BOISE, Idaho — THIS DAY IN SPORTS…April 18, 1966:
A major professional regular season sporting event is played on an artificial surface for the first time ever, as the Houston Astrodome celebrates its switch to Astroturf after the natural grass used in the dome in 1965 died off. The L.A. Dodgers beat the Houston Astros 6-3 to win the inaugural game. The grass field the year before was specially engineered to grow indoors, but when dome officials were forced to paint the semi-transparent ceiling panels that had made it difficult for players to see, the grass deteriorated. The second half of the 1965 season was essentially played on dirt that had been painted green.
Little-known fact: there was not enough of the new artificial turf to go around, and only the Astrodome’s infield was covered at the time of the opener. Outfielders were still playing on dirt and dead grass. Finally, a new supply arrived and was installed during an extended road trip in the early summer. The completed surface made its debut after the All-Star break in July.
The use of artificial surfaces spread quickly in sports over the next five years. Comiskey Stadium in Chicago was the first outdoor stadium to install it. Then came all the cookie-cutter multi-purpose facilities like Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati and Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.
Boise State was one of the early college programs to introduce artificial turf, laying down the green type for the new Bronco Stadium (now Albertsons Stadium) in 1970. It was replaced in 1978 — and again in 1986, when the blue turf was introduced. The third renewal was in 1995. But the old Astroturf surfaces came under increasing scrutiny across the country due to its sandpaper-type texture and its lack of give, resulting in knee and ankle injuries. The new blue turf in 2002 was made of the new FieldTurf, softer and more forgiving. Still, artificial turf is increasingly frowned-upon, with a group of NFL players starting a petition last year to ban it.
By the way, the debut of Astroturf (on the infield, anyway) in Houston coincided with the first major league victory for Dodgers rookie Don Sutton. It was the start of a Hall of Fame career that would see him win 324 games with six different teams. Sutton pitched for the Dodgers his first 15 seasons — and he finished with them in 1988.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
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