Where I grew up in Detroit, spring commenced every year with reports about
the
Tigers’ spring training camp in Lakeland, Florida. Their record didn’t matter
so much, but we watched closely to see what kind of pitching they had and who
had shown up out of shape, who had been injured or traded. At the beginning of
April, they traveled up to Detroit like Caesar’s army returning triumphantly to
Rome – they were going to win the World Series and this or that rookie,
according to manager Sparky Anderson, was going to be the next Mickey Mantle.
Jack Morris always pitched the home opener and we walked outside the high white
walls of Tiger Stadium, bought our tickets at the gate, and marched up the
ramps to our section, past the hot dogs and popcorn and beer served in tiny
plastic cups. Finally, after emerging from the short tunnel that leads to the
stands, we could see the diamond, freshly cut and chalked, with the diagonal
patterns left on the infield grass by the lawnmowers and the players coming out
to warm up. The games, of course, were there all summer, though by June the
rookie who was going to hit like Mantle had been sent back to AA along with his
.178 batting average, and by July we had realized they were not going to win
the World Series, and by August, sometimes, we were cursing the 9pm traffic
jams on the freeway and hoping the season would end soon. But it was big-league baseball and, like many other Austinites transplanted
from big-league towns, I miss it a lot – especially in the spring.
There is no professional baseball played in Austin – at least not yet [see sidebar] – but the major league
towns of Dallas and Houston lie only three hours away to the north and east,
respectively. Many baseball fans remain disillusioned by the lengthy players’
strike, and attendance has been down all over the country.
“Sales are weak,” admits a ticketseller for the Texas Rangers, “but you can’t
compare it to last year because you had a new stadium [the Ballpark at
Arlington]…it’ll always pick up.” Maybe so, but in the meantime those
desperate for a big-league fix can enjoy cheap ticket prices and increased
promotional games. “Since they’ve come back, they’ve nearly doubled the amount
of promotions,” adds the ticketseller. The Rangers will be giving away baseball
caps on May 21; June 7 will be “bat night”; and July 19, home jerseys will be
given out. Ticket prices for the Texas team range from $4-20; $4 seats are
general admission for the bleachers; $18-20 seats are located between the bases
on the second tier, and allow one the luxury of being waited on. (Call
800/94-TEXAS for ticket info.)
Houston Astros ticket sales have been “just fair,” according to a
ticketseller
there. `They’ve done all kinds of things [with promotions] so far,” she adds.
The Astros have already had special nights giving away hats and magnetic
calendars, and they also gave away a whole game – on May 12, all the seats in
the house were free. Ticket prices for the Astros include field-level seats for
$14, and bleacher seats for $4 ($1 for children 14 and under). (Call
713/799-9555.)
If that’s too far to drive, or if you, too, still have a bad taste in your
mouth from the baseball strike, there is excellent Texas League baseball to be
seen only an hour and a half away at San Antonio’s new Municipal Stadium. It
may not be the “big show,” but the AA Missions (affiliated with the Los Angeles
Dodgers) have some things the major league Texas teams don’t: tradition – the
team’s been around since 1888, when the Texas League started – and loyal fans.
“We set a Texas League record for attendance last year,” according to Wayne
Witt, media director for the Missions, and “we’re ahead of last year [so far]
already.” The team also had the second highest attendance in the minors, after
Michael Jordan’s team, the Birmingham Barons. And visions of AAA baseball in
Austin notwithstanding, Witt suggests that “AA is really where the future
talent of the [major] league comes from,” pointing out that while AAA is often
a rest stop for major league veterans either injured or in their decline, “they
[big-league teams] put their young prospects down here and leave ’em,” says
Witt, which leads to more consistent and better baseball.
There is also a carnival-type atmosphere surrounding minor league baseball
that appeals to many fans; the ballparks are small and intimate, the players
are young and unknown, and – just as in one of the best baseball movies ever
made, Bull Durham – the teams have mascots and strange promotions to
draw fans in. The Missions’ mascot is “Puffy Taco,” and “practically every
night we have some sort of special promotion, and every half-inning we have
some contest on the field,” says Witt. General admission to Missions games
costs $4, while $8 will get you the best seat in the house. The Missions’
season (currently in progress) runs through August 31. (Call 210/675-7275.)
But there is baseball to be seen here in Austin, even during the summer after UT’s season ends. First of
all, there is the Zaragosa League in East Austin, named after the neighborhood
in which its ballpark resides. League play begins May 20, and includes many
junior and senior college players and other young talent looking to catch the
eyes of major league scouts who comb leagues all over the state in search of
prospects.
The Zaragosa League “was a beer league 10-12 years ago,” explains league
commissioner Hilbert Maldonado. “They were pro-wannabes in their late twenties
all the way to forties. I came along with a different idea…”
Maldonado, whose own son made it as for as AAA in the Atlanta Braves’
organization, has tried for the past five years to shift the league more toward
younger players, even including graduating high school seniors hoping to get
noticed by college or pro scouts. He explains that “the hidden agenda is, get
kids’ education[s] paid for – if you get a kid drafted, that’s just gravy. I
used to be under the illusion that I could get kids to play pro ball someday,
but…having done this all these years, now I give ’em the angle of `get
baseball to pay for your education.'”
