On most summer nights in Round Rock, you can head to Dell Diamond to catch an Express game. The Express is the Triple AAA affiliate of the Texas Rangers, and these players are just a phone call away from getting to the big show. “Not everybody here makes a lot of money. A lot of these guys are still in for the passion of the sport, really just pursuing what we all pursued as kids, to play in the big leagues at some point,” said Tim Jackson, the General Manager of the Round Rock Express .
Tim played for the Baylor Bears baseball team in 2006 but he never had a chance to test his talent at the next level. Being out on the diamond is something he still dreams about, but those days are long gone. However, he’s still involved in baseball and being the GM of a baseball team that Nolan Ryan has a hand in, well that’s still pretty cool. “I didn’t know I’d love minor league baseball from a front office perspective as much as I do because it is, it’s more about creating experiences,” Tim said.
Creating experiences at the ballpark means Tim has a hand in everything around here, including a pool in the outfield. Today the entertainment aspect of a minor league game goes above and beyond and that’s why you’ll find the newest form of baseball fun here, the Home Run Dugout. “Whether you’re a big league, somebody knocking on the door to the big league game or you’re little Johnny’s 10U baseball team. It’s really fun for everybody,” Tim said.
“Makes you miss high school baseball. It’s good to see it, good to play with it,” said participant Garrett Guilianelle.
“We just see this as something that we just kind of add on top of a baseball experience,” Tim said.
The Home Run Dugout is an interactive batting experience where you have one goal. To hit homeruns. “It’s the hardest thing to do in all of sports. Hitting a home run, the feeling of that, having done that a number of times, there’s nothing like it,” Tim said.
“It makes you feel like you’re one of them. One of the players,” said participant Garrett Guilianelle.
“This is pretty cool. They don’t got this at Minute Maid,” said participant Andres Alva.
The Homerun Dugout experience begins with selecting your skill level, displayed on the touchscreen in front of the batting area. You can choose between little league, softball, or professional, which essentially moves the fences in and out. The technology also features a boost function to help you drive a homerun with every hit. And the coolest part about it all is that you can choose between all 30 major league baseball stadiums to hit. I chose Minute Maid Park. “So, you walk up here,” Tim explained while approaching the plate. “We mentioned kind of similar to a top golf method here. You get five swings, alright? And so, you’re going to take your bat, you’re going to wave it over the plate. It’s going to light up green, it’s going to count you down here. You get 10 seconds to start. It starts to blink at you with three seconds left. Boom. And then you hit the rooftop.”
“It’s definitely a close one way interactive to get closer to the game or at least try get to feel what it’s like to be as a player on the field,” said participant Garrett Guilianelle.
“I think it’s your turn now. You want to hit Minute Maid. So, let’s see the professional do it here,” Tim prompted. Taking my first swing at it, at least I made contact, but after a couple swings, I got the hang of it. Man, Tim was not kidding. It feels great when you hit a home run.
“To hit home runs is something that is so iconic. You know, it’s America’s pastime and so, to be able to do that really at any skill level, I think it’s special,” Tim said.
“I thought I’d be hitting real home runs at Minute Maid at some point, and that obviously wasn’t in the cards for but to be able to do it here is something really cool,” another participant said.
“You do all the things your coach tells you not to do here. You know, you bend your back shoulder, you try to hit the ball as far as you possibly can,” Tim explained.
“The ball pops out of the bottom of the ground and you hit the ball. Hope it’s a home run, said participant Cameron Ingram.
So, if hitting a moon-shot matters to you, if you desire to drive that dinger, to see what a four-bagger feels like or if you just want to have a blast. A trip to the Home Run Dugout is a homerun on The Texas Bucket List. “You get a demographic of young professionals or people that could take or leave baseball and they come out here and they start hitting some home runs and go, ‘man, this is kind of neat,’” Tim said. “Being able to hit a home run is something special, want everybody to be able to do that.”