Fort Wayne TinCaps

The Fort Wayne TinCaps are a Class A Minor League Baseball team based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, who are affiliated with the San Diego Padres, and play in the Midwest League. They won the franchise's fourth Midwest League Championship, and first in Fort Wayne, in 2009.

Fort Wayne TinCaps
Founded in 1947
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Based in Fort Wayne since 1993
Team logoCap insignia
Minor league affiliations
ClassClass-A[1] (1993–present)
LeagueMidwest League (1947–present)
DivisionEastern Division
Major league affiliations
TeamSan Diego Padres (1999–present)
Previous teamsMinnesota Twins (1993–1998)
Minor league titles
League titles (4)1973, 1985, 1987, 2009
Division titles (3)2009, 2012, 2017
Team data
Nickname
  • Fort Wayne TinCaps (2009–present)
  • Fort Wayne Wizards (1993–2008)
  • Kenosha Twins (1984-1992)
  • Wisconsin Rapids Twins (1963-1983)
  • Keokuk Cardinals (1958-1962)
  • Mattoon Indians (1947-1957)
ColorsForest green, red, tin, black, white
                        
MascotJohnny Tincap (2009-present)
Dinger the Dragon (1999-2008)
Wayne the Wizard (1993-1998)
The Twin Bears (1984-1992)
BallparkParkview Field (2009–present)
Previous parks
Memorial Stadium (1993–2008)
Owner(s)/
Operator(s)
Hardball Capital
ManagerAnthony Contreras
PresidentMike Nutter

History

The Midwest League came to Fort Wayne in 1993. The franchise is the oldest in the Midwest League and dates back to the league's beginning as the Illinois State League, starting in 1947 in Mattoon, Illinois as the Mattoon Indians. In 1958 the team moved to Keokuk, Iowa, where it spent five seasons as the Keokuk Cardinals; it was then based in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin (1963–1983) and Kenosha, Wisconsin (1984–1992) before moving to Fort Wayne. The team was a Minnesota Twins farm team before they affiliated with the Padres in 1999. When the team moved to Fort Wayne in 1993, it adopted a new name, the Wizards.

The name TinCaps was chosen following the 2008 season, alluding to John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed.[2] The Tin Cap refers to a fictionalized depiction of John Chapman wearing a cooking pot as a hat in the 1948 Walt Disney movie "Johnny Appleseed," though this depiction has been disputed by historians. Chapman spent his final years in Fort Wayne and is buried in the city.[3]

The team's home park was Memorial Stadium, opened in 1993; a franchise attendance record of 318,506 was also set that year. As part of the Harrison Square revitalization project, Parkview Field became the official home of the TinCaps at the start of the 2009 season.[4] To coincide with the new ballpark, the team held a contest to determine a new name for the Wizards once that new ballpark opened, and "TinCaps" was the result.[5]

The mascot of the TinCaps is Johnny TinCap. Previously, for the Wizards, it was Dinger the Dragon and prior to that, the Wizards were represented by Wayne the Wizard.

The team won the Midwest League 2009 championship by sweeping the Burlington Bees, 3–0. The first two games were played at Parkview Field and the final, decisive game was played in Burlington, Iowa. The team and its staff were honored at Parkview Field in a special victory rally on September 18, 2009.[6] In addition to winning a franchise record-setting 94 games in their new home, fans shattered the previous attendance record for the season, with 378,529 coming through the turnstiles.[7]

The TinCaps also clinched playoff spots in every season of Parkview Field's existence with the exception of 2016.

