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33-733: After the 2014 season, the FXFL announced that three of its four teams would begin sharing operations with teams in the New York–Penn League , a low-end minor league baseball circuit in the northeastern United States. One of those teams, the Brooklyn Bolts , already fit that description, but the other three did not. Initially, it was assumed that the two other teams would be the Blacktips (a traveling team that had been unable to play in its originally announced home state of Florida) and

66-517: A Brooklyn Dodgers affiliate, won both the regular season and playoff championships. Batavia was the last remaining charter city in the league when it ceased operations after the 2020 season. The Hamilton Red Wings folded early in the 1956 season, and with no more teams in Ontario , the circuit became the New York–Penn League in 1957. The league crossed back into Canada with the formation of

99-752: A Yankees uniform.” On September 1, 2008, the Spinners reached the New York–Penn League playoffs for the first time, capturing the Stedler Division title. They were defeated in the playoffs by the Batavia Muckdogs . The Spinners reached the playoffs again in 2009, but lost to the Staten Island Yankees . In October 2014, the Red Sox agreed to extend their player development contract with the Spinners for two more years through

132-507: A clubhouse attendant (or "clubbie") for the Aberdeen IronBirds during the 2012 and 2013 seasons. The book's depiction of players' financial struggles is widely credited with inspiring changes to long-standing minor league compensation structures. On December 9, 2020, Major League Baseball (MLB) announced its list of 120 teams invited to be a part of the minors after restructuring for the 2021 season. As first reported in 2019,

165-582: The Boston Red Sox . With Major League Baseball 's reorganization of the minor leagues after the 2020 season, Lowell was not selected to continue in affiliated baseball. The team was founded in 1996, after the Elmira Pioneers moved to Lowell. For the 1996 and 1997 seasons, the Spinners played at Stoklosa Alumni Field ; from 1998 onward, they played at Edward A. LeLacheur Park . Lowell's heritage in organized baseball dates to 1877, when

198-512: The Brooklyn Bolts . Two of the contests were held at Dutchess Stadium, the first drawing an alleged (and patriotic) 1,776 fans; the second game's attendance was not recorded, but was believed to be no more than a few hundred. (Only two other games were played in the FXFL that season, the others being the Bolts against the traveling Blacktips team.) The Fort's final home game, against the Blacktips,

231-721: The Hudson Valley Renegades in the semifinals, 2–0. Pitching prospect Jason Groome made his first start for the team in the playoffs, after being promoted from the Gulf Coast League Red Sox . In 2019, the Spinners finished first in their division, then defeated the Batavia Muckdogs (2 games to 1) in the semifinals, to advance to the league championship series against the Brooklyn Cyclones . The Spinners were defeated in

264-517: The Lowell Spinners were left without future plans and eventually folded. League champions were determined by different means during the New York–Penn League's 82-year run from 1939 to 2020. For a few seasons in the 1960s and 1970s, no playoffs were held and the league champions were simply the regular season pennant winners. Most seasons, however, ended with playoffs to determine a league champion. The Oneonta Tigers won 12 championships,

297-674: The St. Catharines Blue Jays in 1986. They were joined by the Hamilton Redbirds in 1987 and the Welland Pirates in 1989, but all three clubs had moved back to the United States by 2000. The New York–Penn circuit was originally a Class D league (the minors' lowest classification through 1962). It was a full-season Class A league from 1963 through 1966, and became a short-season Class A league in 1967. The start of

330-466: The 2007 season they were on WLLH , another Lowell AM radio station, which at the time was an ESPN Radio affiliate. The games returned to WCAP the next season. Records as the Boston Red Sox affiliate in the New York–Penn League from 1996 to 2020. Source: Select alumni are listed in this section; a full list of Spinners players who appeared in the major leagues, with their debut dates,

363-609: The 2015 season before deciding if they would offer another lease. The league never returned for the 2016 season, rendering the decision moot. New York%E2%80%93Penn League The New York–Penn League ( NYPL ) was a Minor League Baseball league that operated in the northeastern United States from 1939 to 2020. Classified as a Class A Short Season league, its season started in June, after major-league teams signed their amateur draft picks to professional contracts, and ended in early September. In 2019, its last season of operation,

