Beating the heat in Houston

Colt Stadium (Houston Chronicle photo)

The Houston Colt .45s and San Francisco Giants play the first Sunday night game in major league history 61 years ago today at old Colt Stadium.

Hal Brown pitches 6 and one-third innings of one-hit relief to earn the victory in Houston’s 3-0 shutout of the Giants before a crowd of 17,437.

In the era before the opening of the air-conditioned Astrodome, the teams get permission to play the night game to try and beat Houston’s brutal daytime heat.

Daytime temperatures in Houston on this day in 1963 reach 95 degrees. That night? A relatively cool 79.

Unbeknownst at the time, the first Sunday night game 61 years ago today eventually leads to what is now a lucrative, nationally televised staple for Sunday nights in the major leagues.