With Nolan Ryan, who probably could win an election for Texas governor because of his popularity, in on the effort, Round Rock's electorate voted 72-28 in favor of bringing in a minor league team. Round Rock residents then voted to allow a hotel-motel tax, an expense shouldered mostly by tourists. It offered Dell employees, more than 36,000 of them around the world and more than 20,000 in the Austin area, half-price tickets. Nolan Ryan, along with the help of friend and former Astros minority owner Don Sanders and three other minority owners, bankrolled the rest of the project. Diamond delights The Dell Diamond is big-league in many ways.
Express fans cool their feet poolside at The Dell Diamond.
Strolling through the luxurious clubhouse and locker rooms during a game, you see relief pitchers lounging in comfortable chairs with their feet up watching major league games instead of hanging around in the bullpen in the sweltering Texas summer heat. These amenities, though, are just as much for the fans as they are for the players. But the Ryans didn't want to alienate the Austin area's high volume of high-techers and university intellectuals with an impersonal, corporate flavor that often goes along with a major league ballpark. While living all over the country as child, following his father around from team to team and ballpark to ballpark, Reid Ryan accumulated a mental list of aspects he didn't like about some big-league parks. He used it to construct his brainchild.