Dayton Dragons

Dayton Dragons
Founded in 1988 in Rockford, Illinois
Based in Dayton, Ohio since 2000
Team logoCap insignia
Class-level
Current Class A[1]
Minor league affiliations
League Midwest League (1988–present)
Division Eastern Division
Major league affiliations
Current Cincinnati Reds (1999–present)
Previous
Minor league titles
League titles (0) None
Division titles (5)
  • 1988
  • 1993
  • 1994
  • 2001
  • 2011
Team data
Nickname Dayton Dragons (2000–present)
Previous names
  • Rockford Reds (1999)
  • Rockford Cubbies (1995–1998)
  • Rockford Royals (1993–1994)
  • Rockford Expos (1988–1992)
Ballpark Fifth Third Field (2000–present)
Previous parks
 Marinelli Field (1988–1999)
Owner(s)/
Operator(s)
 Palisades Arcadia Baseball LLC
Manager Luis Bolivar
General Manager Robert Murphy

The Dayton Dragons are a Class A minor league baseball team playing in the Midwest League based in Dayton, Ohio. The Dragons are affiliated with the Cincinnati Reds. Their home stadium is Fifth Third Field. In 2011, they broke the record for most consecutive sellouts by a professional sports team, selling out their 815th consecutive game, breaking the record formerly held by the Portland Trail Blazers.[2][3]

The Dragons came to Dayton in 2000. They were previously a franchise based in Rockford, Illinois, and were called the Rockford Expos (1988–1992), Rockford Royals (1993–1994), Rockford Cubbies (1995–1998), and Rockford Reds (1999).

Fifth Third Field

The team's home park is Fifth Third Field in Dayton. During its first season, the Dragons set a Minor League Baseball Class-A single-season attendance record of 581,853. The Dragons broke that record in 2003 and again in 2004.[4] The Dragons broke the record again in 2010 with a season attendance total of 597,433, which still stands as the Class-A record.

The Dragons have averaged 8,388 fans per game over their 18-year history (through the 2017 season). They have led the Class-A level in attendance in every year of their existence, and have finished first among all teams below the Triple-A level for 12 straight years from 2006-2017.[5]

On July 9, 2011, the Dragons officially set a new record of 815 consecutive sellout games.[6] The sellout streak is the longest across all professional sports in the US, passing the previous record set by the Portland Trail Blazers from 1977–1995.[7][8] On May 10, 2014, the streak of consecutive sellouts reached 1,000 games. According to the official team website, every game in the team's 18-year existence has been a sellout.[9] The Dragons consecutive game sell-out streak has continued through the 2017 season. The streak now stands at 1,246 consecutive sold-out games, an all-time record for sports in North America.[10]

Ownership

In Summer of 2014 founding ownership group Mandalay Baseball Properties sold the team to Palisades Arcadia Baseball LLC.[11]

Achievements

  • The Dragons have led the Midwest League and all of Single A baseball in total season attendance in each of their 18 seasons.[12]
  • In 2000, Dragons President Robert Murphy received the Midwest League Executive of the Year Award. He received the award again in 2012.
  • In 2004, the Dragons were selected as the winner of the Bob Freitas Award by Baseball America (top Class-A franchise).
  • In 2007, the Dragons were selected as one of the "10 Hottest Tickets in Sports" by Sports Illustrated.[13]
  • On July 9, 2011, the Dragons set a new record for most consecutive sold out games (815 total) in all of professional sports.[14] As of the end of the 2017 season, the still-in-progress record stands at 1,246 straight games.[15]
  • In 2011, Ballpark Digest named the Dragons the "Minor League Baseball Organization of the Year."[16] This honor came during a year in which they set the all-time professional sports sellout streak of 815 (they finished the season at 843 consecutive sellouts); finished 1st in the Midwest League Eastern Division and had the overall best Midwest League record (.593); set franchise records for wins (83–57), wins in a half (48–22 during the second half, which was also the best record among the 80 teams in the seven full-season Minor League Baseball leagues that split their seasons), road wins (38), and wins in a month (22 in August); set franchise records for team ERA (3.39) and shutout wins (14); set a Midwest League pitching record for strikeouts (1,292); and set a franchise record for stolen bases (224, including 103 by shortstop Billy Hamilton, which was the 9th highest total ever for a Minor Leaguer).[17][18][19]
  • In 2012, the Dragons were a finalist team for the Sports Business Journal "Professional Sports Team of the Year."[20]
  • In 2012, the Dragons franchise was selected as the winner of the John H. Johnson President's Trophy.[21] The winning team, chosen from all minor league teams (Single A, Double A, and Triple A), is chosen by the president of Minor League Baseball and given to "the complete baseball franchise -- based on franchise stability, contributions to league stability, contributions to baseball in the community, and promotion of the baseball industry." Only two other Midwest Leagues teams have received this award.[22]
  • In 2016, Forbes listed the Dragons as the third-most valuable Minor League Baseball team with a value of $45 million, making them the most valuable Class A minor league franchise.[23]
  • In 2016, Dragons Vice President of Sponsor Services Brandy Guinaugh was named the Rawlings Woman Executive of the Year for all of Minor League Baseball[24]
  • In both 2016 and 2017, the Dragons have been the Midwest League nominee for Minor League Baseball's Charles K. Murphy Patriot Award for outstanding support of U.S. Armed Forces and Veterans.[25]
  • The Dragons have hosted the Midwest League All-Star Game two times, in 2001 and 2013[26]