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396-599: The 2016 season. In November 2015, the contract was extended again through the 2018 season. In the 2016 season, the Spinners ended with a franchise-best record of 47 wins, and tied their record for home wins (25). Right fielder Tyler Hill won the NYPL batting title, and he and third baseman Bobby Dalbec became the first Spinners players to win Player of the Month awards. The Spinners won the Stedler Division title, but were swept by

429-621: The 2020 season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic before being cancelled on June 30. Good Enough to Dream is a memoir by renowned baseball writer Roger Kahn , published in 1985. The book chronicles Kahn's experience as the owner of the Utica Blue Sox during the 1983 season. Good Enough to Dream was the recipient of the Casey Award in 1985. Clubbie is a 2021 memoir by Greg Larson that recounts his experiences as

462-604: The Boston Brawlers, who had the worst attendance, and that the Bolts and Omaha Mammoths (who had by far the league's best attendance and were also an on-field success) would remain in their cities. Indeed, the Brawlers would relocate to Ohio and become the Mahoning Valley Brawlers that offseason, later being forced out of the league before the 2015 season began. However, in a somewhat surprise move,

495-519: The Elmira team in 1986 and was the son of former major league pitcher Clyde Smoll ) brought the team to Lowell in 1996, Drew Weber was the team owner from 1997 until June 2016, when the franchise was purchased by Dave Heller. The Spinners set a minor-league record in the 2000 season, as they sold every home ticket for every home game. This began a streak of sold-out home games. The streak was broken on August 30, 2010, at 413 games. On August 21, 2003,

528-455: The Fort announced via Facebook that former Blacktips head coach, John Jenkins , would be the new general manager and head coach for 2015. Jenkins and several players quit the team midseason due to lack of payment, water and access to trainers; Robert Gordon replaced Jenkins for what would be the team's final two game. Wayne Anderson Jr. would take over as offensive coordinator for the remainder of

561-542: The NYPL ceased operations. The Aberdeen IronBirds , Brooklyn Cyclones , and Hudson Valley Renegades joined the new High-A East , becoming the new High-A affiliates of the Baltimore Orioles , New York Mets , and New York Yankees respectively. The Mahoning Valley Scrappers , State College Spikes , West Virginia Black Bears , and Williamsport Crosscutters moved to the new MLB Draft League for players wishing to showcase themselves to MLB teams in advance of

594-468: The NYPL had 14 teams from eight different states. In addition to New York and Pennsylvania , from which the league drew its name, the NYPL also had clubs in Maryland , Massachusetts , Ohio , Vermont , West Virginia , and Connecticut . The Brooklyn Cyclones were the last NYPL champions , defeating the Lowell Spinners , two games to one, in 2019. The Oneonta Yankees/Tigers won 12 championships,

627-551: The Spinners sponsored a Jack Kerouac bobblehead giveaway. Kerouac was a Lowell native, and played football for Lowell High School. The bobblehead was accepted by Cooperstown in 2005, the first time a literary icon was accepted there. The bobbleheads were so popular that many more were made than originally intended, raised $ 10,000 for the Jack Kerouac Scholarship Fund. The enshrinement also made media headlines as far away as Los Angeles. The giveaway

660-835: The annual draft . The Tri-City ValleyCats moved to the independent Frontier League , while the Batavia Muckdogs and Auburn Doubledays joined the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League . On February 25, 2021, the Vermont Lake Monsters announced that they would join the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL) under new ownership, and the Norwich Sea Unicorns joined the FCBL in late April. The Staten Island Yankees folded, while

693-593: The city hosted two teams. The 1877 Lowell team played in the League Alliance and the Lowell Ladies Men were members of the 1877 New England Association . Lowell was a frequent member of the Class B New England League , but had not fielded a team in minor league baseball since 1947, when the nearby Lawrence Millionaires franchise transferred to Lowell on July 15. After Clyde Smoll Jr. (who bought

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726-479: The end of the 2020 season, following expiration of the agreement governing the MLB–MiLB relationship. MLB's proposal included reducing the number of minor league teams from 160 to 120—the Spinners were included on the list of teams that could be eliminated under the proposal. On December 9, 2020, the Red Sox announced that they were dropping the Spinners as an affiliate, as "a reduction to 120 teams has been proposed as

