Home opener, series against Winston-Salem is one week away
By CHRIS HOBBS
HobbsDailyReport.com
GREENSBORO — The Hickory Crawdads begin their first season as a High-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night.
Hickory will be in Greensboro for a set of six games through Sunday, all with 6:30 p.m. starts.
The Crawdads’ home opener is a week away (Tuesday, May 11) against Winston-Salem. That’s a six-game series with the first five games with 7 p.m. starts and a Mother’s Day Celebration game at 3 p.m. on that Sunday.
Minor league baseball return to Hickory in 1993.
The Rangers own the Hickory franchise — purchased after the 2017 season — and they are continuing a relationship, as the Crawdads had previously been Texas’ Low-A franchise.
When Major League Baseball’s minor league system was restructed — there are now fewer teams — the change in As made for the Crawdads, who play home games at L.P. Frans Stadium (2500 Clement Blvd. NW).
There will be some COVID-19 restrictions at Frans. Contact the team at (828) 322-3000 for more information related to that and for more information in general about the team and Frans.
Hickory will play in the High-A East with these teams in the South Division: Asheville Tourists (Houston); Bowling Green (Ky.) HotRods; Greensboro Grasshoppers (Pittsburgh); Greenville, S.C., Drive (Boston); Rome, Ga., Braves (Atlanta) and Winston-Salem Drive (Chicago White Sox).
The High-A East North Division has these teams: Aberdeen (Md.) Ironbirds (Baltimore); Brooklyn, N.Y., Cyclones (Mets); Hudson Valley, N.Y., Renegades (Yankees); Jersey Shore (Lakewood, N.J.) BlueClaws (Philadelphia) and Wilmington (Del.) Blue Rocks (Washington).
2021 OPENING DAY ROSTER: https://www.milb.com/hickory/roster
CRAWDADS SCHEDULE 2021: https://www.milb.com/hickory/schedule/2021-05
TICKET INFORMATION, PROMOTIONAL SCHEDULE: https://www.milb.com/hickory/tickets