Bangor Blue Ox

Last updated
Bangor Blue Ox
Information
Location Orono, Maine
Ballpark Larry Mahaney Diamond
Founded 1996
Disbanded 1997
Former league(s) Northeast League (1996–97)
ColorsBlue, White

The Bangor Blue Ox were a minor league baseball team based in Bangor, Maine. The team played in the Northeast League (now the Can-Am League). The Northeast League was an independent baseball league and as such none of its teams had an affiliation with Major League Baseball. The team existed from 1996 to 1997 and played its home games at Larry Mahaney Diamond on the campus of the University of Maine in Orono, Maine.

Contents

History

The Northeast League played its first season in 1995 with all six teams located in the State of New York; however, only three of these clubs would return for a second season. The NEL wanted to expand into New England and it chose West Warwick, Rhode Island and Bangor—which had not seen a pro baseball team in over 80 years—as two new teams for the 1996 season (also, Elmira was added to round the roster out to six teams again). The Blue Ox and the Northeast League had hoped that moving a team to the city would induce the city of Bangor to build a new ballpark for the team; in the meantime, the Ox would play their home games at Mahaney Diamond on the University of Maine campus in Orono.

The Blue Ox would have a fairly successful season in their first year, finishing third with a 46-33 record. Bangor's starting rotation was led by former Major Leaguer Oil Can Boyd, who at age 36 was attempting a comeback. Boyd would finish the season at 10-0 with a 3.22 ERA, [1] but ultimately would not return to the majors. They were more successful on the field than they were at the box office, though, drawing only 35,652 fans, barely 900 per game and next-to-last in the loop. In 1997, the Northeast League would take on the remnants of the failed North Atlantic League and expand to eight teams overall; the Blue Ox would finish the season at 40-43, sixth place. Attendance did not improve, with just 35,591 fans showing up, again next-to-last in the NEL. At the end of the 1997 season, it was clear that Bangor would not be building a new stadium anytime soon (as of 2021, the city still hasn't done so). Although Mahaney Diamond was a very suitable college baseball field, it was simply not designed to be a permanent minor-league park. The team was sold to new ownership and moved to Quebec City for the 1998 season; the franchise still exists as the Québec Capitales. [2]

Other players with Major League experience included pitcher Mike Smith in 1996, (five seasons with the Reds, Pirates, and Expos), [3] and in 1997 Fernando Ramsey (one season with the Cubs), [4] outfielder Bob Zupcic (four seasons with the Red Sox and White Sox), [5] pitcher Joe Grahe (seven seasons with the Angels, Rockies, and Phillies), [6] and pitcher George Tsamis (one season with the Twins). [7]

Each season featured a skipper who had played in the Major Leagues. In 1996, former infielder/outfielder Dick Phillips, who had already managed almost 1,500 minor league games in the Twins, Padres and Brewers systems before piloting Bangor, played four seasons in the early 1960s for the Giants and Senators. [8] Managing the Blue Ox in their second and final season, former catcher/first baseman Roger LaFrancois had appeared in eight games in 1982 with the Red Sox. [9]

Bangor franchises timeline

Year(s)# Yrs.TeamLevelLeague
1894–18963 Bangor Millionaires Class B New England League
18971Independent Maine State League
19011BangorNew England League
19071Bangor Cubs Class D Maine State League
19081Bangor White Sox
19131Bangor Maroons New Brunswick-Maine League
1994–19973Bangor Blue OxIndependent Northeast League
2003–20042 Bangor Lumberjacks

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicago White Sox</span> Major League Baseball franchise in Chicago, Illinois

The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and plays its home games at Guaranteed Rate Field, located on Chicago's South Side. The White Sox are one of two MLB teams based in Chicago, the other being the Chicago Cubs of the National League (NL) Central division.

The Northeast League was a professional independent baseball league that operated in the Northeastern United States from 1995 until 1998 and from 2003 until 2004. Between 1999 and 2002, the league was part of the Northern League after the two leagues agreed to merge. The league was superseded by the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball, which its members joined for the 2005 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bangor Lumberjacks</span>

The Bangor Lumberjacks were an independent minor league baseball team in the Northeast League that was based in Bangor, Maine. Prior to 2003, the Lumberjacks played in Glens Falls, New York and were known as the Adirondack Lumberjacks. The team moved to Maine following the 2002 season. In 2003, the Lumberjacks played in Orono at Larry Mahaney Diamond and in 2004 they played at Bangor's Winkin Sports Complex. Kash Beauchamp served as the team's manager.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Butterfield</span> American baseball coach (born 1958)

Brian James Butterfield is an American professional baseball coach, and a former minor league player, manager and infield instructor. He has coached for the New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks, Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB).

Robert Zupcic is a former professional baseball outfielder. He played four seasons in Major League Baseball for the Boston Red Sox (1991–94) and Chicago White Sox (1994). He batted and threw right-handed.

