Sugar Land Skeeters
The Skeeters were a popular independent baseball team that parlayed their location 20 minutes southwest of Houston, box office appeal and clean, modern ballpark into an unlikely promotion to Triple-A affiliated baseball in 2021. The team began play in April 2012 as an expansion team in the Atlantic League, an indy circuit whose other seven members were all located in the northeastern U.S. and the mid-Atlantic region. During their indy days, the Skeeters ginned up headlines by signing retired Major League and NBA superstars Roger Clemens, Rafael Palmeiro and Tracy McGrady to play for the club in cameo appearances. The Skeeters got serious after the Houston Astros purchased the club in 2021 and made the team its top farm club as the Class AAA level. After one Triple-A season as the Skeeters in 2021, the team re-branded as the Sugar Land Space Cowboys in January 2022.
