From Dr Pepper Ballpark in Frisco, TX. The North Division won, 2-1. Corey Smith of Northwest Arkansas was the only player with 2 hits as pitching dominated. He also scored a run and drove in another late in the game. Midland's Josh Horton doubled in the only run for the South Division. Springfield's Trey Hearne started and pitched 2 innings to get credit for the win while Midland's Jason Fernandez, who also went 2 innings, gave up an early run that saddled him with the loss.

Ever since I saw pictures of this ballpark a couple years ago I'd hoped to get a chance to see a game there in person. When I found out earlier this year that the Texas League All-Star Game would be played there I made it a goal to cover it. Fortunately that worked out, I took my trip to the Dallas area last week, caught a Rangers game on Monday (and marked one more MLB park off my list of places to visit), then worked this one on Wednesday.

When a league has an All-Star Game where just its own divisions face each other it means a lot more players from those teams are involved than you get with the California/Carolina League game or the Pacific Coast League/International League game, which has a max of three players per team this year. Maybe it waters down the talent a bit but in this case it gave me the chance to see a number of A's prospects from Midland's team along with others as well. I'd been thinking of trying to catch a game in Midland but the timing didn't work out, though they do have an airport nearby so I wouldn't have to drive five hours or so once I got into Texas.

So far that's two minor league ASGs with 2-1 finals. I'd bet the last one I'll be at in Portland will have a few more runs scored than that. The dugout steps were a little steep and I wanted to be a bit safer from foul balls so I shot from inside the dugout itself, close to the steps, and it let me get ground-level angles for everything I did from the sides. I like being that low if I can. One thing I did more of this time was take shots of pitchers from off to one side of home plate as they warmed up between innings. I also like them wearing their team uniforms so much better because it makes it a lot easier to remember who's who later on when you have more than just a hat to go by. There are 115 shots here, including a number of ballpark pics, and some of my favorites follow.

Having a hotel so close is great. This was the view from my room:

Here's the main entrance:

Midland's Chris Carter (OAK) was bombing in the home run derby, at least in the first round when he hit 10 out:

Carter watches another one go:

Other Midland RockHounds (Corey Brown, Adrian Cardenas, Jason Fernandez and Mike Benacka) are entertained:

Kasey Kiker of Frisco (TEX):

Trey Hearne of Springfield (STL) with one of the pavilions in the background:

Jason Fernandez of Midland (OAK):

Chris Carter singles:

Trevor Reckling of Arkansas (LAA):

Craig Cooper of San Antonio (SD) goes down swinging prior to a throw to first:

Jhoulys Chacin of Tulsa (COL):

Wolverine Graham Godfrey of Midland (OAK):

Don't worry, nobody's hitting one to the hotel:

Eric Sogard of San Antonio (SD) throws to first with Peter Kozma of Springfield (STL) sliding in:

After nearly getting hit by a foul ball smoked off the railing, Mat Latos of San Antonio (SD) borrows Chris Carter's glove just in case another one comes his way:

Mike DeMark of San Antonio (SD) came on in the 8th to get the last out with two runners on base and keep the score close:

The "visitors" win: