Lexington Legends

The Lexington Legends are a Minor League Baseball team in Lexington, Kentucky. They are a member of the South Atlantic League (SAL) and are the Class A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. The plays their home games at Whitaker Bank Ballpark, located in a commercial area on the northeast side of the city just inside New Circle Road. The team's mascot is "Big L", a mustachioed baseball player and his best friend is Pee Wee.

Lexington Legends Founded in 2001 Lexington, Kentucky
Team logo Cap insignia
Minor league affiliations
Class	Single A (2001–present)
League	South Atlantic League (2001–present)
Division	Southern Division (2009–present)
Major league affiliations
Team	Kansas City Royals (2013–present)
Previous teams	Houston Astros (2001–2012)
Minor league titles
League titles (3)	2001 2018 2019
Division titles (3)	2001 2018 2019
Team data
Nickname	Lexington Legends (2001–present)
Ballpark	Whitaker Bank Ballpark (2001–present)
Owner(s)/ Operator(s)	Susan Martinelli Shea, Andy Shea / STANDS LLC
Manager	Brooks Conrad
General Manager	Gary Durbin
President	Andy Shea

History

The Class-A Kissimmee Cobras moved from the Florida State League to Lexington following the 2000 season. The 2001 season began under manager J. J. Cannon. The team finished their first regular season with record of 92 wins and 48 losses and in first place of 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 cancelled after the Legends won the first two games of the series due to the September 11 attacks and the Legends were declared 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 made a return trip to the playoffs in 2003, but were 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.

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. 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 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."[1] In his first game, Clemens 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 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 as well as Joe Mikulik's meltdown are chronicled in the 2011 documentary film Legendary: When Baseball Came to the Bluegrass.

On September 19, 2012, WLEX-TV in Lexington reported that the Legends would change their affiliation from Major League Baseball's Houston Astros to the Kansas City Royals.[2]

The Lexington Legends are reportedly one of the minor league teams that would lose MLB affiliation under a new plan proposed by the MLB.[3]

Season by season results

Since their inception, the Lexington Legends franchise has played 13 seasons - all in the South Atlantic League. As of the completion of the 2016 season, the club has played in 2,225 regular season games and compiled a record of 1,079–1,146, or a .485 winning percentage. The team has a postseason record of 9-5.

League Champions †

Post-season Berth ♦

Season	Manager	Record^[a]	Win %	League^[b]	Division^[c]	GB^[d]	Post-season record^[e]	Post-season win %	Result	MLB affiliate
2001 †	Joe Cannon	92–48	.657	1st	1st	–	4–0	1.000	Won division series vs Hagerstown Suns, 2–0 Led Asheville Tourists 2–0 in League Championship Series Declared Co-League Champions^[f]	Houston
2002	Joe Cannon	81–59	.579	2nd	2nd	2½	–	–	–	Houston
2003 ♦	Russ Nixon	75–63	.543	7th	2nd	25	0–2	.000	Lost division series vs Lake County Captains, 0–2	Houston
2004	Iván DeJesús	68–72	.486	10th	7th	17	–	–	–	Houston
2005	Tim Bogar	81–58	.583	1st	1st	—	–	–	–	Houston
2006 ♦	Jack Lind	75–63	.543	5th	3rd	8½	0–2	.000	Lost division series vs Lakewood BlueClaws, 0–2	Houston
2007	Gregg Langbehn	59–81	.421	13th	7th	25	–	–	–	Houston
2008	Gregg Langbehn	45–93	.326	16th	8th	34	–	–	–	Houston
2009	Tom Lawless	68–72	.486	9th	5th	8½	–	–	–	Houston
2010	Rodney Linares	71–68	.511	6th	4th	8½	–	–	–	Houston
2011	Rodney Linares	59–79	.428	12th	6th	19½	–	–	–	Houston
2012	Iván DeJesús	69–69	.500	7th	4th	18	–	–	–	Houston
2013	Brian Buchanan	68–70	.493	8th	6th/4th	9.5/10	–	–	–	Kansas City
2014	Brian Buchanan	57-83	.407	11th	6th/6th	17/20.5	–	–	–	Kansas City
2015	Omar Ramirez	58-80	.420	12th	6th	26.5	–	–	–	Kansas City
2016	Omar Ramirez	52-87	.374	13th	7th					Kansas City
2017	Scott Thorman	62-75-1	.453	12th	6th	16				Kansas City
2018 †	Scott Thorman	76-60	.559	2nd	1st	-	5-1	.833	Won division series vs Rome Braves 2-0 Won League Championship Series vs Lakewood BlueClaws 3-1 League Champions	Kansas City
2019 †	Brooks Conrad	68-70	.493	7th	3rd	9	5-1	.833	Won division series vs Augusta Greenjackets 2-0 Won League Championship Series vs Hickory Crawdads 3-1 League Champions	Kansas City

