USRT Texas 2007: Day Four!
How could this road trip get any better? Well we were about to find out as we pointed the car southwards to Corpus Christi to take in a game of the AA Hooks at Whataburger Field, our fourth and final stop on this journey.
From Austin to Corpus Christi it is about a 210 mile drive, and once you pass San Antonio, you run into a lot of… nothing. Miles and miles of brush and wilderness, we had a hard time even finding a lunch spot until we got off the interstate and wound up in some God forsaken place named Three Rivers, where the only joints in town were a Dairy Queen and a Pizza Hut… so stuffed crust it was!
As you enter the outskirts of Corpus Christi, it is a sea of refineries and oil industry facilities for miles and miles, and the grittiness continues almost right to the doorstep of Whataburger Field, a stadium built on the outskirts of a gleaming downtown amidst abandoned manufacturing sites from a bygone area. But rather than try to wall off or ignore the setting, this venue embraces it, with a blend of modern ballpark architecture combined with a façade reminiscent of the old cotton warehouses which used to stand on the site. The view beyond the outfield wall is absolutely breathtaking, a signature bridge dominating the view and sightings of ships and barges going by beyond the left field.
Matt Rogers is the team’s Communication Director and greeted us upon our arrival, and once we got settled, took us on a walking tour of the building. We checked out the outfield party decks, one named after Corpus Christi native and ballplayer Brooks Kieschnick, and another replete with a pool and hot tub. Old buildings and machine installations from the cotton gin era were painstakingly preserved and made a part of the ballpark, interspersed with game and play area, a little league ball field, a basketball court, and concessions, all out beyond the center field wall.
Hooks broadcaster Matt Hicks, whose wife Estelle is a Buffalo native, invited us to participate on the team’s radio pregame show, which is done from a glassed in studio right near the main entrance. We shared stories of USRT adventures with the listeners and had a great time doing the broadcast.
After that it was out to the stands to catch some baseball, and it was a nice crowd on hand despite an on and off drizzle. The Hooks took an early 4-0 lead and hung on to win 5-2. Of course, being our 100th ballpark, we did our own chant and ceremony, doing the rhythmic clapping in the 5th until the final out was recorded, making this an official game. High fives and a bow, we deserve it!
The one thing that really struck us about Whataburger Field is that it is such a happy place. They really seem to go out of their way to please and entertain the fans. Great music bumps, yeah my favorite down here is always “Deep in the Heart of Texas” and we clap along. I also like the Mexican mariachis serenading the patrons on the way in. Nice little touches like that and the unique and distinct architecture give this stadium its character and soul.
As if all this weren’t enough, we headed back up to the pressbox late in the game to load some photos here on WNYM and check on the Bisons game back home (sadly Buffalo’s playoff dreams ended with a loss to Rochester tonight). Matt Rogers was up there and introduces us to Reid and Reese Ryan, co-owners of this team and Round Rock and sons of legendary Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan. The two guys already knew all about us as word had spread of our visit to Round Rock two days earlier. They both left for a minute, and then came back with souvenirs and caps, enough to fill a suitcase!
What more can we say? We have commented many times on the wonderful welcome and hospitality we have encountered on our visits to Texas. This trip certainly ranks up there among them and we are so grateful to the Round Rock and Corpus Christi front offices for making our time here so memorable!
So tomorrow we drive back up to DFW to catch the plane ride home. Next scheduled USRT to Texas? Right now not until fall 2009, when the Dallas Cowboys open their new stadium. Do we really have to wait that long? Can we come back sooner… PLEASE!
Whataburger Field - USRT photos
After the jump
The beautiful main entrance at the ballpark
A Mexican Mariachi band serenades the fans walking in through the main gate
Yes that is a swimming pool and hot tub party deck with a great view of the action
The region’s history as a cotton producer and manufacturer is captured well in this building as old structures and cotton machinery were saved and made a part of the outfield entertainment area
Get a load of this eye popping and jaw dropping view!
Never know who you’re going to meet at a ballpark!
