The Class-A Kissimmee Cobras moved from the Florida State League to Lexington following the 2000 season and changed their name to the Lexington Legends. The 2001 season began under managerJ. J. Cannon. The team finished their first regular season with 92 wins and 48 losses and first place in the sixteen-team South Atlantic League. In the postseason, the Legends defeated the Hagerstown Suns in the first round and advanced to play the Asheville Tourists in the League Championship Series. However, the series was canceled after the Legends won the first two games due to the September 11 attacks, and the Legends were declared co-champions after having gone up 2–0 before game three was canceled.
Cannon returned to manage in 2002 and led the team to another winning record, but the Legends failed to qualify for the playoffs. Lexington returned to the playoffs in 2003 but was defeated by the Lake County Captains in the first round. In 2004, the Legends finished with a record of 68–72, their first losing record in team history. The following season, the Legends posted an 81–58 regular season record and finished in first place under manager Tim Bogar.
Roger Clemens
On May 31, 2006, Roger Clemens announced that he would come out of retirement to pitch for the Houston Astros for the remainder of the 2006 season. Clemens, planning to keep himself to a strict 60-pitch limit, returned to baseball with the Legends, where his oldest son Koby played. Father and son denied reports that Koby would catch his dad for the return. "He doesn't listen to me," Roger Clemens said. "We'd be shaking each other off and arguing too much."[5] In his first game, Clemens threw 62 pitches, allowed no walks, and only one run while striking out 6 batters in three innings of work with the Legends, who won the game 5–1.
Joe Mikulik incident
The team received national attention again in 2006 following a controversial game against the Asheville Tourists on June 25. In the fifth inning of the game, Tourists manager Joe Mikulik went on an extended tirade after being ejected from the game following an argument with an umpire. The event received coverage on various television programs, including NBC's The Tonight Show, ESPN's Pardon the Interruption and SportsCenter, and MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Roger Clemens' appearance as a Legend and Joe Mikulik's meltdown are chronicled in the 2011 documentary film Legendary: When Baseball Came to the Bluegrass.
2021 and beyond
The Lexington Legends were one of the minor league teams that lost MLB affiliation under a new plan by MLB.[6] On February 18, 2021, the team announced that it would be joining the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, an independent MLB Partner league, for the 2021 season.[7]
On October 28, 2022, the team and their ballpark were sold to Nathan and Keri Lyons.[8][9]
2023 name change
It was announced March 6, 2023, that the team was changing its name to the Lexington Counter Clocks.[10] For that season, their ballpark was known as Counter Clocks Field.[citation needed]
2024 sale and name change
It was announced January 25, 2024, that the team had been sold to Temerity Baseball along with several local investors.[1] On February 15, 2024, it was announced the team would be renamed back to the Lexington Legends.[11]
Branding and mascots
Logo of the Counter Clocks (2023)
The Legends' mascot from 2001 to 2022 was Big L, a mustachioed baseball player caricature. His best friend was Pee Wee, another team mascot. The team's colors were blue, green, and yellow.
Along with its new name, in 2023 the Lexington Counter Clocks introduced two new mascots: Hoss, a horse that races to the left, and Dinger, a clock swinging a bat.[12] The team's colors are now blue, red, and white.
Along with the name change announced on February 15, 2024, a new mascot was introduced: Mighty Lex, a baseball with arms, legs, and the same mustache worn by past mascot Big L.[11]
Season by season results
Since its inception, the Lexington franchise has played 22 seasons, initially in the South Atlantic League (2001–2019) and later in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (2021–present). As of the completion of the 2022 season, the club had played in 2,886 regular season games and compiled a record of 1,400–1,486 for a .485 winning percentage. The team postseason record was 19–8.
aThis column indicates overall wins and losses during the regular season and excludes any postseason play.
bThis column indicates overall position in the league standings.
cThis column indicates overall position in the divisional standings[split seasons for 2013 and 2014].
dDetermined by finding the difference in wins plus the difference in losses divided by two, this column indicates "games behind" the team that finished in overall first place in the division [split seasons for 2013 and 2014].
eThis column indicates wins and losses during the postseason.
fDue to the September 11 attacks, the 2001 best-of-five League Championship Series against Asheville was cancelled. Asheville and Lexington were declared SAL Co-Champions.
The Lexington Legends honored ten past members of the organization by inducting them into the Lexington Legends Hall of Fame.[13] These individuals are:
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