Picking up from Part I – UTRGV Baseball – I set my GPS to head north to the University of Texas A&M – Kingsville. Why, you might ask? Well, there is a field there at the University that I had a keen interest in seeing – Nolan Ryan Field. So, I gleefully started the rental car and hopped on 281N for the roughly 100 miles to Kingsville, Texas.
Along the way, I saw acres and acres and miles and miles of Texas Ranch Country. Gone were the typical high rises and corporate offices and restaurants and 7-Elevens and coffee houses and concrete jungles of the US’s major cities. Nope, this 281N had nothing but land and more land. Fields and farms and orchards and ranches as far as the eye can see on both sides of the 2 lane highway. It was eye-catching for the simple fact that there was nothing to see except the ranch’s front gate decorations and cool names. If you haven’t experienced that kind of ride, I highly recommend it. It is worth the trip.
Along the way, I stopped in at a mandatory customs/border patrol check stop. Again, a first for me. The agents had cars and trucks stopped, did a routine search of my vehicle from the outside, the front gate officer asked me a few questions, and then I was on my way. In speaking with some locals, this is a pretty standard procedure for the South Texas area. For me, it was an interesting experience to say the least.
After arriving in Kingsville, I found parking in an adjacent lot next to the sports stadiums and fields. I exited my rental car, stretched a bit, then headed over to the front gate of Nolan Ryan Field, home of the University of Texas A&M – Kingsville Javelinas Baseball Team.
The Texas A&M – Kingsville Javelinas Baseball Team plays in the Lone Star Conference of the NCAA’s Division II. They are skippered by Head Coach Jason Gonzales, who has been at the helm of the Javelinas since 2008. Coach Gonzales has won nearly 500 games in his near 20 years as the HC at Kingsville. During their recent 2025 season, the Javelinas finished with a record of 27-25.
The front entrance was locked so I ventured over to the football field area where I noticed an open gate to the baseball field. A university groundskeeper was motoring by me on a golf cart and I asked him if I could take a photo or two of the field. He nodded. So, I walked through the open gate, near the football field, and started my perimeter walk around Nolan Ryan Field. The South Texas sun was in full effect at this point and it was hot and sunny and boy was I thankful for my hat and sunglasses. Here are a few photos I snapped along the way.
Two huge bleacher sections behind each dugout, press box and bleacher seating behind home plate, and tons of great views on the outfield foul lines. I walked all the way down the left field lines, then back through the home plate/backstop area, then down to right field before I departed the field. Nolan Ryan Field was in ready to play condition, clean, and well maintained. I don’t know how they do it year round in that hot and steamy South Texas heat, but they do it.
As I was finished in the park, I took a few last looks outside the perimeter of the closed gate area for any plaques, tributes, or memorials. In the left field corner of Nolan Ryan Field, there was a number and remembrance that read – “In Memory of Travis Madden, #37.” Madden was a student-athlete at Kingsville and passed away tragically during his freshman year in 2011. The Javelinas Baseball team dedicated their 2012 season to his memory and his plaque is positioned right at the left field corner near the foul pole. Wow, gone way too early.
After returning to my rental car and in dire need of some water, I reached into the back seat for the case of water I purchased in advance of my Friday Texas Baseball Road Trip. I chugged nearly one bottle and let out an “Ahhhhh” before hopping into the front seat to chart my next stop – the Corpus Christi Hooks. What I didn’t know at the time was that the stadium, the team, the Hooks experience were to be dwarfed by another, perhaps more impressive structure in Corpus Christi…
It was a very interesting ride from Edinburg to Kingsville to visit the University of Texas A&M – Kingsville and Nolan Ryan Field. Stopping in at that checkpoint was surreal and my anxiety was high and then my nerves were calmed after passing through. The farms, the ranches, the land, the open range of South Texas is just so incredible, you have to see it for yourself. The ride, nearly 100 miles, was easy to do and quite enjoyable to be honest. Nolan Ryan Field did not disappoint. The home of the Javelinas Baseball team at Kingsville was in ready to play condition, clean with great seating throughout the fan sections behind the dugout and home plate areas. It was so fun checking out this Kingsville baseball treasure. Overall, it was an awesome Kingsville baseball experience visiting Nolan Ryan Field on the campus of the University of Texas A&M – Kingsville, home of the Javelinas Baseball team.
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