Lowell Spinners

The Lowell Spinners are a Class A Short Season Minor League Baseball affiliate of the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball. Founded in 1996 after the Elmira Pioneers moved to Lowell, Massachusetts, the Spinners play in the New York–Penn League, which has a Class A Short Season classification with 76 games a year, 38 of which are at home.

Lowell Spinners
Founded in 1996
Lowell, Massachusetts
Team logoCap insignia
Minor league affiliations
ClassClass A Short Season
LeagueNew York–Penn League
DivisionStedler Division (2000–present)
Major league affiliations
TeamBoston Red Sox (1996–present)
Minor league titles
Division titles (4)
  • 2008
  • 2009
  • 2016
  • 2019
Team data
NicknameLowell Spinners (1996–present)
ColorsNavy blue, red, green, white
                   
MascotCanaligator, Allie-Gator, Millie-Gator
BallparkEdward A. LeLacheur Park (1998–present)
Previous parks
Stoklosa Alumni Field (1996–1997)
Owner(s)/
Operator(s)
Dave Heller
ManagerLuke Montz

The official mascots of the Spinners are Canaligator, Allie-Gator, and Millie-Gator. They were introduced on January 19, 1996, July 8, 1999, and Opening Day 2006, respectively.[1]

For the 1996 and 1997 seasons, the Spinners played at Stoklosa Alumni Field. Since 1998, they have played at Edward A. LeLacheur Park in Lowell.[2]

History

Lowell's heritage in organized baseball dates to 1877, when the city hosted a team in the League Alliance. It was a frequent member of the Class B New England League, but had not fielded a team in minor league baseball since 1947, when the nearby Lawrence franchise transferred to Lowell on July 15.

After Smoll brought the Spinners to Lowell in 1996, Drew Weber was the team owner from 1997 until June 2016, when it was purchased by Dave Heller.[2]

The Spinners set a minor-league record in the 2000 season, as they sold every home ticket for every home game.[3] This began a streak of sold-out home games. The streak was broken on August 30, 2010, at 413 games.[2] [3]

On August 21, 2003, the Spinners sponsored a Jack Kerouac bobblehead giveaway.[4] Kerouac was a Lowell native, and played football for Lowell High School.[5] The bobblehead was accepted by Cooperstown in 2005, the first time a literary icon was accepted there.[6] The bobbleheads were so popular that many more were made than originally intended, raised $10,000 for the Jack Kerouac Scholarship Fund.[6] The enshrinement also made media headlines as far away as Los Angeles.[7]

The giveaway was repeated on August 7, 2012, when the film adaptation of On the Road was released.[5] The dolls had a bobble head as well as a "bobble arm."[8] The bobbleheads were also available online for ordering, and as the game was sponsored by the UMass Lowell English Department, their departmental scholarships received the proceeds from the online orders.[9] A third Kerouac bobblehead, featuring Kerouac in his Lowell High football uniform, was given out on July 25, 2013.[10]

In 2005, the Spinners created the "Yankees Elimination Program." They offered to pay for the uniforms to all Little Leagues and youth softball teams in New England so that they would change all teams named "Yankees" into "Spinners". Over the next five years, 150 teams in New England made the switch. The Spinners also invited the youth teams to play at LaLecheur Park, and assisted in other fundraising initiative for those teams. In 2010, the program was limited to 75 teams on a first-come, first-served basis, and it was estimated that over $70,000 had been donated to youth baseball and softball programs through the initiative. Spinners VP and GM Tim Bawmann said,“The Yankees Elimination Promotion was originally built as a fun promotion in response to parents' stories of children losing interest in the game after facing taunts simply for playing in a Yankees uniform.”[11]

On September 1, 2008, the Spinners reached the New York–Penn League playoffs for the first time, capturing the Stedler Division title. They were defeated in the playoffs by the Batavia Muckdogs. The Spinners reached the playoffs again in 2009, but lost to the Staten Island Yankees.

