ALVIN, Texas – From wall to wall, Freddie Valdez has autographed jerseys, pictures, and balls inside his Alvin home. And for Opening Day, he is bringing Minute Maid Park to his neighborhood for the start of the new season.
“I’m a die-hard sports fan. Houston sports fan,” said Freddie Valdez.
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Freddie now has Minute Maid Park in his backyard, with the Astros logo in the middle and the 2017 and 2022 Championship Trophies on each side.
“I just wanted this done, just the “H” and the star and maybe just paint it blue, and then, I have to give credit to my wife because she’s the one who decided, ‘Hey, how about Minute Maid” and I said ‘alright!”
It shows every detail down to the crowded stands, sponsorship signs, and lines from freshly cut grass. And Daran Smith, a local artist who painted the mural, says he knew Valdez from a gym in Alvin and while he never painted a mural of that caliber before, he was up for the challenge.
“I knew that was gonna be a big task,” Smith said. “Just the little detail that goes into making it look like a stadium full of people. I knew it was gonna be a lot of work, but I was very excited to give it a shot.
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It took Smith about seven months to complete, doing one session a week.
“It was at least 200 hours, possibly closer to 300,” Smith said. “I’m really happy the way it turned out.”
“I started out just blocking in the main shapes of both sides, so it was very rough looking at first,” he continued. “I used a few different references that I kind of blended together.”
And Valdez was indeed one happy customer!
“This really just blew my mind, as it was progressing,” said Valdez. “Daran did an excellent job, way above what I expected.”
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Now, Valdez said he’s saving room for additional art.
“The next project will be hopefully add another trophy there in October,” he said.
Valdez also hopes Daran gets an opportunity to paint a mural for the Astros one day.