Texas Rangers Dedicate Training Facility to Charley Pride
Pride's legacy lives on!
The Texas Rangers have honored the late Charley Pride by dedicating their training facility after him. The team announced that their stadium in Sunrise, Arizona would now bear the name Charley Pride Field.
“You are greatly missed,” the team tweeted with a video of the new signage.
Pride died in December 2020 due to complications with COVID-19. According to Rolling Stone, at the time of his passing, Pride was part of the ownership group that bought the MLB team in 2010. He stayed involved with the team throughout the ownership, often visiting the team at both their home stadium and the training facility.
“The Rangers have been honored to have Mr. Pride be a part of the team’s ownership group for the last ten years. A longtime resident of this area, he was a regular at home games when his schedule permitted… Mr. Pride was a true gentleman, and we will never forget the lasting contributions he has made to the Texas Rangers organization,” the team shared in a statement following his passing in December.
His love for baseball spanned his lifetime, with Pride pitching in the minor leagues.
“Mr. Pride’s first love was baseball. He pitched professionally in the Negro and Minor Leagues throughout the 1950’s before embarking on his Hall of Fame singing career of more than 60 years,” the statement read. “Mr. Pride then became a regular participant at Texas Rangers spring training camps in Pompano Beach and Port Charlotte, Florida and Surprise, Arizona, working out with the team and staging an annual clubhouse concert for players and staff, a tradition that continued through this past spring.”
One of his final live performances was in July 2020 at the first-ever baseball game played at the Ranger’s new Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. He later appeared at the 2020 CMA Awards to receive the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award and perform with Jimmie Allen.