There are six teams in the league this year playing 30 games each, and the
regular season runs through the end of July before the league begins its post
season with other Texas amateur leagues. Attendance to games in the Zaragosa
League “is always pretty poor,” Maldonado admits. But despite questions about
the safety of visiting Zaragosa Park on Pedernales Street and East Seventh (a
reporter from La Prensa told me he was struck on the head from behind
while leaving the park, while a baseball scout who often visits there said he’d
been threatened in the parking lot), Maldonado says they have “lighted,
fenced-off parking,” and claims that with Zaragosa’s $1 admission, “we’re the
best-kept secret in Austin.” (Call 926-1634.)
Wanna see some replacement baseball?
The Austin Area Men’s Senior Baseball League fields scores of teams, and
believe it or not, several of these players were slated to play in the majors
until the baseball strike was settled. At a game on May 4 at Garrison Park, I
watched a would-be major leaguer work behind the plate for the Over-30 Giants.
“Yeah, I was gonna play [in the majors],” says Don Welchel, “but not as a
catcher.”
Doug Smith, a pitcher for the Over-40 Senators who played the Giants that
night, says Welchel “was going to be the Minnesota Twins’ pitcher Opening Day.”
(Smith, incidentally, wasn’t pitching either this night; he was playing third
base.) That’s the way things go in the senior league, where the games are free
for the fans while the players have to pay $250 each to play. This is more like
what’s called a “beer league” – the players are older for the most part and
aren’t considered pro prospects – but the games are fun and free and the league
is not without talent. Along with Welchel, two other Austin-area players were
called up to be replacement players, and several former members of the 1975 UT
national championship team can be seen in the league, including pitcher Jim
Gideon. The league also features former L.A. Dodger Jerry Rice.
The teams play 30 games through the middle of August, then teams from each
age
bracket (18-29; 30-40; and 40 and over) will compete in a tournament in Dallas
for the right to move on to their own World Series in Phoenix, where they’ll
meet teams from as far away as Holland, Japan, and Canada. Senior games can be
seen at parks all over town, including at Concordia Lutheran, St. Edwards
University, Garrison Park, and Mendoza Field. (Call 832-8403.)
So while I may have moved from a town that boasts a team in every major sport
to one in which the biggest professional sporting event every year is the
Cowboys’ pre-season camp, baseball, it would seem, is never very far away, and
in Texas one can see it in some form or another almost everywhere. Larry Yount,
brother of baseball great Robin and president of the Phoenix Firebirds, the AAA
team hoping to move to Austin, speculates that “Austin is just like Phoenix was
10 years ago…” A scary thought to be sure, but if part of the growth means
getting pro baseball, I’ll take a size 7 cap.
Will We Build It If They Come?
“The Austin Sidewinders,” shouts Phoenix Firebirds General Manager Craig
Pletenik above the din of the bar. We have just finished watching the Firebirds
beat the Tucson Toros in a AAA Pacific Coast League game on a Saturday night in
Scottsdale, Arizona, and we’re now at the front office crew’s favorite watering
hole celebrating the team’s win. Mr. Pletenik has a list of 250 suggested names
for the potentially Austin-based franchise and he is trying them out on his
staff and members of the Austin media that have come to Scottsdale to get a
closeup of the Firebirds, their stadium, and AAA baseball. “Sidewinders” draws
a unanimous thumbs down.
As the stadium issue heats up in Austin, many factors will have to be
considered. In light of the recent ugliness of the major leagues, one fact
Austinites should keep in mind is the world of difference between minor and
major league baseball. A minor league baseball game remains an affordable
family outing, and teams still work hard to sell their show. During their “Turn
Back the Clock” game on Sunday afternoon, the Firebirds sported the uniforms of
the 1915 Phoenix Senators for the contest; Pletenik and staff donned knickers
and other Twenties garb, and a ragtime band helped out the stadium’s organist.
The player-fan interaction was positive, and in between innings there were
plenty of promotional events involving younger fans.
The Firebirds would like to model Austin’s stadium after their present
home
in Scottsdale. If this pans out, it’s hard to see the capital not being happy
with its investment. The park lives up to its reputation as one of the finest
in the minor leagues: It’s clean, well designed, and there’s not a bad seat in
the house. The entire area beyond the park’s outfield fence is a grassy slope
where people can bring beach towels and lay out in the sun or walk about while
watching the game. This general-admission area seems well suited for Austin,
where concerts and other events are planned for the multipurpose facility as
well. As things currently stand, the city council has commited $10 million in
certificates of obligation (COs) to pay for the new stadium, which the council
was able to pass without voter approval by declaring the funds as “emergency,”
arguing that Austin was in competition with other cities for the Firebirds. Now
some citizens, led by a new group called Save Austin From Extravagance (SAFE),
want to challenge these COs by putting them to a general vote. Officials from
the Phoenix organization remain confident that they’ll raise their half of the
stadium money by selling seat options and through corporate sponsorship. Now
it’s up to the Austin public to decide whether the Firebirds’ ambitious plans
remain a field of dreams.
– Patrick Earvolino
This article appears in May 19 • 1995 and May 19 • 1995 (Cover).