Lansing Lugnuts

Lansing Lugnuts
Founded in 1955
Lansing, Michigan
Team logoCap insignia
Class-level
Current Class-A[1] (1955–present)
Minor league affiliations
League Midwest League (1955–present)
Division Eastern Division
Major league affiliations
Current Toronto Blue Jays (2005–present)
Previous
Minor league titles
League titles (9)
  • 1958
  • 1959
  • 1960
  • 1975
  • 1976
  • 1980
  • 1986
  • 1997
  • 2003
Division titles (5)
  • 1996 (2nd half)
  • 1999 (1st half)
  • 2008 (1st half)
  • 2012 (1st half)
  • 2015 (1st half)
Team data
Nickname Lansing Lugnuts (1996–present)
Previous names
Colors Red and silver
Ballpark Cooley Law School Stadium (1996–present)
Previous parks
Owner(s)/
Operator(s)
 Tom Dickson & Sherrie Myers
Manager Cesar Martin
General Manager Tyler Parsons
President Nick Grueser
The Lansing Lugnuts at Oldsmobile Park in 2009

The Lansing Lugnuts are a Class-A minor league baseball team, affiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays, that plays in the Midwest League.

The Midwest League came to Lansing, Michigan after owners Tom Dickson and Sherrie Myers moved the team to work with the City for a public-private lease to build a new stadium. Mayor David Hollister, and the City Council worked to attract the owners and build the stadium for downtown economic development. The team began playing in downtown Lansing in 1996. The franchise began as the Lafayette Red Sox in Lafayette, Indiana, in 1955; after two seasons it became the Waterloo Hawks, moving to Waterloo, Iowa, where it stayed for 36 seasons. Before the 1994 season it moved to Springfield, Illinois, but only spent two seasons there before moving to Lansing. The franchise was an affiliate of the Kansas City Royals on two separate occasions in three different cities: as the Waterloo Royals[2] from 1969 through 1976, as the Sultans of Springfield[3] in 1995, and then, upon the team's move to Lansing, from 1996 through 1998. The Lugnuts were then an affiliate of the Chicago Cubs from 1999 through 2004 before joining the Jays' farm system for the 2005 season. In September 2014, the Jays extended their agreement with the Lugnuts through the 2016 season.[4] In October 2016, their player development contract was extended through the 2018 season.[5]

The team plays at Cooley Law School Stadium (previously known as Oldsmobile Park and named after the now-defunct General Motors division that was based there), which opened in 1996. The new name comes from a naming rights deal with Thomas M. Cooley Law School, based in Lansing. Cooley Law School Stadium is also the home of Jackson Field, named after Jackson Life Insurance, based in Lansing. The stadium seats over 10,000 fans and is one of the most handicapped accessible stadiums in the country. The franchise national attendance record of 538,326 was set during its inaugural year. They won the Midwest League Championship in 1997 and 2003. The Lugnuts have their own original song which plays immediately after the national anthem for every home game accompanied by their mascot, Big Lug.

Crosstown Showdown presented by Auto-Owners

Since 2007 the Lansing Lugnuts have participated in an exhibition with nearby Michigan State University which draws a large crowd of students to the event. The overall record and attendance for each game is as follows:

Date   Winning team  Score   Losing team   Attendance   Ref 
April 3, 2007Lansing Lugnuts4–3Michigan State6,223
April 24, 2008Lansing Lugnuts4–2Michigan State12,862
April 16, 2009Michigan State12–2Lansing Lugnuts12,992
April 26, 2010Lansing Lugnuts5–4Michigan State6,778
April 5, 2011Michigan State4–3Lansing Lugnuts7,212
April 5, 2012Lansing Lugnuts7–0Michigan State12,997
May 1, 2013Lansing Lugnuts10–2Michigan State11,619
April 3, 2014Lansing Lugnuts3–2Michigan State4,455
April 9, 2015Lansing Lugnuts9–4Michigan State9,318[6]
September 6, 2016Lansing Lugnuts4–1Michigan State8,432
September 5, 2017Lansing Lugnuts5–1Michigan State6,804[7]
September 4, 2018Lansing Lugnuts6–4Michigan State6,338[8]

