At long last, the wait is over. Monday night in Amarillo, thousands of baseball fans will make their way downtown to the city’s brand new baseball stadium to see the Amarillo Sod Poodles in action.
The team is the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres, and tonight’s home opener marks the return of minor league baseball to the Texas Panhandle for the first time since 1982. Curiously, the Amarillo Gold Sox of the late 70s and early 80s were also the double-A affiliate of the Padres.
On Monday, the Soddies will take on the Midland RockHounds, who are the Double-A affiliate of the Oakland As. The Amarillo team expects a sellout crowd, though turnout may be dampened by Texas Tech’s participation in the NCAA men’s basketball national championship, which will take place at the same time.
The Sod Poodles fell 5-2 to the Corpus Christi Hooks in their season opener on Thursday.