Lexington Legends
Encyclopedia
The Lexington Legends are a minor league baseball
team of the South Atlantic League
(SAL), and the Class A affiliate of the Houston Astros
. They are located in Lexington, Kentucky
, and play their home games at Whitaker Bank Ballpark, located in an industrial area on the northeast side of the city just inside New Circle Road
(the city's inner beltway). The team's mascot is "Big L", a mustachioed baseball player.
Joe Cannon. That year, the team finished the regular season with an overall record of 92 wins and 48 losses; this was the best record 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. The series, however, was cancelled due to the September 11 attacks and the Legends and Tourists were declared Co-League Champions.
Cannon returned to manage in 2002 and led the team to another winning season. The Legends narrowly missed advancing to playoffs that season. Lexington made a return trip to the playoffs in 2003, but they were defeated by the Lake County Captains
in the first round.
In 2004, the Legends finished with a record of 68 and 72, the first losing record in team history. They returned to their winning ways in 2005 when manager Tim Bogar
led the way to an overall 81 and 58 regular season record, a SAL best.
would be coming out of retirement for the third time to pitch
for the Houston Astros for the remainder of the 2006 season. Planning to keep himself to a strict 60-pitch limit, Clemens returned to baseball with the Legends where his oldest son, Koby
, played. Father and son quashed 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." He threw 62 pitches, allowed no walks
, and only 1 run while striking out
6 batters in three innings of work with the Legends, who won the game, 5–1.
The team came into the national spotlight for a second time as a result of events that occurred during a game with the Asheville Tourists on June 25, 2006. In the fifth inning of that 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 coverate on various television programs including NBC
's The Tonight Show
, ESPN
's Pardon the Interruption
and SportsCenter
, and MSNBC
's Countdown with Keith Olbermann
.
Ryan Thompson
Minor league baseball
Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...
team of the South Atlantic League
South Atlantic League
The South Atlantic League is a minor league baseball league based chiefly in the Southeastern United States, with the exception of three teams in the Mid-Atlantic States...
(SAL), and the Class A affiliate of the Houston Astros
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team located in Houston, Texas. They are a member of the National League Central division. The Astros are expected to join the American League West division in 2013. Since , they have played their home games at Minute Maid Park, known as Enron Field...
. They are located in Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
, and play their home games at Whitaker Bank Ballpark, located in an industrial area on the northeast side of the city just inside New Circle Road
New Circle Road
New Circle Road, also known as Kentucky Route 4, is a Kentucky state highway that serves as an inner beltway around Lexington, which is part of the consolidated city-county government with Fayette County....
(the city's inner beltway). The team's mascot is "Big L", a mustachioed baseball player.
2001–2005
The Lexington Legends began their inaugural season in 2001 under the guidance of managerManager (baseball)
In baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized...
Joe Cannon. That year, the team finished the regular season with an overall record of 92 wins and 48 losses; this was the best record in the sixteen team South Atlantic League. In the postseason, the Legends defeated the Hagerstown Suns
Hagerstown Suns
The Hagerstown Suns are a Minor League Baseball team based in Hagerstown, Maryland, United States. They play in Municipal Stadium, which was opened in 1930 and seats 4,600 fans....
in the first round and advanced to play the Asheville Tourists
Asheville Tourists
The Asheville Tourists are a minor league baseball team based in Asheville, North Carolina, USA. They play in the Class A South Atlantic League and have been a farm team of the Colorado Rockies since 1994....
in the League Championship Series. The series, however, was cancelled due to the September 11 attacks and the Legends and Tourists were declared Co-League Champions.
Cannon returned to manage in 2002 and led the team to another winning season. The Legends narrowly missed advancing to playoffs that season. Lexington made a return trip to the playoffs in 2003, but they were defeated by the Lake County Captains
Lake County Captains
The Lake County Captains are a minor league baseball team in Eastlake, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. The team, a Class A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians, plays in the Midwest League....
in the first round.
In 2004, the Legends finished with a record of 68 and 72, the first losing record in team history. They returned to their winning ways in 2005 when manager Tim Bogar
Tim Bogar
Timothy Paul Bogar is a former Major League Baseball infielder. Currently, Bogar is the third base coach for the Boston Red Sox.-Playing career:...
led the way to an overall 81 and 58 regular season record, a SAL best.
