Conrad, holder of many Express records, will enter team’s Hall
Brooks Conrad will become the fifth member of the Round Rock Express Hall of Fame when he is inducted Saturday night at Dell Diamond.
Conrad, a 38-year-old former infielder who now manages in the Kansas City Royals system, will be honored in ceremonies before the 7:05 p.m. game against the Reno Aces. At least 15 Express alumni are booked to attend.
He will join manager Jackie Moore, who will be on hand Saturday, infielders Morgan Ensberg and Keith Ginter, and pitcher Roy Oswalt in the Triple-A club’s Hall.
“I was really excited when I got the call that I was being inducted,” Conrad said earlier this year. “With all the great players and coaches that have come through Round Rock, I was so honored for the team to even think of me. Round Rock was always my favorite place to be.”
Conrad, who manages the Burlington Royals in the rookie league, played in an all-time high 519 games for the Express from 2004 to 2007 after being an eighth-round draft choice of the Houston Astros in 2001. He holds 10 franchise records, including most extra-base hits (243) and total bases (937).
In his first Double-A season (2004), Conrad batted .290 with a team-leading 83 RBIs and made the Texas League All-Star game as well as earning team MVP honors. When the Express moved up to Triple-A in 2005, Conrad followed and hit 23 home runs, stole 20 bases and had 97 runs.
Conrad went on to play for five major league teams over six years in a utility role. His top season was 2010 with the Atlanta Braves, when he hit .250 in 156 at-bats, with eight homers and 33 RBIs.
Special guest: Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson, a highly touted transfer from Ole Miss, has joined the Express as an observer for the weekend series. The 39th-round draft pick of the Texas Rang- ers will suit up but not play. He signed a six-year contract with the Rangers that stipulates he will stick to football as long as he’s in college. Patterson, who hasn’t played baseball since high school, has two years of eligibility remaining.
Late Thursday: Tyler Wagner threw a five-hitter over six innings, and the Express pushed across two runs in the eighth to beat Tacoma 4-2, sweep the series and win their fifth straight game. Round Rock inched closer to .500 at 51-53.
Hanser Alberto had three hits and Delino DeShields two for the Express. Jeffrey Springs earned the win with two scoreless innings of relief. eration the council members’ comments at the last meeting, along with the city staff ’s positions on many things. We’ve bent; they’ve bent.
“I think we’re really close. There was so much ground to cover, but we plowed through it, one item at a time. I feel good about where we’re at. I think we are very close to being able to make this work.”
Developers encouraged by the council to submit nonsoccer proposals for McKalla Place were not happy to hear about next week’s special soccer-only meeting.
“It was surprising to us to see this scheduled, and we have concern about it,” said developer John Chen, whose Whitfield & Chen group earlier this summer offered $22.5 million for a mixed-use housing development with retail on the 24-acre North Austin site.
“We wonder if this is just another way to rush the process and giving in to the soccer proposal,” Chen said. “We hope the city makes good on the resolution it passed and gives each and every proposal its time and consideration.”
Representatives from Capella Capital have said they are working on two mixed-use proposals for McKalla Place.
The special meeting is music to PSV’s ears.
“Why not air this out and have more transparency?” Suttle said. “A lot of things could be vetted next week and then voted on the following week. It makes sense.”
Council Member Leslie Pool, whose district includes McKalla Place, told the Statesman on Friday that she has not been given any recent updates on negotiations.
Precourt will attend the MLS All-Star game Wednesday in Atlanta, where owners/operators gather for league meetings. His potential move figures to be a hot topic.
Austin open government lawyer Bill Aleshire has been critical of the city’s dealings with Precourt, and he sounded off again Friday in a letter to media. He wrote, in part:
“The Council is going to approve a major business transaction on the McKalla tract in two weeks, and they don’t even have a draft lease they can show the public or that even Council members can be reviewing beforehand?!! All they have is Precourt’s puff sales piece.
“No one in the private sector operates this way on big private business transactions. ... By prematurely calling for public input before a real draft deal is disclosed, they make a mockery of that democratic concept ... If the voters put up with this, Adler and the Council majority aren’t the only suckers getting played.”