The Pecan Park Eagle

Thanks to a writer I unforgivably forgot in yesterday’s summary of the 1965 Houston sportswriter scene, we have a list of some little known firsts in the history of the Astrodome from its first game between the New York Yankees and the home based Houston Astros on Friday, April 9, 1965. The writer was columnist Wells Twombly of the Houston Chronicle, another nimble mind with baseball facts and the humor of their importance in the grand scheme of things.

First, check out the beautiful narrative of Wells Twombly in his introduction of the subject. ….

From that point in the Twombly column, here’s how the writer and the Saturday, April 10, 1965 edition of his newspaper “Chronicled” those significant “firsts” in the history of the Astrodome. We do some paraphrasing here for the sake of brevity and our shorter attention spans of 2013:

Friday, April 9, 1965. Astrodome Firsts from the First Game Ever Played in the World’s First Domed Stadium:

7:44 PM: Astros starting pitcher Turk Farrell breaks off the first game pitch to lead off Yankees batter Mickey Mantle. It is low and inside for a ball and gets away from catcher Ron Brand. Brand retrieves it and runs it over to NL President Warren Giles for later presentation to the Cooperstown Hall of Fame where “it will be enshrined,” according to Wells Twombly, “in a glass case next to a vial containing bone chips from Joe DiMaggio’s heel and an umpire’s ear drum ruptured by Leo Durocher.”

7:46 PM: Mickey Mantle gets the first Astrodome hit, a single.

7:49 PM: Farrell slips the first Astrodome strike past Yankee second baseman Bobby Richardson.

7:51 PM: Richardson forces runner Mantle at second on an infield grounder. The Astros fail to get Richardson on a safe call at first for the first double play in Astrodome history, but the safe call does result in the first loud roar of air-conditioned boos.

7:53 PM: Roger Maris draws a low fast ball for ball four and the first walk in Astrodome history.

7:54 PM: Left fielder Al Spangler of the Astros catches “the first weather-proof fly ball.”

 7:57 PM: While the teams are going through the first change of sides, the first vendor to trip and fall with products in hand takes a dive on the steps in the strawberry-colored seating section, “dousing two customers with soda pop.”

8:12 PM: Frank Finch of the Los Angeles Times makes the first bad joke in an indoor baseball press box in a comment he makes on a juggled ball play by Joe Morgan that finally results in an out. Finch exclaims to all that “you (have to) score that play four-four-four-four-three because Morgan handled that ball four times.” How funny folks were back in 1965.

8:30 PM: Less than an hour into the first game, the first drunk is seen staggering through the new indoor press box. Want to guess who the first designated driver was that night? It was nobody. There weren’t any designated drivers back in 1965. Whoever the drunk was drove himself home. Or at least tried to.

8:40 PM: In the top of the sixth, with nobody on, Mickey Mantle slams the first home run in Astrodome history. It also produces the Dome’s first run and RBI, plus a 1-0, first in-progress deficit game under glass for the Houston Astros.

8:41 PM: Exactly one minute later, a fan makes the first clean bare hand catch of a foul ball hit into the stands.

8:51 PM: Rusty Staub reaches safely when his bunt stays fair, giving the Astros their first ever indoor bases loaded situation.

9:00 PM: Jimmy Wynn guns down Johnny Blanchard as the first indoor runner cut down at the plate by a bullet throw from center field.

10:22 PM: In the bottom of the 10th, Nellie Fox of the Astros gets the first pinch hit in indoor baseball history. It is a single to center that scores the winning run in a 2-1 victory for the Astros over the Yankees and, of course, the first win in indoor baseball history. Jimmy Wynn scored the fist winning run in Astrodome history.

That’s it. Unrecorded by Wells Twombly’s time stamp also are these other important firsts in Astrodome history from Game One:

First Astros Run – Turk Farrell

First Astros RBI – Rusty Staub

First Astros Single – Al Spangler

First Double – Walter Bond

First Triple – Ron Brand

First HBP – Roger Maris by Hal Woodeshick

First Stolen Base – Joe Pepitone

First Astros Stolen Base – Joe Morgan

First to Ground into Double Play – Rusty Staub, 4-6-3

First Error – Tony Kubek

First Winning Pitcher – Hal Woodeshick

First Losing Pitcher – Pete Mikkelsen

First “IN ORBIT” Notation on an Astrodome Homer – It was Mantle’s. The lead photo used here was described exactly as it was below the lead photo in the Houston Chronicle. No word if broadcaster Harry Kalas first used his eventually famous “that ball is in orbit” on Mantle’s first blast, but probably not. The famous Kalas-Call correctly homed in and came back out as “that ball is in Astros orbit!” Perhaps, Harry drew his inspiration from the  Chronicle’s “IN ORBIT” description beneath the Mantle picture and used it the following evening when Jim Beauchamp hit the first “Domer” home run for the Astros in the third inning of the next day’s first indoor afternoon game, and this time, against the Baltimore Orioles and lefty starter Jim McNally.

“Astros Orbit?” Who knows? The word “orbit” hung plainly in the Astrodome air back in 1965. Kalas could have as easily inhaled it with any breath he took on Friday, April 9th, and then exhaled it in the form of orbiting mucous matter on Saturday afternoon, April 10, 1965.

Have a nice weekend, Everybody!

Tags: Astrodome Firsts, Wells Twombly

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