Celebrating Independence Day

I started celebrating Independence Day yesterday, leaving work a little bit early in order to miss out on most of rush hour traffic and get up to Round Rock in time to pick up some dinner on the way and still get to the Dell Diamond by the time gates opened at 5:30. The Express had several things lined up for this year's Military Appreciation Night.

Fans were invited to bring items for care packages to the troops. Inside the Home Plate gate, there was a large banner laid out on a table for fans to sign with well-wishes to the troops.

There would be a group of new Army recruits taking their Oath of Enlistment prior to first pitch.

All Express employees who have served in the Armed Forces were asked to join the new recruits on the field to be recognized before the Presentation of the Colors by the Round Rock Army Recruiting Depot's color guard.

The team would be wearing special patriotic jersey that will later be autographed and auctioned off on eBay to raise funds for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. Once the jerseys are up for auction, I'll link to that separately. Last year's patriotic jersey auction raised more than $11,000. It would be nice to see that figure surpassed this year... I like these jerseys better...






















During the game, which was being broadcast on FSN, one of the new recruits got his hair cut for the camera...















The celebratory mood was helped along by a 6-3 win over the Albuquerque Isotopes to sweep the series. And, of course, there would be fireworks after the game. The display lasted for more than 15 minutes. I recorded most of it (sorry for the poor audio quality and the mostly out-of-focus fireworks), but for time's sake, I've only shared the finale. Enjoy!