Lowell Spinners

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Lowell Spinners
Founded in 1996
Lowell, Massachusetts
100px 100px
Team logo Cap insignia
Class-level
Current TBD (from 2021)
Previous Class A Short Season (1996–2020)
Minor league affiliations
League TBD (from 2021)
Previous leagues
New York–Penn League (1996–2020)
Major league affiliations
Previous Boston Red Sox (1996–2020)
Minor league titles
Division titles (4)
  • 2008
  • 2009
  • 2016
  • 2019
Team data
Nickname Lowell Spinners (1996–present)
Colors Navy blue, red, green, white
                   
Mascot Canaligator, Allie-Gator, Millie-Gator
Ballpark Edward A. LeLacheur Park (1998–present)
Previous parks
Stoklosa Alumni Field (1996–1997)
Owner(s)/
Operator(s)
Dave Heller
Manager TBD (from 2021)

The Lowell Spinners are a baseball team based in Lowell, Massachusetts. From 1996 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's New York–Penn League (NYPL) as the Class A Short Season affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.

The team was founded in 1996, after the Elmira Pioneers moved to Lowell. For the 1996 and 1997 seasons, the Spinners played at Stoklosa Alumni Field; since 1998, they have played at Edward A. LeLacheur Park.[1] With Major League Baseball's reorganization of the minor leagues after the 2020 season, Lowell was not selected to continue in affiliated baseball. The team, local government officials, and the Boston Red Sox are exploring options to keep baseball in Lowell for 2021.

The mascots of the Spinners are Canaligator, Allie-Gator, and Millie-Gator. They were introduced on January 19, 1996, July 8, 1999, and Opening Day 2006, respectively.[2]

History

Lowell's heritage in organized baseball dates to 1877, when the city hosted two teams. The 1877 Lowell team played in the League Alliance and the Lowell Ladies Men were members the 1877 New England Association. Lowell was a frequent member of the Class B New England League, but had not fielded a team in minor league baseball since 1947, when the nearby Lawrence Millionaires franchise transferred to Lowell on July 15.[3]

After Smoll brought the Spinners to Lowell in 1996, Drew Weber was the team owner from 1997 until June 2016, when the franchise was purchased by Dave Heller.[1]

The Spinners set a minor-league record in the 2000 season, as they sold every home ticket for every home game.[4] This began a streak of sold-out home games. The streak was broken on August 30, 2010, at 413 games.[1] [4]

On August 21, 2003, the Spinners sponsored a Jack Kerouac bobblehead giveaway.[5] Kerouac was a Lowell native, and played football for Lowell High School.[6] The bobblehead was accepted by Cooperstown in 2005, the first time a literary icon was accepted there.[7] The bobbleheads were so popular that many more were made than originally intended, raised $10,000 for the Jack Kerouac Scholarship Fund.[7] The enshrinement also made media headlines as far away as Los Angeles.[8]

The giveaway was repeated on August 7, 2012, when the film adaptation of On the Road was released.[6] The dolls had a bobble head as well as a "bobble arm."[9] The bobbleheads were also available online for ordering, and as the game was sponsored by the UMass Lowell English Department, their departmental scholarships received the proceeds from the online orders.[10] A third Kerouac bobblehead, featuring Kerouac in his Lowell High football uniform, was given out on July 25, 2013.[11]

In 2005, the Spinners created the "Yankees Elimination Program." They offered to pay for the uniforms to all Little Leagues and youth softball teams in New England so that they would change all teams named "Yankees" into "Spinners". Over the next five years, 150 teams in New England made the switch. The Spinners also invited the youth teams to play at LaLecheur Park, and assisted in other fundraising initiative for those teams. In 2010, the program was limited to 75 teams on a first-come, first-served basis, and it was estimated that over $70,000 had been donated to youth baseball and softball programs through the initiative. Spinners VP and GM Tim Bawmann said,“The Yankees Elimination Promotion was originally built as a fun promotion in response to parents' stories of children losing interest in the game after facing taunts simply for playing in a Yankees uniform.”[12]

On September 1, 2008, the Spinners reached the New York–Penn League playoffs for the first time, capturing the Stedler Division title. They were defeated in the playoffs by the Batavia Muckdogs. The Spinners reached the playoffs again in 2009, but lost to the Staten Island Yankees.