Playoffs
SeasonQuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinals
1993---
1994---
1995L, 2-0, Michigan--
1996---
1997W, 2-0, West MichiganL, 2-0, Lansing-
1998W, 2-1, PeoriaL, 2-0, Rockford-
1999---
2000L, 2-0, Michigan--
2001---
2002---
2003L, 2-0, Battle Creek--
2004L, 2-0, South Bend--
2005L, 2-1, West Michigan--
2006L, 2-1, West Michigan--
2007---
2008---
2009W, 2-1, South BendW, 2-1, Great LakesW, 3-0, Burlington
2010L, 2-0, Great Lakes--
2011W, 2-0, Bowling GreenL, 2-0, Lansing-
2012W, 2-0, LansingW, 2-1, Lake CountyL, 3-1, Wisconsin
2013W, 2-0, Bowling GreenL, 2-1, South Bend-
2014W, 2-1, West MichiganL, 2-0, Lake County-
2015L, 2-0, West Michigan--
2016---
2017W, 2-0, Bowling GreenW, 2-1, DaytonL, 3-0, Quad Cities

Awards and honors

All-time team

On August 24, 2008, The Journal Gazette and the franchise selected the all-time Wizards team members.

Roster
Fort Wayne TinCaps roster
Players Coaches/Other

Pitchers

  • -- Carlos Belen
  •  8 Dylan Coleman
  • 28 Omar Cruz
  • 27 Cullen Dana
  • 26 Andrew Dean
  • 13 Jesus Gonzalez
  • 30 Carlos Guarate
  • 36 Ramon Perez
  • 21 Jose Quezada
  • -- Hazahel Quijada
  • 33 Austin Smith
  • 24 Franklin Van Gurp
  • 25 Ryan Weathers
  • -- Mark Zimmerman

Catchers

  • 37 Juan Fernandez
  • 12 Blake Hunt
  • -- Jose Lezama
  • 37 Chandler Seagle

Infielders

Outfielders

  • 16 Michael Curry
  •  2 Jawuan Harris
  •  1 Grant Little
  • 20 Agustin Ruiz
  • 11 Dwanya Williams-Sutton

Manager

  • 10 Anthony Contreras

Coaches

  •  7 Jhonny Carvajal (fielding)
  •  5 Jon Mathews (hitting)
  • -- Jackson Quezada (pitching)


7-day injured list
* On San Diego Padres 40-man roster
# Rehab assignment
∞ Reserve list
‡ Restricted list
§ Suspended list
† Temporary inactive list
Roster updated January 14, 2020
 Transactions
→ More rosters: MiLB • Midwest League
 → San Diego Padres minor league players

Former TinCaps/Wizards in the majors
Nate Freiman

Dylan Axelrod, Trea Turner, Torii Hunter, Jake Peavy, Joakim Soria, Nate Freiman, David Freese, Max Fried, Will Venable, Nick Hundley, Matt Antonelli, Josh Geer, Josh Barfield, A. J. Pierzynski, Michael Cuddyer, Wade LeBlanc, Corey Koskie, Dirk Hayhurst, LaTroy Hawkins, Matt Lawton, Brandon Gomes, Mat Latos, Daniel Robertson, Allan Dykstra, Brad Brach, Matt Wisler, Corey Kluber, Dan Serafini, Mike Hazen, Miles Mikolas, and Fernando Tatis Jr.

See also

Sources

References
  1. "Teams by Classification - MiLB.com Official Info - The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". MiLB.com.
  2. "Fort Wayne no longer the Wizards." Archived October 29, 2013, at the Wayback Machine Scout.com. 2 October 2008. Retrieved on 10 August 2009.
  3. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-10-29. Retrieved 2008-10-02.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. Leininger, Kevin, 2007's top local stories, Fort Wayne News-Sentinel, January 1, 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
  5. Fort Wayne Wizards to Hold Re-Naming Contest Archived 2008-06-18 at the Wayback Machine, HarrisonSquareFortWayne.com, June 15, 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
  6. "Fort Wayne TinCaps". MiLB.com.
  7. Watson, Dan, "TinCaps Rewrite Franchise Record Book", tincaps.com, September 9, 2009. Retrieved 2010-05-26.
  8. Mayo, Jonathan (December 28, 2009). "TinCaps honored as Minors' top team: Padres' Class A affiliate posted .678 winning percentage". MLB Advanced Media, L.P. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
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