Rochester Red Wings

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For current information on this topic, see 2008 Rochester Red Wings season

Rochester Red Wings Founded in 1899 Rochester, New York
Team Logo Cap Insignia
Class-Level
Triple-A (1899-Present)
Minor League affiliations
International League North Division
Major League affiliations
Minnesota Twins (2003-Present) Baltimore Orioles (1961-2002) St. Louis Cardinals (1929-1960)
Name
Rochester Red Wings (1929-Present) Rochester Tribe (1922-28) Rochester Colts (1921) Rochester Hustlers (1908-1920) Rochester Bronchos (1899-1907)
Ballpark
Frontier Field (1997-Present) Silver Stadium (1929-1996) aka Red Wing Stadium (1929-1968) Bay Street Ball Grounds (1908-28) Culver Field (1899-1907)
Minor League titles
League titles	1899, 1901, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1939, 1940*, 1952, 1955, 1956, 1964, 1971, 1974, 1988, 1990, 1997
Division titles	1988, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1997
Owner(s)/Operated by: Rochester Community Baseball, Inc.
Manager: Stan Cliburn
General Manager: Dan Mason

The Rochester Red Wings are a minor league baseball team based in Rochester, New York. The oldest and longest running minor league franchise in the history of professional sports, the team plays in the International League, and is the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins major-league club. The Red Wings play in Frontier Field, located in downtown Rochester.

The Red Wings were an affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals for 33 years (1928-1960), then spent 42 years (1961-2002) as a farm club of the Baltimore Orioles. The franchise played from 1929 through 1996 at Silver Stadium before moving to the modern facilities at Frontier Field in 1997.

Baseball in Rochester dates back to 1877 with the "Rochesters" of the International Association, and Rochester has had a franchise in the league now known as the International League as early as 1885. The current franchise has been playing in Rochester since 1899, when the team was known as the Rochester Bronchos and won the league championship in its inaugural season.

Incidentally, according to Rochester sports historian Douglas Brei, only six franchises in the history of North American professional sports have been playing in the same city and same league continuously and uninterrupted since the 1800s: the Rochester Red Wings, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, and St. Louis Cardinals. He also reports that, along with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League, the Red Wings are one of only two franchises in North American professional sports to have captured a league championship^[1] in every decade of the 20th century.

Contents 1 Ownership 2 Longest baseball game ever 3 Titles 4 Current roster 5 Retired Numbers 6 Notable alumni 7 Notes 8 External links

[edit] Ownership

The club is one of a very few current professional sports franchises that are publicly owned (the Green Bay Packers of the NFL are the most notable example of this). Rochester Community Baseball, Inc. owns and operates the team and is comprised of fans of the team as shareholders. The organization was formed in the fall of 1956 in response to the then owners, the St. Louis Cardinals, putting the team up for sale. Morrie Silver, a Rochester businessman, spearheaded a drive to sell shares in Rochester Community Baseball to raise money to buy the team and its stadium from the Cardinals and keep the franchise in Rochester. The organization retains sole ownership of the team to this day. Red Wing Stadium was renamed Silver Stadium in honor of Morrie Silver in August 1968.

[edit] Longest baseball game ever

The Rochester Red Wings, along with the Pawtucket Red Sox, hold the record for the longest professional baseball game, lasting a total of 33 innings and 8 hours, 25 minutes over the course of three different days. The game was held at McCoy Stadium, beginning on April 18, 1981. It was suspended at 4 o'clock the next morning, and Rochester lost 3-2 when the game resumed on June 23.

[edit] Titles

The Red Wings have played for the Governors' Cup, the championship of the International League, 21 times, winning 10. Both numbers are IL records.

[edit] Current roster

Rochester Red Wings roster v • d • e
Players				Coaching staff
Pitchers 21 Ricky Barrett 20 Carmen Cali 45 Casey Daigle 35 Julio DePaula 53 Brian Duensing 30 Mariano Gomez 23 Danny Graves 49 Philip Humber 43 Tim Lahey 47 Francisco Liriano 24 Kevin Mulvey 37 Heath Totten † disabled list ‡ temporary inactive list Roster updated 2008-06-05		Catchers 7 Ryan Jorgensen 17 José Morales Infielders 18 Chris Basak 32 Brian Buscher 12 Howie Clark 50 Garrett Jones 13 Randy Ruiz 19 Sergio Santos  8 Tommy Watkins Outfielders 25 Darnell McDonald 11 Jason Pridie 27 Denard Span†		Manager 16 Stan Cliburn Coaches 44 Riccardo Ingram (hitting) 33 Stu Cliburn (pitching) -- Rich Miller(Roving Baserunning/Outfield Coach)

[edit] Retired Numbers