Minute Maid Park: Charting the dimensions and capacity of the Houston Astros' home stadium

Game 1 of the 2022 World Series will be played at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas, the home of the Houston Astros. Today, we are going to take a look at the dimensions and size of this park that's seen a lot of glory over the past several seasons.

Minute Maid Park was constructed in the year 2000 and was originally named the Ballpark at Union Station, as it was situated next to Houston's Union Station. It was constructed to replace the Houston Astrodome, the first domed stadium in the world, which housed the Houston Astros since 1965.

"It hit different being at Minute Maid Park" - @ Joel

In 2002, Minute Maid bought the naming rights to the park and will have their name festooned across the moniker until at least 2032. Minute Maid bought these rights for $100 million at the time and signed a 30-year deal to keep them.

Located at 501 Crawford St. in central Houston, the field is easily accessible by the Houston MetroRail, as well as about a dozen municipal busses. The park is owned and operated by the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority.

When the field first opened in 2000, its capacity stood at 40,950. However, the field dimensions were gradually expanded to over 42,000 in 2013, before being scaled back again. The capacity of Minute Maid Park has stood at 41,168 since 2017.

The home of the Houston Astros features the deepest center field in the MLB. From home plate to the center field wall, 436 feet stand in between. To left field, there are 315 feet to the wall, as well as 326 in right field.

"10/25/05 Scenes from around Minute Maid Park at Houston’s first-ever World Series home game." - @ Mike Acosta

In 2005, the Astros and the Atlanta Braves set the then-record for the longest MLB game in history. The game lasted 18 innings and took five hours and 50 minutes to complete. The record was broken in Game 3 of the World Series.

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Minute Maid Park set to host another World Series

This ballpark is no stranger to hosting big-time games as four World Series have been played at the venue since 2005.

Last year's World Series was won by the Atlanta Braves there after Freddie Freeman's side routed the Astros 7-0 to win the game. This time, Bryce Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies will have their work cut out for them.