Welcome, The “Coastal Bend Thunder”

When the United League season begins in June, Fairgrounds Field will have been host to three different professional minor league teams in the last seven years.

The original team was the Coast Bend Aviators.  The Aviators were a minor league baseball team, which played in Robstown, Texas, in the United States from 2003 to 2007. They were a member of the Central Baseball League, then the American Association and were not affiliated with any Major League Baseball team.

The Thunder will storm into town in the next couple of months, their new logo and colors were unveiled Tuesday at the park.  Primarily the team’s colors are red and blue, with the state of Texas in the background.  According to ULB President Byron Pierce, a number of names were taken into consideration, but Thunder seemed more appropriate than the rest, “We have chosen the Thunder nickname and logo to represent the coastal Bend area baseball club due to the aggressive attitude of the people here, who stand firm in the face of the tremendous storms that threaten them each year,” Pierce said. “It is a tribute to their strength and character.”

On hand at the opening were approximately 70 local area and community officials.  Community leaders from Corpus Christi, Kingsville and Alice also attended the event.  On hand as well was the newly appointed Coastal Bend head coach, former major league player, “Dirty” Al Gallagher.

The Thunder will open up their season with four games against the Harlingen WhiteWings, and then begins their home campaign June 15 against the Edinburg Coyotes.

The late start of the ULB season is to the Federal Bankruptcy issues by the leagues owners. This led to the repurchase of the league by its previous owners, Byron Pierce and John Bryant.