Opinion

Hoffman: Astros made history with a rainout

I didn’t know that the Houston Astros have an official club historian.

Excuse me, “Authentication Manager.”

OK, Mike Acosta, tell me about the weirdest day in Astros history — when a home game at the Astrodome was rained out. It’s always mentioned in baseball trivia books. But tell me how it’s possible for a game in a domed stadium to be washed out.

“That’s one of my favorite stories, too,” Acosta said. “It happened on Tuesday, June 15, 1976, so its anniversary is this week. The Astros were supposed to play the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 7:35 p.m. start. The night before was very uneventful. The Pirates beat the Astros 2-1, with Jerry Reuss the winning pitcher. Al Oliver hit a home run in the fourth inning off our starter J.R. Richard.

“But the next morning, it started raining. …”

And wouldn’t stop.

“It was like a tropical storm. It was raining hard, and it just kept coming down,” Acosta said. “It got to the point where the streets around the Astrodome were flooded and impassable. Fans couldn’t get to the stadium. Neither could Astrodome workers. Remember, the Astrodome floor was 45 feet below ground level. So the lower ramps and entries were flooded, too.

“Both teams were here. Players started arriving around 1 p.m., when it was still possible to get to the stadium. They had to be dressed by 3 or 3:30 p.m. The Pirates team bus made it through, as did the Astros coming by themselves.”

Around 5 p.m., with rain still pouring down and no letup in sight, Astros officials asked the umpires to call off the game. Security, concession workers and fans couldn’t get to the stadium. Even though the game could have been played — both teams were there, and the field was dry — the umpires agreed and the game was postponed … on account of rain.

Astros called all the media outlets. It was the lead story on the 5 and 6 p.m. TV news.

“Concession workers set up a buffet and tables behind second base, and both teams ate dinner on the field together. The players were in their uniforms, but some of them were wearing shower flip-flops on their feet. The Astrodome staff ate with the players, too,” Acosta said.

A few of the Astros, including Larry Dierker, finished dinner and decided to climb to the top of the Dome and crawl on the catwalk.

The Astros offered refunds or said that fans could exchange their tickets for another game. Although the Pirates were coming back to Houston in August, the rained-out game was made up as part of a doubleheader in Pittsburgh in July.

Ironically, a new roof was built on the Astrodome before the start of the 1976 season. The old roof had sprung some leaks. The new roof was rain-proof. And still a game was rained out.

Tickets for Astros games in 1976 ranged from $1.50 for pavilion seats to $4.50 for field boxes.

There was something unusual about Astros tickets in the old days. Because the Astros were the only team to play under a roof, their tickets were missing something that appeared on every other team’s tickets.

Rain checks.

ken.hoffman@chron.com

Listen to Ken on AM radio station 1560 “The Game” 11 a.m.-1 p.m. weekdays.