Fort Wayne TinCaps

Fort Wayne TinCaps Founded in 1993 Fort Wayne, Indiana
Team Logo Cap Insignia
Class-level
Single-A (1993-present)
Minor league affiliations
Midwest League (1993-present) Eastern Division
Major league affiliations
San Diego Padres (1999-present) Minnesota Twins (1993-1998)
Name
Fort Wayne TinCaps (2009-present) Fort Wayne Wizards (1993-2008)
Ballpark
Parkview Field (2009-) Memorial Stadium (1993-2008)
Minor league titles
League titles	2009
Division titles	2009
Owner(s)/Operated by: Hardball Capital
Manager: Shawn Wooten
General Manager: Mike Nutter

The Fort Wayne TinCaps are a Class A minor league baseball team, affiliated with the San Diego Padres, that plays in the Midwest League. They won their first Midwest League Championship in 2009.

History

The Midwest League came to Fort Wayne in 1993. The franchise dates back from the league's days as the Illinois State League, starting in 1947 in Mattoon, Illinois. In 1958 the team moved to Keokuk, Iowa, where it spent five seasons; it was 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. In 2006, the team was sold to a pair of businessmen from Atlanta who also own the Salem Red Sox.

Prior to the 2009 season, the team was known as the Fort Wayne Wizards. The name TinCaps was chosen following the 2008 season, alluding to John Chapman, better known as the cooking pot-wearing Johnny Appleseed.^[1] The Tin Cap refers to a fictionalized depiction of John Chapman wearing one in the 1948 Walt Disney movie "Johnny Appleseed" and is not supported by any historical facts.Chapman lived in Fort Wayne in his final years and is buried in the city.^[2]

The team's home park was Memorial Stadium, which 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.^[3] 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. ^[4]

The mascot of the TinCaps is Johnny. 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.^[5] 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.^[6]

The TinCaps also clinched playoff spots in each of the following two seasons.

Awards and honors

• 2009 – Midwest League championship
• 2009 – This Year in Minor League Baseball Awards "Overall Team of the Year"^[7]

All-time team

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

Manager Randy Ready Catcher Javier Valentin First Baseman John Scheschuk Second Baseman Josh Barfield

Third Baseman Sean Burroughs Shortstop Luis Rivas Designated Hitter Josh Loggins

Outfielders Torii Hunter Jeremy Owens Will Venable Kevin Reese

Starting Pitchers Jake Peavy LaTroy Hawkins Tom Mott Michael Ekstrom Gabe Ribas Relief Pitchers J.J. Trujillo Dale Thayer

Roster

Fort Wayne TinCaps rosterview · talk · edit
Players				Coaches/Other
Pitchers -- Rafaell Arias 28 Matt Branham 30 Yefri Carvajal  7 Zach Cates  9 Adam Dominick 11 Chris Franklin  8 Christopher Haney 16 Matt Hardy  6 Matt Jackson 20 Robert Lara 34 Chase Marona  4 Noah Mull 10 Dennis O'Grady 27 Stiven Osuna 31 Adys Portillo 23 Keyvius Sampson 29 Deiber Sanchez -- Daniel Sarria -- Josh Worrell		Catchers 12 Jhonaldo Pozo 15 Emmanuel Quiles 26 Cole Tyrell Infielders 19 Chris Bisson 8 Cody Gabella 13 Wes Cunningham  2 B. J. Guinn  5 Pat McKenna -- Tommy Medica 17 Connor Powers 21 Tyler Stubblefield Outfielders 14 Luis Domoromo 21 Oscar Garcia 25 Rymer Liriano  1 Rico Noel 32 Everett Williams		Manager -- José Valentín Coaches 24 Willie Blair (pitching) -- Vacant (hitting) 7-day disabled list * On San Diego Padres 40-man roster ∞ Reserve list § Suspended list ‡ Restricted list # Rehab assignment Roster updated November 10, 2011 Transactions → More rosters

Former TinCaps/Wizards in the Majors

Torii Hunter, Jake Peavy, Bobby Scales, Joakim Soria, Dale Thayer, David Freese, Will Venable, Nick Hundley, Greg Burke, Matt Antonelli, Josh Geer, Josh Barfield, Eric Cyr, AJ Pierzynski, Wade LeBlanc, Cliff Bartosh, Jack Cassel, Corey Koskie, Ben Johnson, Dennis Tankersley, JJ Trujillo, Michael Thompson, Latroy Hawkins, Scott Watkins, Matt Lawton, Dan Naulty, Brandon Gomes

See also

• History of sports in Fort Wayne, Indiana

Sources

• Dinda, J. (2003), "Fort Wayne, Indiana, in the Midwest League," http://www.mwlguide.com/cities/fortwayne/index.html

References

1. ^ "Fort Wayne no longer the Wizards." Scout.com. 2 October 2008. Retrieved on 10 August 2009.
2. ^ [1]
3. ^ Leininger, Kevin, 2007's top local stories, Fort Wayne News-Sentinel, January 1, 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
4. ^ Fort Wayne Wizards to Hold Re-Naming Contest, HarrisonSquareFortWayne.com, June 15, 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
5. ^ http://www.tincaps.com/news/default/2/
6. ^ Watson, Dan, "TinCaps Rewrite Franchise Record Book", tincaps.com, September 9, 2009. Retrieved 2010-05-26.
7. ^ Mayo, Jonathan (December 28, 2009). "TinCaps honored as Minors' top team: Padres' Class A affiliate posted .678 winning percentage". MLB Advanced Media, L.P. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091221&content_id=7836330&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb. Retrieved 2011-06-17. 

External links

• Fort Wayne TinCaps website
• MadFriars.com
• Baseball in Fort Wayne
• [2]