Astros want to open Minute Maid Park roof more often in 2014
Looking to further engage fans and improve the live-game experience at Minute Maid Park, the Houston Astros will look to keep the roof on their stadium open more often moving forward.
Astros president of business operations Reid Ryan has received fan feedback indicating that people prefer outdoor baseball to indoor baseball and the teams is hearing the fans, loud and clear.
While they haven't committed to anything yet, Ryan said "we're talking about it...we are thinking about it, and we're getting input."
Houston is hot and humid, so keeping the ballpark closed allows for air conditioning and climate control. Presently, the dome is closed when the forecast calls for rain, when wind is greater than 30 MPH, or when temperatures are below 65 degrees or above 84 degrees (88 for a night game).
As such, the Astros played just 14 home games with the dome open last season. As Reid told Astros.com, they are searching for ways to change that:
"In a nutshell, what I would personally like to see is us to be able to open the roof late in the game when the weather is appealing or was comfortable enough that fans would enjoy it. The one thing we know from our research -- and we surveyed fans extensively this year -- is people want to see the roof open more. They like the feel of outdoor baseball."
Changing how often the dome is open could impact the scoring environment at Astros games, as well. Balls travel further when temperatures warm up and the moderately homer-friendly park could become a more extreme hitter's environment with more open-roof games.
Here's a look at how run scoring, slugging and home runs changed at Minute Maid Park based on the wind and roof conditions from 2010 through the end of August 2013, per Fangraphs:
| Group | R/G | SLG | PA/HR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open | 9.07 | 0.408 | 37.3 |
| Closed | 8.48 | 0.400 | 39.6 |
| Wind >10 Out | 9.09 | 0.408 | 34.6 |
| All MMP | 8.61 | 0.401 | 39.1 |
| Lg Avg | 8.61 | 0.401 | 39.3 |
Home runs, slugging and run scoring are all above-average with the dome open and roughly average with the dome closed.
One possible sticking point with changing the roof protocols is that MLB rules only allow for the roof to be opened between innings, but the roof takes 13 minutes to open. Opposing managers would thus have to approve of the delay, something they may only do if the game situation favors it strategically.