Gary SouthShore RailCats

Last updated

Gary SouthShore RailCats
Gary-southshore-railcats.svg SouthshoreRailcatsCap.PNG
Team logoCap insignia
Information
League American Association of Professional Baseball (2011–present) (East Division)
Location Gary, Indiana
Ballpark U.S. Steel Yard
Founded 2001
League championships3
  • 2005
  • 2007
  • 2013
Division championships4
  • 2006
  • 2007
  • 2009
  • 2018
Former league(s)
ColorsGreen, maroon
  
Retired numbers 42, 45, 23, 27
OwnershipJoseph Eng
General manager Anthony Giammanco
Manager Jeff Isom
Media WEFM 95.9
Post-Tribune
The Times of Northwest Indiana
Website railcatsbaseball.com

The Gary SouthShore RailCats are a professional baseball team based in Gary, Indiana, in the United States. The RailCats are members of the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseball. [1] The RailCats started as a member of the Northern League in 2002, operating as a travel team for a season before moving in to U.S. Steel Yard in 2003, where they have played since. In 2011, the team became a member of the modern American Association.

Contents

During their time in the Northern League, the RailCats were the only team to ever reach the championship series five years in a row (2005–2009). The RailCats won Northern League championships in 2005 and 2007, and the American Association championship in 2013.

History

Inception (2001)

On January 23, 2001, the Northern League announced that it had awarded a franchise to Northwest Sports Ventures, LLC. [2] In June, a limited liability company by the name of Victory Sports Group was officially registered in Missouri, led by Michael A. Tatoian. The city signed a fifteen-year lease with the team ownership for the future baseball stadium. In September 2001, the team was officially named the Gary SouthShore RailCats, drawing its name from both the city's deep history of freight lines and the South Shore Line commuter train (visible over the left field wall at the stadium).

Northern League (2002–2010)

With stadium construction behind schedule, the RailCats were forced to play their first season entirely on the road. The city of Gary paid a financial penalty for failure to complete the stadium on time, which helped finance their season. The RailCats traveled approximately 12,000 miles (19,000 km) to play 90 games. Despite this, the club won 35 games, the most ever by a team that played exclusively on the road, and RailCats manager Joe Calfapietra was named the Northern League Manager of the Year.

In 2002, the RailCats signed a ten-year naming rights agreement with United States Steel Corporation for the stadium. Joe Calfapietra resigned as manager citing that he wanted to be closer to home. The RailCats hired former major league All-Star Garry Templeton to manage the team. The RailCats were little more than a pushover, firmly stuck in last place.

Garry Templeton returned as coach for another season leading the Cats in their worst season in 2003. In June, they had a 14-game losing streak which was the longest in Northern League history. They completed the season in last place again securing the record for the most losses for a season in Northern League history. Templeton was not retained for the next season.

Before the 2005 season, the RailCats hired Greg Tagert as manager. Tagert made a number of roster changes, and turned the RailCats from losers to winners almost immediately, ending the first half with a .563 average, the first winning average in team history. The Northern League All-Star Game was held at U.S. Steel Yard. The second half went the same as the first but ended with an upset victory making the worst team in 2004, the 2005 champions. The RailCats beat the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks to win the title.

Tagert returned as manager in 2006. The Cats were first in their division, second overall for the season. They returned to the championship series to face the RedHawks again. This time losing the title.

Tagert returned for the 2007 season. He proved that he could make the RailCats a legacy team. The RailCats appeared unstoppable all season. Winning first place both halves. The RailCats made it to the championship series against the Calgary Vipers and won their second league title.

Prior to the 2008 season, the Cats signed Tagert to an extended contract to keep him at least until the completion of the 2010 season. Lawyer Patrick A. Salvi and his wife, Lindy, purchased the RailCats. The league contracted to six teams. Due to the size, the league opted to have a single-division full season. Tagert again led the Cats in a winning season, ending in second place. They lost the championship series to the fourth-place Kansas City T-Bones, who beat the first place RedHawks in the playoffs to make it to the series.

The Cats ended the 2009 season in first place, yet again, and made it to the championship season for the fifth-straight season, but lost to the RedHawks.

The 2010 Cats finished in fourth place in the Northern League, their worst place finish in five years. For the first time since 2004, the RailCats did not reach the championship series, being swept by the RedHawks in the league semifinals.

American Association (2011–present)

On October 13, 2010, the RailCats left the Northern League, along with the RedHawks, T-Bones, and the Winnipeg Goldeyes to join the American Association for the 2011 season. [3]

In 2020, the RailCats were not selected as one of six teams to participate in a condensed American Association season as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. [4] They went on hiatus for the 2020 season, and returned to play in 2021.

