Astrodome Scoreboard Goes Dark 09/06/1988

[KLOU1580]

I was there the night before this. It brings a tear to my eye when I see this video. I was 10 the first time I saw a game in the Dome. 45 years later, I still love Astros baseball.

[4lifeReagan]

Wasn't the Judges apartment blow and the right of the old HSE logo? Another reason we should have kept the old scoreboard.

[4lifeReagan]

Thats how the dome should have stayed. Thanks to bud adams we had a real treasure removed for the sake of 10,000 more seats. WOW!!!!

[kimmy1984]

Oh wow thanks for sharing this. I rember going to see the Astros as a kid and getting so excited watching the scoreboard light up.

[matthew1544]

Albert pujols killed lidge back in 05 lol

[matthew1544]

Go cards!!!!!

[Ryanyarb24]

this is awesome thank you its nice to see this great scoreboard that i have read so much about.

[jasoncd1974]

that makes me wanna cry. There will never be another Houston Astrodome. All these multi-billion dollar stadiums nowadays suck! No personality what so ever. Long live the 'Dome!!!

[astrodog1002]

Nothing like the Dome, I have so many great memories from the first month it was open to the last. I wish it cold be restored and used again. Thanks for the great video, best scoreboard ever.

[needstoregister]

When Texas was Texas.

[cougartino]

Damn that Bud Adams!

[GodVikingsAerosmith]

I was at Minutemaid last Sunday watching the Rays/Astros. My dad pointed out to me that they were using some of the old Astrodome graphics on the new screen. (The bull with the Texas and American flag on either horn.)

[voxianguy]

I agree with the others here...thank for posting this man. I remember watching this scoreboard all the years I was a kid going to Astros games. Just another way Bud Adams SCREWED Houston.

[punchmaster123]

Now the Astros have a big 1080i HD jumbo-tron scoreboard in minutemaid park.

[longhorn2615]

Classic Houston

[WatchVenusSpa]

Still the coolest scoreboard of all time!

[saints093]

I wonder what happened to that scoreboard? They should have found a way to install it in Minute Maid Park when the Astros moved to their new ballpark to continue that tradition with that scoreboard.

[robphilll22]

I loved that sequence. Bad news Bears Breaking training scene. Miss that scoreboard as apposed to that stupid train in the new ballpark.Last time the Astrodome was used was for hurricane Katrina survivors and the field was set up for football.

[hotforxx]

The Astrodome was known as the 8th wonder of the world. First indoor stadium. It deserves to still be used.

[andyr1313]

When I was 11 or 12 I created the "million-dollar" scoreboard out of pegboard painted black with pegs painted white to simulate the bulbs. Million dollar- more like eight dollars!

[dstar1958]

Great post. Went to the "Dome" many times. As a youngster my buddies and I played baseball in our backyard. I actually got some of my Dad's plywood and made an outfield fence and used colored chalk to draw some of the effects of the scoreboard on the wall. I know it sounds kinda wierd but for 9 year old kids its was pretty cool to try to copy this scorboard. That was how much of an impression it made on me.

[thenintendogamer]

This was in '88? The quality looks amazing. I have some from '02 and they look really bad now :P

[Dremple]

SO sad

[andyr1313]

I remember this was state-of-the-art technology when the Dome opened in 1965...still brings a smile to my face... it's hokey and awesome at the same time...

@blank77- I think Rice Stadium had a larger seating capacity, and there was some kind of rental issue with the Dome...

[csms1989]

Come to even think about it. The Astrodome never in it's existence, hosted 1 Super Bowl. Now that's sad.

[blank77]

@csms1989 They almost did,Super Bowl 8 was in Houston.But for some reason,they played it at Rice Stadium.I don't understand why.

[csms1989]

Totally Vintage and irreplaceable. Never again will we ever see that scoreboard

[eatmyvcr]

Thank you for posting this! Those boards showed more creativity than the glitzy LED and plasma displays of today, IMHO. I know bulbs use more energy and whatnot but gosh -- this is fantastic and UNIQUE!! Hope they have it in storage somewhere and not demolished.

[TwinCityKillaz]

VIVA TEXAS!!!!

[DLOColumbia107]

God I miss that place...

[rtayl]

Thanks for posting this!! It's a shame they got rid of it

[BrownBrother27]

Thank you for posting this! The Astros' homerun celebration here is something missing at sports venues today

[cuofamerica]

Bud Adams ruin the ASTRODOME! It never was the same and he still ran off leaving us a fat bill for those stupid ass grey seats. I wished Drayton would have brought part of that old board to the new stadium.

[Baltimorehop]

The first time I actually saw that scoreboard was in "The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training". I was 12 in 1977 and it was like a fantasy watching that scoreboard going off.

[NateShandera]

I loved that scoreboard.

[NateShandera]

I loved that scoreboard and I wish it was still around or available on iTunes.

That scoreboard was my most favorite thing about the astrodome.

[shucker10]

@NateShandera if you want the sound from the scoreboard and other Astros audio history check out astrosdaily(dot)com

[gpciie]

I was born in 1986. I'm a product of the technological revolution. Most scoreboards today would supposedly put this to shame but guess what? This is still pretty freaking cool.

Bud Adams has a special place in baseball hell for removing this wonderful bit of Texas baseball history, I'm sure.

[blank77]

I seen some things in all my years,and I just seen this scoreboard.

And it was,AWESOME!!!!!!!

[zinger69]

I never had a chance to visit the 8th wonder of the world, but I saw this on one of the Bad News Bears movies and thought it was pretty cool. Considering it was built in the 60's, very advanced for the time!

[orchard112]

Thanks for posting this - Great video! Any other classic astrodome footage?

[fatcat752]

You're welcome. I was going through some old 8mm videos and found this. I had completely forgotten that I was even there!

[blank77]

@fatcat752 I got to know one thing.Now I know that not only the Astros used this celebration for home runs,but the Oilers used this for touchdowns,too.But since they flashed "Home Run" when that "ball" shot out of that lighted "Dome",did it say something else like "Touchdown" or was it something else?

[fatcat752]

@blank77 I remember correctly, they didn't show the dome lighting up and the homerun ball going through the roof when there was a touchdown. I believe they just lit up the longhorns and the fireworks. But it was still great!

[shucker10]

@blank77 for TD's it was just the cowboys and then the bulls. FG's and extr points were for the fireworks. HS football playoffs and The Bluebonnet Bowl were different. ONe team got the cowboys shooting their guns and the other team got the longhorns, but both teams got the fireworks.

[moosesmart]

Thanks for posting this!!!