Remembering 2016
Seasons quickly come and go.
For years, when people have asked what's going on with the Hooks at Whataburger Field, my standard response has been, "well, we're either playing or planning."
It's an accurate answer some may consider glib.
Navigating a baseball season is not unlike raising a child. When your firstborn comes along, it's as though life kicks into warp speed. Then you turn around twice and she's graduating from high school. It all happens so quickly.
But not when you're living it.
Parenthood is a grind, like baseball season. But for those of us who love the game - some might contend like we love our children - there's nothing like it.
Here's why:
Antonio Nunez's bases-loaded single to give the Hooks a 5-4 walk-off triumph over Midland in Game 2 of the Texas League South Division Series. But remember, he did the same thing to the RockHounds by the same score as the newest Hook on July 29… four days after joining the club from High-A Lancaster.
Alex Bregman, Minor League Baseball Player of the Year, batted .297 with 16 doubles, two triples, 14 home runs, and 46 runs batted in over 62 games as a Hook. He appeared in the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game with pitcher Joe Musgrove, who was elevated to the Grizzlies on May 13.
At the Texas League All-Star Break, Bregman topped the circuit in runs (54), on-base percentage (.415), slugging percentage (.559) and OPS (.975). He was tied for third in home runs, fourth in RBIs, and seventh in doubles. His 42 walks were good for third place.
Bregman was then on his way to Fresno, too.
No one who watched and dealt with Alex during his Corpus Christi experience ever doubted he would hit big-league pitching. As is the case with 2015 shortstop Carlos Correa, Bregman's work ethic is off the charts. Yet, he was always gracious and accommodating to our front office staff, the media, and fans.
Remember the 407-foot bomb he dropped on Tayron Guerrero to dump the Missions 5-4 (there's that score again) in 10 innings on June 11? It came a pitch after Guerrero's first offering sailed over Bregman's head.
Then there was the night (May 10) Bregman hit a conventional home run and Derek Fisher drilled an inside-the-park job as Corpus Christi beat the Missions 5-3.
Twenty-four hours earlier, J.D. Davis capped a three-for-four, four RBI night with a 427-foot shot off the batter's eye to power the Hooks past San Antonio, 8-5.
And in the first game of that series, the story was a combined five-hit shutout by Keegan Yuhl, Musgrove, and Brendan McCurry… plus Evan Gattis' two-run homer.
May was indeed sweet as the Hooks won 11 consecutive games, a club record. A 21-8 surge improved their overall mark to 30-20. No other Corpus Christi team had ever won 20 in a month.
Davis earned back-to-back Texas League Player of the Week honors, a feat he would duplicate in August.
May's magic established the foundation for a June 16 clinching of the first-half South Division crown in Frisco on the second night of a season-long 12-game, 12-day road trip (1,475 miles). The road really wasn't an issue during the season's first half as the Hooks went 26-9 away from Port Avenue.
When the dust cleared, Corpus Christi had won nine of 10 and 22 of 27. The Hooks were 47-23, 8½ games ahead of the RoughRiders, 14 up on Midland, and 25 on the Missions.
In all, 10 players from the league's best squad were named All-Stars: Bregman, Davis, Fisher (also a walk-off home run against Frisco May 12 for his third bomb in five plate appearances), McCurry, Yuhl, Edison Frias, Evan Grills, Teoscar Hernandez (walk-off double against the Missions June 14), Brian Holmes, and David Paulino. Yuhl was the winning pitcher in an 8-5 South win and Bregman knocked a two-run homer during the 80th edition of the game, held in Springfield.
Bregman, Hernandez, McCurry, and Francis Martes were part of a league-best four-player contingent on the postseason All-Stars.
Then there was unexpected seasoning for the feast that was 2016. Gattis and former Hook Preston Tucker had considerable rehab stints. Excitement and curiosity surrounded the August 9 Double-A debut of 32-year-old Yulieski Gurriel, Cuban baseball royalty who's now in Houston with Bregman, Musgrove, Hernandez, and Paulino as the Astros fight for an American League wild-card playoff berth.
Could anyone have foreseen the late-season emergence of players like Nunez, Bobby Boyd, Drew Ferguson, Ramon Laureano, and Garrett Stubbs, plus pitchers Rogelio Armenteros, Kevin Comer, Dean Deetz, Ryan Deemes, Jacob Dorris, Ryan Thompson, and Trent Thornton? They gave the Hooks a second-half infusion of talent from High-A Lancaster that spelled a 38-32 second-place finish. Even better news: many should form the core of the 2017 Hooks.
And, speaking of Boyd, don't forget the 26-up, 26-down game on August 12, when he scored the winning run on a wild pitch for a 2-1 victory over Arkansas. Corpus Christi was a strike away from falling 1-0 in a four-pitcher, perfect-game defeat before rallying.
The 2016 Hooks enjoyed exceptional starting pitching all season long. In the bullpen, McCurry (13 saves) turned the closer's role over to Aaron West (15); both completed the season in Fresno.
Then there were the regulars so familiar to our fans like Conrad Gregor, Mott Hyde, Chase McDonald, Roberto Pena, James Ramsay, and Nick Tanielu.
For me, there were all of them and all of that and more, including:
- Season-ticket holders Robert and Sherry Halbrook, who entered the Whataburger Field gates as fans No. 5,000,000 and 5,000,001 on July 28. Robert was sporting a 1958 Corpus Christi Giants cap.
- Ashley HomeStore gave away 35 mattress sets, school supplies, and gift certificates to underserved children at the Ballpark by the Bay on August 13.
- 1976 FauxBack Weekend: Great music. Retro graphics on the video board. What a fun time as the Hooks wore vintage ice-blue uniforms and a wildly popular cap. You'll see the look again in coming seasons as an alternate option.
- Iron man Edd Price ran the Whataburger Field pitch clock for all 70 games, never missing a turn.
- We said goodbye to three-year public address announcer and Texas Longhorn-loving Layne Berman, who's returning to the Metroplex.
- Splitting a chocolate coconut crème funnel cake with five others during the last homestand
- "Real Deal Kevin Piel," our part-time Communications assistant and No. 2 radio announcer; he also hosted our in-stadium pregame show. Kevin is now voice of the Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelinas.
- Familiarizing Kevin and Communications intern Robby Veronesi with South Texas high school baseball and taquerias. Kevin is from Ohio, Robby Massachusetts.
- Encountering a "blue" Bob Hards as the Midland broadcaster made his way to Whataburger for one last cup of (playoff) coffee. Bob was inducted into the Texas League Hall of Fame this year along with Hooks president Ken Schrom.
- Former Hooks beat writer and Caller-Times Sports Editor Greg Rajan returning to the pressbox he made famous on August 13
- Discussing the pros and cons of zone play, zone play + crossover, single round-robin and double round-robin scheduling formats for the new 11-team District 30-5A with Len Hayward and Lee Yeager
- The "Chicken Bone Incident," which reminded me to refrain from jumping to conclusions. After all, there was incriminating video evidence of… me.
- Losing two openings to the weather (April 24 & May 15), which doesn't happen very often around here
- Eighty-five wins… second most ever
What do you remember?