Round Rock Express
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| Round Rock Express | ||
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| League | Pacific Coast League | |
| Division | American Conference | |
| Year founded | 1999 | |
| Major League affiliation | Houston Astros | |
| Home ballpark | Dell Diamond | |
| Previous home ballparks | All Sports Stadium | |
| City | Round Rock, Texas | |
| Current uniform colors | navy blue, red | |
| Previous uniform colors | ||
| Logo design | The wordmark "Express" in red with white and navy blue outline. A railroad track and three white stars streak around the wordmark. The words "Round Rock" are centered above the wordmark in navy blue. | |
| Division titles | ||
| League titles | ||
| Manager | ||
| Owner | ||
The Round Rock Express is a minor league baseball franchise based in Round Rock, a suburb of Austin, Texas. 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 to 2004, the Express was a Class AA team in the Texas League, also affiliated with the Astros. The Express ownership group is led by (and named after) 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 contained 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 were 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.
In 2006, just their second season in the PCL, 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 in five games to take the American Conference championship, they advanced to the PCL Championship Series, but lost to the Tucson Sidewinders in three straight games.
[edit] External links
| Houston Astros Franchise | |||
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| AAA | AA | A | Rookie |
| Round Rock Express | Corpus Christi Hooks |
Salem Avalanche Lexington Legends Tri-City Valley Cats |
Greeneville Astros |
| Pacific Coast League | ||
| American Conference North | Pacific Conference North | |
|---|---|---|
| Iowa Cubs | Memphis Redbirds | Nashville Sounds | Omaha Royals | Colorado Springs Sky Sox | Portland Beavers | Salt Lake Bees | Tacoma Rainiers | |
| American Conference South | Pacific Conference South | |
| Albuquerque Isotopes | New Orleans Zephyrs | Oklahoma RedHawks | Round Rock Express | Fresno Grizzlies | Las Vegas 51s | Sacramento River Cats | Tucson Sidewinders | |
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