Fans quickly take to team’s new affiliate in Buies Creek
“Things have been wonderful,” Buies Creek general manager David Lane said. “People love it, they’ve gotten involved. The community and surrounding areas have accepted us and they’re coming out and supporting us at all the games. They’re buying the merchandise and having a good time. They love the Buies Creek Astros stuff.”
The presence of nearby Fort Bragg (roughly 11 miles from Fayetteville and 30 from Buies Creek) adds to the area’s diversity.
“Here in Fayetteville, we hear a lot of people stop by and they’re from Houston or visiting from Houston because of Fort Bragg,” Lane said. “We get people from all over the world here in Fayetteville.”
The Astros’ Buies Creek operation is atypical for the minors. Campbell University handles ticket sales and concessions and the wacky between-innings promotions that are staples in minor-league parks won’t be found. The team also does not have radio broadcasts, instead using the opponents’ feed. The stadium’s capacity is roughly 1,000, with the averaging 600 fans per game.
Groundbreaking for the Fayetteville stadium, whose capacity will be between 4,500 and 5,000, is expected for August. The Astros signed a 30-year lease to be in Fayetteville after playing the past eight years in Lancaster, Calif. The Astros’ last North Carolina affiliate was the Asheville Tourists in 1993.
The Buies Creek team is the latest affiliate purchased by Astros owner Jim Crane, who previously bought the Class AA team in Corpus Christi from Ryan-Sanders Baseball in 2013. Having a farm team owned and operated by the parent club is a key selling point, Lane said.
“This is pretty strong stability and it helps us as we go out and talk with potential sponsors and fans and let them know that this isn’t fly-by-night and we’ll be here two years and maybe not after that,” Lane said. “We’re here for the long term — we plan on being here for a while.”
On the field, Buies Creek began the week in first place in the South Division. While the team dresses in Campbell University’s nearby basketball arena before heading to the ballpark, that’s one of the few inconveniences in the interim.
“The facilities are awesome,” manager Omar Lopez said. “There’s nothing we can complain about. It’s a little bit different, but it’s not a big thing.”
Unlike the team’s previous high-A home in Lancaster, Buies Creek provides a more level development environment. Lancaster, one of the California League’s notorious launching pads, often produced inflated offensive numbers and pitchers whose ERAs and confidence took a hit.
“Down here, it’s completely different,” said Lopez, who managed Lancaster in 2015. “You’re playing in big ballparks. There are some ballparks where the ball carries and some are pitchers’ parks in this league. That’s a big difference compared to the California League.
“For me, it was hard to see in California the pitchers with a lack of confidence when they go out there and are afraid to make mistakes up in the zone because they’ll know those balls will end up on the highway or out of the ballpark. Here, if you make a mistake up in the zone, it’ll be on the warning track or a high pop-up in (the outfield).”
Lopez learned Tuesday he’ll be without outfielder Kyle Tucker, who was promoted to Corpus Christi after hitting .288 with 9 home runs, 43 RBIs and a .932 OPS in 48 games for Buies Creek. Lopez, who managed Tucker with low-A Quad Cities of the Midwest League last season, said the 2015 first-round draft pick was “much better” than last year, when he hit. 285 with 9 homers and 69 RBIs between Quad Cities and Lancaster.
“Last year, he was a work in progress,” Lopez said. “I talked to him maybe twice a week to help him to learn how to grow up in this game. This year, my goal with him was since day one to be more behind him and help him (deal with increased attention) and be consistent on a daily basis.”
Buies Creek also has benefited from a trio of talented arms, with starters Frankie Perez (2.25 ERA), Hector Perez (2.65) and Yoanys Quiala (3.15) turning in quality work while racking up impressive strikeout totals.
“Those three guys have good stuff and good velocity,” Lopez said. “There’s a lot of the future in this organization right there.”