In October 2014, the Red Sox agreed to extend their player development contract with the Spinners for two more years through the 2016 season.[13] In November 2015, the contract was extended again through the 2018 season.[14]

In the 2016 season, the Spinners ended with a franchise-best record of 47 wins, and tied their record for home wins (25). Right fielder Tyler Hill won the NYPL batting title, and he and third baseman Bobby Dalbec became the first Spinners players to win Player of the Month awards. The Spinners won the Stedler Division title, but were swept by the Hudson Valley Renegades in the semifinals, 2–0.[15] Pitching prospect Jason Groome made his first start for the team in the playoffs, after being promoted from the Gulf Coast League Red Sox.[16]

In 2019, the Spinners finished first in their division, then defeated the Batavia Muckdogs (2 games to 1) in the semifinals, to advance to the league championship series against the Brooklyn Cyclones. The Spinners were defeated in the finals (2 games to 1), with Brooklyn winning the deciding third game of the series by a 4–3 score.[17]

Following the 2019 season, Major League Baseball (MLB) proposed dramatic changes to Minor League Baseball (MiLB) that would take effect after the current agreement that governs the MLB–MiLB relationship expires at the end of the 2020 season.[18] MLB's proposal included reducing the number of minor league teams from 160 to 120—the Spinners were included on the list of teams that could be eliminated under the proposal.[19] Lua error in Module:Details at line 30: attempt to call field '_formatLink' (a nil value).

On December 9, 2020, the Red Sox announced that they were dropping the Spinners as an affiliate, as "a reduction to 120 teams has been proposed as the standard beginning in 2021" for MLB.[20] Red Sox president Sam Kennedy stated that the Red Sox "are committed to maintaining the 24-year-long tradition of baseball in the Lowell community.”[20] The team, local government officials, and the Boston Red Sox are exploring options to keep baseball in Lowell for 2021.[21]

Broadcasting

Spinners games are broadcast on Lowell talk station WCAP. For the 2007 season they were on WLLH, another Lowell AM radio station, which at the time was an ESPN Radio affiliate. The games returned to WCAP the next season.[22][23][24]

Yearly team records

Records since the team has played in Lowell (1996–present).

Season Division W L Pct. Division
finish
League
rank
Manager Playoffs
 1996  McNamara 33 41 .446 3rd 9th Billy Gardner Jr.
1997 McNamara 38 38 .500 2nd 6th Dick Berardino
1998 McNamara 32 44 .421 5th 13th Dick Berardino
1999 McNamara 34 42 .447 6th 10th (t) Luis Aguayo
2000 Stedler 41 34 .547 4th 5th Arnie Beyeler
2001 Stedler 33 43 .434 6th 10th Arnie Beyeler
2002 Stedler 34 41 .453 2nd 8th Mike Boulanger
2003 Stedler 39 35 .527 3rd 6th Jon Deeble (36–30)
Lynn Jones (3–5)
2004 Stedler 32 44 .421 4th 11th Luis Alicea
2005 Stedler 42 33 .560 2nd 5th Luis Alicea
2006 Stedler 39 36 .520 3rd 9th Bruce Crabbe
2007 Stedler 40 36 .526 2nd 5th Gary DiSarcina
2008 Stedler 40 33 .548 1st 5th Gary DiSarcina Lost to Batavia 2–1 in semifinals[25]
2009 Stedler 45 30 .600 1st 3rd (t) Gary DiSarcina Lost to Staten Island 2–1 in semifinals[26]
2010 Stedler 24 50 .324 4th 14th Bruce Crabbe
2011 Stedler 29 45 .392 4th 13th Carlos Febles
2012 Stedler 36 40 .474 2nd 6th Bruce Crabbe
2013 Stedler 40 33 .548 2nd 5th Bruce Crabbe
2014 Stedler 37 38 .493 3rd 6th Joe Oliver
2015 Stedler 37 39 .487 2nd 8th Joe Oliver
2016 Stedler 47 29 .618 1st 3rd Iggy Suarez Lost to Hudson Valley 2–0 in semifinals[27]
2017 Stedler 33 42 .440 4th 11th Iggy Suarez
2018 Stedler 37 38 .493 3rd 9th Corey Wimberly
2019 Stedler 42 34 .553 1st 4th Luke Montz Defeated Batavia 2–1 in semifinals[28]
Lost to Brooklyn 2–1 in final[29]
2020 Stedler Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic Luke Montz

Source:[30][31]

Notable Spinners alumni

A full list of Spinners players who played in the major leagues, with their debut dates, is maintained on the team website.[32]

Kevin Youkilis broke into pro baseball with the 2001 Spinners, and batted .317 in 59 games.
Spinners warming up at LeLacheur Park, 2009

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Roster

Lowell Spinners roster
Players Coaches/Other

Pitchers

  •   Jose Almonte
  •   Logan Boyd
  •   Jake Cosart
  •   Enmanuel De Jesus
  •   Austin Glorius
  •   Daniel Gonzalez
  •   Kevin Kelleher
  •   Trevor Kelley
  •   Matt Kent
  •   Travis Lakins
  •   Enfember Martinez
  •   Yankory Pimentel
  •   Bobby Poyner
  •   Javier Rodriguez
  •   Dioscar Romero
  •   Kevin Steen
  •   Danny Zandona

Catchers

  •   Roldani Baldwin
  •   Jhon Nunez
  •   Austin Rei
  •   Alixon Suarez

Infielders

  •   Victor Acosta
  •   Chad De La Guerra
  •   Mitchell Gunsolus
  •   Josh Ockimey
  •   Jeremy Rivera
  •   Carlos Tovar
  •   Tucker Tubbs

Outfielders

  •   Luis Alexander Basabe
  •   Tyler Hill
  •   Trent Kemp
  •   Brandon Magee
  •   Tate Matheny
  •   Tyler Spoon
  •   Kyri Washington

Manager

Coaches


10px 7-day disabled list
* On Boston Red Sox 40-man roster
# Rehab assignment
∞ Reserve list
‡ Restricted list
§ Suspended list
† Temporary inactive list
Roster updated on January 4, 2016
Transactions
More MiLB rosters
Boston Red Sox minor league players

References

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 "Franchise History". MiLB.com. Accessed September 9, 2016.
  2. "Meet the Spinners Mascot Family".MiLB.com. Accessed September 9, 2016.
  3. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. 4.0 4.1 "Spinners' sellout streak ends at 413". The Lowell Sun. September 1, 2010. Accessed September 9, 2016.
  5. McConville, Christine. "Kerouac fans hit road for free dolls". Boston.com. August 22, 2003. Accessed September 9, 2016.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Shanahan, Mark, and Meredith Goldstein. "Jack Kerouac gets a new bobblehead in Lowell".Boston Globe. June 27, 2012. Accessed September 9, 2016.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Perry, David. "He's on the Road...to Cooperstown!". Umass Lowell. Originally published by The Lowell Sun Online, May 5, 2005. Accessed September 9, 2016.
  8. Ulin, David L."On the Road to Cooperstown". Los Angeles Times. May 23, 2005. Accessed September 9, 2016.
  9. "Jack is BACK: Kerouac Double Bobble August 7". MiLB.com. June 26, 2012. Accessed September 9, 2016.
  10. "Kerouac Bobble Head Night: Lowell Spinners vs. Brooklyn Cyclones". Lowell Celebrates Kerouac!. August 21, 2012. Accessed September 9, 2016.
  11. "Spinners Bobble Head History".MiLB.com. Accessed September 9, 2016.
  12. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. Bollinger, Rhett. RedSoxMLB.com – Red Sox, Lowell extend player development deal through '16 "Red Sox, Lowell extend player development deal through '16".MLB.com. October 2, 2014. Accessed September 9, 2016.
  14. "Spinners, Red Sox extend affiliation deal". Ballparkdigest.com. November 10, 2015. Accessed September 9, 2016.
  15. "Renegades Sweep Ends Spinners Season".MiLB.com. September 8, 2016. Accessed September 9, 2016.
  16. Smith, Christopher. "Jason Groome, Michael Kopech, Boston Red Sox two top pitching prospects, to make playoff starts".Masslive.com. September 7, 2016. Accessed September 9, 2016.
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  32. "Major League Spinners". MiLB,.com. Accessed September 9, 2016.
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External links