In October 2014, the Red Sox agreed to extend their player development contract with the Spinners for two more years through the 2016 season.[12] In November 2015, the contract was extended again through the 2018 season.[13]

In the 2016 season, the Spinners ended with a franchise-best record of 47 wins, and tied their record for home wins (25). Right fielder Tyler Hill won the NYPL batting title, and he and third baseman Bobby Dalbec became the first Spinners players to win Player of the Month awards. The Spinners won the Stedler Division title, but were swept by the Hudson Valley Renegades in the semifinals, 2–0.[14] Pitching prospect Jason Groome made his first start for the team in the playoffs, after being promoted from the Gulf Coast League Red Sox.[15]

In 2019, the Spinners finished first in their division, then defeated the Batavia Muckdogs (2 games to 1) in the semifinals, to advance to the league championship series against the Brooklyn Cyclones. The Spinners were defeated in the finals (2 games to 1), with Brooklyn winning the deciding third game of the series by a 4–3 score.[16]

Following the 2019 season, Major League Baseball (MLB) proposed dramatic changes to Minor League Baseball (MiLB) that would take effect after the current agreement that governs the MLB–MiLB relationship expires at the end of the 2020 season.[17] MLB's proposal included reducing the number of minor league teams from 160 to 120—the Spinners were included on the list of teams that could be eliminated under the proposal.[18]

Further information: Minor League Baseball § Contraction

Broadcasting

Spinners games are broadcast on Lowell talk station WCAP. For the 2007 season they were on WLLH, another Lowell AM radio station, which at the time was an ESPN Radio affiliate. The games returned to WCAP the next season.[19][20][21]

Yearly team records

Records since the team has played in Lowell (1996–present).

SeasonDivisionWLPct.Division
finish		League
rank		ManagerPlayoffs
 1996 McNamara3341.4463rd9thBilly Gardner Jr.
1997McNamara3838.5002nd6thDick Berardino
1998McNamara3244.4215th13thDick Berardino
1999McNamara3442.4476th10th (t)Luis Aguayo
2000Stedler4134.5474th5thArnie Beyeler
2001Stedler3343.4346th10thArnie Beyeler
2002Stedler3441.4532nd8thMike Boulanger
2003Stedler3935.5273rd6thJon Deeble (36–30)
Lynn Jones (3–5)
2004Stedler3244.4214th11thLuis Alicea
2005Stedler4233.5602nd5thLuis Alicea
2006Stedler3936.5203rd9thBruce Crabbe
2007Stedler4036.5262nd5thGary DiSarcina
2008Stedler4033.5481st5thGary DiSarcinaLost to Batavia 2–1 in semifinals[22]
2009Stedler4530.6001st3rd (t)Gary DiSarcinaLost to Staten Island 2–1 in semifinals[23]
2010Stedler2450.3244th14thBruce Crabbe
2011Stedler2945.3924th13thCarlos Febles
2012Stedler3640.4742nd6thBruce Crabbe
2013Stedler4033.5482nd5thBruce Crabbe
2014Stedler3738.4933rd6thJoe Oliver
2015Stedler3739.4872nd8thJoe Oliver
2016Stedler4729.6181st3rdIggy SuarezLost to Hudson Valley 2–0 in semifinals[24]
2017Stedler3342.4404th11thIggy Suarez
2018Stedler3738.4933rd9thCorey Wimberly
2019Stedler4234.5531st4thLuke MontzDefeated Batavia 2–1 in semifinals[25]
Lost to Brooklyn 2–1 in final[26]

Source:[27][28]

Notable Spinners alumni

A full list of Spinners players who played in the major leagues, with their debut dates, is maintained on the team website.[29]

Kevin Youkilis broke into pro baseball with the 2001 Spinners, and batted .317 in 59 games.
Spinners warming up at LeLacheur Park, 2009

Roster
Lowell Spinners roster
Players Coaches/Other

Pitchers

  • -- Adenys Bautista
  • 37 Brock Bell
  • 49 Brendan Cellucci
  • 61 Osvaldo De La Rosa
  • 17 Ryan Fernandez
  • 43 Kris Jackson
  • 40 Bryan Lucas
  • -- Chris Machamer
  • 28 Chris Murphy
  • 16 Yusniel Padron-Artilles
  • -- Juan Perez ‡
  • 22 Aldo Ramirez
  • 11 Jorge Rodriguez
  • 35 Kelvin Sanchez
  • 31 Yasel Santana
  • 20 Cody Scroggins
  • 46 Noah Song
  • 44 Dylan Spacke
  • -- Kevin Steen
  • 60 Miguel Suero
  • 53 Casey Sutherland
  • 41 Ryan Zeferjahn

Catchers

  • 29 Jonathan Diaz
  • 15 Jaxx Groshans
  • 58 Oscar Rangel

Infielders

  • 50 Cameron Cannon
  • 55 Joe Davis
  • 57 Alex Erro
  • 19 Antoni Flores
  • -- Xavier LeGrant
  • 47 Matthew Lugo
  • 24 Nicholas Northcut
  •  2 Keibert Petit
  • 12 Ceddanne Rafaela

Outfielders

  • 59 Luke Bandy
  • 13 Marino Campana
  • 18 Wil Dalton
  • 21 Nick Decker
  • 32 Gilberto Jimenez
  • 38 Stephen Scott

Manager

Coaches


7-day injured list
* On Boston Red Sox 40-man roster
# Rehab assignment
∞ Reserve list
‡ Restricted list
§ Suspended list
† Temporary inactive list
Roster updated March 27, 2020
 Transactions
→ More rosters: MiLB • New York–Penn League
 → Boston Red Sox minor league players

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gollark: Just keep your water pumps upstream of your sewage outflow.
gollark: Meanwhile I'm thinking up how purely functional HQ9+ ("HasQ9+") would work.
gollark: I don't agree.
gollark: no.

