By CHRIS HOBBS
HobbsDailyReport.com
HICKORY – The Hickory Crawdads’ 30th season of baseball is just around the corner.
The team announced its opening day roster this week (see link below) and includes eight of the Texas Rangers’ top 30 prospects.
The Crawdads will play an exhibition game at L.P. Frans Stadium against Lenoir-Rhyne University on Tuesday 5 at 6 p.m. (admission $5).
Hickory continues as a Rangers affiliate (High A) — a relationship that began in 2009 – and the Crawdads will play in the Northern Division of the South Atlantic League.
The SAL opener is scheduled Friday, starting a three-game series at Winston-Salem.
The first home series for Hickory begins April 12 to begin a six-game homestand against Bowling Green, Ky.
The Crawdads will be managed by Carlos Cardoza. They are coming off a 46-68 record last season and can reach 2,000 all-time victories if they win 56 games this season.
Minor league baseball returned to Hickory in 1993 when the Crawdads were a farm club of the Chicago White Sox. The team then played from 1999 to 2008 as part of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.
CRAWDADS 2022 SCHEDULE: https://www.milb.com/hickory/schedule/2022-04
CRAWDADS OPENING DAY ROSTER 2022: https://img.mlbstatic.com/milb-images/image/upload/milb/mj2awep8cvmdrmncteyn.pdf
PURCHASE SINGLE GAME TICKETS: https://www.milb.com/hickory/tickets/single-game-tickets
CRAWDADS WEBSITE: https://www.milb.com/hickory
CRAWDADS 2022 PROMOTIONAL SCHEDULE: https://www.milb.com/hickory/tickets/promotions
Crawdads fans will again be able to follow the team on a game-by-game basis each night by visiting HobbsDailyReport.com. The website will post information about the Crawdads, including current scores and schedule (including next homestand), and the information is updated and posted each night. This will be the fifth straight season the website has provided fans a central location to follow the Crawdads.