2006
On May 31, 2006, it was announced that Roger ClemensRoger Clemens
William Roger Clemens , nicknamed "Rocket", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who broke into the league with the Boston Red Sox, whose pitching staff he would help anchor for 12 years. Clemens won seven Cy Young Awards, more than any other pitcher. He played for four different teams over...
would be coming out of retirement for the third time to pitch
Pitch (baseball)
In baseball, a pitch is the act of throwing a baseball toward home plate to start a play. The term comes from the Knickerbocker Rules. Originally, the ball had to be literally "pitched" underhand, as with pitching horseshoes. Overhand throwing was not allowed until 1884.The biomechanics of...
for the Houston Astros for the remainder of the 2006 season. Planning to keep himself to a strict 60-pitch limit, Clemens returned to baseball with the Legends where his oldest son, Koby
Koby Clemens
Koby Aaron Clemens is the eldest son of major league pitcher Roger Clemens, and a right-handed first baseman in professional baseball.-Early life:...
, played. Father and son quashed 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." He threw 62 pitches, allowed no walks
Base on balls
A base on balls is credited to a batter and against a pitcher in baseball statistics when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls balls. It is better known as a walk. The base on balls is defined in Section 2.00 of baseball's Official Rules, and further detail is given in 6.08...
, and only 1 run while striking out
Strike Out
Strike Out, , North American Harness racing championStrike Out was born in 1969 at Castleton Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, and is by Bret Hanover out of the mare Golden Miss....
6 batters in three innings of work with the Legends, who won the game, 5–1.
The team came into the national spotlight for a second time as a result of events that occurred during a game with the Asheville Tourists on June 25, 2006. In the fifth inning of that game, Tourists manager Joe Mikulik
Joe Mikulik
Joseph "Joe" Mikulik, born October 30, 1963 in Weimar, Texas, is a former minor league baseball player and the current manager of the Asheville Tourists class A minor league baseball team. The 5' 11" right-handed outfielder never rose above AAA baseball, but was a key player in the Tucson Toros'...
went on an extended tirade after being ejected from the game following an argument with an umpire. The event received coverate on various television programs including NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
, ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
's Pardon the Interruption
Pardon the Interruption
Pardon the Interruption is a sports television show that airs weekdays on various ESPN TV channels, TSN, ESPN America, XM, and Sirius satellite radio services, and as a downloadable podcast. It is hosted by Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon, who discuss, and frequently argue over, the top stories...
and SportsCenter
SportsCenter
SportsCenter is a daily sports news television show, and the flagship program of American cable network ESPN since the network launched on September 7, 1979. Originally broadcast only daily, SportsCenter is now shown up to twelve times a day, replaying the day's scores and highlights from major...
, and MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
's Countdown with Keith Olbermann
Countdown with Keith Olbermann
Countdown with Keith Olbermann is an hour-long weeknight news and political commentary program that airs on Current TV, where it began airing on June 20, 2011. The program was broadcast on MSNBC from March 31, 2003, to January 21, 2011. On MSNBC, the show presented five selected news stories of...
.
