Springtime in San Antonio means wildflowers along the highways and Fiesta in the city streets. It means people everywhere, walking, cycling, filling outdoor cafe seats, savoring the end of winter and the warming weather. Each month seems to bring more great destinations: restaurants, bars, cafes, happenings.
Springtime in San Antonio this year also means baseball. I am one of few men that get to share that passion with their wives. My wife Jill and I love baseball. She played softball in high school, and accompanies me to Texas Longhorn games in Austin, Rangers games near her hometown of Dallas, and a game wherever we go on our summer vacations. Our mutual love for baseball even prompted us to have our wedding reception in Arlington, Texas at a Rangers game this past September.To quote Lou Gehrig “I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” Thanks Jill.
Now that you’ve read about the love affair that my wife and I have with baseball, it should come as no surprise that another spring activity that we put on our to do list is the more recent tradition of H-E-B Big League Weekend at The Alamodome.
Beginning last year, for two days at the end of March, the Texas Rangers played two exhibition games against the San Diego Padres. I was ecstatic when I found out that we would be having Big League Weekend again this year. This leads me to wonder if San Antonio will one day be looked at for consideration of a Major League Baseball franchise if expansion takes place like it did in the mid ’90s, or if a team owner decides to relocate a club.
[Read More: The Case for Major League Baseball in San Antonio]
I’ll tell you one thing: Last year’s turnout of fans for both games certainly made it evident that San Antonio does have the fan support.
When it comes to baseball, I’m old school. This is the game my father taught me to play and respect. My father loved the St. Louis Cardinals of the ’60s with Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, and Tim McCarver, so naturally I rooted for their rivals, the Cubs, when I was growing up.
Yes, you read correctly: the Cubs, my lovable losers. The game was our bond, a bond that was experienced through a television set due to the lack of any professional team nearby.
Wouldn’t it be something to be able to experience a Major League Baseball team in San Antonio with Hemisfair Park, the Alamo and the Tower of the Americas just short distances away?
San Antonio residents deserve to smell the freshly-cut grass of a ballpark, the cracking sound a bat makes when it connects with the ball, and the chatter of one baseball player to another. How romantic and heartening would that be – for not only me and my wife – but every other father to bring his children (in my case, future children) to a game downtown?
The seats would be so close to the field that your children could coach their favorite player, and he’d be able to hear them, nodding his head from side to side as if to say, “Not now, kid.”
Fans would be able to catch an early dinner along Broadway, downtown, or in Southtown and — not long from now, hop the streetcar to the game or walk along the San Antonio River for a more leisurely stroll to the game. I truly believe that our beautiful and vibrant city is ready for this, and if this ever happens, sign me up for season tickets.
I love our Spurs, I love our Missions, and I’ll love our future baseball team. Sorry, I can’t help it, I’m optimistic.
For more information about the movement to bring big league baseball to the Alamo City, check out www.MLBinSanAntonio.com.
The second Big League Weekend will be held on March 28 at 7 p.m. and March 29 at 1 p.m. between the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros. The Rivard Report has a family pack of four tickets to give away for the Friday evening game. All you have to do is answer the following question:
If San Antonio had its very own Major League Baseball team; what would you name the team to best represent the city?
The author of each comment will be entered into a drawing. Please provide your email address in the appropriate field (it will not be visible to anyone but us) so we can contact you if you win.
*Featured/top image: Big League Weekend transforms the Alamodome into a baseball field. Courtesy photo.
Related Stories:
The Case for Major League Baseball in San Antonio
Sports: A Hole in the Fabric of Downtown
San Antonio Goes Major League — It Started With the Alamodome
The Alamodome, Now 20, Made San Antonio a Bigger, Better City
Wow!! Awesome article! And to think that a baseball team would come out of San Antonio……amazing! San Antonio would be the perfect place to have a team up there in the big leagues. For some reason San Antonio Thunder comes to mind. The city already is represented by great players through school and the Missions…..why not move it up a notch with the Big Leagues. Good Luck with this endeavor and congrats to Mr. Garcia for a job well done!!
Sincerely, a baseball fanatic from Eagle Pass, Texas as well.
Genuine and written from the heart! Great work!
San Antonio Lone Stars
Great article! Genuine and written from the heart. The love of baseball that a father instilled in his son, it doesn’t get better than that! How great would it be for San Antonio and out future generations to have an MLB team in their very own city? You know we would be die hard fans!
Very passionate! Great, feel good read.
Great article! I have to admit that even I have never been to a baseball game, but now would love to see one. How about the San Antonio Natives. We do have alot of history here.
I would name them San Antonio River Walkers
How about the San Antonio Chupacabras? 😉
San Antonio Yellow Jackets
I’d like to see the San Antonio Defenders