AstroTurf

On April 19, 1965, the Houston Astrodome's ceiling was painted because glare from the windows made fielding balls difficult.

The skylights were painted a dull translucent white, which reduced the lighting by nearly 40%, which created the need for lights during the day.  The reduced lighting also caused the Bermuda grass in the infield and outfield to die.  For most of the 1965 season, the Astros played on dirt and dead grass that were painted green.

The Astros had little choice but to install an artificial playing surface called ChemGrass that became known as AstroTurf.  Because the supply of AstroTurf was still low, only a limited amount was available for the home opener on April 18, 1966. There wasn't enough for the entire outfield, but there was enough to cover the traditional grass portion of the infield. The outfield remained painted dirt until after the All-Star break.  The team was sent on an extended road trip before the break, and on July 19, 1966, the installation of the outfield portion of AstroTurf was completed.

For five years the entire infield was dirt, but in 1971 the infield was covered with Astroturf except for the areas around each base.