A Celebratory Year at Dell Diamond

By Grabiel Silva

Reporting Texas

A statue of Nolan Ryan stands outside of Dell Diamond. The ballclub celebrates their 25 year anniversary this season. Grabiel Silva/Reporting Texas

*The reporter has a working relationship with an interviewee in the story below.

Last week, Round Rock’s minor league baseball team, the Round Rock Express, held their home opening series against the Toledo Mud Hens Saturday. The Express won five out of the six games in the series for a successful start to the season.

Hall of fame pitcher Nolan Ryan headed an ownership group that brought Minor League Baseball to Round Rock 25 years ago. The team, the Round Rock Express, was nicknamed after “the Ryan Express” after the family ownership.

The Express are currently an affiliate of the Texas Rangers. The team has also previously been an affiliate for the Houston Astros. Many Major League stars played at Dell Diamond earlier in their careers including Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker, Jurickson Profar, Joey Gallo and Roy Oswalt.

“It’s cool to see a longstanding franchise in Minor League Baseball that stays in the city for a long time,” Texas Rangers fan Joseph Duffey said. “I think that’s a really cool aspect for baseball.”

“We want to celebrate our fans just as much as we want to celebrate the players,” said Rylan Kobre, public relations and play-by-play broadcaster for the Round Rock Express. “I think through our giveaways you’ll see a lot of the touches with the 25th season.”

During the home opener, the first 1,500 Express fans to arrive received a commemorative ticket given out in honor of the 25-year anniversary of the Round Rock Express.

That’s not the only promotion this year that celebrates the team’s silver jubilee. Fans can also get their hands on five different promotions throughout the season including a Roger Clemens throwback jersey, replica model of Dell Diamond, and a replica ring from the team’s Texas League championship in 2000. 

Fans were even given a Round Rock Express pinstripe hoodie during a cold Saturday game. The Express quickly found themselves trailing 3-0 for most of the game on Saturday until the sixth inning when catcher Tucker Barnhart hit a single to left to score the first run of the game. Later that inning, Alan Trejo scored the second run with a single to left as well. 

Round Rock was able to tie the game made possible by a wild pitch from Mud Hens pitcher Andrew Chafin. The game was tied at three runs a piece through nine innings before heading into extra innings.

In the top of the 10th inning, the Mud Hens scored one run to take the lead but in the bottom of the inning the Express answered back in a big way thanks to a walk off three run home run from Tucker Barnhart to give the Express the win.

The victory marked the second time during the homestand the Express hit a walk off home run. 

“It’s an honor to be able to tell a lot of the stories that have happened here in this ballpark over the years.” Kobre said.