Round Rock Express
Encyclopedia
Pacific Coast League
The Pacific Coast League is a minor-league baseball league operating in the Western, Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Along with the International League and the Mexican League, it is one of three leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball.The...
minor league baseball
Minor league baseball
Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...
team in Round Rock, Texas
Round Rock, Texas
Round Rock is a city in Travis and Williamson counties in the U.S. state of Texas. It is part of the metropolitan area. The 2010 census places the population at 99,887....
, owned by RSR Sports (Nolan Ryan
Nolan Ryan
Lynn Nolan Ryan, Jr. , nicknamed "The Ryan Express", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He is currently principal owner, president and CEO of the Texas Rangers....
, Don Sanders, Reid Ryan) and founded by Reid Ryan, son of Baseball Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan. The team is affiliated with the Texas Rangers
Texas Rangers (baseball)
The Texas Rangers are a professional baseball team in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, based in Arlington, Texas. The Rangers are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League, and are the reigning A.L. Western Division and A.L. Champions. Since , the Rangers have...
, for whom Nolan Ryan serves as the president and principal owner. Home games for the Round Rock Express are played at the Dell Diamond
Dell Diamond
The Dell Diamond is the home stadium of the Round Rock Express, the AAA minor league baseball affiliate of the Texas Rangers major league baseball team...
, a facility that is owned by the City of Round Rock and leased long-term to RSR Sports who run and maintain the facility. The team is named after the senior Ryan's pitcher nickname, "The Ryan Express".
The Ryan group purchased the PCL Edmonton Trappers
Edmonton Trappers
The Edmonton Trappers were a minor league baseball team in the Pacific Coast League, ending with the 2004 season. Home games were played at Telus Field in downtown Edmonton, Alberta, Canada....
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
Montreal Expos
The Montreal Expos were a Major League Baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec from 1969 through 2004, holding the first MLB franchise awarded outside the United States. After the 2004 season, MLB moved the Expos to Washington, D.C. and renamed them the Nationals.Named after the Expo 67 World's...
. 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
New Orleans Zephyrs
The New Orleans Zephyrs are a minor league baseball team based in Metairie, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans. The Zephyrs play in the Pacific Coast League and are the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. The Zephyrs play their home games at Zephyr Field....
. Several weeks after this switch, the Expos announced their move to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
as the Washington Nationals
Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals are a professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals are a member of the Eastern Division of the National League of Major League Baseball . The team moved into the newly built Nationals Park in 2008, after playing their first three seasons in RFK Stadium...
. In terms of players on the roster, the 2005 Round Rock Express contained a mixture of players from the 2004 New Orleans Zephyrs (players that stayed at Triple-A) and the 2004 Round Rock Express (promoted from Double-A); the 2004 Edmonton Trappers players were either playing as New Orleans Zephyrs or Washington Nationals.
The original Express franchise has remained under Ryan ownership. After the purchase of the Triple-A PCL franchise, the Ryans announced that the Double-A Texas League club would move to Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...
, for the 2005 season. That franchise remains the Double-A affiliate of the Astros as the Corpus Christi Hooks
Corpus Christi Hooks
The Corpus Christi Hooks are a minor league baseball team of the Texas League, and are the Double-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Corpus Christi, Texas, and are named for the city's association with fishing. The team's ownership group is headed by Baseball Hall of Famer Nolan...
.
In 2006, two seasons after moving from Edmonton, the Round Rock Express clinched the Southern Division of the league's American Conference with a win–loss record of 85–59. After defeating the Nashville Sounds
Nashville Sounds
The Nashville Sounds are a minor league baseball team of the Pacific Coast League , and the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Nashville, Tennessee, and are named for the city's association with the music industry...
in five games to take the American Conference championship, they advanced to the PCL Championship Series, but lost to the Tucson Sidewinders
Tucson Sidewinders
The Tucson Sidewinders were a minor league baseball team based in Tucson, Arizona. The team, which played in the Pacific Coast League, was the Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks major-league club....
in three straight games.
