Clinton LumberKings

The Clinton LumberKings are a collegiate summer baseball team of the Prospect League. They are located in Clinton, Iowa, and play their home games at NelsonCorp Field. From 1956 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's Midwest League. With Major League Baseball's reorganization of the minor leagues after the 2020 season, Clinton was not selected to continue in affiliated baseball.

For the 1937–1941 Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League team known as the Clinton Giants and Clinton Owls, see Clinton Owls.
Clinton LumberKings
Founded in 1954
Clinton, Iowa
(Clinton Began play 1895)
Team logoCap insignia
Minor league affiliations
ClassIndependent (from 2021)
Previous classes
LeagueProspect League (from 2021)
Previous leagues
Major league affiliations
Previous teams
Minor league titles
League titles (2)
  • 1963
  • 1991
Division titles (5)
  • 1991
  • 1993
  • 2010
  • 2016
  • 2019
Team data
NameClinton LumberKings (1994–present)
Previous names
  • Clinton Giants (1939–1941; 1980–1993)
  • Clinton Dodgers (1977–1979)
  • Clinton Pilots (1914–1916; 1966–1976)
  • Clinton C-Sox (1960–1965)
  • Clinton White Sox (1959)
  • Clinton Pirates (1954–1958)
  • Clinton Steers (1949)
  • Clinton Cubs (1947–1948)
  • Clinton Owls (1937–1938)
  • Clinton Champs (1910–1912)
  • Clinton Teddies (1910)
  • Clinton Infants (1907–1908)
  • Clinton Minors (1906)
  • Clinton Bridegrooms (1895)
MascotLouie the Lumberking
BallparkNelsonCorp Field (1937–present)
Owner(s)/
Operator(s)
Community owned[2]
General ManagerTed Tornow[3]
ManagerTBD (from 2021)

Clinton baseball history

After beginning play in 1895, Clinton had sporadic teams in various leagues over the next few decades, as the Great Depression, World War I and World War II affected many baseball franchises. However, Clinton joined the Midwest League in 1956 and is now the oldest franchise in the league.[1] The team has had several different major league affiliations: the Brooklyn Dodgers (1937–38), New York Giants (1939–41), Chicago Cubs (1947–49), Pirates (1954–58 and 1966–68), White Sox (1959–65), Pilots/Brewers (1969–70), Tigers (1971–75), Tigers/White Sox co-op (1976), Dodgers (1977–79), Giants (1980–94), Padres (1995–98), Reds (1999–2000), Expos (2001–02), and Rangers (2003–08), and Mariners (2009–18). In September 2018, they entered into a two-year player development contract with the Miami Marlins.[4]

Aside from its time as the C-Sox (1960–65) and the Pilots (1966–76), the team used the parent major league team's nickname before adopting the LumberKings name for the 1994 season.

The 2010 LumberKings season is the subject of the 2013 book "Class A: Baseball in the Middle of Everywhere" by Lucas Mann.[5]

In 2016, led by first year manager Mitch Canham, the LumberKings won 86 games to set the mark for most in a regular season by any team in Clinton franchise history. The squad went on to sweep the Peoria Chiefs in the first round of the playoffs before defeating the Cedar Rapids Kernels in a thrilling three game series. Game three of the Western Division final ended with a Ricky Eusebio walk off hit to win 1-0 in extra innings. The LumberKings would fall, however, in the Midwest League Championship in four games to the Great Lakes Loons.

In addition to playing host to the franchise record setting LumberKings (86-54), the LumberKings transformed their ballpark overnight following game two of the Midwest League Championship to become a football field. The LumberKings played host to Camanche High School Football in the inaugural "LumberBowl." Camanche hosted Williamsburg High School in the game on September 16, 2016. The Raiders of Williamsburg defeated the Indians 55-7.

Following the 2020 season, the LumberKings were cut from the Midwest League and affiliated baseball as part of Major League Baseball's reorganization of the minor leagues.[6] They later joined the Prospect League, a collegiate summer baseball league, for 2021.[7]

NelsonCorp Field
Ashford Field. Formerly Alliant Energy Field and Riverview Stadium

The home park for the LumberKings is NelsonCorp Field in Clinton, Iowa. The stadium was built in 1937 as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project[8] and named Riverview Stadium, due to its location on the banks of the Mississippi River. It was renamed Alliant Energy Field in 2002 and renovated in 2005–2006 to a capacity of 4,000. It was renamed to Ashford University Field in 2011 and NelsonCorp Field in 2019. The Dimensions are: LF – 330, CF – 401, RF – 325.[9][10][11][12]

No-hitters

Clinton has tossed 25 no-hitters. The list includes the following no-hitters:[13]

DatePitcher(s)OpponentScore
August 20, 1957Dick LinesDecatur6–0 (7 innings)
June 2, 1959Thomas FisherParis1–0
June 19, 1960Scott SegerQuincy3–0 (7 innings)
May 23, 1963Bill DawsonFox Cities10–0 (7 innings)
June 23, 1964Norbert RodgersQuincy2–0 (7 innings)
June 11, 1967John LambQuad City3–0 (7 innings)
June 19, 1967Joe BarnettQuincy2–0 (7 innings)
August 25, 1967Bill LaxtonWaterloo2–1 (7 innings)
August 7, 1970John ConzattiQuad Cities2–0 (6 innings)
May 3, 1972Larry BraccoWaterloo0–1 (7 innings)
May 15, 1978Russell McDonaldWausau1–0 (7 innings)
July 16, 1978Jim NoblesWisconsin Rapids7–1 (7 innings)
June 4, 1980Jerry StovallWausau2–0 (7 innings)
April 20, 1981Greg BangertBurlington4–1 (7 innings)
August 12, 1981Mark GrantDanville9–0
May 9, 1983Ramon BautistaAppleton2–0 (7 innings)
June 6, 1989Chris Hancock, Chris FyeBurlington11–0[14]
May 14, 1992Chuck WankePeoria5–3
August 4, 1996Jim Sak, Todd BussaBurlington3–0
August 3, 2000Scott DunnLansing7–0 (Perfect Game)
July 9, 2003Domingo ValdezKane County4–0 (7 innings - G2)
July 11, 2012Jordan ShipersWest Michigan10–0[15]
July 17, 2013Víctor SánchezLansing1–0 [16]
May 1, 2015Daniel Missaki, Kody Kerski, Troy ScottCedar Rapids1–0[17]
August 9, 2016Pedro Vasquez, Joey Strain, Lukas Schiraldi, Matt WalkerBeloit2–0

Playoffs
SeasonQuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinals
1987-L, 2-1, Springfield-
1991-W, 2-0, BurlingtonW, 3-0, Madison
1993-W, 2-0, SpringfieldL, 3-1, South Bend
1998W, 2-1, Quad CitiesL, 2-0, West Michigan-
1999L, 2-1, Burlington--
2000L, 2-1, Beloit--
2003W, 2-1, Kane CountyL, 2-1, Beloit-
2004W, 2-0, Cedar RapidsL, 2-0, Kane County-
2005W, 2-0, Quad CitiesL, 2-0, Wisconsin-
2007W, 2-1, Cedar RapidsL, 2-0, Beloit-
2008L, 2-0, Cedar Rapids--
2010W, 2-1, Cedar RapidsW, 2-1, Kane CountyL, 3-2, Lake County
2011L, 2-0, Quad Cities--
2012W, 2-1, BeloitL, 2-0, Wisconsin-
2013L, 2-0, Beloit--
2016W, 2-0, PeoriaW, 2-1, Cedar RapidsL, 3-1, Great Lakes
2019W, 2-0, Kane CountyW, 2-1, Cedar RapidsL, 3-0, South Bend

Notable alumni
Ian Kinsler
Orel Hershiser

References
  1. "Clinton, Iowa Encyclopedia". Baseball-Reference.com.
  2. "Board of Directors". Clinton LumberKings. milb.com. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  3. "Front Office Staff". Clinton LumberKings. milb.com. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
  4. "Clinton, Miami Announce New Player Development Contract". Ballpark Digest. September 20, 2018. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  5. McAlpin, Heller (May 9, 2013). "Farm Team Saga 'Class A' Hits It Out Of The Park". NPR. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  6. "Full MLB Press Release: MLB cuts Clinton LumberKings". Clinton Herald. December 9, 2020. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  7. Reichard, Kevin (January 13, 2021). "Clinton LumberKings join Prospect League". Ballpark Digest. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  8. "Fund-raising campaign will support L-King efforts". Clinton Herald. 11 March 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  9. "General Information - Clinton LumberKings Ashford University Field". Clinton LumberKings.
  10. "History - Clinton LumberKings Content". Clinton LumberKings.
  11. "LumberKings to call NelsonCorp Field home". Clinton Herald. May 28, 2019. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  12. "New for 2019: NelsonCorp Field". Ballpark Digest. August Publications. May 27, 2019. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  13. "No Hitters". Midwest League Archives.
  14. "Burlington Braves at Clinton Giants, June 6th, 1989". Midwest League Archives.
  15. "Shipers hurls complete-game no-hitter". MiLB.com.
  16. "Lansing vs. Clinton - July 17, 2013 - Midwest League Box". Midwest League.
  17. Batterson, Steve. "Clinton pitcher goes from no-hitter to Tommy John in two weeks". The Quad-City Times.
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