Astros fan waxes nostalgic about seeing the beautiful, green AstroTurf for the first time
Lifelong Houston Astros fan Jack Davis of Katy, Texas, recently became a father for the first time. And amid all of the joy young Scott has given him since his birth, the 32-year-old Davis recently became a bit whistful upon thinking about something they’ll never share.
“I know Scotty will be an Astros fan, just like his daddy,” Davis said, “but he’ll never be able to experience the beauty of the Astrodome, and that makes me sad.”
The first game the elder Davis ever went to ended in a 5-0 Houston victory over the Cubs on May 15, 1981. It wasn’t a Nolan Ryan game, Davis said, but Joe Niekro did toss a four-hit masterpiece. He can remember everything about that day, including the smell of the fresh AstroDome air.
“Until Scotty came out of my wife, the greatest thing I ever experienced was coming up the ramp on the third-base side and seeing that beautiful AstroTurf,” Davis remembered. “I’ve never seen anything so green in my whole life.
“The Juice Box is nice, and the ‘Stros usually have a pretty good ballclub, but it pains me that Scotty will never experience seeing the likes of Terry Puhl and Rafael Landestoy in the dome.
“My only hope is that a retro wave of concrete fortresses hits baseball sometime in the future.”