Allen Lieu
Dodgers Returning to San Antonio
Alamo City was home to LA’s Double-A affiliate for 23 years
*All information provided by official press release by the Los Angeles Dodgers
SAN ANTONIO, TX – Officials from Ryan Sanders Baseball and the Texas Rangers announced today that the 2014 National League West Division Champion Los Angeles Dodgers will be returning to the Alamo City after a 15-year hiatus. The Dodgers, who were the Major League affiliate of the Double-A San Antonio Missions for 23 years, will be the Rangers opponent in the 2015 edition of H-E-B Big League Weekend.
This is the third year for Big League Weekend, a two-game Major League Baseball exhibition hosted at the iconic Alamodome in Downtown San Antonio. The games will be played on Friday, March 20 (7:00 p.m.) and Saturday, March 21 (1:00 p.m.). Tickets go on sale Friday, November 14.
“We’re excited about this match up,” said Nolan Ryan. “The Dodgers are one of the most successful franchises in baseball with some good, young players. For fans in San Antonio and all over the state it’s a great opportunity to see play them since there is not a National League team in Texas anymore.”
The Dodgers were the Major League affiliate for the Missions from 1977-2000. The minor league club was actually known as the San Antonio Dodgers for the first 11 years before changing their nickname back to “Missions” for the 1988 season.
“The Los Angeles Dodgers are looking forward to visiting San Antonio for Big League Weekend this spring with the Texas Rangers,” said Dodgers’ President & CEO Stan Kasten. “Playing in the Alamodome should be quite an experience for our team and our fans.”
The Dodgers, under skipper Don Mattingly, put together another fine season as they battled back from a nine and a half game deficit after the first week of June, to capture another Western Division title in besting the San Francisco Giants by six games with a record of 94-68. It was the second consecutive and 13th National League West title for the Dodgers, thus qualifying for the postseason for the 19th time since moving to Los Angeles and the 28th time in franchise history.
While the Dodgers fell short of the ultimate goal of a World Championship after losing to the St. Louis Cardinals in the Division Series, three games to one, there were many individual highlights in the season topped off by the success of the best pitcher in baseball, lefthander Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw became the first-ever pitcher to win four consecutive MLB ERA titles, posting a career-best 1.77 ERA and leading the Majors with a career high-tying 21 wins. The Dodgers had four starters with 13 or more wins as Zack Greinke, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Dan Haren joined Kershaw. Closer Kenley Jansen tied for third in the league with a career-high 44 saves.
The Dodger offense was led by first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, who led the Majors with 116 RBI, while collecting 41 doubles and 27 home runs, and the return of outfielder Matt Kemp, who was among the NL leaders in doubles (38), home runs (25), RBI (89) and slugging percentage (.506). Dee Gordon became a fixture at second base as he led the Majors in steals (64) and triples (12).
The Dodgers have won six World Series titles and 21 National League pennants. Eight Cy Young Award winners have pitched for the Dodgers, winning a total of eleven Cy Young Awards (both MLB records). The team has also produced 12 Rookie of the Year Award winners, including four consecutive from 1979–1982 and five consecutive from 1992–1996, the longest consecutive streaks in Major League Baseball.
After winning 90+ games in each of the previous four seasons, injuries derailed the Texas Rangers in 2014 at 67-95. Texas players lost a total of 2,281 days on the disabled list, over 800 more days than any other major league team. A number of key contributors, including Shin-Soo Choo, Yu Darvish, Prince Fielder, Matt Harrison, Derek Holland, Mitch Moreland, Alexi Ogando, Martin Perez, Jurickson Profar, and Tanner Scheppers missed all or a significant portion of the season. As a result, the Rangers established major league records for most total players (64) and pitchers (40) used in a season.
Third baseman Adrian Beltre, who played in San Antonio as a Dodgers minor leaguer in 1998, paced the Rangers offense in 2014, finishing third in the American League in on-base percentage (.388) and fourth in batting (.324). Beltre won his fourth Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Award while leading the club in nine offensive categories. Darvish posted a 3.06 ERA and recorded 182 strikeouts in just 144.1 innings before missing the final seven weeks of the year with right elbow inflammation. Colby Lewis, who returned to the majors for the first time since July 2012 after major hip surgery, topped the Rangers in innings (170.1) and starts (29) while tying Darvish for the team lead in wins (10). After a pair of injury plagued seasons, Neftali Feliz regained the closer’s role over the final two months, recording 13 saves in 14 tries and posting a 1.99 ERA.