The Allentown Ambassadors were an independent baseball team that competed in the Northeast League and the Northern League from 1997 until 2003. They played their home games at Bicentennial Park in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Larry Mahaney Diamond is a baseball stadium in Orono, Maine, located on the campus of the University of Maine. It is the home of the Maine Black Bears baseball team. Its capacity is 4,400 spectators. It opened in the early 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Farrell (baseball manager)</span> American baseball player and manager (born 1962)

John Edward Farrell is an American former baseball pitcher, coach, and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). During his eight-season playing career, Farrell was a member of the Cleveland Indians, California Angels, and Detroit Tigers. He was the pitching coach for the Boston Red Sox from 2007 to 2010, before serving as manager of the Toronto Blue Jays from 2011 to 2012. He returned to the Red Sox as their manager in 2013, winning the World Series with them in his first year, and led the team until 2017. Since 2018, he has held a scouting position with the Cincinnati Reds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jaime Navarro</span> Puerto Rican baseball player (born 1967)

Jaime Navarro Cintrón is a former Puerto Rican baseball player and current pitching coach for the Uni-President Lions for the Chinese Professional Baseball League in Taiwan. Navarro was a 6-foot, 4-inch tall right-handed pitcher in the major leagues from 1989 to 2000, playing for the Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, and Cleveland Indians. He is the son of former Major League Baseball pitcher Julio Navarro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Veryzer</span> American baseball player (1953-2014)

Thomas Martin Veryzer was an American baseball shortstop. He played 12 years in Major League Baseball, appearing in 979 games for the Detroit Tigers (1973-1977), Cleveland Indians (1978-1981), New York Mets (1982), and Chicago Cubs (1983-1984). He ranked third in the American League in 1977 with a range factor of 5.16 per nine innings at shortstop. His career range factor of 4.841 per nine innings at shortstop ranks as the 25th best in Major League history.

Jeffrey Charles Pierce is an American former middle relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played briefly for the Boston Red Sox during the 1995 season. Listed at 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m), 190 pounds (86 kg), he batted and threw right-handed.

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

The Reno Aces are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They are located in Reno, Nevada, and play their home games at Greater Nevada Field, which opened in 2009. The Aces have been members of the PCL since 2009, including the 2021 season in which it was known as the Triple-A West. They won the PCL championship in 2012 and 2022. Reno went on to win the Triple-A National Championship Game in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maine Black Bears baseball</span>

The Maine Black Bears baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball program of the University of Maine, located in Orono, Maine. It is the university's oldest athletic program, having begun play in 1881. It has been a member of the NCAA Division I America East Conference since its founding at the start of the 1990 season. Its home venue is Mahaney Diamond, located on the university's campus. Nick Derba is the head coach. He was named interim head coach prior to the 2017 season. The program has appeared in 16 NCAA tournaments and seven College World Series. In conference postseason play, it has won eight ECAC Tournaments and five America East tournaments. In conference regular season play, it has won five America East titles. 19 former Black Bears have appeared in Major League Baseball.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Winkin</span> American baseball coach

John W. Winkin Jr. was an American baseball coach, scout, broadcaster, journalist and collegiate athletics administrator. Winkin led the University of Maine Black Bears baseball team to six College World Series berths in an 11-year span. In 2007, at age 87, he was the oldest active head coach in any collegiate sport at any NCAA level. In all, 92 of his former players wound up signing professional baseball contracts. Elected to 11 different halls of fame, including the National College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2013, he finished his college baseball coaching career in 2008 with 1,043 total wins, which ranks 52nd all-time among NCAA head coaches. He died in 2014.

The Portland Blue Sox were a class-D minor league baseball team in Portland, Maine which played from 1907 to 1908 in the Maine State League and the Atlantic Association before folding. The Blue Sox were relaunched in 1919 to make up for the loss of the Portland Duffs, which folded in 1917 and played in the Eastern League. The 1919 Blue Sox were added to the New England League, but only lasted one season.

The 2004 America East Conference baseball tournament took place from May 27 through 29 at Mahaney Diamond in Orono, Maine. The top four regular season finishers of the league's eight teams qualified for the double-elimination tournament. In the championship game, fourth-seeded Stony Brook defeated second-seeded Maine, 3–1, to win its first tournament championship. As a result, Stony Brook received the America East's automatic bid to the 2004 NCAA tournament, the program's first in Division I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">America East Conference baseball awards</span>

At the end of each regular season, the America East Conference names major award winners in baseball. Currently, it names a Coach, Pitcher, Player, and Rookie of the Year. With the exception of Rookie of the Year, which was added in 1996, the awards date to the 1990 season, the conference's first season of baseball. Through the 1996 season, the awards were known as the major awards of the North Atlantic Conference, the America East's former name.

Steve Trimper is an American college baseball coach who is currently the head coach for the Stetson Hatters baseball team out of the ASUN Conference. Previously, he served as the head coach at Maine from 2006 to 2016 and Manhattan from 1999 to 2005. An alumnus of Eastern Connecticut State University, Trimper played baseball there from 1990 to 1992 and was a member of the Warriors' 1990 Division III national championship team.

The Maine State League was a Class D level minor league baseball league that played in the 1897, 1907 and 1908 seasons. The eight–team Maine State League consisted of teams based in Maine and New Hampshire. The Maine State League permanently folded after the 1908 season. The Portland (1897), Bangor Cubs (1907) and Bangor White Sox (1908) teams won league championships.

Minor league baseball teams were based in Bangor, Maine between 1894 and 1913, before resuming minor league play in 1994. Playing under numerous nicknames, Bangor teams played as members of the New England League from 1894 to 1896, Maine State League in 1897, New England League in 1901, Maine State League from 1907–1908 and New Brunswick-Maine League in 1913, winning two league championships while hosting early minor league home games at Maplewood Park.

References

  1. ↑ "1996 Bangor Blue Ox Statistics".
  2. ↑ "1996-1997 Bangor Blue Ox". 5 March 2014.
  3. ↑ "Mike Smith". Baseball Reference. Sport Reference. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  4. ↑ "Fernando Ramsey". Baseball Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  5. ↑ "Bob Zupcic". Baseball Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Joe Grahe". Baseball Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  7. ↑ "George Tsamis". Baseball Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Dick Phillips". Baseball Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  9. ↑ "Roger LaFrancois". The Baseball Cube. The Baseball Cube. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.