Season-by-season records

TeamYearRegular SeasonPost Season
WonLostWin %FinishWonLostWin %Result
DAY2000 7067.5114th in MWL East23.400Defeated West Michigan in League Quarterfinals, 2–1
Lost to Michigan in League Semifinals, 0–2
DAY2001 8257.5902nd in MWL East22.500Defeated Lansing in League Quarterfinals, 2–0
Lost to South Bend in League Semifinals, 0–2
DAY2002 7367.5214th in MWL East02.000Lost to West Michigan in League Quarterfinals, 0–2
DAY2003 6178.4396th in MWL East–––Did not Qualify
DAY2004 4892.3436th in MWL East–––Did not Qualify
DAY2005 6079.4326th in MWL East–––Did not Qualify
DAY2006 6773.4795th in MWL East–––Did not Qualify
DAY2007 7862.5573rd in MWL East12.333Lost to South Bend in League Quarterfinals, 1–2
DAY2008 6672.4782nd in MWL East22.500Defeated Lansing in League Quarterfinals, 2–0
Lost to South Bend In League Semifinals, 0–2
DAY2009 5980.4254th in MWL East–––Did not Qualify
DAY2010 5385.3848th in MWL East–––Did not Qualify
DAY2011 8357.5931st in MWL East12.333Lost to Lansing In League Quarterfinals, 1–2
DAY2012 6078.4358th in MWL East–––Did not Qualify
DAY2013 6574.4686th in MWL East–––Did not Qualify
DAY2014 6870.4933rd in MWL East–––Did not Qualify
DAY2015 7168.5115th in MWL East–––Did not Qualify
DAY2016 4793.3368th in MWL East–––Did not Qualify
DAY2017 7169.5074th in MWL East33.500Defeated West Michigan in League Quarterfinals, 2–1
Lost to Fort Wayne in League Semifinals, 1–2
TOTAL—1,1821,321.472—1116.407—

Major League alumni

Through the 2017 season, 91 Dragons players have gone on to play in MLB since the team's move to Dayton in 2000. The following are notable players whose minor league career included playing for the Dayton Dragons, including the years they played in Dayton.

Other Personnel

The Dragons have had nine managers in their history:

Additionally, past Dragons coaching staffs have included three inductees into the Cincinnati Reds Hall-of-Fame as players:

Team affiliations

LevelTeamLeagueLocation
MLBCincinnati RedsNational LeagueCincinnati
AAALouisville BatsInternational LeagueLouisville, Kentucky
AAPensacola Blue WahoosSouthern LeaguePensacola, Florida
A+Daytona TortugasFlorida State LeagueDaytona Beach, Florida
ADayton DragonsMidwest LeagueDayton, Ohio
RookieBillings MustangsPioneer LeagueBillings, Montana
RookieAZL RedsArizona LeagueGoodyear, Arizona
RookieDSL RedsDominican Summer LeagueSanto Domingo, Dominican Republic

Media

Radio: All Dragons home and road games are broadcast on radio on 980 WONE, with Tom Nichols as the lead broadcaster. The broadcasts are also available via the internet at daytondragons.com and wone.com and on mobile devices via the Dragons mobile app. Dragons radio broadcasts moved to WONE starting with the 2011 season after Dragons games aired on WING 1410 AM from 2003-2010 and on WHIO 1290 AM from 2000-2002. Nichols has served as the Dragons Director of Broadcasting and lead play-by-play announcer since the 2008 season. Mike Vander Woude was the team's primary broadcaster from 2000-2007. All home and road games have been scheduled for broadcast throughout the Dragons history.

