Vermont Lake Monsters

The Vermont Lake Monsters are a Minor League Baseball team in the Class A Short Season New York–Penn League affiliated with the Oakland Athletics. The team plays its home games at Centennial Field, one of the oldest minor league stadiums, on the University of Vermont campus in Burlington, Vermont.

Vermont Lake Monsters
Founded in 1994
Burlington, Vermont
Team logoCap insignia
Minor league affiliations
ClassShort-Season A
LeagueNew York–Penn League
DivisionStedler Division
Major league affiliations
TeamOakland Athletics (2011–present)
Previous teamsWashington Nationals (2005–2010)
Montreal Expos (1994–2004)
Minor league titles
League titles (3)
  • 1996
Division titles (8)
  • 1995
  • 1996
  • 2011
  • 2017
Team data
NicknameVermont Lake Monsters (2006–present)
Vermont Expos (1994–2005)
ColorsNavy blue, lime green, Columbia blue, white
                   
MascotChamp the lake monster
BallparkCentennial Field (1994–present)
Owner(s)/
Operator(s)
Ray Pecor Jr./Vermont Expos, Inc.
ManagerAaron Nieckula
General ManagerJoe Doud
The Lake Monsters' mascot, Champ
Third base side bleachers at Centennial Field
The grandstand at Centennial Field

The team was previously located in Jamestown, New York, (as the Jamestown Expos) from 1977 to 1993.[1]

History

Montreal Expos (1993–2004)

In 1993, Burlington businessman Ray Pecor, Jr., the owner of Lake Champlain Transportation Company in Burlington since 1976, purchased the Jamestown Expos and moved the franchise to Burlington, retaining the Expos name.[2] The Vermont Expos played their first game at Centennial Field on June 16, 1994. More than 5,000 people attended the home opener—a 6-5 loss to the Pittsfield Mets.[3]

Washington Nationals (2005–2010)

The Montreal Expos announced on September 29, 2004, that they would move to Washington, D.C., after the 2004 season. They would rename themselves the Washington Nationals. Minor League Baseball gives clubs 60 days after the end of the season to change their names and logos. Vermont did not have enough time for an identity change and retained the Expos nickname for the 2005 season.

During the 2005 season, the club announced its plan to change the nickname and solicited suggestions from its fans. The team received 30,000 fan suggestions for the new name via a name-the-team contest. The New York Times reported that the two leading contenders were "Green Mountain Boys" and "Lakemonsters".[4] At the end of the contest, the winning name was "Champs", but as the team had not made the playoffs at that point since 1995, management did not think it was appropriate.[5]

They announced the new name, "Lake Monsters", and revealed the new team colors and uniforms on November 15, 2005. The Expos colors of red, white, and blue were replaced with the Lake Monster colors of navy blue, Columbia blue, and lime green. The name references Champ, the legendary Lake Champlain monster which had been the team's mascot since 1994.[6] The club's last game as the Vermont Expos was on September 8, 2005. They opened the 2006 season as the Vermont Lake Monsters.

Expos legacy

The franchise was the last professional ball club to carry the Expos name. The team's home ballpark, Centennial Field, is 100 miles (160 km) from the Montreal Expos' last home ballpark Olympic Stadium—closer than the Boston Red Sox' Fenway Park. While baseball fans in Burlington tend to root for the Red Sox, New York Mets, or New York Yankees, Montreal was the closest Major League Baseball team until moving to Washington, D.C., 2005. Fans along the border towns rooted for the Expos until the move.

On July 22, 2005, the Vermont Expos held its first "Tribute to the Expos" promotion and honored Andre Dawson at Centennial Field.[4] While the club changed its name to the "Lake Monsters" in 2006, the organization held its second "tribute to the Expos". The club honored pitcher Dennis Martínez and wore powder-blue Expos uniforms with the Expos name on the front and a Lake Monsters patch on the left sleeve. On August 5, 2007, the Lake Monsters honored the Expos again and brought Tim Wallach to Burlington.[7]

Oakland Athletics (2011–present)

Following the 2010 season, the Lake Monsters ended their affiliation with the Nationals and entered into a new player development contract (a working relationship between Major and Minor League teams) with the Oakland Athletics. This marked the first new MLB affiliation in the Lake Monsters' 17-year history. Vermont began its first year as an affiliate of the Oakland A's in June 2011.[8]

Playoffs
  • 1995: Defeated Hudson Valley 2–0 in semifinals; lost to Watertown 2–1 in finals.
  • 1996: Defeated Pittsfield 2–0 in semifinals; defeated St. Catharines 2–1 to win championship.
  • 2011: Lost to Auburn 2–0 in semifinals.
  • 2017: Defeated Mahoning Valley 2–0 in semifinals; lost to Hudson Valley 2–0 in finals.

Notable alumni

Roster
Vermont Lake Monsters roster
Players Coaches/Other

Pitchers

  • 27 Tyler Baum
  •  6 Osvaldo Berrios
  • 16 Austin Briggs
  • 20 Vince Coletti
  • 19 Clark Cota
  • 37 Jeferson Mejia
  • 14 Jose Mora
  • 22 Richard Morban
  • 34 Michael Murray
  • 44 Yorlenis Noa
  • 28 Alexander Pantuso
  • 36 Colin Peluse
  • 16 Leudeny Pineda
  • 15 Carlos Sanchez
  • 17 Seth Shuman

Catchers

  •  9 Jorge Gordon
  • 33 Kyle McCann
  • 18 Jose Rivas

Infielders

  • 10 Marty Bechina
  •  3 Logan Davidson
  • 12 Jordan Diaz
  •  2 Yerdel Vargas

Outfielders

  •  7 Danny Bautista
  •  1 Lawrence Butler
  •  21 Dustin Harris
  • 24 Kevin Richards
  •  5 Shane Selman
  • 23 Noah Vaughan
  •  7 Josh Watson

Manager

  • -- Rick Magnante

Coaches


7-day injured list
* On Oakland Athletics 40-man roster
# Rehab assignment
∞ Reserve list
‡ Restricted list
§ Suspended list
† Temporary inactive list
Roster updated October 20, 2019
 Transactions
→ More rosters: MiLB • New York–Penn League
 → Oakland Athletics minor league players

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References
  1. Kilgore, Adam (September 21, 2010). "Nationals Sign Rookie Ball Agreement With Auburn". The Washington Post.
  2. Lynam, Julia (July 2004). "Uncommon Carrier". Business People-Vermont. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
  3. "A Million Reasons To Go To an Expos Game". Vermomt Business Magazine. March 3, 2001. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved March 2, 2009.
  4. Leonhardt, David (September 8, 2005). "The Last Team With the Expos Nickname Will Play Its Final Game". New York Times. Retrieved March 3, 2009.
  5. "Vermont Lake Monsters History (Vermont Lake Monsters)". TheBallparkGuide.com.
  6. "Vermont Lake Monsters Replaces Vermont Expos". OurSports Central. November 11, 2005. Retrieved February 24, 2009.
  7. Bibeau, Mathieu (July 31, 2008). "Tribute to the Expos in Burlington, Vermont with Tim Wallach". Encore Baseball Montreal. Retrieved February 24, 2009.
  8. "Lake Monsters and Athletics extend player development contract through 2018 - Vermont Business Magazine". www.vermontbiz.com.
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