Back in the day, a baseball game scheduled to be played in a domed stadium was postponed by rain. (Cover photo: Astros and Pirates enjoy a meal. Photo courtesy Astros-Talk, WordPress.com)
The Astrodome still stands, and the city of Houston is trying to decide what to do with it. But rather than focus on the here and now, let’s take a page out of history
The date was June 15, 1976, and the Houston Astros and the Pittsburgh Pirates were scheduled to play. The Astros were in fourth place with a 29-33 record, ten games behind the Cincinnati Reds. The Pirates were about six games out.
It was raining in Houston—make that a big storm was happening there—and Downtown Houston received 7.48 inches of rain. Flooding followed, and the worst impact in the downtown area happened around Market Street, the East Loop, Denver Harbor, and Reveille, and heavy rain fell near the Texas Medical Center, close to the Astrodome.
The Astros players arrived at the Dome around 1 p.m., and the Pirates team showed up around 4 p.m. As the storm worsened, Tal Smith, then the Astros general manager, postponed the game due to concerns for fan safety. The decision came around 5:00 p.m., making local and national news.
The rain was still very heavy outside, and the cancellation wasn’t just a rainout; it was also a rain-in. A few of the Astros players even noticed water cascading over the outfield scoreboard.
But one of the most interesting aspects of this story is that a handful of fans—about 20 of them — were already at the park, and the Astros treated them to dinner in the stadium concession/cafeteria area. What about the players? They were treated to steak at tables set up in the outfield. Not just Houston players got that treat, but as Astros team historian Mike Acosta put it, “Both teams ate on the field together.”
How’s that for a bit of history? A game in a domed stadium was postponed by rain.
