Written the week of April 13-19, 2026

The Corpus Christi Hooks continue to amaze long-time fans at home. We hope, but we don’t really believe.

What do I mean by that?

Like most of us who’ve met disappointment, we hope things will change, but deep down we find it hard to believe it’ll happen.

In the recent past, Hooks teams have gotten leads and looked like they’d hang on for a win, only to squander it all at the end. It feels like it happens more often than not, but when I look back, it surprises me to discover that in four of the last ten seasons, they’ve had winning records. The two best winning percentages happened in 2015 (.636), and my first year in Corpus Christi, 2016 (.607).*

Even more surprising was the fact that the most recent winning season happened in 2023.* We’ve played so poorly the past two years—two of the three worst records in Hooks’ history—that it seems like we’ve always been terrible. Yet even in the worst season, 2025, we had moments worth seeing and savoring—e.g., Zach Cole hitting 2 homeruns and collecting 8 RBIs, Colin Barber hitting for the cycle in a 20-14 romp over Frisco on May 13, 2025.

A terrible season? No! A disappointing one? Yes, of course.

I want to be clear about that first paragraph. I have “hoped” in the past, and this year isn’t any different. But I started believing in this team in September 2025, the year of our worst record ever. My whole reason for writing these articles is the belief that the Hooks will be Texas League Champions at the end of the season.

The past week of baseball has bolstered that belief, and the title for this chapter now seems prescient. I posted Knock It Out of the Park (Part 1) on Saturday before leaving for the ballpark. The Hooks hit two grand slams that night, Garret Guillemette in the 1^st and Walker Janek in the 7^th. It was Janek’s first Double-A homerun, and it was the difference in a 9-5 win.

I came steps away from checking off “catch a grand slam ball” on my bucket list when Guillemette hit the first one. Herman, a young friend, came closest to catching it and ended up with the ball. I enjoyed watching him run around the entire left field berm with all the excited energy of a cat chasing a light beam. He wanted a hand to high-five, and he found several, including mine.

Bases-loaded opportunities for grand slam hits have multiplied like lionfish in the Caribbean. The Hooks have given and received those opportunities. In all five wins of this week’s series, relief pitchers have taken the mound with a 4-run lead or more in the 9^th inning. In all but Sunday’s win, they’ve loaded the bases before recording the last out.

Remember the pattern of previous seasons? Lead, squandered opportunity, loss. One swing of the opponent’s bat this series, and the Hooks would have been looking at possible losses. The one swing never happened. Whew!

I witnessed a third grand slam on Saturday night, but no one on the berm had a chance to retrieve it. In the top of the 2^nd, Naturals player Colton Becker hit a routine fly ball to left field, but our left fielder lost track of it. The failed search to locate the ball could be seen in his frantic head movements and his outstretched arms. Both head and arms said, “Where in the world is the ball? Where, where, WHERE?”

Of course, this became a group participation moment, as we joined our left fielder in the search. At that particular moment, the sky had transformed into a rain-threatening gray mass. Even Rene Rodriguez, the berm usher and best ball tracker I know, couldn’t find it.

It thudded behind the fielder, who still had no idea where it was. Now we could guide him to the ball’s location, but by the time he picked it up, Becker was rounding third. A 4-0 lead in the first evaporated into a 4-4 tie in the second. Who knew at the time we’d see three grand slams in one night?

At this point in the season, one Hooks player has clearly caught my attention above all the others. In a way, Yamal Encarnacion reminds me of Jose Altuve, a Hooks player I saw in April 2011. I didn’t know who Altuve was at the time, but his size made him stand out.

Encarnacion isn’t as diminutive as Altuve, but he is the smallest player on the team. He is also the most dynamic. When he gets on base, it’s almost guaranteed he’ll steal at least one. He walks, hits for average, gets singles and doubles, and turns them all into triples. So far the only thing he hasn’t done well is hit loads of homeruns. His only round tripper came off the catcher-turned-relief pitcher in San Antonio whose pitches topped out at 48 mph.

The movement of players and the constantly churning roster in professional baseball provides for some whimsical moments. Sunday’s gameboard listed the Naturals hitter: SQUIRES and our pitcher: UNKNOWN. Julio Rodriguez had been activated that day, but no one told the scorekeeper.

The back-and-forth movement sent Joey Mancini and Trey McLoughlin to Triple-A Sugar Land before this series, only to return to Double-A Corpus Christi after it.

Another favorite player of mine after Saturday’s game got traded. Wilmy Sanchez has joined Miguel Palma and Kenedy Corona from last season’s team in the New York Yankees system. I suppose I’ll have to stop hating on the Yankees.

Last year Wilmy was part of a very special personal moment. A boy we had prayed for years earlier at the church where I served as the lead pastor came with his grandmother and mother to a Hooks game. He’d had serious health issues as an infant.

I went to Wilmy for a baseball, which I received and gave to the boy. It provided the joy I anticipated, and Wilmy was the one who made that possible. He’s been my dependable go-to relief pitcher on a few occasions like that, and he proved to be the same when called out of the bullpen to take the mound in a tight game. I’ll miss seeing him in the Hooks bullpen.

During this series, we had two Astros players come to Corpus Christi on rehab assignments. Bennett Sousa, an Astros reliever, came into the Friday game for 1⅔ innings, striking out the five batters he faced, and earning the win. He shut down Northwest Arkansas’ rally in the 5^th and kept those bats muzzled in the 6^th.

Zach Dezenzo, an Astros utility player, batted twice in the game but made little impact during his appearances, hit by pitch in the 1^st and grounding into a double play in the 2^nd.

April 17       Northwest Arkansas Naturals 3-Corpus Christi Hooks 10           W

April 18       Northwest Arkansas Naturals 5-Corpus Christi Hooks 9             W     

April 19       Northwest Arkansas Naturals 3-Corpus Christi Hooks 7             W

With a 5-1 series win, this 2026 edition of the Corpus Christi Hooks has done something Hooks’ fans haven’t seen in a while, win at home. Is this an illusion or the real deal? Will these Hooks be crowned the Texas League Champions? Early results offer much hope, but it will take the whole season to find out.

*Stats provided by thebaseballcube.com