Lexington Legends

The Lexington Legends are an American professional baseball team based in Lexington, Kentucky. They are a member of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a "partner league" of Major League Baseball.[1][2] The Legends have played their home games at Wild Health Field, on the northeast side of the city just inside New Circle Road, since 2001.

Lexington Legends
Team logo Cap insignia
Information
LeagueAtlantic League of Professional Baseball (South Division)
LocationLexington, Kentucky
BallparkWild Health Field (2001–present)
Year founded2001
Nickname(s)Lexington Legends (2001–present)
League championships
  • 2001
  • 2018
  • 2019
  • 2021
Division championships
  • 2001
  • 2018
  • 2019
  • 2021
Former league(s)South Atlantic League (2001–2020)
ColorsBlue, green, cream, white
       
OwnershipSusan Martinelli Shea, Andy Shea, Stands LLC
ManagerP. J. Phillips
PresidentAndy 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 co-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.

Roger Clemens

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."[3] 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.

Joe Mikulik incident

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.

2021 and beyond

The Lexington Legends were one of the minor league teams that lost MLB affiliation under a new plan by the MLB.[4] On February 18, 2021, the team announced that it would be joining the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, an independent MLB Partner league, for the 2021 season.[5]

Mascots

The Legends' mascot is Big L, a mustachioed baseball player caricature. His best friend is Pee Wee, another team mascot.

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
♦
SeasonManagerRecord[a]Win %League[b]Division[c]GB[d]Post-season record[e]Post-season win %ResultMLB affiliate
2001
†		Joe Cannon92–48.6571st1st–4–01.000Won division series vs Hagerstown Suns, 2–0
Led Asheville Tourists 2–0 in League Championship Series
Declared Co-League Champions[f]		Houston
2002Joe Cannon81–59.5792nd2nd2½–––Houston
2003
♦		Russ Nixon75–63.5437th2nd250–2.000Lost division series vs Lake County Captains, 0–2Houston
2004Iván DeJesús68–72.48610th7th17–––Houston
2005Tim Bogar81–58.5831st1st—–––Houston
2006
♦		Jack Lind75–63.5435th3rd8½0–2.000Lost division series vs Lakewood BlueClaws, 0–2Houston
2007Gregg Langbehn59–81.42113th7th25–––Houston
2008Gregg Langbehn45–93.32616th8th34–––Houston
2009Tom Lawless68–72.4869th5th8½–––Houston
2010Rodney Linares71–68.5116th4th8½–––Houston
2011Rodney Linares59–79.42812th6th19½–––Houston
2012Iván DeJesús69–69.5007th4th18–––Houston
2013Brian Buchanan68–70.4938th6th/4th9.5/10–––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
Active (25-man) roster Coaches/Other

Pitchers



  

Catchers

Infielders

  •  5 Dom Bethancourt
  •  6 Cesar Cuevas
  • 22 Montrell Marshall
  •  2 Blake Swihart
  • -- Isaias Tejeda ‡
  • 13 Tre Williams

Outfielders

  

Manager

  • 21 P. J. Phillips

Coaches

  •  9 Cip Garza (Bench)
  • 20 J. J. Hoover (Pitching)
  • 27 Michael Koltak (Bench)

Disabled list
‡ Inactive list
§ Suspended list

 updated April 21, 2022
 Transactions

Legends Hall of Fame

The Legends have honored ten past members of the organization by inducting them in the Legends Hall of Fame.[6] These individuals are:

References
General
Specific
  1. "Indy Atlantic League designated MLB Partner League". Ballpark Digest. August Publishing. September 23, 2020. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
  2. "American Association, Frontier League now MLB Partner Leagues". Ballpark Digest. August Publishing. September 24, 2020. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
  3. 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.
  4. "Lexington Legends part of proposed downsizing". kentucky.com. Kentucky.com. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  5. "Legends join the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball". The Lane Report. February 18, 2021. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
  6. "Lexington Legends Hall of Fame." Minor League Baseball. Retrieved on September 11, 2010.
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