was something everyone wanted to do. 29°44′5″N 95°20′31″W  /  29.73472°N 95.34194°W  / 29.73472; -95.34194 West End Park (Houston) West End Park was a baseball park in Houston from 1905 to the 1940s. It was the primary ballpark for the city when it was constructed, and the city's first venue for Negro Major League games. From 1909 through 1910 and again in 1915, it also served as

Buffalo Stadium - Misplaced Pages Continue

1408-615: The stadium for practice, and eventually built Colt Stadium and the Astrodome . The final game at Buffalo Stadium was a Major League All-Star game (not to be confused with the Midsummer Classic ) sponsored by the Houston Professional Baseball Players Association on October 15, 1961. The stadium existed unused when it was sold to the A. W. George Salvage Company at public auction on March 14, 1963 for

1452-419: The suicide, a camera broadcast television footage of the man slumped over. The police had been told a half-hour before the incident that the man had reported to a waitress that he would kill himself. Upon arriving at the television booth of the press box in the sixth inning of a game, Twente told broadcaster Dick Gottlieb "I got something to tell you." Gottlieb, motioned the man away, and continued commentary of

1496-428: The synthetic surface to gauge its durability. It sat abandoned for ten years, accumulating random odds and ends from nearby Astroworld and weathering in the blistering Texas sun. The right field corner of the stadium was located in what is now the northwest corner of NRG 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

1540-540: The team's home venue. Renamed Estadio Superior in a naming rights deal with a beer sponsor, Unión Laguna used the stadium between 1975 and 1981. It was located near the Estadio Corona soccer stadium on land used today for a soft drink company. The stadium was popularly known as the Estadio Mecano or Millón de Tuercas (Million Screws) due to its ability to be assembled and its resemblance to an Erector set. In 1981,

1584-404: Was 24 feet (7.3 m) high, and the center field fence was 18 feet (5.5 m) high. According to sports lore, it was after a rainout at Buffalo Stadium that Roy Hofheinz got the idea for a domed stadium, after his daughter Dene wondered aloud why they couldn't play baseball indoors. That idea would become the Astrodome . In the early 1960s, Buff Stadium was used as a practice facility for

1628-538: Was a Major League baseball stadium that formerly stood in Houston , Texas . It was the temporary home of the expansion Houston Colt .45s for their first three seasons ( 1962 – 1964 ) while the Astrodome was being built, just to the south of it. After its use in Houston, it was dismantled and moved for use in two Mexican cities. The stadium consisted of an uncovered one-level grandstand, stretching from foul pole to foul pole, with small bleacher stands in right and left field. One baseball annual published just before

1672-498: Was appropriated for the site. The Buffaloes had been owned by the Cardinals since 1920. Buffalo Stadium's name was decided on January 21, 1928 by a committee composed of President of the Houston Baseball Association, Fred Ankenman, the sports editors of the three Houston daily newspapers. The stadium opened on April 11, 1928, with a 7-5 win over the Waco Cubs as well as an infamous cushion fight. 15,000 fans were in attendance, and it

1716-511: Was approximately located where a light pole in the adjacent parking lot is. The stadium was the site of two no-hitters, both thrown by Houston, but the visitors scored in both and one was a Colts' loss. In 1963 , Don Nottebart shut down the Philadelphia Phillies on May 17, but an error in the fifth inning and two sacrifices scored a run for the visitors; Houston won, 4–1. The following year , knuckleball thrower Ken Johnson kept

1760-406: Was chosen as the winner through a unanimous committee vote on April 16, 1905. Other names considered included "San Jacinto Park", "Dick Dowling Park", "San Felipe Park", "Washington Park", and "Gorham Park" among others. West End Park received major renovations in late 1908 when the Houston Buffaloes ownership increased capacity to the grandstand, added sidewalks and other pavement, and introduced

1804-640: Was demolished. Contrary to its name, the ballpark's location was not in West End, Houston , as that area had not yet been specifically designated as "West End", and the current municipal recreational park of the same has no relation to the ballpark. Instead, West End Park was located in the freedmen's town area of the Fourth Ward , with its entrance at Andrews and Heiner Streets. It was bounded by Andrews Street (north, third base line), Heiner Street (west, first base line), and Howe Street (east, left field fence). Behind

Buffalo Stadium - Misplaced Pages Continue

1848-402: Was destroyed by a fire. The losses were estimated to exceed $ 5,000. The grandstand roof was blown off several years later when a storm hit Houston on November 25, 1915. On January 5, 1927, Sam Breadon , then owner of the team, announced that he wanted to purchase land from the City of Houston to construct a new ballpark. On January 18, it was announced that the location had been purchased in

1892-475: Was the first night game between two major league ball clubs. The game went on for ten innings. On June 11, 1950 a death occurred at the ballpark during a game between Houston and the Tulsa Oilers when a fifty-year-old laundry worker, Sanford B. Twente, committed suicide there at the press box. The incident was heard by those in the ballpark as well as those listening on television via KLEE-TV . Directly after

1936-496: Was the largest crowd ever to have watched a baseball game in Houston at that time. Previously, the record had been only 8,300 set in 1925. Texas Governor Dan Moody threw the ceremonial first pitch , while Houston Mayor Oscar F. Holcombe served as catcher and Houston businessman Jesse H. Jones served as umpire. On March 21, 1931, the Chicago White Sox and New York Giants played an exhibition game at Buffalo Stadium that

#480519