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[Baseball] Round Rock going Triple-A

Discussion in 'Other Sports' started by mrpaige, Oct 23, 2003.

  1. mrpaige

    mrpaige Member

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    Associated Press

    ROUND ROCK, Texas -- The Round Rock Express, owned by Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan and his family, announced Thursday it will buy the Edmonton Trappers of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League and move the team to Texas for the 2005 season.

    The Triple-A club will take the Round Rock Express name and will stay in the 16-team Pacific Coast League. The Trappers are under contract with the Montreal Expos until the end of the 2004 minor league season.

    Reid Ryan, Nolan Ryan's son and president of the Express, said the current Texas League Double-A club, affiliated with the Houston Astros, will be moved to Corpus Christi under a new name.

    "This is a great day for Central Texas baseball fans," Reid Ryan said. "This brings us one step closer to major league baseball."

    Branch B. Rickey, president of the Pacific Coast League, welcomed the move.

    "Although we are sorry to part ways with the first class operation in Edmonton, the PCL gains outstanding leadership and a very positive and successful atmosphere in Round Rock," Rickey said. "There are also significant advantages to bringing in an Austin-area franchise which is much more geographically central to the league than is Edmonton."

    The Express broke the double-A season attendance record for the fourth straight year, drawing more than 685,000 fans.


    We just got that whole Frisco-Round Rock rivalry going, and now it's over.

    I wonder if New Orleans will lose their Astros affiliation soon in favor of the new Round Rock franchise.
     
  2. Buck Turgidson

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    Yes. New Orleans will be looking for another organization as their contract w/ Houston runs out after next season - shouldn't be hard to find, they've been great to/for the Stros.

    CC gets the AA team, AAA moves to RR. This is awesome. Had to laugh at little Ryan's quote though: "This brings us one step closer to major league baseball." Hopefully he's talking about buying a ML team like the Rangers or 'Stros and he's not delusional enough to think there will ever be MLB in Austin.
     
  3. SamCassell

    SamCassell Member

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    Yeah, Corpus is psyched about this. It's been a long time since the city had professional baseball, and I'm sure they'll draw well. The stadium they're building for the team here is supposed to be top notch.

    Here's the local story
     
  4. MadMax

    MadMax Member

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    please tell me the Austin AAA team won't remain an Expos affiliate.
     
  5. Rocketman95

    Rocketman95 Hangout Boy

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    I doubt it will. Both New Orleans' and Edmonton/Round Rock's contracts with their respective teams ends after next season. I'd be surprised if Round Rock doesn't become the Astros' AAA affiliate.
     
  6. Baqui99

    Baqui99 Member

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    Does that mean that we get to see washed up major leaguers making a futile attempt at one last hurrah?
     
  7. mrpaige

    mrpaige Member

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    It hasn't been that long. The Corpus Christi Barracudas won the Texas-Louisiana League Championship in 1995, I believe, before folding for the next season.

    Now, the T-L League isn't anywhere near the Texas League, but it's still professional baseball.

    I wonder if San Antonio will feel the need to upgrade their Missions to AAA to keep up with the Austin area.
     
  8. Grizzled

    Grizzled Member

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    The last Alberta AAA team moves south. The team had been owned by the Edmonton Eskimos CFL football club. That’s the team Warren Moon played for, for all you trivia buffs.

    That’s the last Western Canadian team to go after Vancouver and Calgary left in the last few years. Only the Ottawa Lynx remain. The Expos are going as soon as they find a home and the Blue Jays are haemorrhaging money, $50US last year and despite chopping around $25US in payroll and the impact of the soaring Loonie they are still going to lose somewhere around $30US this year. In the not too distant future MLB will again be America’s game and only America’s game.

    I don’t mind because I don’t like what MLB has become, but it’s still somewhat sad to see the death of a tradition that meant something to a number of Canadians.
     

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