Burlington Bees

The Burlington Bees are a Class A minor league baseball team, affiliated with the Oakland Athletics, that plays in the Midwest League. Their home is in Burlington, Iowa.

History

The team began playing in the Central Association of Professional Baseball as the Burlington Indians in 1947, the same year that their stadium, Community Field, was opened. They won the league championship in 1949, their third and final year in the Central Association. The team joined the Three-I (Illinois, Iowa, Indiana) League in 1952 as the Burlington Flints but was renamed the Bees in 1954. In 1958, Billy Williams played 61 games with the Bees before joining the Cubs. Burlington joined the Midwest League in 1962 as a farm team of the Pittsburgh Pirates, but that affiliation lasted only one season. From 1963 through 1974 they were a farm team of the Kansas City (later Oakland) A's; subsequent affiliations included the Brewers (1975-81), the Rangers (1982-85), the Expos (1986-87 and 1993-94), the Braves (1988-90), the Astros (1991-92), the Giants (1995-96), the Reds (1997-98), and the White Sox (1999-2000). The Bees won the Midwest League championship in 1965, 1977, 1999, 2008, and 2009.

The team was known as the Bees from 1962-81, but starting with the 1982 season they used the nickname of their major league parent club. The Bees nickname was revived for the 1993 season.

In addition to Billy Williams, the first Bee inducted into the Hall of Fame, former players who have enjoyed major league success include Sal Bando, Vida Blue (who struck out a team-record 231 batters in 1968), Jim "Catfish" Hunter George Hendrick, Phil Garner, Chet Lemon, Claudell Washington, Hall of Famer Paul Molitor, Randy Ready, Larry Walker, Rubén Sierra, Kenny Rogers, José Vidro, Ugueth Urbina, Javy López, Mark Buehrle, Mike Mordecai, Shawn Estes, Ruben Gotay and Gus Zernial. In total 159 former Bees have played in the majors, including 35 on active rosters in 2004.

Their home park is Community Field, built in 1947 and rebuilt after a 1971 fire. The franchise attendance record of 83,927 was set in 1994. The stadium was upgraded for the 2004 season, including a revamped consessions area, a partial covering of the grandstand, an improvement in the sound system, and a new scoreboard. In 2007, the Bees changed their logo and uniforms.

Current roster

Former players

• Burlington Bees (1993—)
• Burlington Astros (1992-1992)
• Burlington Braves (1988-1990)
• Burlington Expos (1986-1987)
• Burlington Rangers (1982-1985)
• Burlington Bees (1954-1981)
• Burlington Flints (1952-1953)
• Burlington Indians (1947-1949)

Source

• Dinda, J. (2003), "Burlington, Iowa, in the Midwest League," http://www.mwlguide.com/cities/burlington/index.html

External links

• Official Burlington Bees website