SAN ANTONIO — Last November, the future of San Antonio Missions baseball took a major step into its future after it was acquired by a local ownership group headlined by Ryan-Sanders Baseball.
You might recognize the name "Ryan," as in former Houston Astros pitcher and MLB Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan. His son, Reid, is the CEO of Ryan-Sanders and recently sat down with KENS 5 to talk about the future of Minor League Baseball in the Alamo City.
Below is part of that interview.
KENS 5: What attracted Ryan-Sanders Baseball to the Missions and the San Antonio market?
Reid Ryan: I always felt like the city of San Antonio has had such a great following for Minor League Baseball. If the city could ever figure out how to get the right ownership group paired with the right stadium in the right part of town, it could really be a best-in-class situation where San Antonio could be a premier franchise in all of baseball.
The elephant in the room is, obviously, a new stadium. But before I ask you ask about that, can you share any Wolff Stadium upgrades that fans can expect this spring?
Lots of behind-the-scenes stuff, but from a fan's perspective we're putting on some new paint, add some drink rails. We're gonna reskin some of the area, too, so we want people when they come to the Wolff to see the best experience that we can deliver.
As we move forward is there a long-term master stadium plan that you can share with us?
I think everybody agrees that we need to have a facility. Where does it go? When does that happen? That is what we are doing right now. We are listening and talking to people. All the great facilities around the country have great thought put into them, and there is lots of listening, and that's really the phase we're in right now.
After the formal ownership announcement was made, you listed off a number of cities that have better ballparks than San Antonio, essentially suggesting that is unacceptable at this point. I loved hearing that because it told me that your group is going to get things done.
Wolff Stadium was the last of an era of metal buildings and none of the amenities that you have today. The things we would get from having, number one, a facility that is better located in the community where more people could access it. But, number two, that was really the right size for this city which is the seventh-largest city in the country. We deserve better than having the worst stadium in minor league baseball.
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