Continued from Page Five

Hooking Them on the Hooks

"There’s another market in Texas that’s in Corpus Christi that’s a half million people that we felt was very desirable.  It had a Texas League team thirty years ago. We felt that was more of a fit for our AA franchise," says Reid

The Ryans have dispatched some of the key players from the Express to work the magic in Corpus Christi Hooks once again. HKS is designing the stadium. J.J. Gottsch, who was the Media Relations Director for the Express, takes on the role as President of the Hooks.

"It’s big Astro country.  We feel like we helping carry the flag now for the Astros with Central and South Texas by developing their fan base," says Reid.

These are different markets, though. The technology boom drives Austin, where Corpus is a much more traditional Texas town.

Perhaps the biggest component that may be missing in Corpus Christi will be the Ryans themselves.

"You’ve got to be here. Like a good restaurant, people have to see you.  It’s not glad-handing. It’s actually finding out what’s going on with people," Reid observes about the Round Rock club.

Just like great restauranteurs, they face the franchise dilemma: Without cloning, how do they plan to be in two places at the same time, and maintain the focus, atmosphere, and quality?

"That’s something I’m nervous about. Everybody says ‘Oh, are you guys going to be like other operators that have four or five teams?  Honestly I don’t know. We’re going start with two this year and see how it goes.  The great thing is, because of our schedule, there’s a lot of times that we’re on the road and they’re at home in Corpus Christi.  There’s the posisiblity of being at plenty of both team’s games."

Reid acknowledges, though, that with two small children, and another baby on the way, due in November, it may be hard for him to be in both places. It is expected that Reese will probably take on a more visible role as the RIC (Ryan in Charge) at the Corpus Christi operation.

Small Grey Clouds

While this is all great for the family Ryan the Texas League, which enjoyed having one of the highest grossing team in the sport, may find that the Hooks don't have quite the same pop and panache that the Express did.

"Corpus is going to do well, but it’s not going to be a Round Rock," says Fendrick. "They’re going to miss our numbers."

"We did some demographic research. We know the market," counters Reese. "We spend a tremendous amount of time down there. We vacation down there. We really felt like it was not on everybody’s radar screen. It was a tremendous opportunity. From the response we’ve got so far. It is overwhelming."

A Cold Wind Blows from the North

Another player in this drama, the New Orleans Zephyrs, finds itself in an interesting situation. One of the big draws for the team has been its association with the Astros.

Nolan Ryan has a deal to do talent evaluation for the Astros. That deal, along with the ability to solidify the Astros dominance of the television market in Texas with its minor league clubs in range of the parent, made Houston's decision to drop the Zephyrs and pick up the Express as the Astros' AAA affiliate all the more easy.

The Zephyrs now find themselves the AAA ballclub of what was the Montreal Expos, hardly a team with the same kind of reputation for putting top tier minor league players on the field.

"It was an interesting scenario because New Orleans had been a great affiliate for the Astros," Reid notes. "The Astros were in Tucson for a long time when my dad played.  Change is inevitable.  I don’t feel we went out and stole anything from New Orleans because being two-and-a-half hours away from your major league parent club with your AA and AAA teams is something that every club would desire.  I think that [the Zephyrs] knew that it was in the best interest of the Astros.  We felt confident that, with my dad working for the Astros now, that if that opportunity was there for him to evaluate their players, and for them to have their players in their television market and in their fan base, it just made all the sense in the world."

Today Austin...

The Ryan Express, the Next Generation, keeps on rolling. Just as Reid Ryan had a vision of Austin as a AAA market, he sees bigger things for the family business. At the rate that Austin is growing, it may well qualify as one of the emerging sunbelt towns that makes it to major league consideration. He hints that someday, the Ryans may have major league ambitions.

Given that the family continues to demonstrate that they are some of the smartest, baseball-savvy operators in the sport today, and the work ethic, passion for excellence, and fan-awareness that they show in their current businesses, they could teach many owners in the MLB a thing or two about returning America's pastime to its place as the number one sport in the nation.

End.

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