These two fellas are Reid Ryan and Reese Ryan, co-owners of the Round Rock Express and the Corpus Christi Hooks, and yes, sons of some guy who used to pitch in the Bigs…. ummm…. ummm… name escapes me for now.
As I am updating the site here in the pressbox, Reid and Reese came bearing gifts, enough souvenirs of our visit to pack a suitcase actually. Thanks for the love guys!
Corpus Christi’s Whataburger Field - the USRT’s 100th baseball venue!
39 Major League Baseball parks… 60 Minor League Baseball parks… Tonight at Whataburger Field, we celebrated a milestone accomplishment as the Ultimate Sports Road Trip hit number 100. Yep, for the 100th time we entered a separate and distinct professional baseball venue, and as the game became official in the 5th inning, we engaged in rhythmic clapping and high fived when the inning ended. (Why is it always drizzling when we have these signature moments?)
Some would celebrate such an occasion with bubbly or a beer; we decided to mark the occasion with a Nolan Ryan Barbecue Beef sandwich!
The USRT is on the air!
Reporting in from Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi… Communications Director Matt Rogers met up with us and gave us a tour of the ballpark, and then we dropped by the “Sprint Studio”, a glassed in radio studio adjacent to the ballpark’s front entrance, where we were invited to participate on the Corpus Christi Hooks pregame show with play by play announcer Matt Hicks.
The attendance meter - a cool ballpark idea
Just off of the main entrance lobby at the Dell Diamond you can find this backlit display in their concourse, displaying the season long attendance progress for the Round Rock Express.
“We take great pride in being one of the top drawing teams in the Pacific Coast League, which is even more remarkable considering that our ballpark has a smaller capacity than others.” said Express President Jay Miller. “Our fans take great pride in showing their support, and this attendance meter is a nice way of engaging the fans in our progress.”
When the USRT was going full throttle a few years back, we used to constantly send these sort of ideas and suggestions, complete with pictures, to Buffalo Bisons VP/General Manager Mike Buczkowski. Never once did we ever get an acknowledgement, or a thank you, or a message that the things we sent along might merit some thought or consideration by the Bisons’ brain trust. So we stopped.
What do we know anyway! We’re just a couple of blokes writing for that hipster, earring wearing, pot smoking, drag queen homo newspaper.
USRT Texas 2007: Day Three!
Our cool adventure through Texas continues, and day three is now in the books, this time, switching to college football here in downtown Austin.
We started the day for a great lunch at a hangout called The Tavern, and Seamus Gallivan met up with us to enjoy some food and catch the early college games on the gazillion screens in the joint. Seamus hooked us up with some friends of his who invited us to their pregame tailgate, so it was off to the Magierskis for the next leg of our day.
Brian Magierski is a Cheektowaga native who now lives in Austin with his wife Marlene and their two daughters. I met Brian a couple years ago through his mom Alice Magierski who is a Cheektowaga Council Member, my boss and a very dear friend. Brian runs a very successful internet venture capital enterprise, and even though he lives down here now, he is a Buffalo guy through and through. After touring his beautiful home and hanging out for a bit, the three of us headed to the stadium for the tailgate.
Rick and Susan, organizers of “The Garcia Tailgate”, a staple in the southeast lot adjacent to the stadium, had an amazing spread and a nice group of people at their party. He is the Budweiser beer distributor here in Austin, but readily groused that “some mongrel beers probably found their way in those coolers” as he gestured to help ourselves to food and drink. They had a really nice southwest spread - Salt Lick beef brisket, which is the local specialty, frankfurters with Texas chili, and Mexican tamales with cheese and salsa, among the items on the buffet. We were so stuffed from lunch, but managed to enjoy the delicacies and the good company.
By now it was an hour to game time, and we still had to find game tickets, so time to look for the scalpers. We hit the street and eventually found the big Moroccan ticket bazaar, but the scalper crowd was tough! Getting three together was a challenge, and bargains were hard to find, but we got three upper deck seats for face value ($60 per), and Brian sprung for the tickets which was tremendously generous.