759-518: The finals (2 games to 1), with Brooklyn winning the deciding third game of the series by a 4–3 score. As with all minor league teams, the Spinners did not play during 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The mascots of the Spinners were Canaligator, Allie-Gator, and Millie-Gator. They were introduced on January 19, 1996, July 8, 1999, and Opening Day 2006, respectively. After the 2020 season, Major League Baseball (MLB) proposed dramatic changes to Minor League Baseball (MiLB) that would take effect at

792-461: The league decided to keep the Blacktips and fold the Mammoths, claiming that the team would have had to sell even more tickets than they did to offset the travel costs. The Hudson Valley Fort were announced as members of the league on August 6, 2015. As with the Bolts and Brawlers, the Fort was operated as a joint venture with the local NYPL franchise, the Hudson Valley Renegades . On September 23,

825-515: The league in playing or administrative roles. The Hall of Fame inducted its first class of seven men in 2012. New members were elected before the start of each season. Lowell Spinners The Lowell Spinners were a baseball team based in Lowell, Massachusetts . From 1996 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball 's New York–Penn League (NYPL) as the Class A Short Season affiliate of

858-534: The most among all teams in the league, followed by the Auburn Mets/Twins/Phillies/Doubledays (8) and Jamestown Falcons/Expos (7). Connecticut Maryland Massachusetts New Jersey New York Ohio Pennsylvania Vermont West Virginia Ontario The New York–Penn League Hall of Fame was established in 2012 to honor league players, managers, and executives for their accomplishments or contributions to

891-717: The most among all teams in the league, followed by the Auburn Mets/Twins/Phillies/Doubledays (8) and Jamestown Falcons/Expos (7). The New York–Penn League was founded in 1939 as the Pennsylvania–Ontario–New York League , generally shortened to PONY League , in a hotel in Batavia, New York . The original teams included the Batavia Clippers , Bradford Bees , Hamilton Red Wings , Jamestown Jaguars , Niagara Falls Rainbows , and Olean Oilers ; all were based in or near Western New York . The Oilers,

924-417: The program was limited to 75 teams on a first-come, first-served basis, and it was estimated that over $ 70,000 had been donated to youth baseball and softball programs through the initiative. Spinners VP and GM Tim Bawmann said,“The Yankees Elimination Promotion was originally built as a fun promotion in response to parents' stories of children losing interest in the game after facing taunts simply for playing in

957-472: The season. The league canceled the Fort's final game against the Blacktips, with the league citing the NFL trade deadline and independent observers noting that Dutchess Stadium had major safety concerns in its football configuration and that the Blacktips were largely a paper team consisting of whoever the league could sign for any particular game. On the field, the Fort played only three games, all blowout losses to

990-552: The standard beginning in 2021." Red Sox president Sam Kennedy stated that the Red Sox were "committed to maintaining the 24-year-long tradition of baseball in the Lowell community.” Spinners management, local government officials, and the Red Sox committed to exploring options to keep baseball in Lowell for 2021. However, at the time the minor league season began in early May 2021, no actions or plans had been announced. Spinners games were broadcast on Lowell talk station WCAP . For

1023-405: Was cancelled; citing safety concerns, three high-school playoff games scheduled for Dutchess were also nixed. As the owner of Dutchess Stadium, Dutchess County held veto power over whether the Fort would return for the 2016 season, had the league survived. The county only offered the league a one-year "pilot" lease on the stadium; county executive Marcus Molinaro would have reviewed the results of

Hudson Valley Fort - Misplaced Pages Continue

1056-598: Was given out on July 25, 2013. In 2005, the Spinners created the "Yankees Elimination Program." They offered to pay for the uniforms to all Little Leagues and youth softball teams in New England so that they would change all teams named "Yankees" into "Spinners.” Over the next five years, 150 teams in New England made the switch. The Spinners also invited the youth teams to play at LaLecheur Park, and assisted in other fundraising initiative for those teams. In 2010,

1089-576: Was repeated on August 7, 2012, when the film adaptation of On the Road was released. The dolls had a bobble head as well as a "bobble arm." The bobbleheads were also available online for ordering, and as the game was sponsored by the UMass Lowell English Department, their departmental scholarships received the proceeds from the online orders. A third Kerouac bobblehead, featuring Kerouac in his Lowell High football uniform,

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