MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL: Texas Rangers new owners of Crawdads

HobbsDailyReport.com

HICKORY – The Hickory Crawdads will start their 26th baseball season with new ownership.

The Texas Rangers, who have had a player develop agreement with Hickory’s minor league baseball team since 2009, have purchased the Crawdads from a group that includes majority owner Don Beaver, it was announced Thursday.

A formal press conference with representatives from the Texas Rangers, Hickory Baseball, Inc., and the City of Hickory is expected to take place in Hickory within the next few weeks.

No sale price was indicated in a press by release by the Crawdads.

“On behalf of the ownership group, we would like to thank the fans for 25 years of tremendous support,” Beaver said in a press release. “I’ve truly enjoyed owning the team alongside Charles Young and of course, my brother Luther.

“Without the great partnership with the city of Hickory and the vision of (the late) George Murphy and the stadium committee, Crawdads baseball wouldn’t have become a reality.

“We hate to sell the team but it’s the right thing to do to ensure that baseball stays in Hickory. The Rangers are a first-class organization that we’ve been able to experience first-hand the last nine years. The future of the team couldn’t be in more capable hands.”

The franchise will formally be Hickory Baseball LLC with Neil Leibman, chairman of the Texas Rangers Ownership Committee, serving as CEO.

Mark Seaman, who has overseen Hickory’s day-to-day operations as general manager since October 2007, will continue in that role.

“The Texas Rangers are proud and honored to make this announcement (Thursday),” Leibman said in the release. “We are acquiring a franchise that has thrived under the stewardship of Don Beaver and his ownership for the last quarter century, and we are committed to continuing that legacy. We pledge to be a great community partner with the City of Hickory, and we look forward to a long and successful relationship.”

The Crawdads have won three division titles and the 2015 South Atlantic League (SAL) championship while in Texas’ minor league organization.

Beaver brought minor league baseball back to Hickory in 1993 when he purchased the Gastonia Rangers and moved the team to Hickory. The Crawdads began as a Chicago White Sox farm club until switching to the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1999 through 2008.

Over the nine seasons in the Rangers farm system, the Crawdads’ winning percentage if .533. The club has had 14 straight winning halves from 2010-16 and featured several top prospects, some of whom are current members of the Texas Rangers.

The Crawdads play at L.P. Frans Stadium with a capacity of 3,959.

Despite having one of the youngest teams in the SAL, Hickory finished just two games out of a playoff spot in the second half with a 37-33 record.

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