Colt Stadium was never meant to be the Houston Astros' long-term home when it was built on a patch of swampy land in Southwest Houston. But the Houston Astros' first stadium will forever be part of history when a new historical marker is unveiled next week.
On Oct. 20, the Society for American Baseball Research's Houston Chapter (SABR) will unveil a new historical marker honoring Colt Stadium as the first MLB stadium in Texas. The national SABR organization, which catalogs baseball history and studies the sport, partially funded the historical marker through its local grants program. The marker will be installed near the original site of Colt Stadium, between where Reliant Center now sits and a parking lot.
Former Astros pitcher and manager Larry Dierker and former Astros executive Tal Smith will attend, as will Dinn Mann, the grandson of team founder Judge Roy Hofheinz.
In 1962, MLB awarded Houston an expansion team that would begin play that year. Known as the Houston Colt .45s, MLB awarded the franchise on the condition that Houston would construct a covered stadium, given concerns about Houston's brutal summers. Hofheinz planned to build what would later become the Astrodome, but the 8th Wonder of the World would not be ready in time for the Colts to begin play. (The Astrodome got its own historical marker in 2018.)
There were few suitable places for the Colt .45s to crash, even for just a few years. The Houston Buffaloes, the Chicago Cubs' minor league affiliate, played at Buffalo Stadium on the city's east side. But Hofheinz deemed the stadium too dingy. So instead, a temporary home was built just outside the Astrodome.
Colt Stadium opened in 1962 and was immediately considered one of the worst stadiums in MLB. It was open to the elements, making daytime games almost unbearable in Houston's brutal summers; some fans and journalists referred to Colt Stadium as "The Sizzler." According to a 1962 Associated Press article, 78 people were treated for heat injuries during a doubleheader against the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 10, 1962. It was so hot that one umpire left the game in the fourth inning due to heat exhaustion.
Due to the extreme heat, Colt Stadium hosted some of the first-ever baseball games played on Sunday nights, now a staple. The Colts pushed the league to lift its ban on Sunday night games, citing injuries and low attendance. When the Colts started playing Sunday night games, attendance figures jumped.
Colt Stadium was also home to several notable games, including the only time a team has lost a nine-inning no-hitter in MLB history. But when the Astrodome finally opened in 1965, Colt Stadium was abandoned. The ballpark became a junkyard for broken rides and equipment from Astroworld. Hofheinz, believing it to be an eyesore, had Colt Stadium painted the same color as the surrounding parking lot to disguise it in aerial photos of the Astrodome.
In the 1970s, the ballpark was disassembled, packed up, and moved to Mexico to serve as a stadium for several teams in the Mexican league before it was finally put out of its misery in the 1980s. As of 2000, Colt Stadium's parts had been turned into a playground.
Was it a good ballpark? No. Did anyone miss it when it was gone? Almost certainly not. But Colt Stadium was a piece of baseball history that deserves its recognition. The Astrodome already has a historical marker. Why not Colt Stadium?
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This article originally published at The Astros' horrible, long-forgotten first stadium is finally getting its due.