Year-by-year win-loss records
: 83–57: 86–54: 75–65: 46–94: 86–54: 74–70: 85–59: 61–81: 64–79: 63–81: 57–87: 87–57Notable alumni
- Josh BanksJosh BanksJoshua Charles Banks is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He is 6'3" in height and weighs 195 pounds. Banks attended college at Florida International University...
, MLB pitcher - Jason HirshJason HirshJason Michael Hirsh is a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who is a free agent.Hirsh was a dominant minor league pitcher in 2005–06, winning the Double-A Texas League Pitcher of the Year Award and the Triple-A Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Year Award in successive seasons, as he went...
, MLB pitcher - Chris TremieChris TremieChristopher James Tremie is a former Major League Baseball player who served primarily as a catcher. He began his MLB career in with the Chicago White Sox...
, MLB catcher
On camera
- A majority of scenes from the 2002 DisneyWalt Disney PicturesWalt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
film The RookieThe Rookie (2002 film)The Rookie is a 2002 drama sports film directed by John Lee Hancock. It is based on the true story of Jim Morris, who had a brief, but famous Major League Baseball career in 1999. The film stars Dennis Quaid, Rachel Griffiths, Jay Hernandez, and Brian Cox....
, directed by John Lee Hancock, starring Dennis QuaidDennis QuaidDennis William Quaid is an American actor known for his comedic and dramatic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the 1980s, his career rebounded in the 1990s after he overcame an addiction to drugs and an eating disorder...
and Rachel GriffithsRachel GriffithsRachel Anne Griffiths is an Australian film and television actress who came to prominence in the 1994 film Muriel's Wedding and her Academy Award nominated performance in the 1997 film Hilary and Jackie....
were shot around and inside the Dell DiamondDell DiamondThe Dell Diamond is the home stadium of the Round Rock Express, the AAA minor league baseball affiliate of the Texas Rangers major league baseball team...
in Round Rock. It is inspired by the true story of Jim MorrisJim MorrisJames "Jimmy" Samuel Morris, JR is a former American professional baseball player known for his brief Major League Baseball career....
, who had a brief but famous Major League Baseball career.
- The Simple Life is a reality television series that was broadcast from December 2, 2003 to August 5, 2007. The first three seasons aired on Fox, and the final two on E!. The comedic show depicts two wealthy young socialites (Paris HiltonParis HiltonParis Whitney Hilton is an American businesswoman, heiress, and socialite. She is a great-granddaughter of Conrad Hilton . Hilton is known for her controversial participation in a sex tape in 2003, and appearance on the television series The Simple Life alongside fellow socialite and childhood...
and Nicole RichieNicole RichieNicole Camille Richie is an American fashion designer, author, actress, singer and television personality. Her father was Peter Michael Escovedo, a musician who played for a brief time with Lionel Richie, and her mother Karen was the executive assistant for Sheila Escovedo...
) as they struggle to do manual, low-paying jobs such as cleaning rooms, doing farm work, serving meals in fast-food restaurants and working as camp counselors. Season 2, Episode 15 took place during a Round Rock Express baseball game.
- The team made headlines in 20102010 in baseball-Major League Baseball:*Regular Season Champions*World Series Champions - San Francisco Giants**American League Champions - Texas Rangers**National League Champions - San Francisco Giants*Postseason - October 7 to November 4...
when it "signed" Billy Ray "Rojo" Johnson, described in a press release as an East Texan who grew up in Venezuela and had run-ins with the law. In reality, Johnson was actor Will FerrellWill FerrellJohn William "Will" Ferrell is an American comedian, impressionist, actor, and writer. Ferrell first established himself in the late 1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and has subsequently starred in the comedy films Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Talladega...
, who briefly took the mound at Dell Diamond to promote his nearby charity golf tournament.