Stadium Cheat Sheet
The Houston stadium tour cheat sheet Part 2: Toyota Center
May 14, 2018, 6:58 am
Toyota Center is still state of the art. Houston Toyota Center/Facebook
This is part two of the Houston stadium series. You can find part one — Minute Maid Park — here. This story was originally posted before basketball season started.
We’re peeling back the layers of Toyota Center, home of the only team in Houston that refuses to accept mediocrity — the Houston Rockets.
Seriously, look at the team. In the past 30 years, the Rockets have had three losing seasons. Three. It’s the only team that Houstonians sound pretentious being mad at. I’ll admit, I was disgusted at last season’s 41-41 record, despite the fact that they still made the playoffs. That’s essentially equivalent to that one insufferably good-looking friend we all have complaining about only getting hit on twice at the bar instead of four times. You still got hit on, bro. You’ll be fine.
Make no mistake; the Rockets will be insufferably good-looking this year, too. They are ridiculously fun to watch with all the three pointers they drain, not to mention they added Chris Paul. Oh, and then there’s James Harden. Let’s talk about James Harden. He’s playing out of his mind and is worth the price of admission.
You should be going out with the insufferably good-looking Rockets. Hang out with them. I guarantee you’ll have a great time.
Where to get tickets
Absolute no-brainer here. Flashseats is the way to go. You can find seats as low as $15, and you can also bid a lower price if you’re so inclined. If you pay face value you’re looking at $50 aticket at least. It’s definitely supply and demand-driven so don’t expect anything cheap when the Cavs or Warriors head into town.
Where to park
Once again, park south of Highway 59. Polk Street is mainly free to park on, as well as Hutchins Street. Parking here will set you up in great position for the most important step.
Where to pregame
If you want to show out, you can always just pull up a seat at the bar at Pappasito’s across the street from the arena. Don’t do that. There’s a Pappasito’s near home, guaranteed. Just go to that one. Instead, go see the neighborhood.
If you parked where I suggested, guess what? You’re right in front of 8th Wonder Brewery. It doesn’t get more Houston than pregaming at a brewery whose entire image is predicated off of Houston sports. Toss back a Rocket Fuel coffee porter or a seasonal Dream Shake stout while lounging in seats pulled straight from the Astrodome itself and grab some Slab fries from the Eatsie Boys food truck parked out back.
If beer just isn’t your thing, then head northwest one block to The Secret Group. Most Rockets games start by 7 pm, and The Secret Group has a happy hour from 5-7 pm. Three dollar wells, people. You do the math.
Where to get beer
From either of these pregaming spots, head up Polk Street and enter at the corner of Polk and Jackson Street. There’s a full-service bar behind sections 112 and 101. There aren’t any hidden gems like Minute Maid, so it’s usually Bud Light or Zeigenbock. Upstairs there’s a Tito’s bar behind section 411 and another full bar behind section 424. If possible, avoid sitting in sections 416 to 420. There’s a children’s play area over there and you have to walk at least a quarter of the way around the arena to get anything.
Where to eat
HTX Brew and Grub in section 108 is the Toyota Center equivalent of Minute Maid Park’s Street Eats stand. Good grub, start there. Sections 125 and 403 will satisfy your barbecue cravings fairly well with HOU BBQ, but other than that, pickings are slim at Toyota Center outside of the standard fare.
For those of you with a sweet tooth, be sure to go to Clutch the mascot’s annual birthday celebration. They give out free cake to everyone in attendance.
Where it gets rowdy
The entire upper bowl, honestly. They’ve priced out the diehard fans from downstairs, so it’s not uncommon to see a sparsely seated lower arena contrasted by a packed upper concourse. The only real exception to the lower concourse is section 114, home of the Rockets’ diehard fan group, the Red Rowdies. The Red Rowdies were the creation of then head coach Jeff Van Gundy. He held tryouts for the craziest fans and gave the best ones season tickets. They’ve been going nuts ever since, despite their hilariously outdated page on the Rockets official site (I never knew Chase Budinger had his own chant. That’s on me).
Toyota Center is a great venue, but it certainly lacks the Easter eggs that Minute Maid Park has stashed across the place. It doesn’t need them though, because you should honestly just be watching those insufferably good-looking Rockets wreck shop.
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If the Astros were going to win one series and lose the other on their six-game road trip out of the All-Star break, they got it right in taking two out of three games at Seattle then losing two out of three to lousy Oakland. Had they inverted those results, the Astros would not be alone atop the American League West starting this weekend’s series against the Dodgers at Minute Maid Park.
By the schedule the Astros’ sledding now gets tougher. The Dodgers are rolling toward their 11th National League West crown in 12 years, despite their pitching staff having been battered by injuries every bit as much as the Astros’. The Astros will face three rookie starters this weekend. National League Rookie of the Year candidate (non-Paul Skenes division) Gavin Stone goes Friday. Saturday it’s Justin Wrobleski making his fourth big league start, Sunday River Ryan makes his second. 325 million dollar addition Yoshinobu Yamamoto last pitched June 15. Tony Gonsolin is out for the year without throwing a pitch. Clayton Kershaw’s first pitch Thursday marks the first of his season. Tyler Glasnow’s Wednesday return from the Injured List means the Astros won’t face him this weekend.
