Brockton Rox | |||||
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Information | |||||
League | The Futures League (2012–Present) | ||||
Location | Brockton, Massachusetts | ||||
Ballpark | Campanelli Stadium | ||||
Founded | 2002 | ||||
League championships | 1 Northeast League (2003) | ||||
Division championships | 1 Northeast League (2003) | ||||
Former league(s) |
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Colors | Navy blue, red, silver, white | ||||
Mascot | K-O the Kangaroo | ||||
Ownership | Summerball LLC | ||||
Manager | Joe Logan | ||||
Website | www |
The Brockton Rox are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Brockton, Massachusetts, United States. Formerly a professional baseball franchise, the Rox were a member of the independent Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball, from the 2005 through 2011 seasons. The Rox play their home games at Campanelli Stadium. The team's name is a derivative of the nearby Boston Red Sox of the American League and a tribute to the boxers Rocky Marciano and Marvelous Marvin Hagler, both from Brockton.
In 2012, the Rox announced that they were going to join the Futures Collegiate Baseball League and leave the Can-Am League but would retain its rights to rejoin the league for 2013. They did not do so and have remained in the FCBL, while the Can-Am League has since merged with the Frontier League.
The Rox began play in the 2002 season as members of the East Division of the Northern League. In 2003, the Eastern ball clubs split off from the rest of the Northern League and became the Northeast League, where the Rox played in 2003 and 2004. In 2005, the Northeast League was re-branded as the Can-Am League.
In 2006, the Rox celebrated the team's fifth anniversary season by finishing the season 49–43 and qualifying for the #3 seed in the Can-Am League Playoffs. The Rox defeated the New Haven County Cutters, 3–1, in the opening round best of 5 series. In the Championship Series, the Rox fell behind 2 games to 0 against the Quebec Capitales before rallying to tie the series at 2–2. In the deciding game 5, the Rox took a 3–2 lead into the 8th inning, but a late rally by Quebec left Brockton on the losing end, 5–4, giving Quebec its first ever Can-Am League Championship.
Rox DH Guye Senjem was named the Rox Most Valuable Player for 2006, and RHP John Kelly was named the team's Most Valuable Pitcher.
Senjem, a Minnesota native, began his professional career with the St. Paul Saints in 1997. Before arriving in Brockton in 2005, he spent time in the Cincinnati Reds and Colorado Rockies organizations. He set an early tone for a successful 2006 campaign with a game-winning solo home run in the 10th inning on Opening Night at Campanelli Stadium. He went on to tie the franchise mark for home runs in a single season with 14, and led the team in home runs, and runs batted in. Twice, the left-handed hitter was named the Can-Am League’s Batter of the Week. In addition, he was named to the League's post-season All-Star team.
John Kelly was acquired by the Rox in a trade with the New Jersey Jackals in the month of June. The right-handed veteran made an immediate impact, and was nearly perfect after joining the team. He recorded a save in his first appearance, and proceeded to win his first five starts with the Rox. In 15 appearances with Brockton, he was 8-1 with a 1.92 ERA. He posted double-digit victories for the second consecutive season, finishing with 10 wins overall this year.
Before the 2009 season, the Rox hired former Atlantic City Surf President and Director of Baseball Operations Chris Carminucci as field manager. In 2009 the team won 56 games, a franchise record which was also best in the league. They lost in the first round of the playoffs, 3–1, to the eventual champion, the Quebec Capitales. Towards the end of the season, it became known that owners and management were $300,000 in debt, and they were looking to the city to restructure their lease commitments. However, with Carminucci Sports Group, which holds stock in several other minor league baseball teams in the Can-Am's sister league the American Association, taking control as the club's new managing partner, the Rox have been stabilized have had a tremendously successful 2010 season, working hard toward the playoffs.