Notes

• ^a This column indicates overall wins and losses during the regular season and excludes any postseason play.
• ^b This column indicates overall position in the league standings.
• ^c This column indicates overall position in the divisional standings[split seasons for 2013 and 2014].
• ^d Determined 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].
• ^e This column indicates wins and losses during the postseason.
• ^f Due 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.

Roster

Lexington Legends roster

Players				Coaches/Other
Pitchers 40 Ted Cillis -- Garrett Davila 28 Daniel Duarte 29 C.J. Eldred 11 Tyler Gray 33 Zach Haake 16 Jon Heasley 14 Jaret Hellinger 34 Carlos Hernandez 24 Kyle Hinton 27 Daniel James 22 Brandon Marklund 14 Emilio Marquez 31 Charlie Neuweiler 36 Andres Nunez 19 Evan Steele		Catchers 15 Chris Hudgins 30 Nick Hutchins 25 Chase Vallot Infielders  1 Brhet Bewley  8 Nathan Eaton  7 Jeison Guzman  2 Rubendy Jaquez 21 Reed Rohlman  4 Bruce Steel Outfielders  3 Eric Cole  9 Jackson Lueck 12 Rudy Martin  6 John Rave		Manager 26 Brooks Conrad Coaches 44 Jesus Azuaje (hitting) -- Jason Goldstein (development) 17 Glenn Hubbard (bench) -- Carlos Martinez (pitching) 7-day injured list * On Kansas City Royals 40-man roster # Rehab assignment ∞ Reserve list ‡ Restricted list § Suspended list † Temporary inactive list Roster updated January 14, 2020 Transactions → More rosters: MiLB • South Atlantic League → Kansas City Royals minor league players

Legends Hall of Fame

The Legends have honored ten past members of the organization by inducting them in the Legends Hall of Fame.[4] These individuals are:

• Josh Anderson, outfielder (2004), inducted in 2005
• John Buck, catcher (2001), inducted in 2005
• Joe Cannon, manager (2001–2002), inducted in 2006
• Félix Escalona, second baseman (2001), inducted in 2005
• Mike Gallo, pitcher (2002), inducted in 2007
• Kirk Saarloos, pitcher (2001), inducted in 2006
• David Coggin, pitcher (2005), inducted in 2008
• Alan Stein, Team President/COO, inducted in 2005
• Charley Taylor, pitching coach, inducted in 2005
• Jon Topolski, outfielder (2001), inducted in 2005
• Tommy Whiteman, shortstop (2001–2002), inducted in 2007

References

General

• "Lexington, Kentucky Minor League History." Baseball-Reference. Retrieved on September 11, 2010.
• "Lexington History (SAL)." The Baseball Cube. Retrieved on September 11, 2010.

Specific

1. Bailey, Rick "Pitch and catch at the park, Clemens style FATHER, SON 'GET AT IT' IN 90-MINUTE SESSION." Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved on June 2, 2006.
2. "Lexington Legends Switching Major League Affiliation" Archived September 24, 2012, at the Wayback Machine WLEX-TV 18. Retrieved on September 19, 2012
3. "Lexington Legends part of proposed downsizing". kentucky.com. Kentucky.com. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
4. "Lexington Legends Hall of Fame." Minor League Baseball. Retrieved on September 11, 2010.

External links

• Lexington Legends official website