2007 – present
The Legends experienced three straight losing season from 2007 to 2009. In 2007, the team finished in 13th place overall (the second worst finish in team history) in the South Atlantic League with 59 wins and 81 losses. In 2008, the team finished in 15th place overall (the worst finish in team history) in the South Atlantic League with 45 wins and 93 losses. The 2009 Legends compiled a 68–72 record. In 2010, Lexington finished the season with a 71–68 record, good for fourth place in the division.Season-by-season results
Since its inception in Lexington, Kentucky, the Lexington Legends franchise has played ten seasons (all in the South Atlantic League as the Class A affiliate of the Houston Astros). As of the completion of the 2010 season, the club has played in 1,392 regular season games and compiled a win–loss record of 715–677; this equates to a .514 winning percentage. The team has a postseason win–loss record of 4–4.| League Champions † |
Post-season Berth ♦ |
| Season | Manager | Win % | Post-season win % | |MLB affiliate | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 † |
Joe Cannon | 92–48 | .657 | 1st | 4–0 | 1.000 | Won first round vs Hagerstown Suns Hagerstown Suns The Hagerstown Suns are a Minor League Baseball team based in Hagerstown, Maryland, United States. They play in Municipal Stadium, which was opened in 1930 and seats 4,600 fans.... , 2–0 Led Asheville Tourists Asheville Tourists The Asheville Tourists are a minor league baseball team based in Asheville, North Carolina, USA. They play in the Class A South Atlantic League and have been a farm team of the Colorado Rockies since 1994.... 2–0 in League Championship Series Declared Co-League Champions |
Houston 2001 Houston Astros season The Houston Astros' 2001 season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Houston Astros successfully attempting to win the National League Central.-Offseason:*January 2, 2001: Charlie Hayes was signed as a Free Agent with the Houston Astros.... |
||
| 2002 | Joe Cannon | 81–59 | .579 | 2nd | – | – | – | Houston 2002 Houston Astros season The Houston Astros' 2002 season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Houston Astros attempting to win the National League Central.-Roster:-Farm system:... |
||
| 2003 ♦ |
Russ Nixon Russ Nixon Russell Eugene Nixon is a former catcher, coach and manager in American Major League Baseball. A veteran of 55 years in professional baseball, Nixon has managed at virtually every level of the sport, from the lowest minor league to MLB assignments with the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves... |
75–63 | .543 | 2nd | 0–2 | .000 | Lost first round vs Lake County Captains Lake County Captains The Lake County Captains are a minor league baseball team in Eastlake, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. The team, a Class A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians, plays in the Midwest League.... , 0–2 |
Houston 2003 Houston Astros season The Houston Astros' 2003 season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Houston Astros attempting to win the National League Central.-Regular season:... |
||
| 2004 | Iván DeJesús Ivan DeJesus Iván Alvarez DeJesús is a former Major League Baseball player from 1974 to 1988 for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants, and Detroit Tigers. DeJesús was regarded as a good fielding but light hitting shortstop... |
68–72 | .486 | 7th | – | – | – | Houston 2004 Houston Astros season The Houston Astros' 2004 season was a season in which the Astros endured various changes. The biggest change was at the managerial level. Despite a 44-44 record, Jimy Williams was replaced by Phil Garner. Roger Clemens would win the NL Cy Young Award and become the fourth pitcher to win the Cy... |
||
| 2005 | Tim Bogar Tim Bogar Timothy Paul Bogar is a former Major League Baseball infielder. Currently, Bogar is the third base coach for the Boston Red Sox.-Playing career:... |
81–58 | .583 | 1st | – | – | – | Houston 2005 Houston Astros season The Houston Astros' 2005 season was a season in which the Houston Astros qualified for the postseason for the second consecutive season. The Astros overcame a sluggish 15-30 start to claim the wild card playoff spot, and would go on to win the National League pennant to advance to the World Series... |
||
| 2006 ♦ |
Jack Lind Jack Lind Jackson Hugh Lind is a retired Major League Baseball shortstop, first baseman, second baseman, and third baseman. He played during two seasons at the major league level for the Milwaukee Brewers, as well as one season in Japan for the Yomiuri Giants... |
75–63 | .543 | 3rd | 0–2 | .000 | Lost first round vs Lakewood BlueClaws Lakewood BlueClaws The Lakewood BlueClaws are a minor league baseball team that currently plays in the South Atlantic League, a Class Single-A baseball league. The team plays their home games at FirstEnergy Park located in Lakewood Township, New Jersey... , 0–2 |
Houston 2006 Houston Astros season The Houston Astros' 2006 season was the 45th in franchise history. The 2006 Astros finished in second place in the National League Central with a record of 82-80, 1½ games behind the eventual World Champion St. Louis Cardinals, after losing 3-1 to the Braves at Atlanta on the final day of the season... |