Television: The Dragons have televised 25 games per season since the 2011 season with Dragons Director of Broadcasting Tom Nichols serving as the lead announcer. In 2016, telecasts moved to WBDT (Dayton's CW) as games appeared on an over-the-air network station for the first time in Dragons history.[27] Over the 2016-17 seasons, WDTN Sports Director Jack Pohl and former Dragons lead broadcaster Mike Vander Woude teamed with Nichols on Dragons television broadcasts. From 2001-2010, the Dragons television schedule included 15 games per season before the number of broadcasts was increased to 25 in 2011. The Dragons televised five games in their inaugural season of 2000. Dragons games were televised on WHIO-TV digital channel 7.2 (Time Warner Cable channels 23 and 372) from 2009-2015.[28] Games were televised on Time Warner Cable from 2000-2008. Over the years, Dragons color commentators on television broadcasts have included Joe Nuxhall, Ken Griffey Sr., Tom Browning, Ron Oester, Bill Doran, Tommy Helms, Todd Benzinger, Doug Bair, Jeff Reboulet, and Hal McCoy, among others.[29]

Roster

Dayton Dragons roster
Players Coaches/Other

Pitchers

  • -- Miguel Aguilar
  • -- Junior Arias ‡
  • 13 Wendolyn Bautista
  • 33 Connor Bennett
  • -- Zac Correll ‡
  • 18 John Ghyzel
  •  3 Hunter Greene
  •  7 Andrew Jordan
  • -- Carlos Machorro
  • 35 Tyler Mondile
  • 20 Packy Naughton
  • -- Moises Nova
  • 23 Ryan Nutof
  •  6 Sarkis Ohanian
  •  9 Austin Orewiler
  • 11 Adrian Rodriguez
  • 32 Connor Ryan
  • 21 Cory Thompson

Catchers

  • 24 Hendrik Clementina
  • 28 Mark Kolozsvary

Infielders

  •  2 Jeter Downs
  • 15 Jose Garcia
  • 17 Alejo Lopez
  • 26 Montrell Marshall
  • 12 John Sansone
  •  8 Leandro Santana

Outfielders

  •  6 Malik Collymore
  • 10 Miles Gordon
  • 16 Mitch Piatnik
  •  5 Andy Sugilio
  • 22 Raul Wallace
  • 17 J.D. Williams

Manager

  • 14 Luis Bolivar

Coaches


7-day disabled list
* On Cincinnati Reds 40-man roster
# Rehab assignment
∞ Reserve list
‡ Restricted list
§ Suspended list
† Temporary inactive list
Roster updated June 28, 2018
 Transactions
→ More rosters: MiLB • Midwest League
 → Cincinnati Reds minor league players

