Lexington Legends

Lexington Legends Founded in 2001 Lexington, Kentucky
Team logo Cap insignia
Class-level
Current	Single A (2001–present)
Minor league affiliations
League	South Atlantic League (2001–present)
Division	Southern Division (2009–present)
Major league affiliations
Current	Kansas City Royals (2013–present)
Previous	Houston Astros (2001–2012)
Minor league titles
League titles (2)	2001 2018
Division titles (2)	2001 2018
Team data
Nickname	Lexington Legends (2001–present)
Ballpark	Whitaker Bank Ballpark (2001–present)
Owner(s)/ Operator(s)	Susan Martinelli Shea / STANDS LLC
Manager	Scott Thorman
General Manager	Gary Durbin
President	Andy Shea

The Lexington Legends are a Minor League Baseball team in the South Atlantic League (SAL), and the Class A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. The team is located in Lexington, Kentucky, and plays their home games at Whitaker Bank Ballpark, located in a commercial area on the northeast side of the city just inside New Circle Road. The team's mascot is "Big L", a mustachioed baseball player and his best friend is Pee Wee.

History

The Houston Astros moved their high Class-A team, the Kissimmee Cobras, out of the Florida State League to Lexington following the 2000 season. The 2001 season began under the guidance of manager J. J. Cannon. That year, the team finished the regular season with an overall record of 92 wins and 48 losses; this was the best record in the sixteen team South Atlantic League. In the postseason, the Legends defeated the Hagerstown Suns in the first round and advanced to play the Asheville Tourists in the League Championship Series. The series, however, was cancelled after the Legends won the first two games of the championship series due to the September 11 attacks and the Legends were declared champions after having gone up 2-0 before game three was canceled.

Cannon returned to manage in 2002 and led the team to another winning season. The Legends narrowly missed advancing to playoffs that season. Lexington made a return trip to the playoffs in 2003, but were defeated by the Lake County Captains in the first round.

In 2004, the Legends finished with a record of 68-72, the first losing record in team history. They returned to their winning ways in 2005 when manager Tim Bogar led the way to an overall 81-58 regular season record, a SAL best.

On May 31, 2006, it was announced that Roger Clemens would be coming out of retirement for the third time to pitch for the Houston Astros for the remainder of the 2006 season. Planning to keep himself to a strict 60-pitch limit, Clemens returned to baseball with the Legends where his oldest son, Koby, played. Father and son quashed reports that Koby would catch his dad for the return. "He doesn't listen to me", Roger Clemens said. "We'd be shaking each other off and arguing too much."^[1] He threw 62 pitches, allowed no walks, and only 1 run while striking out 6 batters in three innings of work with the Legends, who won the game, 5–1.

The team came into the national spotlight for a second time as a result of events that occurred during a game with the Asheville Tourists on June 25, 2006. In the fifth inning of that game, Tourists manager Joe Mikulik went on an extended tirade after being ejected from the game following an argument with an umpire. The event received coverage on various television programs including NBC's The Tonight Show, ESPN's Pardon the Interruption and SportsCenter, and MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

Roger Clemens' appearance as a Legend as well as Joe Mikulik's meltdown are chronicled in the 2011 documentary film Legendary: When Baseball Came to the Bluegrass.

The Legends experienced three straight losing seasons from 2007 to 2009. In 2007, the team finished in 13th place overall, the second worst finish in team history in the South Atlantic League with 59 wins and 81 losses. In 2008, the team finished in 15th place overall, the worst finish in team history, in the South Atlantic League with 45 wins and 93 losses. The 2009 Legends compiled a 68–72 record. In 2010, Lexington finished the season with a 71–68 record, good for fourth place in the division.

On September 19, 2012, WLEX-TV broke a story that the Lexington Legends would change their affiliation from Major League Baseball's Houston Astros to the Kansas City Royals.^[2]

Season by season results

Since its inception in Lexington, Kentucky, the Lexington Legends franchise has played 13 seasons (all in the South Atlantic League). As of the completion of the 2016 season, the club has played in 2,225 regular season games and compiled a win–loss record of 1,079–1,146; this equates to a .485 winning percentage. The team has a postseason win–loss record of 9-5.

Current roster

Legends Hall of Fame

The Legends have honored ten past members of the organization by inducting them in the Legends Hall of Fame.^[3] These individuals are:

References

General

Specific

External links

• Lexington Legends official website