||
| 2007 | Gregg Langbehn | 59–81 | .421 | 7th | – | – | – | Houston 2007 Houston Astros season The Houston Astros' 2007 season began with the team trying to take the NL Central title back from the World Series winners, the St. Louis Cardinals, after the Cardinals won it in 2006... |
||
| 2008 | Gregg Langbehn | 45–93 | .326 | 8th | – | – | – | Houston 2008 Houston Astros season The Houston Astros' 2008 season is the 47th season for the Houston Astros. The Astros are attempting to return to the postseason, after missing the past two postseasons. They must do it without second baseman Craig Biggio, who became a member of the coveted 3,000 hit club last year.-Off Season:On... |
||
| 2009 | Tom Lawless Tom Lawless Thomas James Lawless was a Major League Baseball player between and , playing for the Cincinnati Reds, Montreal Expos, St. Louis Cardinals, and Toronto Blue Jays.... |
68–72 | .486 | 5th | – | – | – | Houston 2009 Houston Astros season The Houston Astros' 2009 season is the 48th season for the franchise in the National League in Houston, Texas and their 10th season at Minute Maid Park... |
||
| 2010 | Rodney Linares | 71–68 | .511 | 4th | – | – | – | Houston 2010 Houston Astros season The 2010 Houston Astros season was the 49th season in the history of the franchise. The team, managed by first-year manager Brad Mills, began their 11th season at Minute Maid Park and 46th as the Astros on April 5. After finishing 74-88 the year before in 5th place, the Astros finished 76-86 in 4th... |
Notable alumni
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- John Buck
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- Koby ClemensKoby ClemensKoby Aaron Clemens is the eldest son of major league pitcher Roger Clemens, and a right-handed first baseman in professional baseball.-Early life:...
- Brooks ConradBrooks ConradBrooks Litchfield Conrad , nicknamed "Raw Dog", is a Major League Baseball second baseman, third baseman, and pinch hitter for the Atlanta Braves.-Career:...
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- Kirk SaarloosKirk SaarloosKirk Craig Saarloos is a former right-handed Major League Baseball pitcher. He will join the 2011 Cal State Fullerton coaching staff as an undergraduate assistant coach. Saarloos returns to the school that propelled him to a seven-year major league career with Houston , Oakland and Cincinnati...
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Ryan Thompson
- Ben ZobristBen ZobristBenjamin Thomas "Ben" Zobrist is an American baseball player currently with Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Rays. A switch-hitter who throws right-handed, he has exhibited a versatility to play most positions with the exception of pitcher and catcher. He has been the Rays' starting second...
Legends Hall of Fame
The Legends have honored ten past members of the organization by inducting them in the Legends Hall of Fame. These individuals are:- Josh AndersonJosh Anderson (baseball)Joshua Aaron Anderson is an American Major League Baseball outfielder. He bats left-handed and throws right-handed...
, outfielderOutfielderOutfielder is a generic term applied to each of the people playing in the three defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder...
in 2004, inducted in 2005 - John Buck, catcherCatcherCatcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. This is a catcher's primary duty, but he is also called upon to master many other skills in order to...
in 2001, inducted in 2005 - Joe Cannon, managerManager (baseball)In baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized...
from 2001 to 2002, inducted in 2006 - Félix EscalonaFélix EscalonaFélix Eduardo Escalona is a Major League Baseball shortstop for the De Angelis Godo of Italy's Serie A1....
, second basemanSecond basemanSecond base, or 2B, is the second of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a base runner in order to score a run for that player's team. A second baseman is the baseball player guarding second base...
in 2001, inducted in 2005 - Mike GalloMike GalloMichael Dwain Gallo is a Major League Baseball relief pitcher who is currently a free agent.-Biography:...
, pitcherPitcherIn baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
in 2002, inducted in 2007
- Kirk SaarloosKirk SaarloosKirk Craig Saarloos is a former right-handed Major League Baseball pitcher. He will join the 2011 Cal State Fullerton coaching staff as an undergraduate assistant coach. Saarloos returns to the school that propelled him to a seven-year major league career with Houston , Oakland and Cincinnati...
, pitcher in 2001, inducted in 2006 - David Coggin, pitcher in 2005, inducted in 2008
- Alan Stein, Team President/COO, inducted in 2005
- Charley Taylor, pitching coach, inducted in 2005
- Jon Topolski, outfielder in 2001, inducted in 2005
- Tommy Whiteman, shortstopShortstopShortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball fielding position between second and third base. Shortstop is often regarded as the most dynamic defensive position in baseball, because there are more right-handed hitters in baseball than left-handed hitters, and most hitters have a tendency to pull the...
from 2001 to 2002, inducted in 2007