Aside: Astros’ fan favorite Joe Kelly is back in the Dodgers’ bullpen. He was activated from the IL out of the break, so the opportunity to welcome him back to Minute Maid Park looms!
After the Dodgers, the Pirates hit town with Skenes slated to pitch Monday opposite Jake Bloss. Gulp. Hey, in one game, you never know. Skenes has been the most electric rookie pitcher since Dwight Gooden with the Mets in 1984.
Sleepless in Seattle
The Mariners’ unraveling has reached historic proportions. It’s not easy losing six straight matchups with the lowly Angels but the Mariners were down to the challenge and pulled it off. The M’s have stumble-bummed their way to a 9-20 record over their last 29 games. That’s actually a better winning percentage than the Astros’ had after staggering from the starting gate to a 7-19 mark. Like the Astros did, the Mariners can right their ship, though if they don’t add quality offense before Tuesday’s trade deadline it seems unlikely. Seattle has scored more than two runs in one of its last eight games, the only win among those eight when the Mariners got to Ronel Blanco and Seth Martinez Sunday to avoid an Astros’ sweep. Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers whipping up on the laughingstock Chicago White Sox this week has their World Series title defense very much alive and a threat to overtake both the Astros and Mariners.
The trade deadline is this Tuesday
Tick-tock toward Tuesday’s 5PM Central Time trade deadline. General Manager Dana Brown is on the clock. Let’s start with starting pitchers. Tarik Skubal! Garrett Crochet! Jack Flaherty! Any would be a fabulous addition. If Brown acquires one, he will have done phenomenal work cajoling the trade partner into thinking the Astros’ offer the best. Frankly it seems impossible. The Orioles are in the starting pitcher market. Their farm system runs laps around what the Astros have. Numerous other teams on the hunt for pitching have higher rated minor league talent. The Triple-A Sugar Land Space Cowboys are having a fabulous season, but until the Astros Thursday moved up soon to be 24-year-old Jacob Melton (who was batting just .248 with a .307 on-base percentage at Double-A Corpus Christi) there was not one non-pitcher of any consequence younger than 25 on the roster. Pedro Leon, Shay Whitcomb, Will Wagner, and include Joey Loperfido: it would be shocking if any of them can be the best player in an offer good enough to land one of the potential big trade fish. All four of them wouldn’t be enough to land a Skubal or Crochet.
On the hitter side, if the Blue Jays shop Vlad Jr. and/or the Rays take offers for Paredes, of course Brown better try. Either would be a sharp upgrade over Jon Singleton, and Guerrero can’t become a free agent until after next season, with Paredes under team control through 2027. Reality check time. Seattle’s offense is in dire straits. The Mariners have four prospects rated higher than any Astros’ prospect. If the Mariners didn’t make a winning offer over what the Astros proposed, Seattle GM Jerry Dipoto would look like a timid clown.
That said, there will be several second and third tier starters and relievers moved who would boost the Astros. If Spencer Arrighetti and Jake Bloss are both still in the Astros’ starting rotation after the deadline, Dana Brown will have failed. That said, the Astros could well stand pat and win the Mild, Mild West. They could also finish third.
Go for the gold!
With the Olympics underway, a medal podium-style ranking of the Astros’ greatest trade deadline acquisitions:
No medal but cannot be omitted: Randy Johnson. It was a brief fling with “The Big Unit” in 1998 but it was spectacular. It elevated Houston as a baseball city. In 11 regular season starts Johnson went 10-1 with a 1.28 earned run average. He threw shutouts in his first four Astrodome starts. He spiked attendance like no other player in franchise history. Even though the San Diego Padres beat Johnson twice (Johnson pitched fine, the Astros scored two runs total in the two games) and bounced the Astros in a National League Division Series, and prospects Freddy Garcia and Carlos Guillen included in the deal both went on to have excellent careers, it was a trade that in hindsight you make 100 times out of 100.
Bronze: Jeff Bagwell. Reliever Larry Andersen was outstanding in helping the Boston Red Sox win the AL East in 1990, but the BoSox got swept in the ALCS and Andersen left as a free agent. Bagwell has the greatest offensive resume in Astros’ history (I know, I know, postseason aside) and is quite arguably one of the 10 greatest first basemen of all-time.
Silver: Yordan Alvarez. He has longevity to prove but to this point in his career, while not the all-around player Bagwell was, Yordan is clearly the more destructive force in the batter’s box. Throw in his three monstrously significant home runs in the 2022 Astros’ title run, and his awesome 2023 postseason, and what could still lie ahead for him and the Gold could be his if we revisit this topic 10 years from now. Imagine the Dodgers if they hadn’t gifted Yordan to the Astros for Josh Fields.
Gold: Justin Verlander. Astros’ World Series championships pre-JV, zero. With him, two. Even though his World Series resume is terrible. The finishing piece to the Astros’ initial championship winner in 2017 with a 1.06 ERA in five starts ahead of winning the 2017 ALCS MVP, a second crown in 2022, two Cy Young Awards and a Cy runner-up. Interesting decision to make for the cap on his Hall of Fame plaque. Much more body of work with the Tigers but the championships and legend cemented with the Astros.
*Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via The SportsMap HOU YouTube channel or listen to episodes in their entirety at Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.