CITGO Presents the 2015 Texas League All-Star Game
CORPUS CHRISTI - The Corpus Christi Hooks Baseball Club announced Tuesday a partnership with CITGO as presenting sponsor of the 2015 Texas League All-Star Game.
The 79th installment of the league's mid-season classic is scheduled for Tuesday, June 30, at Whataburger Field. First pitch is 7:30 and fans will enjoy a postgame fireworks Show at the "Ballpark by the Bay," plus a pregame home run derby.
"Time and again, CITGO has stepped up to the plate to support the community's quality of life through our national pastime," Hooks founder and Houston Astros president Reid Ryan said. "We are delighted to team up with CITGO on what promises to be an afternoon and evening of remarkable entertainment."
"CITGO has been a great friend of the Hooks since the very beginning," team president Ken Schrom said. "I like to think the Hooks are entrenched in the Coastal Bend; certainly that is the case with CITGO. Meaningful community service through volunteerism and social responsibility through development programs help set CITGO apart.
"We are attracted to many of our sponsors by shared values and vice-versa. That is certainly the case with CITGO."
"CITGO is passionate about baseball and about doing good in the neighborhoods we serve," Doyle Dommert, vice president/general manager of CITGO Corpus Christi Refinery, said. "CITGO has a long history of supporting baseball and its diverse athletes who help enrich our communities through this beautiful sport."
The 2015 All-Star Game is one of numerous notable projects in CITGO-Hooks history.
In 2007, a CITGO-National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum tribute to Latino baseball players was on display at Whataburger Field and enjoyed by the public during the season's second half. That same year, the 50-foot CITGO sign was installed beyond the right-field wall. It's reminiscent of the iconic 50-year-old trimark at Fenway Park. Houston's Minute Maid Park also sports a CITGO sign.
Since 2009, Hooks fans have enjoyed the famed CITGO jersey series. Thirty unique jerseys - five per season - with six different themes have been distributed to patrons at Whataburger Field.
Corpus Christi has hosted the Texas League All-Star Game on one previous occasion and Hooks second baseman Jonny Ash was the hero. The South Division edged the North at Whataburger Field, 5-4 in 10 innings, on June 26, 2007, before 8,676.
Ash's walk-off base hit through the left side off Tulsa right-hander Ryan Mattheus scored Frisco RoughRider Casey Benjamin from third base. In an ironic twist, Ash and Mattheus were the last players added to their respective squads.
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Individual tickets for the 79th Texas League All-Star Game, presented by CITGO, go on sale Thursday, April 9, at 9 a.m.
∙Whataburger Field Box Office
∙361-561-HOOK (4665)
∙cchooks.com
Tickets range from $7-$15
All-Star Game tickets are included in Hooks season-ticket packages.
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Tuesday, June 30 ∙ Whataburger Field
4:40 Gates Open (FanFest/BP in progress)
5:45 Home Run Derby
7:30 First Pitch
Postgame Fireworks
About the Hooks and Whataburger Field
Corpus Christi's Whataburger Field, completed in 2005 at a cost of $25 million, is home to the Hooks, Double-A Texas League affiliate of the Houston Astros. Owned by their parent club since October, 2013, the Hooks focus on exemplary customer service in a family-friendly environment. In 2015, the Hooks play 72 games at Whataburger Field between April 2 and September 4. The ballpark occupies land once dominated by cotton warehouses at the Port of Corpus Christi. Its architectural attributes, from mammoth wood beams to corrugated siding, pay tribute to the site's heritage. The scoreboard in left-center field is framed by antique cotton presses, one which dates to the 1920s. During games, large oceangoing vessels and their tiny tugboat escorts navigate the port's ship channel, which runs behind the stadium compound. Ships clear the iconic Harbor Bridge (1959), a magnificent span for Highway 181, before churning out to the Gulf of Mexico through Corpus Christi Bay.