On January 4, 2011 the Rox announced the signing of Bill Buckner as their new manager. [1]
In December 2011, it was announced that the Rox would become an amateur collegiate summer baseball team and play in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League in 2012. [2]
Rhett Wiseman, while playing for the Rox, was named the top prospect in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League in 2012, even though he was the only high school player on a roster of college-age players. [3]
In 2014 Zack Short was awarded the Adam Keenan Sportsmanship and Scholarship Award and manager Bryan Stark was named the Manager of the Year. [4]
Year | Divisional Series | NEL Championship Series | ||
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2003 | New Jersey Jackals | W (3–1) | North Shore Spirit | W (3–0) |
Year | Semifinals | Can-Am League Finals | ||
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2005 | Québec Capitales | L (0–3) | ||
2006 | New Haven County Cutters | W (3–1) | Québec Capitales | L (2–3) |
2009 | Québec Capitales | L (1–3) | ||
2010 | Pittsfield Colonials | L (1–3) | ||
2011 | Québec Capitales | L (0–3) |
Year | Play-In Round** | Semi-Final Round* | FCBL Championship | |||
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2012 | Nashua Silver Knights | L (0–2) | ||||
2013 | North Shore Navigators | W (1–0) | Nashua Silver Knights | L (0–2) | ||
2014 | Pittsfield Suns | L (0–1) | ||||
2015 | Worcester Bravehearts | L (0–1) | ||||
2016 | North Shore Navigators | L (0–1) | ||||
2017 | Bye | Worcester Bravehearts | L (0–2) | |||
2018 | Nashua Silver Knights | W (1–0) | Martha's Vineyard Sharks | L (1–2) | ||
2019 | Bye | Worcester Bravehearts | L (1–2) |
The official colors of the Brockton Rox are navy blue, red, and silver. The primary logo consists of the "Rox" wordmark in red with navy blue outline, with a pair of boxing gloves (an allusion to two boxers from Brockton: Rocky Marciano and Marvelous Marvin Hagler).
The Brockton Rox game cap is navy blue with the "B" cap logo centered on the front in red with white outline.
The Rox adopted new colors following the 2010 season; the team previously wore green, black, white, and brown.
K-O the Boxing Kangaroo is the team's mascot, due to Brockton's heritage of boxing. He debuted in 2003, and the original performer from that season was hired by the then-Tampa Bay Devil Rays to serve as their mascot. She also went on to mascot for the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning, and currently also runs her own mascot costume company, Amazing! Mascots Inc., which is where K-O's current costume was made.
The team's only retired numbers are those of men who didn't play baseball professionally. The retired numbers represent the number of fights won by two famous boxers from the area: undefeated heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano (#49) and middleweight champion "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler (#62). On May 23, 2005 the club gave a roster spot to former Boston Red Sox pitcher and colorful personality Oil Can Boyd. Boyd was not re-signed in 2006, and is currently out of baseball. Also, in 2005, the team made headlines by offering Theo Epstein a position with the team. [5]
Marvelous Marvin Hagler was an American professional boxer. He competed in boxing from 1973 to 1987 and reigned as the undisputed champion of the middleweight division from 1980 to 1987, making twelve successful title defenses, all but one by knockout. Hagler also holds the highest knockout percentage of all undisputed middleweight champions at 78 percent. His undisputed middleweight championship reign of six years and seven months is the second-longest active reign of the 20th century. He holds the record for the sixth longest reign as champion in middleweight history. Nicknamed "Marvelous" and annoyed that network announcers often did not refer to him as such, Hagler legally changed his name to "Marvelous Marvin Hagler" in 1982.
Brockton is a city in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States; the population was 105,643 at the 2020 United States census. Along with Plymouth, it is one of the two county seats of Plymouth County. It is the sixth-largest city in Massachusetts and is sometimes referred to as the "City of Champions", due to the success of native boxers Rocky Marciano and Marvin Hagler, as well as its successful Brockton High School sports programs. Two villages within it are Montello and Campello, both of which have MBTA Commuter Rail Stations and post offices. Campello is the smallest neighborhood, but also the most populous. Brockton hosts a baseball team, the Brockton Rox. It is the second-windiest city in the United States, with an average wind speed of 14.3 mph (23.0 km/h).
Rocco Francis Marchegiano, better known as Rocky Marciano, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1947 to 1955. He held the world heavyweight championship from 1952 to 1956, and remains the only heavyweight champion to finish his career undefeated. His six title defenses were against Jersey Joe Walcott, Roland La Starza, Ezzard Charles (twice), Don Cockell and Archie Moore.
The North Shore Spirit was a minor-league baseball team based in Lynn, Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007. The Spirit played in the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball, an independent league that is not affiliated with Major League Baseball or with the Minor League Baseball organization. The team was originally known as the Waterbury Spirit, based out of Waterbury, Connecticut.