After finishing in last place in the North Division with a 39–61 record in 2021, Greg Tagert left the organization after 17 years to join the San Francisco Giants organization. [5]

Season-by-season records

     First Half Second Half Overall   
SeasonLeagueDivisionW–LFinishW–LFinishW–LWin%Playoffs
2002NLSouth16–285th18–273rd35–55.389Did not qualify
2003NLEast15–305th21–245th36–54.400Did not qualify
2004NLSouth13–355th18–305th31–65.323Did not qualify
2005NLSouth27–213rd27–213rd54–42.563Won championship
2006NLSouth24–242nd27–221st51–46.526Lost championship
2007NLSouth30–181st28–201st58–38.604Won championship
2008NLN/A56–402ndN/AN/A56–40.583Lost championship
2009NLN/A57–391stN/AN/A57–39.594Lost championship
2010NLN/A52–484thN/AN/A52–48.520Lost in 1st round
2011AACentral2nd54–46.540Did not qualify
2012AACentral3rd50–50.500Did not qualify
2013AACentral2nd58–41.586Won championship
2014AACentral2nd53–47.530Did not qualify
2015AACentral3rd45–55.450Did not qualify
2016AACentral2nd52–48.520Did not qualify
2017AACentral2nd57–43.570Lost first round
2018AANorth1st59–41.590Lost first round
2019AANorth5th40–59.404Did not qualify
2020AADid not play due to COVID-19
2021AANorth6th39–61.390Did not qualify
2022AAEast5th42-58.420Did not qualify
2023AAEast6th41–58.414Did not qualify
2024AAEast5th30-70.300Did not qualify

Playoffs

Roster

Gary SouthShore RailCats roster
Active rosterCoaches/Other

Pitchers

  • 14 Nate Alexander
  •  8 Edward Cuello ‡
  • 30 Andres Diaz
  • 55 Destin Dotson ‡
  • 18 Chris Erwin
  • 47 Casey Grimm
  • 49 Ethan Hankins
  • 44 Denson Hull
  • 10 Peyton Long
  • 56 Franklin Pérez
  • 37 Julio Pinto
  • 17 Carlos Sanabria
  • 38 Josh Smith
  • 43 Tai Tiedemann
  • 50 Joan Valdez



 

Catchers

  •  7 Cooper Edwards
  •  6 Guillermo Quintana

Infielders

  •  2 Olivier Basabe
  • 34 Jose Contreras
  • 29 Gio Díaz
  • 31 Marcos Gonzalez
  •  4 Kenny Levari
  • 41 Howard Rodríguez
  • 11 Miguel Sierra

Outfielders

  • 61 Anthony Abbatine
  • 20 LG Castillo
  • 22 Francisco Del Valle
  • -- Carlos Machado ‡
  • 25 Jesús Marriaga ‡
  • 40 Carlos Rincon
 

Manager

  •  1 Lamarr Rogers

Coaches

  • 28 Jason Charbonneau (coach)
  •    Adam Gibson (trainer)
  •    Darren Kent (clubhouse manager)
  • 35 Ramon Ortiz (hitting)
  •    Brandon Osika (clubhouse manager)
  • 16 Kent Willis (pitching)

Injury icon 2.svg Disabled list
‡ Inactive list
§ Suspended list

Roster  updated August 10, 2024
 Transactions

Notable alumni

Source: [6]

Retired numbers

Robinson GAR.png Gates GAR.png Glen GAR.png Tagert GAR.png
Jackie Robinson Joe Gates [7] Willie Glen [8] Greg Tagert [9]
2B
Retired throughout
professional baseball
on April 15, 1997		 1B Coach
Retired by the
Gary SouthShore RailCats
on May 21, 2010		 P
Retired by the
Gary SouthShore RailCats
on May 5, 2014		 Manager
Retired by the
Gary SouthShore RailCats
on May 13, 2023

References

Specific
  1. ↑ "American Association, Frontier League now MLB Partner Leagues". Ballpark Digest. August Publishing. September 24, 2020. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
  2. ↑ Northern League announces Gary franchise
  3. ↑ "Four Clubs Added to American Association". Archived from the original on October 17, 2010. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
  4. ↑ "American Association unveils plans for 2020 season". americanassociationbaseball.com. Archived from the original on June 13, 2020. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  5. ↑ Nylen, Ashley. "Thank you Tagert". Gary SouthShore RailCats. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
  6. ↑ All-Time Roster
  7. ↑ RailCats assistant coach Joe Gates remembered for his baseball spirit, Northwest Indiana Times, Apr 6, 2010. Accessed April 21, 2017. "RailCats assistant coach Joe Gates remembered for his baseball spirit"
  8. ↑ RailCats retire Willie Glen's No. 23, Northwest Indiana Times, July 5, 2014. Accessed April 21, 2017. "RailCats retire Willie Glen's No. 23"
  9. ↑ RailCats Series One Preview, RailCats Baseball, May 10, 2023. Accessed February 17, 2024. "RailCats Series One Preview"
General
Achievements
Preceded by Northern League champions
Gary SouthShore RailCats
2005 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Northern League champions
Gary SouthShore RailCats
2007 		Succeeded by
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.