References
  1. "Meet the Spinners Mascot Family".MiLB.com. Accessed September 9, 2016.
  2. "Franchise History". MiLB.com. Accessed September 9, 2016.
  3. "Spinners' sellout streak ends at 413". The Lowell Sun. September 1, 2010. Accessed September 9, 2016.
  4. McConville, Christine. "Kerouac fans hit road for free dolls". Boston.com. August 22, 2003. Accessed September 9, 2016.
  5. Shanahan, Mark, and Meredith Goldstein. "Jack Kerouac gets a new bobblehead in Lowell".Boston Globe. June 27, 2012. Accessed September 9, 2016.
  6. Perry, David. "He's on the Road...to Cooperstown!". Umass Lowell. Originally published by The Lowell Sun Online, May 5, 2005. Accessed September 9, 2016.
  7. Ulin, David L."On the Road to Cooperstown". Los Angeles Times. May 23, 2005. Accessed September 9, 2016.
  8. "Jack is BACK: Kerouac Double Bobble August 7". MiLB.com. June 26, 2012. Accessed September 9, 2016.
  9. "Kerouac Bobble Head Night: Lowell Spinners vs. Brooklyn Cyclones". Lowell Celebrates Kerouac!. August 21, 2012. Accessed September 9, 2016.
  10. "Spinners Bobble Head History".MiLB.com. Accessed September 9, 2016.
  11. Civin, Todd (March 2, 2010). "Lowell Spinners Enter Fifth Year Of Yankee Elimination Program". Bleacher Report. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  12. Bollinger, Rhett. RedSoxMLB.com – Red Sox, Lowell extend player development deal through '16 "Red Sox, Lowell extend player development deal through '16".MLB.com. October 2, 2014. Accessed September 9, 2016.
  13. "Spinners, Red Sox extend affiliation deal". Ballparkdigest.com. November 10, 2015. Accessed September 9, 2016.
  14. "Renegades Sweep Ends Spinners Season".MiLB.com. September 8, 2016. Accessed September 9, 2016.
  15. Smith, Christopher. "Jason Groome, Michael Kopech, Boston Red Sox two top pitching prospects, to make playoff starts".Masslive.com. September 7, 2016. Accessed September 9, 2016.
  16. "Brooklyn tops Lowell in New York-Penn League final". The Boston Globe. AP. September 10, 2019. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  17. "Reports: MLB proposes overhaul of minor leagues, elimination of 40 teams". ESPN.com. October 18, 2019. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  18. "The Minor League Teams That Could Lose M.L.B. Ties". The New York Times. November 19, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  19. "Spinners radio broadcast returns: The entire 2008 season to be broadcast on the new 980 WCAP Radio". New York–Penn League. November 2, 2007. Retrieved June 21, 2008.
  20. Fybush, Scott (February 12, 2007). "Barber out, DePetro in at WPRO". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  21. Fybush, Scott (November 5, 2007). "C&K Out, Imus In at WABC". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  22. https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?id=4d44890d
  23. https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?id=dd0f8031
  24. https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?id=10b5fcb8
  25. @BataviaDNSports (September 6, 2019). "#NYPPlayoffs: Throw to home from Rosario not in time and @LowellSpinners win 4-3 in Game 3 of semifinal and advance to #NYPL Championship vs @BKCyclones" (Tweet). Retrieved September 6, 2019 – via Twitter.
  26. Avallone, Michael (September 10, 2019). "Cyclones rally to first outright NYPL title". MiLB.com. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  27. "Lowell Spinners". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
  28. "2018 New York-Penn League Final Standings". MiLB.com. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
  29. "Major League Spinners". MiLB,.com. Accessed September 9, 2016.
  30. "Kalish Red Sox Rookie of Year". Telegram. October 10, 2010. Retrieved March 16, 2011.
  31. Schwarz, Alan (April 4, 2009). "Perez Falters in Tune-Up, but Achieves Citi Field Milestone". The New York Times. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
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