Franchise
The Ryan group purchased the PCL Edmonton Trappers franchise in 2003 with the intention of moving the team to Round Rock after the 2004 season. At that time, the Trappers were affiliated with the Montreal Expos. The Express group wanted to maintain its affiliation with the Astros at the Round Rock site; therefore, the Trappers/Express franchise exchanged major league affiliates after the 2004 season with the New Orleans Zephyrs. Several weeks after this switch, the Expos announced their move to Washington, D.C. as the Washington Nationals. In terms of players on the roster, the 2005 Round Rock Express contained a mixture of players from the 2004 New Orleans Zephyrs (players that stayed at Triple-A) and the 2004 Round Rock Express (promoted from Double-A); the 2004 Edmonton Trappers players were either playing as New Orleans Zephyrs or Washington Nationals.
The original Express franchise has remained under Ryan ownership. After the purchase of the Triple-A PCL franchise, the Ryans announced that the Double-A Texas League club would move to Corpus Christi, Texas, for the 2005 season. That franchise remains the Double-A affiliate of the Astros as the Corpus Christi Hooks.
In 2006, two seasons after moving from Edmonton, the Round Rock Express clinched the Southern Division of the league's American Conference with a win–loss record of 85–59. After defeating the Nashville Sounds in five games to take the American Conference championship, they advanced to the PCL Championship Series, but lost to the Tucson Sidewinders in three straight games.
Read more about this topic: Round Rock Express
Famous quotes containing the word franchise:
“To-day women constitute the only class of sane people excluded from the franchise ...”
—Mary Putnam Jacobi (1842–1906)
“...feminism differs from reform of any kind, even franchise reform. Feminists, I should say, are not reformers at all, but rather intellectual biologists and psychologists.”
—Rheta Childe Dorr (1866–1948)
“Many famous feet have trod
Sublunary paths, and famous hands have weighed
The strength they have against the strength they need;
And famous lips interrogated God
Concerning franchise in eternity....”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)