Of course, it's always great when your team hits a home run. But in keeping with "everything is bigger in Texas" (& tackier too), the Dome kicked off this huge, loud, sign everytime an Astro hit a homer!
This photo was taken on August 31, 1986.
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Photo license:
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Comments and faves
Rex Enigma (71 months ago | reply)
It lost all it's character as a baseball field when they ripped it out. Nice one.
Rex Enigma added this photo to his favorites. (71 months ago)
njwineguy (70 months ago | reply)
this is so cool. i love baseball.
SewcialButterfly (69 months ago | reply)
MY GOD! Not only are you making me feel homesick, you are making me feel OLD!
danagraves (69 months ago | reply)
I fell in love with the Astros in 1986 (the date of this photo is actually 1984), & attended 62 home games. Looking at these photos makes me feel old too (sorry!), but also prompts some good memories.
I will never forget the 16-inning playoff game against the Mets. My baseball buddy & I were exhausted (& hoarse) after the last out (by Kevin Bass)....
Agree that the Astrodome was full of character, more than the current stadium. The team back then also attracted lots of very fun (& knowledgeable), hard-core fans...
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NOTE updated game date (& year of photo), kindly provided by bostonsalvo below. Have edited first sentence above to reflect that correction.....
Pug! (64 months ago | reply)
goodness. are they actually animated as well?!?
danagraves (64 months ago | reply)
Not truly animated, but individual lights are turned on & off in patterns that mimic movement. The big bull's eyes blinked, his nostrils flared, the flags on his horns waved. The cowboy's rope circleed around & the running bull's nostrils flared fire & his tail wagged.
This sign displayed other images besides the home run brag, of course. You can see the light layouts in the original size.
ForeignSausage added this photo to his favorites. (63 months ago)
ForeignSausage (63 months ago | reply)
As a kid, I used to go to sporting events just to see the scoreboard systems, and if they had something like this in Philly, I would have gone to more! I remember the Astrodome's scoreboard from seeing it on tv, and it had a uniqueness about it without the present-day plasma screen nonsense found in arenas nationwide. And the font is truly old-school! Very reminiscent of the old monochrome board in Texas Stadium - no colors but animated and still fascinating. Great photo!
Lisas Lounge added this photo to her favorites. (62 months ago)
mlsnp (56 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Neon Houston, and we'd love to have your photo added to the group.
A_Drei added this photo to their favorites. (54 months ago)
bobster855 [deleted] (53 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Lost Ballparks, and we'd love to have your photo added to the group.
sds70 (46 months ago | reply)
That was the best scoreboard ever !!!!!!!!
sds70 added this photo to his favorites. (46 months ago)
danagraves (46 months ago | reply)
Totally agree! SO iconically Houston....
ForeignSausage (40 months ago | reply)
Okay, I viewed the original-sized photo and saw the bulb layouts. My question is, is this board still there or did it meet with a dumpster? Many thanks for posting, BTW.
Drive-In Mike and IronChic added this photo to their favorites.
danagraves (28 months ago | reply)
I'm not positive what happened to all the component parts. But the great scoreboard was taken down during the Dome's remodeling. Here's a description from Glasstire (Texas visual art online):
"The end began when Bud Adams threatened to move the Oilers unless he got more seats, so more seats and less multicolored light bulbs he got, and then the a-hole moved the team anyway. And now the entire building isn’t fit to hold real drunken cowboys, much less awesomely gigantic, animated dancing ones."
goodgran (28 months ago | reply)
Dana, please accept my apologies. I found your wonderful photo with the Creative Commons search function and neglected to credit you properly with the photo. I also neglected to credit the other photographer, too. No excuse for my sloppiness.
This has been fixed, and here is a link to the new and improved article:
www.examiner.com/examiner/x-22079-Houston-His tory-Examine...
Thanks.
danagraves (28 months ago | reply)
Really appreciate your making the change!
It was a delight to see my photo used elsewhere. And your article is quite a good read.
jzguitarist added this photo to his favorites. (24 months ago)
bostonsalvo (23 months ago | reply)
danagraves, your memory is getting foggy in your old age.
That picture was taken Sept. 16, 1984, not in 1986.
Here is the game:
www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/HOU/HOU19840 9160.shtml
danagraves (23 months ago | reply)
Well, thanks for pointing out my mistake in such a definitive way.
I only went to a few games in 1984 because I was in law school. All that studying kinda cut into my spare time.
Did attend lots more games in 1986 after I graduated tho. And got to see that great (but such a hard loss), 16-inning NLCS game against the Mets.
Must be how I got the date wrong for this photo....
beatsdrop added this photo to her favorites. (2 months ago)