Last Friday was my last official work day in Houston for ABF Freight. For the week, I had already experienced a ton of great baseball places in Houston. And I had one more visit to complete my Houston Baseball Experience journey. Or so I thought I did. It is funny what you find on the way to a predestined location if you just keep an open mind. Not funny, I should say remarkable is probably a more fitting description in this case. As I was heading out to photograph and interview the team at Home Run Dugout in nearby Katy, Texas I came upon Houston’s Baseball USA also known as The Yard.

I have visited a ton of baseball complexes in my nearly 2 decades of writing about baseball. Aberdeen, MD – The Ripken Experience, Cooperstown Dream Park, and the Lou Gehrig Baseball Complex in Upstate NY are just a few examples of these mega baseball cities that include baseball parks of all sizes, housing for players, pro shops galore, concession stands everywhere, and space for travel team tournaments as long as the weather permits. I would add that Houston’s Baseball USA is as impressive as all of my previous complexes and adds one tiny bonus element to its resume – the weather in Texas is baseball friendly nearly 80% of the year.

After finding Baseball USA on the map, I pulled into the complex, through a giant arch with stars on it (pretty common theme in Houston) and found parking next to a building labeled “The Yard.” As I looked around, I didn’t see many cars parked but there was a large gate that was open. I figured I would start out on foot and see if I could find someone in the complex to check on whether or not I should be there. The main building were I parked looked to be a pro shop of some sort and had the sports equipment brand name “Marucci Sports” plastered on every window. Also, there was some branding by Perfect Game Houston. There was a sidewalk on the other side of the open gate, so that is where I started my Baseball USA field tour.

I followed the sidewalk down to the bleacher section of the first field in the complex, a gorgeous showcase type field with a huge fan seating section, covered dugouts, and a professional look. There were some concession stand workers preparing their kitchen for an upcoming tournament and I said hello and asked if I was okay to be in there. They said “no problem” which sort of meant that they didn’t know or probably didn’t care that I was there. I walked around this main field and snapped a few photos of the field and surrounding area.

Here is the expanse of Baseball USA via Google Maps:

From the main field closest to the parking lot, I began to walk towards the roughly 10 to 11 more fields in the complex. Mixed in with a few more “big” fields, were a series of youth baseball and softball fields. Each one about to get worked on for an upcoming tournament that weekend. Most looked good enough to play on that morning, except for the need for bases and players. As I walked down the sidewalk to what appeared to be another showcase type field, I came upon a baseball pavilion with a concession stand and pro shop. Like the concession stand at the first field, there were staff getting their kitchen and pro shop ready for the weekend’s upcoming business. Most just nodded at me or said “Hello.”

It was a beautiful weather day in Houston last Friday. Sunny skies, light or no wind, no humidity, great weather for walking around a baseball complex. As I finished up at Field 10 or 11, I began my journey back to the parking lot and my rental car. I looked up and noticed I was walking on what appeared to be “Foul Ball Blvd.” And I stopped to check out this memorial which was surrounded by tall Texas and American flags waving in the Houston wind.

As I was approaching my rental car, I noticed a rather large pickup truck pull in and back into a parking space in front of the main building. I walked past it to get one last look at the pro shop area when the driver of the pickup truck asked me, “can I help you?” I turned around and greeted the driver and told him who I was. He asked me a few baseball questions to gauge my baseball IQ, then shut off his truck and extended his hand in greeting. We chatted for a bit about why I was there, Baseball USA, Perfect Game Houston, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, then he invited me into the baseball facility for a first hand look at the indoor operations.

The man who greeted me was Jordan Venable, Director of Operations for Marucci Elite Baseball. Needless to say, a very important member of the Baseball USA complex, if not the most important. Jordan showed me the inside of The Yard, the Marucci Sports pro shop, the indoor hitting cages, locker rooms, and guest lounge area. We chatted friendly and candidly about travel baseball, parents of baseball players, and the game within the game of amateur athletics. Jordan has a world of knowledge in baseball and I cannot imagine a better resource in the Houston area for players, coaches, and families. He was so cool to invite me into his world, if only for a few moments, to educate me on all things Houston baseball. Out of respect for his time, I didn’t go too hog wild taking photos inside The Yard. But I had to snap a photo of the Nolan Ryan signed Houston Astros jersey!!!

I had mentioned the Home Run Dugout meeting with Jordan earlier and having checked my watch, I thanked him for his time and wished him well. Jordan was awesome, what a great representative of Houston Baseball USA and a very valuable player in the travel baseball tournament world. Baseball USA was impressive and clean and checked every box a tournament complex should. The showcase fields were awesome. It was easy to get around to all the fields and I just loved taking the time at each field to check out how cool it was. Jordan mentioned that Houston’s Baseball USA is hosting tournaments nearly 42 out of 52 weeks a year, some tourneys inviting hundreds of teams at a time to play there. I cannot begin to imagine the coordination and effort it takes to make those tournaments happen and be successful, but I do know they are in good hands with Jordan Venable at the helm. Overall, it was an incredible Houston morning baseball experience at Baseball USA, aka The Yard.