Texas will enter 2015 with a new manager at the helm as Jeff Banister joins the organization after four seasons as Clint Hurdle’s bench coach in Pittsburgh. His major league staff will include bench coach Steve Buechele, a former Rangers stalwart at third base who managed at Triple-A Round Rock last season. Despite the 2014 record, the Rangers have the sixth best winning percentage in the majors over the last five years (2010-14) at .539 (437-374) with three postseason appearances, including consecutive American League championships in 2010 and 2011.
“The Rangers are very happy to be returning to San Antonio and Big League Weekend in 2015,” said Rangers President of Baseball Operations Jon Daniels. “Ryan Sanders Baseball puts on a first class event and has done an amazing job in converting the Alamodome into a Major League Baseball facility. The reception we received playing before the tremendous fans of the San Antonio area has been outstanding and we look forward to another great weekend with the Dodgers.”
Over 75,000 fans packed the Alamodome when the Rangers hosted the San Diego Padres in the inaugural Big League Weekend in 2013. It was the first baseball event in the building’s 20-year-history. Last year, big crowds watched again as the Rangers hosted their in-state rivals, the Houston Astros.
For more information on H-E-B Big League Weekend go to www.bigleagueweekend.com.
DODGERS HISTORY IN SAN ANTONIO – The Missions were the Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers until 2000, making the relationship the longest-standing Major League affiliation held by the San Antonio franchise. In the 23 years with Los Angeles, some 211 players went on to see time in the Majors. That includes players like Ron Washington (1977), Bob Welch (1977), Ron Roenicke (1978–1979), Mike Scioscia (1978), Dave Stewart (1978), Orel Hershiser (1980–1981, 1991), Fernando Valenzuela (1980), Steve Sax (1981), Sid Bream (1982), Sid Fernandez (1983), Franklin Stubbs (1983), Ramón Martínez (1988, 1996), John Wetteland (1988), Eric Karros (1990), Pedro Martínez (1991), Raúl Mondesí (1991–1992), Eric Young (1991), Mike Piazza (1992), Henry Blanco (1993–1996), Todd Hollandsworth (1993), Chan Ho Park (1994), Miguel Cairo (1995), Paul Lo Duca (1995, 1997), Paul Konerko (1996), Alex Cora (1997), Dennys Reyes (1997), Adrian Beltre (1998) and Eric Gagne (1999).
ABOUT THE ALAMODOME – The Alamodome is a domed 65,000 seat, multi-purpose facility that is primarily used as a football/basketball stadium and convention center in San Antonio, Texas. The facility is owned and operated by the City of San Antonio and is a column-free, 5-level stadium which can seat up to 65,000 spectators for a football game and is expandable to a maximum capacity of 72,000. With 160,000 square feet of column-free exhibit space and 30,000 square feet of conference space, the Alamodome is ideal for conventions, general assemblies, trade shows, sports and special events. Throughout the years, the facility has hosted a wide range of events including the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships, Valero Alamo Bowl, Dallas Cowboys Training Camp, New Orleans Saints Regular Season Games and such major productions as George Strait, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Disney On Ice and Monster Jam. The Alamodome is known for its unprecedented guest service as well as unparalleled attention to clients and promoters needs.
ABOUT RYAN SANDERS BASEBALL- Combine a 27-year, Hall of Fame baseball career with more than 50 years of savvy business approaches and the roots of Ryan Sanders Baseball begin to take hold. Today, the group is comprised of more than 60 minority shareholders, many of them former professional baseball players. Established by Nolan Ryan, Major League Baseball’s all-time strikeout king, his son, Reid and Houston businessman Don Sanders, who first ventured into securities in 1959, Ryan Sanders Baseball laid down its foundation in Round Rock when it purchased the Jackson Generals and moved the team to Texas for the 2000 season. Over the past 15 years Ryan Sanders has owned and operated two of the most successful franchises in minor league baseball. The group, led by CEO Reese Ryan, currently owns and operates the Round Rock Express (Texas Rangers AAA) as well as Ryan Sanders Sports Services (RS3). RS3, started in 2013, folds in programming and operational models for banquet and conferencing, retail and merchandising, award-wining groundskeeping and turf management, and a complete food and beverage service package to address every event-day need in any size venue. RS3 injects a resounding new perspective to the traditional industry of sports venue services – an operator’s sensitivity to guest service and a difference-making attitude about quality and unexpected guest satisfaction.
*All information provided by official press release by the Los Angeles Dodgers
