Colt Stadium
- David Hegler
- May 8
- 3 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
For three years, Colt Stadium invited fans to roast under the blazing Texas sun as the new team in town, the Colt .45s, found their way to relevancy. While most games were pure torture for all involved, in the distance, one could see the Astrodome being built. This is the story of Colt Stadium.
The Sizzler
When Major League Baseball awarded Houston an expansion team in 1960, team owner Roy Hofheinz toured Busch Stadium. As the home of the AAA Houston Buffs, it could hold up to 11,000 people but with renovations that number could have almost doubled. However, Hofheinz had another idea in mind. As a former mayor of Houston, he wanted the fans to watch his planned domed stadium being built as they got used to watching big league baseball in their city. Thus, Busch Stadium wouldn't suffice.
Colt Stadium was a simple structure. Along with a single-tiered grandstand that stretched around home plate and to both first and third base, additional seating could be found in the bleacher sections of left and right field to accommodate roughly 33,000 fans while the scoreboard was placed within the center-field wall.
There was just one flaw: it didn't have a roof. Fans would quickly notice that flaw and probably hoped that Hofheinz had stuck with Busch Stadium as it did have a roof. But Hofheinz stuck to his principles and fans were left to melt in the Texas heat, quickly stamping Colt Stadium with the not-so-endearing nickname, "the Sizzler".
The Colt .45s played their first game in their temporary home on April 10, 1962 against the Chicago Cubs. Román Mejías led the way with six RBI and two home runs as the Colt .45s beat the Cubs 11-2.
The summer of 1962 was one of the hottest in state history. It was so hot, that the NL teams and commissioner Ford Frick voted to allow a time-limited removal of the Sunday night baseball ban in Houston for much of 1963. It only did so much good as the heat never seemed to leave the Sizzler and mosquitos were a constant issue. During at least one double-header, over 100 fans were sent to the stadium's first aid room due to heat related issues.
While the fans suffered, they could watch the future being built. After games, many would look in the near distance, their shirts stuck to their chests covered in sweat from another afternoon of misery, watching the world's first great domed stadium being built. It was in those moments that many agreed with Hofheinz, who had often called it "the Eighth Wonder of the World". The fans just had to wait a little bit longer before they could watch baseball under a roof and in an air conditioned environment.
The End of Misery
The Colt .45s played their last game at Colt Stadium on September 27, 1964 against the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers. It was a pitcher's dual from start to finish, with the great Don Drysdale lasting 10 innings and striking out six. Meanwhile Colt .45s pitcher Bob Bruce lasted all 12 innings, striking out six and giving up five hits.
All afternoon, he reflected many of the Houston fans who had braved all of those scorchingly hot days while envisioning the moment that they could watch baseball in a more comfortable environment. All game long, Bruce knew that his teammates would pull through.
They sure did. In the bottom of the 12th, Jim Wynn lined a single to left-field off of Drysdale's reliever, Ron Perranoski, and driving in Rusty Staub to win the game 1-0. After the season, the Colt .45s moved into the Astrodome and changed their name to the Astros.
Colt Stadium would stand in the Astrodome's parking lot for five years and was often used as a storage yard for the newer, bigger ballpark. Roy Hofheinz even had it painted gray so that it wouldn't stand out in any aerial pictures of his baby, the Astrodome. It was eventually sold for $100,000 to a Mexican minor league team, disassembled and moved to Torreon, Mexico. Years later, it moved again to Tampico where it still stands.
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