October 25, 2022 - Good Morning! It’s Tuesday, October 25.
I grew up in Houston, so my favorite baseball team is, of course, the Astros. A couple of nights ago they punched their ticket to this year’s World Series by defeating the New York Yankees. And I was reminded of another Astro game that was played 57 years ago.
The very first baseball game in the Astrodome was played on April 9, 1965. President Lyndon Johnson was in attendance, and so was I. The "Stros" won that game 2-1. Who did they beat? The New York Yankees! And Hall-of-Famer Mickey Mantle had a home run, the first home run ever hit . . . indoors! It was a night to remember.
Six months later, I was back in the Dome, and so was the President. But it wasn't for a ballgame. It was the tenth and last service of the Billy Graham Houston Crusade. My dad's church chartered a bus and a bus load of our church members were in the stands. I remember how the famous scoreboard, that usually exploded with lights and colors for home runs, was empty except for an eight-word message. "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever".
Billy Graham's gone now, and so is Lyndon Johnson. And my dad. But the Astrodome is still standing. Since 2008 it has hosted zero events. Restoration plan after plan has been voted down. Houston doesn't know what to do with it. And so, it sits among parking lots, dwarfed by Reliant Arena. A sad legacy of the past.
But I'll always remember those two nights in 1965, when the Astrodome was the "Eighth Wonder of the World", when the Astros won their first game, when the President came to Houston. And when I heard Billy Graham preach.
Meet you back here tomorrow,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
