| Fort Wayne TinCaps Founded in 1993 Fort Wayne, Indiana |
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| League titles | 2009 | ||
| Division titles | 2009 | ||
| Owner(s)/Operated by: Hardball Capital | |||
| Manager: Shawn Wooten | |||
| General Manager: Mike Nutter | |||
The Fort Wayne TinCaps are a Class A minor league baseball team, affiliated with the San Diego Padres, that plays in the Midwest League. They won their first Midwest League Championship in 2009.
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The Midwest League came to Fort Wayne in 1993. The franchise dates back from the league's days as the Illinois State League, starting in 1947 in Mattoon, Illinois. In 1958 the team moved to Keokuk, Iowa, where it spent five seasons; it was based in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin (1963-1983) and Kenosha, Wisconsin (1984-1992) before moving to Fort Wayne. The team was a Minnesota Twins farm team before they affiliated with the Padres in 1999. In 2006, the team was sold to a pair of businessmen from Atlanta who also own the Salem Red Sox.
Prior to the 2009 season, the team was known as the Fort Wayne Wizards. The name TinCaps was chosen following the 2008 season, alluding to John Chapman, better known as the cooking pot-wearing Johnny Appleseed.[1] The Tin Cap refers to a fictionalized depiction of John Chapman wearing one in the 1948 Walt Disney movie "Johnny Appleseed" and is not supported by any historical facts.Chapman lived in Fort Wayne in his final years and is buried in the city.[2]
The team's home park was Memorial Stadium, which opened in 1993; a franchise attendance record of 318,506 was also set that year. As part of the Harrison Square revitalization project, Parkview Field became the official home of the TinCaps at the start of the 2009 season.[3] To coincide with the new ballpark, the team held a contest to determine a new name for the Wizards once that new ballpark opened, and "TinCaps" was the result. [4]
The mascot of the TinCaps is Johnny. Previously, for the Wizards, it was Dinger the Dragon and prior to that, the Wizards were represented by Wayne the Wizard.
The team won the Midwest League 2009 championship by sweeping the Burlington Bees, 3-0. The first two games were played at Parkview Field and the final, decisive game was played in Burlington, Iowa. The team and its staff were honored at Parkview Field in a special victory rally on September 18, 2009.[5] In addition to winning a franchise record-setting 94 games in their new home, fans shattered the previous attendance record for the season, with 378,529 coming through the turnstiles.[6]
The TinCaps also clinched playoff spots in each of the following two seasons.
On August 24, 2008, The Journal Gazette and the franchise selected the all-time Wizards team members.
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| Players | Coaches/Other | |||
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Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
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Manager Coaches
7-day disabled list |
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Torii Hunter, Jake Peavy, Bobby Scales, Joakim Soria, Dale Thayer, David Freese, Will Venable, Nick Hundley, Greg Burke, Matt Antonelli, Josh Geer, Josh Barfield, Eric Cyr, AJ Pierzynski, Wade LeBlanc, Cliff Bartosh, Jack Cassel, Corey Koskie, Ben Johnson, Dennis Tankersley, JJ Trujillo, Michael Thompson, Latroy Hawkins, Scott Watkins, Matt Lawton, Dan Naulty, Brandon Gomes
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| San Diego Padres franchise | |||
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| Triple-A | Double-A | Class A | Rookie |
| Tucson Padres | San Antonio Missions |
Lake Elsinore Storm Fort Wayne TinCaps Eugene Emeralds |
AZL Padres DSL Padres |
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