USA
Minute Maid Park
The Houston Astros are a stellar team, but when they’re playing a home game before fans secure Minute Maid Park parking, they’re out of this world! Minute Maid Park was opened for business in April of 2000, replacing the famous Astrodome as the home of the Houston Astros. Located on the site of the former Union Station, the stadium is located in a busy area, making it hard to find Astros parking spots. Minute Maid Park has had several names in the past. The official names included “The Ballpark at Union Station,” then “Enron Field,” which quickly changed to “Astros Field” after Enron folded in scandal. The arena gained its current name in 2002 after a deal was struck by Houston and Coca-Cola, who owns Minute Maid, a brand based in Houston. The park also hosts other events, such as soccer games or concerts; Madonna, Taylor Swift and Paul McCartney have performed at Minute Maid park on occasion.
On the left-field side of the stadium, there is a railway to honor the history of Union Station, which moves on a track when the Astros hit it out of the park or when they win a game. Minute Maid Park took cues from other successful parks, including a small hill known as Tal’s Hill (borrowed from Crosley Field) and a flagpole that has been ruled to be in play, a reference to Yankee Stadium. While a flagpole might be in play, the Minute Maid parking lot certainly isn’t, which isn’t good when you’re still trying to find Astros parking at the bottom of the second inning. If you plan ahead and book your Astros parking spot with ParkWhiz, you can be inside Minute Maid Park and relax underneath the retractable dome.
The Astros aren't the first baseball team to play in Houston. The minor league Houston Buffaloes preceded them, playing under different names from 1888 to 1961, when the Astros were formed. First known as the Colt .45s, their name was changed to the Astros to reflect the popularity of the Astrodome, their home field. Due to the fact that grass was unable to grow in the Astrodome due to an attempt to reduce the sun’s glare in players’ eyes, an artificial turf had to be developed, which resulted in the genesis of Astroturf. While the Houston Astros have not won the World Series in their history, they did win the National League Pennant in 2005, as well as the Central Division title in 1997-’99 and 2001. The Astros faced the Chicago White Sox for the 2005 World Series, but the White Sox prevailed, winning all four games. While the Astros didn’t win that year, they keep playing, fighting for their city and their fans. However, the fighting should be kept in Minute Maid Park, not outside when you’re trying to find a Minute Maid parking spot. The astronaut-smart Astros fan books their parking spot ahead, making use of ParkWhiz so that they can relax inside the stadium while the Astros knock the ball out of the park.
ParkWhiz is so easy to use:. All you need to do is find the game that you want to see on the ParkWhiz website, book your Minute Maid Park parking space and print your parking pass. When you bring your ParkWhiz parking pass with you, all you have to worry about is whether to buy a microbrew or a hot dog.
Parking at other MLB stadiums:
By Brian Reading (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons