Arkansas Travelers

Last updated
Arkansas Travelers
Ark Travelers.png Arkansas Travelers (cap insignia).png
Team logoCap insignia
Minor league affiliations
Class Double-A (1966–present)
Previous classes Triple-A (1963–1965)
League Texas League (1966–present)
DivisionNorth Division
Previous leagues
Major league affiliations
Team Seattle Mariners (2017–present)
Previous teams
Minor league titles
League titles (9)
  • 1966
  • 1971
  • 1977
  • 1979
  • 1980
  • 1989
  • 2001
  • 2008
  • 2024
Division titles (14)
  • 1964
  • 1968
  • 1971
  • 1977
  • 1979
  • 1980
  • 1989
  • 2001
  • 2005
  • 2008
  • 2011
  • 2013
  • 2023
  • 2024
First-half titles (12)
  • 1978
  • 1979
  • 1980
  • 1985
  • 1989
  • 1998
  • 2001
  • 2008
  • 2011
  • 2018
  • 2019
  • 2023
Second-half titles (7)
  • 1977
  • 1983
  • 2005
  • 2013
  • 2014
  • 2015
  • 2024
Team data
NameArkansas Travelers (1963–present)
ColorsRed, black, gray, white, maroon
     
MascotsAce and Otey
Ballpark Dickey–Stephens Park (2007–present)
Previous parks
Ray Winder Field (1963–2006)
Owner(s)/
Operator(s)
Diamond Baseball Holdings [1]
General managerSophie Ozier
ManagerMike Fransoso
Website milb.com/arkansas

The Arkansas Travelers, also known informally as The Travs, are a Minor League Baseball team based in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The Travelers are the Double-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, and are members of the Texas League.

Contents

History

The team succeeded the Double-A Little Rock Travelers of the Southern Association, which folded after the 1961 season. They returned as the Arkansas Travelers of the International League in 1963. Both versions of the name derive from the old folk song, "The Arkansas Traveler". The Travelers never took another nickname and possess the third-longest running nickname in minor league baseball history behind the Buffalo Bisons and Indianapolis Indians.

Affiliations

After the end of the Southern Association in 1961, the Travelers were given the opportunity to move up becoming the Philadelphia Phillies' Triple-A affiliate for first the International League (1963) and then the Pacific Coast League (1964–1965). However, in 1966 the Travelers moved down to the Texas League as the St. Louis Cardinals' Double-A affiliate through 2000. This marked the most successful period for the Travelers as they won the Texas League championship in 1971, 1977, 1979, 1980, and 1989. After serving 35 years as a Cardinals' affiliate, the Travelers became the Los Angeles Angels' Double-A affiliate in 2001; this ended the second-longest active affiliation at the time. The Travelers remained with the Angels through 2016, winning the Texas League championship in 2001 and 2008. [2] In 2017, the Travelers entered into a new Player Development Contract, becoming the Double-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners; this move marked just the second time in the last half century that the Travelers swapped major league teams. The 2018 season marked the Arkansas Travelers' 53rd season as a part of the Texas League, making them the longest tenured active member of the league. [3]

In conjunction with Major League Baseball's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Travelers were organized into the Double-A Central. [4] In 2022, the Double-A Central became known as the Texas League, the name historically used by the regional circuit prior to the 2021 reorganization. [5]

Ballparks

Ray Winder Field

Ray Winder Field RayWinderField.JPG
Ray Winder Field

From 1932 to 2006, the Travelers played at Ray Winder Field. Bill Valentine, a former American League umpire and chosen as general manager for the Travelers from 1976 to 2007, began to promote the historic nature of Ray Winder Field. The ballpark gained recognition as one of the oldest still active parks in minor league baseball, and fans traveled to Little Rock to experience the nostalgia and sample the baseball history represented by Ray Winder Field. However, after nearly three-quarters of a century, the field was showing signs of age and after a successful special election in 2005, the team moved to a new stadium at the start of the 2007 season and the field was demolished in 2012. In 1991, the field saw the largest crowd to watch a baseball game in Arkansas history as Ray Winder played host to about 12,000 people; the crowd had come from all over to see Fernando Valenzuela's rehabilitation start. [6]

Dickey–Stephens Park

Dickey-Stephens Park Dickey-Stephens Stadium.jpg
Dickey–Stephens Park

Dickey–Stephens Park, the new stadium in North Little Rock, Arkansas, hosted the first Travelers game against the Frisco RoughRiders on April 12, 2007. It is primarily used for baseball and is the home field of the Arkansas Travelers minor league baseball team. It holds at least 7,000 people. It was built through a partnership between the Travs, Little Rock financier Warren Stephens and the city of North Little Rock. After donating an 11-acre (45,000 m2) plot of land east of the Broadway Bridge, Mr. Stephens named the ballpark in honor of two pairs of baseball-loving brothers; Stephens Inc. Founders Jack and Witt Stephens, and Hall of Fame Catcher Bill Dickey and his brother Skeeter, also a former Major League ballplayer. Both Dickey brothers worked for Stephens Inc. following their baseball careers. Bill, who caught for the 1925 Little Rock Travelers, also managed the club for one season following a 17-year Hall-of-Fame career with the New York Yankees that included seven World Series titles.

Uniforms

In 2004, the team introduced new road jerseys and alternate caps that paid homage to the Travs' home city. The jerseys had "Little Rock" written across the chest. Travelers’ jerseys have either featured "Arkansas" or "Travelers" ever since the 1950s.

Nostalgia is in these days and the retro look has become stylish, We were the Little Rock Travelers for years and after all this time we thought we lost the identification with Little Rock. Some people actually didn’t know we’re from Little Rock. The LR logo has had success on our replica caps and we thought that the time to make this change was right now."

Bill Valentine

Roster

PlayersCoaches/Other

Pitchers

  •  9 Raúl Alcantara
  • 29 Peyton Alford
  • 21 Luis Curvelo
  • 19 Garrett Davila
  • 23 Logan Evans
  • 32 Brandyn Garcia
  • 22 Logan Gragg
  • 34 Jake Haberer
  • 16 Kyle Hill ~
  • 43 Jimmy Joyce
  • 90 Jimmy Kingsbury ~
  • 27 Travis Kuhn
  • 28 Juan Mercedes
  • 26 Michael Morales
  • 17 Reid Morgan
  • 10 Jason Ruffcorn
  • 82 Reid VanScoter Injury icon 2.svg
  • 20 Danny Wirchansky

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders


Manager

  • 39 Michael Fransoso

Coaches

  •  2 Luis Caballero (bench)
  • 41 Josh Morgan (first base)
  • 40 Michael Peoples (pitching)
  • 37 Jose Umbria (bench)


Injury icon 2.svg 7-day injured list
* On Seattle Mariners 40-man roster
~ Development list
# Rehab assignment
∞ Reserve list
‡ Restricted list
§ Suspended list
† Temporarily inactive list
Roster updated September 24, 2024
Transactions
→ More rosters: MiLB    Texas League
Seattle Mariners minor league players

General managers

Ray Winder

In Ray Winder, was the general manager for Little Rock Travelers when it became defunct in 1961, but continued as general manager for the Arkansas Travelers until 1976. Winder had worked as a ticket taker in 1915 before rising to general manager. More than once, he almost single-handedly kept baseball in Little Rock. In 1960, at the last minute, he used his relationships with major league teams to sign enough players for the Travelers to field a team—it had looked as if the team would not make or would have to move to another town. During his 50-plus years with the team, he saw the Travelers sink to the bottom of the league only to rise three times to the league championship.

Bill Valentine

Bill Valentine Bill Valentine 2007.jpg
Bill Valentine

In 1976, Bill Valentine, a former American League umpire, was chosen as general manager for the Travelers. [7] Valentine would remain general manager until in 2007 after 31 years and would remain executive vice president for two more seasons, before retiring in March 2009. [7] Valentine worked as an announcer for the Arkansas Travelers for eight years. [7] In his first season as general manager, the team saw a 34% increase in attendance, due in part to Valentine's stunts including giving away tens of thousands of tickets to kids, hoping they would bring their parents to the game with them, and holding midget wrestling and amateur boxing at the stadium. [7] [8] The Travelers' attendance continued to increase over the years, and also saw on-field success, winning five league titles while Valentine was GM. Valentine has been inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, the Arkansas Officials Association Hall of Fame, the Texas League Hall of Fame, and the North Little Rock Boys Club Hall of Fame. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texas League</span> American sports league in minor league baseball

The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the state of Texas; the five North Division teams are located in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. The league temporarily operated for the 2021 season as Double-A Central before reassuming its original moniker in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Dickey</span> American baseball player and coach (1907–1993)

William Malcolm Dickey was an American professional baseball catcher and manager. He played in Major League Baseball with the New York Yankees for 17 seasons. Dickey managed the Yankees as a player-manager in 1946 in his last season as a player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Springfield Cardinals</span> Minor league baseball team

The Springfield Cardinals are a Minor League Baseball team based in Springfield, Missouri. They are members of the Texas League's North Division and serve as the Double-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. The Springfield Cardinals began play in 2005. Since its inception, the team's home venue has been Hammons Field.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midland RockHounds</span> Minor league baseball team

The Midland RockHounds are a Minor League Baseball team based in Midland, Texas. The team, which plays in the Texas League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics major league club. The RockHounds play in Momentum Bank Ballpark, which opened in 2002 and seats 4,709 fans. They have won seven Texas League championships: in 1975, 2005, 2009, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017.

David Scott Berg is an American former professional baseball utility player and the current manager of the Arkansas Travelers, the Double-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. Berg played in six major league seasons with the Florida Marlins (1998-2001) and Toronto Blue Jays (2002-2004). A versatile utility-man in the purest sense, David Scott Berg was an adequate defensive player at all infield positions who also played some left and right field.

The Southern Association' (SA) was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class B (1901), Class A (1902–1935), Class A1 (1936–1945), and Double-A (1946–1961). Although the SA was known as the Southern League through 1919, the later Double-A Southern League was not descended from the Southern Association; the modern SL came into existence in 1964 as the successor to the original South Atlantic ("Sally") League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dickey Kerr</span> American baseball player (1893–1963)

Richard Henry Kerr was an American professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball. He also served as a coach and manager in the minor leagues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Winder Field</span>

Ray Winder Field was a baseball park in Little Rock, Arkansas. The ballpark sat with home plate in roughly the north-northwest corner of the property. The former boundaries of the park were Interstate 630 ; Jonesboro Drive ; South Monroe Street ; buildings on driveway extended from Ray Winder Drive ; buildings bordering South Palm Street. The field was in operation for around 74 years.

The Little Rock Travelers were an American minor league baseball team located in Little Rock, Arkansas, and members of the Southern Association, which as a Class A, A1 or Double-A circuit was typically two rungs below Major League Baseball.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Bogar</span> American baseball player and coach

Timothy Paul Bogar is an American former infielder, coach, manager, and front-office executive in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the New York Mets, Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers, coached for the Tampa Bay Rays, Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners and Washington Nationals and managed the Rangers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wichita Aeros</span> Minor league baseball team

The Wichita Aeros were an American minor league baseball franchise based in Wichita, Kansas, that played in the Triple-A American Association from 1970 through 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Coolbaugh</span> American baseball player and coach (1972-2007)

Michael Robert Coolbaugh was an American baseball player and coach. Born in Binghamton, New York, he was the brother of major leaguer Scott Coolbaugh. Coolbaugh died after being hit by a line drive while working as a first-base coach in a minor league game.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dickey–Stephens Park</span>

Dickey–Stephens Park is a baseball park in North Little Rock, Arkansas, United States. The ballpark is primarily used for baseball and serves as the home for the Arkansas Travelers of the Texas League. The capacity of the ballpark is 7,300 which includes 5,800 fixed seats capacity and 1,500 on the berms. It opened in 2007 as a replacement for Ray Winder Field in Little Rock, Arkansas. The ballpark is named after four local Arkansas brothers: Baseball Hall of Famer Bill Dickey, former Major League Baseball catcher George Dickey, and businessmen Jackson T. Stephens and W. R. Stephens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tulsa Oilers (baseball)</span> Minor league baseball team

The Tulsa Oilers, located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, were a minor league baseball team that existed on-and-off in multiple leagues from 1905 to 1976. For most of their history, they played at Oiler Park, which opened on July 11, 1934, and was located on the Tulsa County Fairgrounds at 15th Street and Sandusky Avenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hank Robinson</span> American baseball player (1887-1965)

John Henry (Hank) Robinson was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played from 1911 to 1915 and again in 1918 with three teams. He batted right and threw left-handed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Double-A (baseball)</span> Second-highest level of competition in Minor League Baseball

Double-A is the second-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946, below only Triple-A. There are currently 30 teams classified at the Double-A level, one for each team in Major League Baseball, organized into three leagues: the Eastern League, the Southern League, and the Texas League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Valentine</span> American baseball umpire and executive (1932-2015)

William Terry Valentine, Jr. was a professional baseball umpire who worked in the American League from 1963 to 1968. Valentine was an umpire in the 1965 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. In his career, he umpired 947 Major League games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wichita Wind Surge</span> Minor league baseball team

The Wichita Wind Surge are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Wichita, Kansas, and began play in 2021 at Riverfront Stadium.

References

  1. "Travelers Build on Long-Running History Under New Ownership, Diamond Baseball Holdings". MiLB.com. Minor League Baseball. May 9, 2024. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  2. "Arkansas Travelers [Baseball Team] - Encyclopedia of Arkansas". www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
  3. "About The Travs | Arkansas Travelers Content". Arkansas Travelers. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
  4. Mayo, Jonathan (February 12, 2021). "MLB Announces New Minors Teams, Leagues". Major League Baseball. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  5. "Historical League Names to Return in 2022". Minor League Baseball. March 16, 2022. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  6. "About The Travs | Arkansas Travelers Content". Arkansas Travelers. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Bill Valentine Retires From Arkansas Travelers". milb.com. Minor League Baseball. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
  8. 1 2 Bill Valentine at the SABR Baseball Biography Project , by Mark Armour, Retrieved 9 June 2012.