Bowling Green Hot Rods

The Bowling Green Hot Rods are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the Class A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and play their home games at Bowling Green Ballpark which opened in 2009. The team is named for the city's connections to the automotive and racing industries such as the National Corvette Museum, Holley Carburetor, Beech Bend Raceway, and the Bowling Green Assembly Plant.

Bowling Green Hot Rods
Founded in 2009
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Team logoCap insignia
Minor league affiliations
ClassClass A
LeagueMidwest League (2010–present)
DivisionEastern Division
Previous leagues
South Atlantic League (2009)
Major league affiliations
TeamTampa Bay Rays (2009–present)
Minor league titles
League titles (1)2018
Division titles (2)
  • 2007
  • 2018
First half titles (2)
  • 2011
  • 2018
Team data
Nickname
  • Bowling Green Hot Rods (2009–present)
Previous names
Columbus Catfish (2003-2008)
BallparkBowling Green Ballpark (2009–present)
Owner(s)/
Operator(s)
Jack Blackstock
ManagerBlake Butera
General ManagerEric C. Leach
Axle
Roscoe
Axle and Roscoe, the Hot Rods' mascots

History

The Hot Rods began life as the Wilmington Waves, one of two South Atlantic League expansion teams for the 2001 season. However, the Waves' stay at Brooks Field in Wilmington, North Carolina, lasted but a single season. They became the South Georgia Waves when the team was moved to the Paul Eames Sports Complex in Albany, Georgia, for the 2002 season. The team retained the moniker name when it again moved to Golden Park in Columbus, Georgia, just before the 2003 campaign. One year later, in 2004, the franchise changed names and became the Columbus Catfish.

In April 2008, ownership moved the team to Bowling Green effective for the 2009 season under the new nickname "Hot Rods." Their first manager as the Hot Rods was Matt Quatraro.[1]

In 2010, the Hot Rods and the Lake County Captains moved from the South Atlantic League to the Midwest League,[2] a plan meant to alleviate travel expenses associated with routine road trips as well as player movement within the teams' respective organizations.

In December 2013, Art Solomon, owner of the Hot Rods for five years, sold the team to Manhattan Capital Sports headed by Stuart Katzoff.[3] The Hot Rods have been widely recognized for their promotional efforts. In 2009, the team's "What Could've Been Night" was named Promotion of the Year by MiLB.com.[4] In 2010, Hot Rods Assistant General Manager Greg Coleman was honored as Marketer of the Year by the Professional Marketing Association.

In September 2018, the team was sold to Jack Blackstock who had previously been a minority investor in the team.[5]

That year, the Hot Rods won 90 games and captured their first ever Midwest League title, under then manager Craig Albernaz.

Season records
SeasonAffiliationManagerRecord
2009RaysMatt Quatraro64-75, 3rd place South
2010RaysBrady Williams61-78, 6th place East
2011RaysBrady Williams77-63, 3rd place East
2012RaysBrady Williams80-60, 2nd place East
2013RaysJared Sandberg82-56, 1st place East
2014RaysMichael Johns61-77, 8th place East
2015RaysReinaldo Ruiz69-69, 6th place East
2016RaysReinaldo Ruiz84-55, 1st place East (tie)
2017RaysReinaldo Ruiz72-65, 3rd place East
2018RaysCraig Albernaz90-49, 1st place East
2019RaysReinaldo Ruiz81-58, 2nd place East

Playoffs
SeasonQuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinals
2009---
2010---
2011L, 2-0, Fort Wayne--
2012L, 2-0, Lake County--
2013L, 2-0, Fort Wayne--
2014---
2015---
2016L, 2-1, Great Lakes--
2017L, 2-0, Fort Wayne--
2018W, 2-0, LansingW, 2-0, West MichiganW, 3-1, Peoria
2019L, 2-0, South Bend--

Bowling Green Ballpark
Main article: Bowling Green Ballpark
  • Address: 300 E 8th Ave, Bowling Green, KY 42101
  • Opened: April 17, 2009
  • Seating capacity: 4,559
  • Dimensions: LF – 318 ft, CF – 400 ft, RF – 326 ft

Media coverage

Shawn Murnin broadcasts Hot Rods' home and away games on WBGN locally.

