Statesman: Express could leave Astros for Rangers
by trza on Jan 27, 2010 12:52 PM CST
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This seems to make a lot of sense, and I'm all for it for selfish reasons. The only time I go see the Express now is when they play OKC. It would help the Rangers' fan base in Austin. The Express have a nice ballpark and it would be great for Austin Rangers fans to be able to see the #1 rated farm system in baseball play up the road.
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oops
I looked down there and didn’t see anything, but I see that I missed the Fanshot. I’m still bad about reading Fanshots.
Not mediocre. Right about average
We all are.
That’s why everything I post will always be a FanPost. Just kidding. Kind of.
"...like some Russian priest fresh off a bottle of potato vodka and a box of cigars." -t ball
by rangerdanger on Jan 27, 2010 1:12 PM CST up reply actions
only recently have I started remembering to look at the fanshots.
I think this is definitely worthy of a fanpost though.
I would love it too....
i’m in Austin and would be motivated to drive to Round Rock much more often. Dell Diamond is a nice little park.
I assumed the Express and the Hooks
would move over when their contracts with the Astros expire. Unless the Ryans sell the Hooks and buy at least a piece of the Roughriders, which I assume wouldn’t be out of the picture.
Hooks
I suspect they stay affiliated with the Astros, and the Roughriders with the Rangers.
The thing to do would be to build a AAA ballpark in The Woodlands, buy a AAA team, move it there, and affiliate it with the Astros. I suspect that would be as successful, if not moreso, than the Roughriders have been.
by Darrell McKown on Jan 27, 2010 3:33 PM CST up reply actions
Our AAA team should put up a large amount of wins this season
offensive concerns, obviously, but damn what a staff (…)
So
Are there not anymore OKC Rangers fans, like myself, that would be disappointed with this happening? The Bricktown Ballpark is a great venue for AAA baseball and for selfish reasons I would hate to see the Rangers move their affiliation away from OKC.
Is there more Ranger’s fans or potential fans in Austin then OKC?
Go Rangers!
i used to live in OKC
but am in North Dallas now, so I visit Frisco more often than I get a chance to visit OKC. I’d be disappointed to see the Rangers move their affiliate from OKC though. It’s a nice ballpark, but overrall they do not draw very well.
A baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into nine innings.
Not trying to change the subject..but my dad and I are taking that train up to OKC to catch a weekend series next year...
..got any recs for restaurants / bars?
"Sometimes you just want to sit back and watch somebody throw 100." - Jeff Passan on Neftali Feliz
"Baseball's all that's real" - JB
plenty of places to choose from along the riverwalk right there
A baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into nine innings.
Bricktown
Check out the website for Bricktown. www.bricktownokc.com Oklahoma City has done a real nice job revitalizing the downtown area the last 10 years or so. There are plenty of bars, clubs and restaurants right around the ballpark.
Go Rangers!
Im from Muskogee, Ok. Now living and going to school in norman
I would be soooo pissed if this happened.
Always drinking one for the Rangers!
You're an Okie from Muskogee?
Cool.
Not mediocre. Right about average
I'm a Ranger fan in Austin
and I’d have to say, the Express has turned this city into a strongly Astros’ leaning place. This last season when the Rangers were in the hunt and the Astros were taking a dive, the local news would still often fail to even mention the Rangers game. Having the AAA affiliate in Round Rock would go a long way towards building a new fan base.
Agree
There was slot of excitement when the Express came to Austin and played winning ball for several years, but, with the well-documented decline of the Astros farm system, that enthusiasm has waned. I’ve long been frustrated that the Rangers ceded this market to the Astros. I would be thrilled to have a Rangers affiliate in Central Texas. I sympathize with Redhawks fans, much as I did Drillers fans, though.
by Neftali's arm on Jan 27, 2010 6:08 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
There's more potential everything in Austin
Sorry, but it’s true.
by Black Francis on Jan 27, 2010 6:45 PM CST up reply actions
Oklahoma is probably always going to lean Rangers anyway based on lack of proximity to any other team
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disagree
I know very few people here in OKC that root for the Rangers, mainly because coverage here has been historically dominated by the Cardinals. We still only get about 100 Rangers games, which is an improvement over the last few years, broadcast on TV and there is not a radio affiliate. And MLB considers us a regional area so Extra Innings has all Rangers games on blackout. It can be frustrating at times to be a Rangers fan here in OKC.
Go Rangers!
Well, in that case
it makes even more sense for the AAA club to be in Austin. If having it in OKC hasn’t really done that much to improve fan relations up there, what’s the point?
