Round Rock Express
|
|
The Round Rock Express is a minor league baseball franchise based in the Austin, Texas suburb of Round Rock. As of 2005, the Express plays in the Pacific Coast League as the Class AAA affiliate of the Houston Astros. Its home stadium is Dell Diamond. From 1999-2004, the Express was a Class AA team in the Texas League, also affiliated with the Astros. The Express ownership group is led by Hall of Fame pitcher and Texas native Nolan Ryan; his sons Reid and Reese hold executive positions.
The Ryans' group purchased the PCL Edmonton Trappers franchise in 2003 with the intention of moving the team to Round Rock after the 2004 season. At that time, the Trappers were affiliated with the Montreal Expos. The Express group wanted to maintain its affiliation with the Astros at the Round Rock site; therefore, the Trappers/Express franchise exchanged major league affiliates after the 2004 season with the New Orleans Zephyrs. (Several weeks after this switch, the Expos announced their move to Washington, D.C. as the Washington Nationals.) In terms of players on the roster, the 2005 Round Rock Express contains a mixture of players from the 2004 New Orleans Zephyrs (players that stayed at AAA) and the 2004 Round Rock Express (promoted from AA); the 2004 Edmonton Trappers players are either playing as New Orleans Zephyrs or Washington Nationals.
The original Express franchise has remained under Ryan ownership; after the purchase of the AAA PCL franchise, the Ryans announced that the AA Texas League club would move to Corpus Christi, Texas for the 2005 season. That franchise remains the Double-A affiliate of the Astros as the Corpus Christi Hooks.
External link
- Round Rock Express official website (http://www.roundrockexpress.com)