Mascots

One of the Hot Rods' mascots is an anamorphic bear named Axle. Debuting in 2009, he wears an orange Hot Rods uniform, number 00. The Hot Rods' furry, fun-loving bear has captivated crowds at Bowling Green Ballpark while making good on his promise to become a true community ambassador. Roscoe is the Hot Rods' second mascot, debuting during the 2010 season. He is a Grease Monkey who wears a navy Hot Rods jersey.

Turbo is a Golden Retriever who was adopted into the Hot Rods family on December 13, 2019.[6] He is currently training to become a "batdog", retrieving bats and balls and returning them to the Hot Rods' dugout, as well as delivering balls to the home plate umpire, for the 2021 season. Turbo is one of a few bat dogs in Minor League Baseball.

Roster
Bowling Green Hot Rods roster
Players Coaches/Other

Pitchers

  • 18 Shane Baz
  • 14 Michael Costanzo
  • 40 Hector Figueroa
  • -- Austin Franklin
  • 17 Miller Hogan
  • 34 Matthew Liberatore
  • 30 Easton McGee
  • -- Luis Moncada
  • 10 Chris Muller
  • 29 Joel Peguero
  • 24 Caleb Sampen
  • 23 Nick Sprengel
  • 16 Alan Strong
  • 11 Zach Trageton
  • 13 Nathan Witt

Catchers

  • 28 Roberto Alvarez
  • 26 Chris Betts
  • 21 Erik Ostberg

Infielders

  •  8 Jonathan Aranda
  •  3 Osmy Gregorio
  •  9 Ford Proctor
  •  2 Seaver Whalen

Outfielders

  •  6 Ruben Cardenas
  • 20 Tony Pena
  • 25 Jordan Qsar
  •  1 Nick Schnell
  • 22 Grant Witherspoon

Manager

  • -- Blake Butera

Coaches

  • -- Skeeter Barnes (coach)
  • 31 Jim Paduch (hitting)
  • -- Wuarnner Rincones (coach)


7-day injured list
* On Tampa Bay Rays 40-man roster
# Rehab assignment
∞ Reserve list
‡ Restricted list
§ Suspended list
† Temporary inactive list
Roster updated February 16, 2020
 Transactions
→ More rosters: MiLB • Midwest League
 → Tampa Bay Rays minor league players

Alumni

The following are players in Major League Baseball who played, at one time, for the Hot Rods. Players are listed under the team they debuted for.

Tampa Bay Rays
San Francisco Giant
Arizona Diamondbacks
Detroit Tigers
Los Angeles Angels
Texas Rangers
Miami Marlins
Kansas City Royals
  • Wilking Rodriguez
San Diego Padres
Washington Nationals
  • Felipe Vazquez
Baltimore Orioles
Philadelphia Phillies
Los Angeles Dodgers
Colorado Rockies
  • German Marquez
Toronto Blue Jays
Seattle Mariners
St. Louis Cardinals
  • Genesis Cabrera

References
  1. "Bowling Green Daily News". Nl.newsbank.com. January 8, 2009. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  2. Czerwinski, Kevin T. "Lake County, Bowling Green shifting to MWL." Minor League Baseball. September 2, 2008. Retrieved on September 20, 2008.
  3. Fuerst, Hank "It's Official: BG Hot Rods Sold" Archived January 7, 2014, at the Wayback Machine WBKO. December 11, 2013. Retrieved on January 7, 2014
  4. Hill, Benjamin "Hot Rods claim year's best promo." Minor League Baseball. October 14, 2009. Retrieved on December 10, 2010.
  5. Spedden, Zach (September 28, 2018). "Sale of Bowling Green Hot Rods Approved". Ballpark Digest. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  6. minorleaguebaseball (December 13, 2019). "Bowling Green Gets Bat Dog - Meet Turbo!". Youtube. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
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