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.
Campanelli Stadium is a stadium in Brockton, Massachusetts. It is primarily used for baseball and is the home field of the Brockton Rox baseball team of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League summer league. Starting in 2024, it will also be home to the New England Knockouts of the Frontier League. The Stadium was named after Alfred Campanelli who donated $2 million to Brockton, Massachusetts to fund a project that would "substantially benefit the people of Brockton." The stadium opened in 2002 and holds 4,750 people.
Edward William Nottle, nicknamed "Singing Ed" because of his avocation as a singer, is a former Minor League Baseball relief pitcher and manager.
Brockton High School, established in 1870, is a high school located in Brockton, Massachusetts. It is a part of Brockton Public Schools. As of 2016 Brockton High School, with 4,029 students, is one of the largest high schools in the United States and the largest high school in Massachusetts. Brockton High School's colors are Black & Red and their mascot is the Boxers, which is a reference to the storied boxing history of the city, and also a tribute to hall-of-fame boxers Rocky Marciano and Marvin Hagler, who are both from Brockton and alumni of Brockton High School.
Reginald Bernard "Reggie" Williams is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the California / Anaheim Angels and Los Angeles Dodgers. He played college baseball at USC Salkehatchie and later at USC Aiken.
Guerino "Goody" Petronelli was an American boxing trainer and co-manager.
The Torrington Titans were a collegiate summer baseball team that played in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL) of New England. They played their inaugural season in the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League, a collegiate summer baseball league. After leading the ACBL in attendance in 2010, the team was sold to the Carminucci Sports Group (CSG), which transferred the team to the newly founded FCBL. The Titans played home games at Fuessenich Park in downtown Torrington.
The Martha's Vineyard Sharks is a collegiate summer baseball team based on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. It was a charter member of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL), a wood-bat league comprising seven teams from New Hampshire to western Connecticut. The Sharks played in the FCBL from 2010 to 2018 before switching to the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL), where they began playing in 2019. In 2019 the Sharks posted the best regular-season record in the league and won a best-of-three series against the Newport Gulls to win the Southern Division, but ultimately lost 2–0 in the NECBL Championship to the Keene Swamp Bats. The team's mascot is likely a reference to the film Jaws, which was filmed on Martha's Vineyard and made it a popular tourist destination.
The Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL) is an eight-team collegiate summer baseball league. It has four franchises in Massachusetts, two in Connecticut, and one each in New Hampshire and Vermont.
The Worcester Tornadoes were a professional baseball team based in Worcester, Massachusetts, in the United States. The Tornadoes were a member of the Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball, an independent baseball league which was not affiliated with Major League Baseball. The Tornadoes played their home games at Hanover Insurance Park at Fitton Field, on the College of the Holy Cross campus.
The Nashua Silver Knights is a collegiate summer baseball team based in Nashua, New Hampshire. It is a charter member of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL), a wood-bat league with a 64-game regular season comprising eight teams ranging from New Hampshire to western Connecticut. The team's home games are played at Holman Stadium in Nashua. The team is owned by John Creedon Jr, who also owns the Worcester Bravehearts.
The Pittsfield Suns are a summer collegiate baseball team based in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA, that plays in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL) of New England. The team's home games are played at Wahconah Park in Pittsfield.
The Worcester Bravehearts are a summer collegiate baseball team based in Worcester, Massachusetts, US, that plays in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL) of New England starting in 2014. The team's home games are played at Hanover Insurance Park at Fitton Field in Worcester.
The Westfield Starfires are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Westfield, Massachusetts. They play in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL), a wood-bat league with a 56-game regular season comprising eight teams from northern Vermont to western Connecticut. The team, owned by Chris Thompson, plays its home games at Bullens Field in Westfield.
Juaron Donovan Watts-Brown is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Toronto Blue Jays organization. He is ranked 9th on Major League Baseball's 2023 Top 30 Blue Jays prospects list.
The New England Knockouts are a professional baseball team based in Brockton. The Knockouts compete in the Frontier League (FL), one of several independent baseball leagues throughout the United States and Canada that serves as a Major League Baseball Partner League. They are member of the East Division.
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: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)Achievements | ||
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Preceded by | Northeast League Champions Brockton Rox 2003 | Succeeded by |