As we surmised last week, the new McAllen Thunder (independent; North American League) will be a semi-travel team for the 2011 season, playing its “home” games out of Edinburg Stadium and run by the owners of the Edinburg Roadrunners.
Using the name (and uniforms and caps and marks, we assume) of last year’s Coastal Bend Thunder is a time-honored way to keep down costs, as is basing what’s basically a travel team in an existing ballpark. The move also helps on the schedule front: the four United Baseball League teams will basically be playing their own schedule, with a minimal interface to the other North American League teams. And it does give the NAL/ULB a cluster of teams in the Rio Grande Valley, with the WhiteWings playing in nearby Harlingen.
The Thunder are owned by John Bryant and Byron Pierce.
Matt Stark, a former resident of McAllen, is the team’s inaugural manager.
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