Tal Smith

At 27 years old, Tal Smith arrived in Houston in November 1960 to serve as an assistant to the new National League franchise's general manager, Gabe Paul. In April 1963 during the construction of the Astrodome, Smith was named as the primary liaison for the Houston Sports Association. When the historic Astrodome opened in 1965, the first-ever indoor baseball stadium was lauded as the "Eighth Wonder of the World." However, when natural grass failed to thrive in the Dome, Smith was responsible for finding an alternative playing surface, leading to the installation of a synthetic turf that became known as Astroturf. After the Dome was built, Smith was named vice president and director of player personnel.

After a three-year stint as an executive vice president with the Yankees (1973-75), Smith returned to Houston in August 1975 as general manager of what was a last-place Astros club. Slowly, Smith would build the Astros into a winner as they captured the NL West Division crown in 1980, marking the first postseason appearance in club history. For his efforts, he was named Major League Executive of the Year by The Sporting News. In 1981, Smith moved on and started Tal Smith Enterprises, which was a firm that provided consulting services to several MLB clubs, primarily for salary arbitration cases.

In 1994, Smith returned to the Astros as president of baseball operations. His third stint with the Astros proved to be his most successful on the field as the club earned six playoff berths in a nine-season span (1997-2005), including their first-ever World Series appearance in 2005.

Smith was a driving force in the construction of Minute Maid Park, which opened in 2000 and featured many unique characteristics, including a retractable roof, a train on tracks in left field and a 10-degree hill in center field which was affectionately named Tal’s Hill in his honor. Smith remained the president of baseball operations through the 2011 season.