I based my previous statement on knowing many OKC transplants (and current residents) who are huge Rangers fans. Apparently I just know all the right people.
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In short, yes.
Austin is a better market than OKC in just about every way. Sorry, it’s just business. I would love to see the AAA club move to Austin. That would probably go a long way to converting some of those people down there into Rangers fans.
Jimmy Johnson for GM.
Disagree
Couldn’t disagree more with this statement. Last I checked OKC has a professional sports franchise and the voters just passed another tax to continue to develop OKC. I can understand the Rangers wanting to increase their presence in CenTex, but to say Austin is better in everyway is just plain wrong.
by OKC Ranger Fan on Jan 28, 2010 12:40 PM CST up reply actions
If you’re looking at numbers only, Austin (#38 media market) beats OKC (#47 media market).
meta-signature
and the people in Austin generally have more money.
by Black Francis on Jan 28, 2010 4:29 PM CST up reply actions
wha???
OKC is loaded with rich oil folks. typically these folks don’t flaunt it so most wouldn’t know who they are
by OKC Ranger Fan on Jan 28, 2010 4:56 PM CST up reply actions
You have Dell Computer based right next door
…in Round Rock. Tons of other tech companies in the area. That’s the reason Austin has grown so much. Good paying jobs. I’m not talking about the number of super rich. I’m talking about the middle class and upper middle class. It’s huge in Austin.
I’ve been to OKC. Reminds me of Fort Worth (a shit hole with some nice sections).
by Black Francis on Jan 28, 2010 5:16 PM CST up reply actions
Higher population, more room for growth,
More people go to Round Rock games than OKC games, plus Austin is in Texas. There’s more Cardinals fans and Rockies fans in OKC than there are Rangers fans anyway. Having a AAA team there is not doing the team any good from a business standpoint. Given all these things, it makes no sense not to try and move the club to Austin. More attendance at games, bigger potential audience = more money. No offense to OKC, but Austin has more potential.
Jimmy Johnson for GM.
I never had a problem with black out rules
…when I lived in Austin. It was just that TWC wouldn’t carry all the games. They blamed FSN. My last year there I bet they had 100 games, though.
And more on topic I went to the Dell Diamond several times. Never saw what was so great about it. The crowd never seemed to be interested in the games. I think it was the place for Round Rock and Georgetown kids to hang out, though, because they’d just be walking in circles around the OF concessions. I think I saw two crazy kids get their braces stuck together.
Plus, much like the Rangers Ballpark, they built it in the middle of nowhere. Nothing to do out there and very, very hard to get to with traffic.
Bricktown’s a cooler ballpark in a cooler neighborhood, but I still think Austin is a much better market for the Rangers’ AAA team.
by Black Francis on Jan 28, 2010 1:51 AM CST up reply actions
last sentence is how I feel
Bricktown is really cool, but Austin>OKC
by kevinkinsler on Jan 28, 2010 5:29 PM CST up reply actions
First Hicks
and now this. Life as a Ranger fan has taken a dramatic turn for the better.
(although the DD is truly a suburban nightmare and the Williamson Co cops make making a night of it with the boys a definite no no w/out a couple of $80 cab rides).
Baseball announcer utters expletive on TV broadcast to describe Hideki Irabu’s ineptitude – network gets zero complaints
by TomLovesHideki on Jan 28, 2010 10:01 AM CST reply actions
Just thinking out loud
Let’s say for the sake of conversation that this actually happens: we lose OKC and gain Round Rock. Wouldn’t it make sense to then make Frisco the AAA affiliate and Round Rock the AA affiliate? Emergency call-ups would go much smoother that way, theoretically.
meta-signature
Thats what I am
hoping for although I would be 100% fine with getting the AAA rangers. My brother-in-law lives in Hutto and would suddenly think I liked him and we were best friends.
by corbsclinton on Jan 28, 2010 2:21 PM CST up reply actions
Round Rock as a franchise
has gotten way too big to make it a AA team again. And this comes from someone that preferred when Round Rock was in the Texas League.
Austin/Round Rock
is hardly far enough away to worry about that, and both teams play away games, too. In any case, it doesn’t seem like a big enough consideration to justify switching the levels.
Freude, schoener Goetterfunken,
Tochter aus Elysium,
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische dein Heiligtum.
as I live closer to Frisco
I’d rather be able to watch AA games than AAA. Historically, you have more prospects at AA than AAA. Either way, I’d go to the games.
A baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into nine innings.
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