Player milestones in Dayton Dragons history

  • Austin Kearns hit home runs in eight consecutive games from July 17-July 24, 2000.[30]
  • Donald Lutz became the first and only Dragons player to hit for the cycle on July 21, 2011 vs. the Peoria Chiefs. He did it in reverse order within the first five innings of the game (home run, triple, double, single).
  • Billy Hamilton became the first player in the history of the Cincinnati Reds organization to compile at least 100 stolen bases in a season when he stole 103 in 2011.
  • Seth Mejias-Brean hit an ultimate grand slam home run (game-ending home run with team trailing by three runs) to defeat Beloit on July 18, 2013. Mejias-Brean's walk-off homer came with one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th, trailing 6-3.[31]
  • On July 13, 2015, three consecutive Dayton batters connected on home runs. In the second inning, Jose Ortiz, Jimmy Pickens, and Luis Gonzalez hit home runs vs. the Beloit Snappers.
  • On May 20, 2017, three Dayton pitchers combined for the first nine-inning no-hitter in Dragons history. Scott Moss, Carlos Machorro, and Brian Hunter combined to no-hit the Bowling Green Hot Rods.
  • On July 31, 2017, Jose Siri extended his hitting streak to 36 consecutive games to break the Midwest League record that had stood since 1977 (Tony Toups, Waterloo, 35). Siri's streak eventually reached 39 straight games.[32]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.milb.com/milb/info/classifications.jsp
  2. ↑ "Dragons Break All-Time Sports Sell-Out Record". Dayton Dragons News. Milb.com. 2012-04-18. Retrieved 2012-07-15.
  3. ↑ "Dayton Dragons Break Sellout Record". WHIOtv.com. July 11, 2011. Archived from the original on February 9, 2013. Retrieved July 15, 2012.
  4. ↑ "History | Midwest League About". Web.minorleaguebaseball.com. Retrieved 2012-07-15.
  5. ↑ "Dragons Lead Class-A in Attendance Again". Dayton Dragons. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Dragons Break All-Time Sports Sell-Out Record". milb.com. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Dayton Dragons all time professional sellout streak MLB".
  8. ↑ Neumann, Thomas (8 July 2011). "Dayton Dragons break Portland Trail Blazers' sellout streak". ESPN.com. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  9. ↑ "Dragons Sell-Out Streak Reaches 1,000". milb.com. 10 May 2014.
  10. ↑ http://www.milb.com/documents/1/2/0/254420120/091517_Season_Review_2017.pdf
  11. ↑ "Focus is on Dayton, Dragons' new owners say". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  12. ↑ "Crunching the 2011 Minor League Baseball attendance figures | News". Ballparkdigest.com. 2011-09-12. Retrieved 2012-07-15.
  13. ↑ "About the Dayton Dragons".
  14. ↑ Samuels, Holly. "Dragons knock record out of the park". Dayton Daily News. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
  15. ↑ "Dragons Attendance again High in National Rankings". milb.com. 10 September 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  16. ↑ Dragons Selected as Organization of the Year. Dayton.dragon.milb.com (August 23, 2011). Retrieved on September 23, 2011.
  17. ↑ Dragons enter playoffs with best record in team history. Daytondailynews.com (September 6, 2011). Retrieved on September 23, 2011.
  18. ↑ Dragons End Regular Season with Record-Breaking Win. Web.minorleaguebaseball.com (September 5, 2011). Retrieved on September 23, 2011.
  19. ↑ Dragons pitchers set MWL record. Daytondailynews.com (September 4, 2011). Retrieved on September 23, 2011.
  20. ↑ "Dragons are finalist for team of the year award". milb.com. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
  21. ↑ Jablonski, David (20 November 2012). "Dragons Claim Minor League Baseball's Top Honor". Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  22. ↑ Major Award Winners, milb.com
  23. ↑ Klebnikov, Sergei (July 8, 2016). "Minor League Baseball's Most Valuable Teams – 3. Dayton Dragons". Forbes. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
  24. ↑ "Dayton Dragons vice president wins top minor league award". DaytonDailyNews.com. 2016-11-10. Retrieved 2017-10-18.
  25. ↑ "Dragons Support of Military Nominated for Award". DaytonDragons.com. October 3, 2017. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
  26. ↑ "Dragons land 2013 Midwest League All-Star Game". BallparkDigest.com. 2012-06-22. Retrieved 2012-07-15.
  27. ↑ Pendleton, Marc F. (March 21, 2016). "Dragons partner with CW". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
  28. ↑ Katz, Marc (April 3, 2009). "Dragons like their viewership chances". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
  29. ↑ Dragons on TV Wednesday, milb.com, 26 August 2014.
  30. ↑ Thrasher, Don (April 10, 2015). "Dayton Dragons: The History of a Beloved Hometown Team". Dayton Daily News. mydaytondailynews.com. Retrieved October 19, 2017.
  31. ↑ "Dayton Dragons 2017 Media Guide" (PDF). April 1, 2017. Retrieved October 19, 2017.
  32. ↑ Rosecrans, C. Trent (July 31, 2017). "Reds prospect Jose Siri sets Midwest League record with 36-game hitting streak". Cincinnati Enquirer. Cincinnati.com. Retrieved October 19, 2017.
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