Last week, I was in Houston, Texas for business (ABF Freight). As I do when I travel, I compile an area search of baseball fields, parks, teams, and potential experiences. As I was quick to discover, Houston and its surrounding Texas cities and towns have a ton of baseball spots to check out, far too many for one week of travel. So, I started with one and wow what it an impressive one to start with – Reckling Park, home of the Rice University Owls baseball program.

Coming from George Bush International Airport (IAH for those of you scoring at home), Rice University was a pretty straight shot south on Highway I-69, then straight down Main St., not to make fun of the baseball phrase. I parked in a visitors lot about 5 minutes from the field and took a nice stroll around Rice University before landing at the front gate of Reckling Park. There was a local Houston Little League event going on at the stadium, so the gates were open to the public. The Rice Owls baseball team was on the road on Sunday, so Reckling was available for this special event.

With the kids and families busy on the field, I took the time to walk around Reckling Park and check out the stadium. It has an amazing city view backdrop, with large buildings clearly in the batter’s eye. Fans can find seating from the third base dugout area, through the backstop/behind home plate area, and over to the first base home dugout area. Beyond the stadium seats, there are standing room only opportunities on either side of the field (LF and RF). And in RF, I found a cool deck called “The Roost” which had a great view of the field and was serving up some yummy food for fans.

Heading back to the lower levels of Reckling Park, I found some historical information on the park. Reckling was opened in 2000 and is the home field of the Division 1 Rice University Owls. It replaces Cameron Field, which was Rice’s previous home stadium for roughly 20 years prior. There was a cool tribute plaque from alumni Philip Humber, a Chicago White Sox P who threw a perfect game against the Mariners in 2012. It is a great read, so if you can, zoom into the photo, take the time to read his personal message from a player to his former college coach. And there was a stone engraved list of Major Leaguers who can claim Rice University as a stop along way in their baseball journey. Some of the names that stuck out for me were Lance Berkman, Bubba Crosby, Norm Charlton, Anthony Rendon (is he still on the Angels?), and Red Sox great Brock Holt. Pretty impressive list of baseball greats and oh by the way, Rice won the NCAA National Championship in 2003.

As I left Reckling Park, I couldn’t help but think how cool it was for those Little Leaguers to be on that field. The base paths were shortened of course and the outfielders were basically situated where the college infielders probably stood for a typical defensive alignment. But the feeling of being on the “big” field, on your local college’s home baseball field, as I kid trying to figure out the game, and dream big – wow that must have been a fun afternoon for players, coaches, and their families.

Outside of Reckling Park, in the lawn adjacent to the parking lot area, was a baseball display of statues. A boy throwing to another boy in a field on a sunny, Sunday afternoon. Pretty cool display to check out as I headed back to my rental car.

It was an amazing start to my Houston trip stopping in to visit Rice University and Reckling Park. Reckling Park is a beautiful, modern baseball stadium with a fantastic city view as its backdrop. There are plenty of seats from third to first base, plus standing room on the left and right field areas, plus you have The Roost area in RF as well. Great baseball park, tons of great baseball vibes all over the stadium. Rice University has a rich tradition of producing top MLB talent and won the 2003 NCAA National Championship. On site Sunday, a group of local Houston Little League teams got to play on the “big” field and be part of something really special, making memories one pitch at a time. Overall, it was an incredible Houston baseball experience at Reckling Park, home of the Rice University Owls baseball program.