Baseball | 11/18/2015 9:08:00 PM
SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State Baseball boasts an impressive line of featured speakers at the team's annual Lead-Off Dinner that has included Roger Clemens, Nolan Ryan, Paul Goldschmidt and humorist Domingo Ayala, and this year will be no different. At the dinner on January 30, 2016, at the Embassy Suites in San Marcos, six-time Major League All-Star Lance Berkman will speak. In addition, Erin Hogan, an Austin sports radio personality for 104.9 The Horn, will be the Master of Ceremonies.
Berkman is a highly decorated former MLB player. In addition to his six All-Star nods, the New Braunfels native was the National League Comeback Player of the Year in 2011, the same season he won a World Series. In 2002, Berkman led the National League in RBI and would finish his career with 1,234 RBI and 366 home runs with a career batting average of .293.
He has been a staple in the area since graduating from Canyon High School in New Braunfels. Berkman went on to play at Rice where he was named the 1997 National College Player of the Year before being selected by the Houston Astros in the first round of the 1997 MLB Draft.
The longtime Astro debuted in 1999 and played for Houston through 2010. He went on to play for the New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers as an outfielder and first baseman.
In addition to Berkman, the Bobcats are pleased to announce that Hogan, a staple in Austin sports radio for years, will be the MC for the Lead-Off Dinner. Hogan is happy to be a part of the event.
"I'm excited and honored to be a part of this. It sounds like it will be an incredible night," said Hogan. "I've been a big supporter of Ty and the program for some time and I'm a big fan of what they're doing. Thrilled to be there."
Texas State Baseball will host the team's annual Lead-Off Dinner on January 30, 2016 at the Embassy Suites in San Marcos. Click
here for the complete, formal invitation.
The Lead-Off Dinner is an annual event that brings baseball alumni, Bobcat supporters, family, friends and the current team together to raise money for Texas State Baseball and gain excitement for the upcoming season.
In addition to Berkman, there will be a social mixer starting at 6 p.m. followed by the dinner at 7 p.m. Patrons will also be able to bid on a wide range of items through silent and live auctions that include hotel and golf packages, hunting trips, Texas State baseball jerseys, Embassy Suites stay and massages and much more. Key items in the past have included professional jerseys signed by the likes of Clemens, Scott Linebrink and Goldschmidt. Other Texas State Baseball and Bobcat Athletics memorabilia have served as auction items and more.
The Lead-Off Dinner will also be an opportunity for fans to meet the 2016 Texas State baseball team and hear Head Coach
Ty Harrington preview the 2016 season, set to start with a four-game series against Washington State on Friday, Feb. 19, 2016 at 6 p.m. at Bobcat Ballpark.
Individual seats are $100 while a full table of 10 guests is $900 and a half table of five guests is $500.
For more information, contact
Jessica Meyer at 512-245-3383 or by email at jlm300@txstate.edu.
