Minor league baseball in Texas has become a family favorite
While many baseball fans in Texas keep a close eye on the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros, hoping for a chance to see their team make it to a world series, thousands of fans around the state of Texas have also become loyal to their local minor league teams.
The Frisco RoughRiders, a double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers, and the Houston Astro’s Triple-A affiliate, the Round Rock Express, are just two of the teams that locals have thrown their support behind as minor league baseball has become a family favorite around the lone star state. The RoughRiders play their home games at Dr. Pepper Ballpark and are a member of the Texas League South Division. The Express make their home at Dell Diamond in Round Rock and play in the Pacific Coast League Southern Division.
Fans enjoy a couple of the finest minor league ballparks in baseball when they take in a game at one of these ballparks. Dr. Pepper Ballpark opened in 2003 and sits 10,600 fans. The architecture is unique and truly lends itself to a ballpark with a special hometown feel. Of course, it is Texas, so if things get a bit toasty in the Texas summer heat there is always the inviting swimming pool area just beyond the outfield wall available for rent at both ballparks.
Though many of the players on the minor league rosters are working hard to earn their chance at one day playing on a major league team, several will never get the call from the big league team and will spend their professional careers at the minor league level enjoying the game they have played since they were just kids.
However, friendships and relationships that last a lifetime are a couple of the things many of these players find invaluable and many of them are quick to tell you that it isn’t always about the big bucks and bright lights, but about what the game means to them as a whole.
“It’s been a long journey and I have been playing baseball since I can remember.” said Frisco infielder Marco Lemon. “I came out of high school and played rookie ball and was fortunate enough that I did well enough that they promoted me. I got an opportunity to start this year at Frisco and it has been a really good experience and I am having a lot of fun. To grow up with a bunch of guys that have the same goals and dreams, you develop a brothership and it is an amazing bond.”
Just look in the stands on game day and you will often see much of the same as young kids and adults alike visit and share conversation as they enjoy a few special moments of their own.
This is a different side of baseball than the major league games we often see on television. This is a game where you see young men developing their skills and growing as players. A time where the pressure may not be as intense as the big leagues, and a time where they work hard to realize their dreams.
Ask any of the players that have spent most, or all of their careers in the minor leagues, and they will tell you it requires plenty of patience and perseverance. “It was great three years ago,” said RoughRiders pitcher William Lee “Beau” Vaughan. Since then Vaughan describes his career as a “bumpy ride”,referring to the trade that brought him to Frisco. “I progressed slowly through the Red Sox system and spent a few years in A ball and then finally got to Double-A.”
Even with the expectations that are placed on them as professional baseball players who will hopefully one day fill a teams needs on the major league level, they always keep in mind how special this game is to them. “As crazy as this business is, the ups and down we go through, when you get to the ballpark every night it is just little kids experiencing this for the first time and that is the best part,” said Vaughan.
And that is also one of the things you notice when you attend one of the games, kids having fun. They pick out just the right spot hoping to snag a foul ball, often times in a glove with a few autographs from players on it. And when an adult catches a foul ball, you will often times see them turn and hand it to the nearest kid.
These parks, such as Dell Diamond and Dr. Pepper Ballpark, provide a fun place for families to enjoy affordable baseball as their kids see where hard work can take you as an athlete. For fans who find the drive to the major league parks just a bit far to make on a regular basis, or for the youngsters who can’t quite afford the ticket yet to the big league game, the minor league parks are just the place to enjoy one of the best things about summer, baseball.