Playoffs

SeasonQuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinals
1996---
1997W, 2-1, MichiganW, 2-0, Fort WayneW, 3-2, Kane County
1998---
1999W, 2-0, MichiganL, 2-0, Wisconsin-
2000---
2001L, 2-0, Dayton--
2002W, 2-1, MichiganW, 2-1, West MichiganL, 3-1, Peoria
2003W, 2-0, South BendW, 2-0, Battle CreekW, 3-0, Beloit
2004L, 2-1, West Michigan--
2005---
2006W, 2-0, South BendL, 2-0, West Michigan-
2007L, 2-0, West Michigan--
2008L, 2-0, Dayton--
2009---
2010---
2011W, 2-1, DaytonW, 2-0, Fort WayneL, 3-0, Quad Cities
2012L, 2-0, Fort Wayne--
2013---
2014---
2015W, 2-0, Great LakesL, 2-1, West Michigan-
2016---
2017---
2018L, 2-0, Bowling Green--

Media coverage

Jesse Goldberg-Strassler broadcasts Lugnuts home and away games on WVFN-AM. WVFN previously aired Lugnuts games from 2001-2003.

Lugnuts games also aired on WJIM-AM from 1996–2000 and WQTX-FM from 2004-2016. Several games per season aired on WLNS-TV from 1996 through 2001. From 2002 to 2009, one game aired each season on WILX-TV.

Erik 'Doc' Love serves as the PA announcer at Cooley Law School Stadium.

Alumni

The following are players in Major League Baseball who played, at one time, for the Lugnuts. This partial list includes players making injury-comeback starts as well as those that developed in Lansing.

Kansas City Royals

Chicago Cubs

Toronto Blue Jays

Miami Marlins

St. Louis Cardinals

San Francisco Giants

Current roster

2010 Lugnuts wearing their away jerseys
Lansing Lugnuts roster
Players Coaches/Other

Pitchers

  • 35 Jordan Barrett
  • 34 Brayden Bouchey
  • 25 Maximo Castillo
  • 40 Andrew Deramo
  • -- Mike Ellenbest
  • 15 Matt Gunter
  • 20 Dany Jimenez
  • 26 Emerson Jimenez
  • 23 Turner Larkins
  • -- Colton Laws
  • 32 Brody Rodning
  • 29 Dalton Rodriguez
  • 10 Donnie Sellers
  • 12 Matt Shannon
  • 27 Graham Spraker
  • 28 Kyle Weatherly

Catchers

  • -- Daniel Canellas
  • 22 Ryan Gold
  • -- Javier Hernandez
  • 16 Andres Sotillo

Infielders

  •  4 Vinny Capra
  • 21 Brandon Grudzielanek
  • -- Cullen Large
  • 24 Bryan Lizardo
  • 37 Jesus Navarro
  •  1 Samad Taylor
  • -- Kevin Vicuna
  • -- Christian Williams

Outfielders

  • 19 Ryan Noda
  •  9 Norberto Obeso
  •  5 Reggie Pruitt
  • 31 Freddy Rodriguez
  •  2 Chavez Young

Manager

  • 14 Cesar Martin

Coaches

  • 11 Antonio Caceres (pitching)
  • 13 Dave Pano (position)
  • 17 Matt Young (hitting)


7-day disabled list
* On Toronto Blue Jays 40-man roster
# Rehab assignment
∞ Reserve list
‡ Restricted list
§ Suspended list
† Temporary inactive list
Roster updated September 20, 2018
 Transactions
→ More rosters: MiLB • Midwest League
 → Toronto Blue Jays minor league players

References

Notes
  1. ↑ http://www.milb.com/milb/info/classifications.jsp
  2. ↑ http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/history/top100.jsp?idx=60
  3. ↑ https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Springfield_Sultans
  4. ↑ Nicholson-Smith, Ben (September 23, 2014). "Gibbons: Jays like what Pompey offers". Sportsnet. Retrieved September 23, 2014.
  5. ↑ Calloway, Brian (October 4, 2016). "Lugnuts to remain affiliated with Toronto Blue Jays". usatodayhss.com. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
  6. ↑ http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/sports/2015/04/09/solari-lugnuts-column/25560349/
  7. ↑ http://www.msuspartans.com/sports/m-basebl/recaps/090517aaa.html
  8. ↑ https://www.milb.com/lansing/news/pearson-impresses-in-return-lugnuts-win-7th-straight-showdown/c-293380698
Sources

  • Dinda, J. "Lansing, Michigan, in the Midwest League." 2003.<http://www.mwlguide.com/cities/lansing/index.html>.
  • Roth, Bob. Our Lugnuts, Year One. 1996. ISBN 0-9655603-0-9
  • Lansing Lugnuts Official Website
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