Texana Thursday: Exploding with Excitement at the Astrodome

The exploding Astrodome scoreboard held a lot of memories for Houston Astros fans (Columbia University photo)

This week, Harris County held a farewell party of sorts for the Harris County Domed Stadium, better known as the Astrodome. The Astrodome is scheduled to undergo a $105 million renovation and won’t be used for sports again. Fans attending the party got to look at the empty stadium seats and relive the past.

What they didn’t see, however, was the Astrodome’s iconic exploding scoreboard.

The scoreboard was a brainchild of former Harris County Judge Roy Hofheinz, who was the visionary behind getting the Astrodome designed and built. The idea of having an exploding scoreboard was on the cutting edge when the Astrodome opened in 1965, though they are commonplace today.

Whenever an Astros player hit a home run, the scoreboard would explode in a three-sequence celebration.

In the first sequence, a representation of the Astrodome appeared on left side of the scoreboard. A baseball would explode through the roof and soar to the right side of the scoreboard, at which it exploded and the words “Home Run!” appeared.

The second sequence, cowboys jumped for joy and shot their six-guns in celebration.

In the final sequence, a Texas Longhorn steerhead appeared, with smoke coming out of his nostrils. The American flag unfurled from one horn and the Texas flag unfurled from the other. Images of a cowboy chasing, and roping a steer, also appeared.

A fireworks display ended the show.

To see a YouTube video showing the last time the exploding scoreboard did its thing, click here.

The exploding scoreboard was not limited to baseball. The Astrodome hosted Houston Oilers and Houston Cougars football games over the years. The second and final sequences appeared when the Oilers or Cougars scored a touchdown.

Harris County removed the exploding scoreboard in the 1980s to appease the Oilers. The Oilers owner threatened to move the team to another city if more seats weren’t added at the Astrodome.

The county tore down the scoreboard to add the seats…and the Oilers left town after the 1996 season.

The Astros moved to Enron Field, now known as Minute Maid Park, in 2000. They took the exploding scoreboard sequence with them, which fans can enjoy whenever an Astros player hits a home run.