Located in Houston, Texas and opened in 2000, Minute Maid Park is home to the MLB team the Houston Astros. The field was a great breakthrough in Houston as it is the city's first retractable-roof stadium, allowing fans to enjoy the game regardless of Houston's notoriously humid weather. The field can be fully air-conditioned when necessary. The previous ballpark, the Astrodome, was fully covered to protect from the humidity but did not allow for fans to enjoy the nice weather. With the new field also came a real grass field instead of the AstroTurf that was used in the Astrodome and generally disliked by the players.

The park features a large entrance that was once inside Houston's Union Station and there is a train on the left-field side of the stadium to pay tribute to the location's pastime usage. When Astros players hit a homer or win the game, the train moves along a track that runs the length of the exterior wall beyond left field. The train is very popular with the fans and also it's engine's tender is filled with oranges instead of coal to pay homage to Minute Maid's most popular product, orange juice. The rich history of the venues location and tie back to modern times make it a great venue for Astros and baseball fans in general to visit.

Though the Astrodome was known for being the most pitching-oriented stadium in the MLB for the duration of its existence, Minute Maid Park is now known for being very hitter-friendly down the lines, particularly in left field where it's only 315 feet to the Crawford Boxes though wall there is only 19 feet tall. The Drayton McLane's office windows also pose a challenge to home run hitters, as they are located in the old Union Station and are directly above the Crawford boxes.

Despite the ease the Crawford Boxes offer for homers, hitting a ball out in center field is a completely different animal. The dead-center wall is 436 feet from home plate, which is the farthest point in any MLB field. Fielding is also a difficult task due to the 90 foot wide center field incline referred to as Tal's Hill, for the team president Tal Smith. The hill has been the reason for some of the most replayed catches in recent baseball today and there has been much dispute about it. This idea was borrowed from Crosley Field and other historic fields and the flagpole in play is an element borrowed from the traditional Yankee Stadium. Milwaukee Brewer Richie Sexson hit a ball off the flagpole and there is still a mark.