We walked the whole perimeter of the stadium, took some pictures… the north end of the venue is undergoing a reconstruction and it was tall cranes and empty concrete, but with temporary bleachers in place in the south end, the place was full and 85,000 strong. With the building totally colored burnt orange, the hometown Longhorns stumbled through this game, everyone mindful of the stunning Applachian State upset over Michigan earlier in the day, but Texas eventually took a 21-3 lead. The visiting Arkansas State Indians missed 2 field goals, had a touchdown taken away on a referee review, otherwise it could have been ugly for the home team. Nonetheless, the Indians got a late touchdown, then apparently successfully executed the onside kick with 50 seconds to go, but the refs called an odd penalty for not enough players lined up to the left of the kicker. The second try was unsuccessful, and the Longhorns, favored by 39 1/2 points, escaped with a 21-13 win.
So after a long day of sightseeing, lots of food and drink and good times with old friends and new friends, we now set our sights to Corpus Christi, and the 100th ballpark of the Ultimate Sports Road Trip. Man, this sports travel is so much fun!
Above photo - Brian Magierski and Peter outside Darrell K Royal - Texas Memorial Stadium.
Texas Memorial Stadium - USRT photos
After the jump.
Tailgating with Rick and Susan and their posse
The outside of Texas Memorial Stadium
85,000 plus in the building; the view just inside the gate
The panorama of the seating bowl
Check out that new HD scoreboard!
Downtown Austin, as seen from the stadium concourse
Lunch at “The Tavern” - Downtown Austin
Met up with Seamus to have a delicious lunch at The Tavern. This is the headquarters for the Austin Chapter of the Bills Backers Club. What??? You mean there are Buffalo ex-pats living in Austin? How shocking!
Plenty of plasma TV’s, great place to watch sports… Hmmm… Michigan just took the lead over Appalachian State late in the game. Looks like the Wolverines dodged a bullet.
USRT Texas 2007: Day Two!
Wow… did our second day down here in Texas turn out to be a memorable adventure.
We pointed the car south from Arlington in the late morning, getting into Austin about 3PM. We made a few calls, got settled into the hotel and then made our way through some stifling traffic up to Round Rock and the Dell Diamond, home of the AAA Round Rock Express.
The stadium is located about 4 miles east of the interstate, and after passing a couple of plazas and housing subdivisions, the stadium sits amidst … corn fields. Yes, like something out of “Field of Dreams”, this beautiful ballpark rises out of empty fields as far as the eye can see.
As we walked around and took photos of the exterior, we got the sense that we were in for a treat - the beautiful gold limestone facade and wood and brick accents makes this venue feel like some sort of hunting lodge. Right from the time we pulled into the parking lot, the staff and employees made us feel welcome. Gee, what a surprise! Another does of that amazing Texas hospitality.
The team’s ownership group is headed by Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan, and his sons and other partners are hand on involved with the team. Our affable host Seamus Gallivan (read separate story down below) introduced us to President Jay Miller and many of his coworkers, and everyone was great to us, as was team PR Director Avery Holton, who arranged for media passes.
The game was delayed almost three hours as a freakish storm hit the area, but we used the time to hang out and talk to staffers and fans and folks up in the pressbox. Our Buffalo Bisons are in a desperate race for a playoff spot in the International League, and throughout the night Buffalo News reporter Mike Harrington was text messaging updates from Frontier Field in Rochester. But then the updates stopped (Mike was probably racing to do his story), and that left us scrambling to get the scores. So we asked one of the Round Rock beat writers in the press box if he would be so kind as to pull up the scores. He jokingly replied, “Ahh so you want the AAA J.V. scores eh?”. Hey thems fighting words!!! So I replied, hey watch the AAA World Series this year we’ll see who has the last laugh. He gives me the zinger “Oh yeah? Like Toledo last September?!” Ouch! But hey, I will let I.L. President Randy Mobley know that I stood up for the honor of our league and wouldn’t let these smarmy P.C.L. guys push us around!
The game started late, ended late, and ended up with the New Orleans Zephyrs winning 3-0, on the back of two home runs and allowing just two base hits. For the Express, it has been a down year, and they are way out of the running for the division pennant.
