Enron Field has a retractable roof. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        HOUSTON — Visiting Enron Field for the first time made Pokey Reese feel glad to be a second baseman.

        “I wouldn't want to be a pitcher here,” Reese said Friday as he and his Reds teammates made their first visit to Enron Field, the Houston Astros' new ballpark.

        That was the only mildly negative remark any of the Reds could muster about the 42,000-seat ballpark. With its natural grass, handsome limestone left-field facade, retractable roof and location on the edge of downtown Houston, Enron is pleasantly distant, in more ways than one, from the Astrodome, its predecessor that gave the team its name.

        “It's hard to think about baseball in Houston without the Astrodome,” said Reds reliever Scott Williamson, who grew up in nearby Friendswood. “But it's a big-time thing for people in Houston to have a new field. I wish I could have come to a field like this.”

        Hitters particularly enjoy coming to Enron. Fifty-four homers were hit in the first 15 games here, a ridiculously high ratio. In batting practice Friday, Cincinnati's Dante Bichette hit three balls completely out of the stadium beyond left field, where the foul-line dimension is a cozy 315 feet. The breeze that has blown consistently toward left all season adds distance to each drive.

        “If you hit the ball hard to left, it's either off the wall or it's gone,” Bichette said.

        In some ways, Enron mirrors many of the other parks built in the 1990s. The plastic green seats and plethora of club boxes place it squarely in the Coors Field-Camden Yards-Jacobs Field category.

        But the park also has its novelties, including one that Cincinnatians will appreciate. Center field, where the wall sits a vast 436 feet from home plate, ends in “Tal's Hill,” a grassy incline that rises at a 30-degree angle and recalls Crosley Field's famed outfield berm. This nuance was recommended by Tal Smith, the Astros' president of baseball operations who worked for the Reds in 1958-60.

        Many of the stadium's gimmicks are apparent just at a glance. Also in center field, the flagpole upon which the Stars and Stripes hoisted sits in play, as was customary in old parks.

        The combination of three scoreboards form one of the largest video/information displays in baseball, which reminds fans of the enormous board that dominated the Astrodome.

        A replica of a 19th-century locomotive runs along a 688-foot track overlooking left and center fields. An oversized gasoline pump keeps track of the number of home runs hit by Astros players.

        The Reds also were poised to become part of ballpark history. The roof, which hasn't been closed during a regular-season game, was expected to be shut after the game, protecting the field from predicted rainstorms.

        “The place is beautiful. It's awesome,” Reese said. “You can't help but want to come to the clubhouse every day.”

REDS 7, ASTROS 3 Box, runs Reds like look, feel of Enron Reds notebook Architects criticize ballpark design What do you think?

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