bigger and better

Houston's baseball entertainment complex swings for the fences with new expansion

Home Run Dugout is adding more batting bays

Photo courtesy of Home Run Dugout

Houston's smash hit baseball complex is getting an upgrade. Home Run Dugout will soon break ground on a massive new expansion.

Scheduled to be finished this summer, the new additions will add over 9,200-square-feet to the venue. Most importantly, the construction will add 10 new indoor batting bays, bringing the total to 22. Designed for groups of up to 12 people, each bay features a 20x15-foot screen that projects different baseball stadiums — including Houston’s Minute Maid Park — and has five TVs for watching sports and keeping track of stats. Players may choose from 10 different sizes and styles of bats.

The new construction will also include adding more room for birthday parties, corporate outings, and other gatherings. It will take place on the north side behind the Biergarten Baseball field and should only minimally affect existing activities.

Home Run Dugout has been called the TopGolf of baseball, and it’s easy to see why. Their first location in the Houston area opened just over a year ago and has been a smash hit. Founders Nick Hermandorfer and Tyler Bambrick partnered with Texas baseball legend Nolan Ryan, as well as Ryan Sanders Baseball, Lagniappe Capital Partners, and BCS Capital, to create a 46,000-square-foot facility that's wowed visitors since opening day.

“The Katy community and the entire Houston area has been incredible to us over the past year,” Bambrick said in a statement. “One of our biggest takeaways from our first year of business was the need for additional Batting Bays to give groups a chance to experience the essence of Home Run Dugout. The new Bays paired with additional event-hosting space will give that many more people the opportunity to experience the fun of HRD.”

Where Home Run Dugout sets itself apart from a regular batting cage is its ground-up, soft toss pitching machine that eliminates the need for batting helmets. It also makes hitting homers easier by limiting the ball’s horizontal movement.

Home Run Dugout patio Grab a drink on the patio. Photo by Alex Montoya

Home Run Dugout has proven to be far more than a collection of batting cages. The massive complex has hosted concerts and other events. It also boasts a large bar with 80 screens for watching whatever sport someone could want, a mini field for other pastimes like wiffle ball and kickball, and a jumbotron.

Founded in 2015, Bambrick and Hermandorfer opened their first location in Dell Diamond in Round Rock, TX in 2019. The two have a lifelong love of baseball that is apparent in the design of Home Run Dugout. From the infield-style lawn lounge area to the menu of ballpark-inspired food, visits to Home Run Dugout are designed to be an immersive experience any baseball fan would love.

a beautiful mind

Houston Health Museum's new exhibit shines a light on dyslexia

Sarah Sudhoff created "The Reading Brain" in honor of her son.

Photo by Rose Tylinski

"The Reading Brain" replicates neuron activity in a dyslexic brian while reading

No, "The Reading Brain" isn't the title of a B-horror film from the 1960s. It's a brand new installation at the Houston Health Museum that explores dyslexia.

The piece was created by Houston-based artist Sarah Sudhoff, in partnership with Dr. Guinevere Eden, Director of the Center for the Study of Learning at Georgetown University. Hanging from the ceiling of the Health Museum, it uses light-up colored circles to represent the frontal lobe activity of a dyslexic person while reading. MRI scans of dyslexic brains formed the foundation of the light activity. Sudhoff's own son has dyslexia, and she had to adapt her homeschooling of him to account for his neurodivergence. As much as 20 percent of the American population is dyslexic.

"The Reading Brain" grew out of a similar exhibit at the DoSeum in San Antonio. "Beautiful Minds: Dyslexia and the Creative Advantage" challenged visitors to see dyslexia not as a learning disability but as simply a different way some human brains work. The exhibit featured videos, stories, and art work by dyslexic individuals that show how they succeed and create, as well as a selection of brain puzzles used to teach dyslexic people.

“Even though your brain works differently, it still lights up and is beautiful to watch, a wonderful machine you have. It just means you have to navigate and pivot a little differently,” Sudhoff said.

Sudhoff's innovative bridge between science and art is a permanent part of the Health Museum's MindWorks exhibit. Like "The Reading Brain," MindWorks maps out thinking processes through light and hands-on activities. The exhibit will close on January 5, meaning visitors have a very short time to see Sudhoff's piece.

The Health Museum is a hidden gem in Museum District located a block away from the Children's Museum. It houses a variety of exhibits about the human body, such as a giant plastic colon that kids love to run through. Since opening in 1969, the museum has helped Houstonians and visitors from around the world learn about the way the body works as well well as public health protocols. As the only Smithsonian Affiliate Museum in the Houston Museum District, it has a high educational pedigree despite it's colorful and often whimsical offerings.

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