Overall, a fabulous ballpark experience, a jewel of a stadium, friendly and hands on staff, great food selection, nice amenities including an expansive play area in centerfield, a party deck with pool and jacuzzi hot tub adjacent, and a place we would be glad to return to and to recommend to anybody as a must visit!
The Dell Diamond - USRT photos
After the jump:
The main entrance to the Dell Diamond
Nolan Ryan’s famous barbecue stand on the 3rd base side
The signature main lobby inside the home field gate
A view of the seating bowl, an intimate 8800 seats plus berm seating brings capacity to about 11,000
The symbolic “Round Rock” is displayed inside the outfield entrance
An incredible rain delay in Round Rock
When we arrived at the Dell Diamond at 6:30pm, the sun was shining; by 7pm, just minutes before the scheduled first pitch, the skies opened up, and for the next hour torrential rains and thunderstorms hit the Round Rock area, such as we have never seen in the history of the USRT. By the time things tapered off, the warning track was a swamp, the dugouts were under three feet of water, and half of the fans had bailed and gone home.
But for those who stuck it out they were rewarded, for the entire front office and grounds crew went to extraordinary lengths to get the game in and put a show on for the fans. “What you saw on the field was the entire organizational totem pole” said Seamus Gallivan, sharing that even team co-owners Reid Ryan and Reese Ryan and team president Jay Miller were down on the field squeegeeing the water off of the playing surface.
Take a look at these amazing photos; the postgame fireworks show became the “pregame” show, going off while the crew feverishly worked on the field. The game finally got underway at 9:44pm CDT. Final out? 12:13am!
Meet Seamus Gallivan
Who?
Seamus Gallivan, Account Services rep for the Round Rock Express, a former Buffalonian, and one cool guy!
When we heard that Round Rock had a Buffalo connection, we got a hold of Seamus, and he was all too happy to personally welcome us to the Dell Diamond, give us the VIP tour, and make us feel much at home during our visit.
Seamus formerly worked for the Buffalo Bisons, and moved out to Texas with his then girlfriend a few years back. The girlfriend is long gone, but he was itching to get back into baseball, and specifically wanted to work for the Express. “It’s such a great organization, from the top down.” says Seamus. “I kept coming back again and again and they kept turning me away, saying there were no openings.”
Evenutally Seamus got his foot in the door. “I was one of those guys out in centerfield, working with the teenage interns in tending to all the games and fun stuff” Seamus says. “But it gave me my start.”
Now working in sales and marketing, Seamus admits that the job is far more than that, and certainly this was put to the test as torrential rains forced the entire staff to get down to the field to repair the damage and get the game in, and Seamus was down in the dugout bailing water.
Eventually the game got started, and we got to walk the ballpark with Seamus and get the entire tour. Fans and fellow staffers were greeting him, exchanging hugs and high fives; it seemed like he knew everyone in the ballpark and everyone knew him. “That’s what it’s like here; it’s like one big family.”
It was a long night here at the Dell Diamond, as the game was delayed for almost three hours, but for us the night went quickly, and Seamus’ hospitality made this night for us truly special. We got the chance to talk Buffalo sports, news about the Bisons, common acquaintances and associates. It was all good!
Seamus, thank you for everything you did for us… we hope the Round Rock Express team realizes what a great asset they have in you and we are proud to induct you into the Ultimate Sports Road Trip Hall of Fame!
The greatest moment at the Dell Diamond
The year was 2000, and it was the first year ever for the Round Rock Express, then playing at the AA level in the Texas League.
The team won the league championship that year, setting off a wild celebration on the field and in the packed stands. As the party unfolded on the field, the announcement was made that Keith Ginter (now playing for the Buffalo Bisons) and Morgan Ensberg were getting the major league callup, almost unheard of going from AA right to the Bigs.
Sorry for the poor quality, as this is a picture of a picture hanging in the Manager’s office in the clubhouse, but the raw emotion of these two men hearing the news is so aptly depicted in this historic photo. Since that time the Express has made an annual tradition of announcing the September 1 callups to the major leagues. On this night, six players were announced to the fans, all receiving a nice ovation.
