Monday, April 18, 1966: AstroTurf

The Los Angeles Dodgers shelled veteran Robin Roberts with a barrage of singles Monday night and defeated the Houston Astros, 6-3, in the first official game played on the Astrodome's infield of synthetic grass. ... Neither club gave indication of concern about the pool table green infield made of tough nylon strips zippered together. There were three errors, but none could be blamed on the carpet-like material that Astro officials plan to extend into the outfield by mid-June.

     -- Story by Associated Press: @

     -- Image by Associated Press from July 1966, showing the installation of Astroturf in the Astrodome outfield.

* www.astroturf.com: @

* "Astroturf Applauded by Dodger" (Associated Press, April 19, 1966; from www.newspapers.com, subscription only): @
* "The Cool Bubble" (Roger Angell, 1966): @

* "The Rise and Fall of Artificial Turf" (Mark Armour, Baseball Analysts, 2006): @

* "MLB's turf wars are just about over" (Associated Press, September 2009): @

* "Materiality and Meaning: Synthetic Grass, Sport, and the Limits of Modern Progress" (Benjamin D. Lisle, 2012): @

* "Turf Wars" (Jennifer Weeks, Chemical Heritage Foundation, 2013): @

* "Movies, Bullfights, and Baseball, Too: Astrodome Built for Spectacle First and Sports Second" (Eric Robinson, Society for American Baseball Research, 2014): @

* "Monofilament Ribbon Pile Product" (Patent, 1967): @
* Earlier post on the Astrodome (April 1965): @

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