Dayton Dragons

The Dayton Dragons are a Class A minor league baseball team from Dayton, Ohio affiliated with the Cincinnati Reds. They play in the Midwest League at Fifth Third Field.

The Dragons came to Dayton in 2000. They were previously a franchise based in Rockford, Illinois and were called the Rockford Expos (1988–1992), Rockford Royals (1993–1994), Rockford Cubbies (1995–1998), and Rockford Reds (1999).

Fifth Third Field

The team's home park is Fifth Third Field in Dayton, Ohio.

During its first season the Dragons set a class A baseball attendance record of 581,853. Dayton broke that record in 2003 when 590,382 fans—ranking seventh in all of minor league baseball—went through the turnstiles, and again in 2004 with 593,663 paying fans.^[1]

The Dragons average 8,375 fans per game, or 116% of capacity. The Dragons have been the top Class A team in attendance every year of their existence, and have set and re-broken the record for Class A attendance three times.^[2] On April 17, 2007, the Dragons enjoyed their 500th consecutive sellout.^[3]

On July 9, 2011, the Dragons officially set a new record of 815 consecutive sellout games.^[4] The sellout streak is the longest across all professional sports in the U.S. passing the previous record set by the Portland Trail Blazers from 1977–1995.^[5][6]

Facts

• Voted as one of the top ten hottest tickets to get in ALL of professional sports by Sports Illustrated.^[7]
• The Dragons have led the Midwest League and all of Single A baseball in total season attendance since 2011.^[8]
• Had a total 2010 attendance of 597,433^[9]
• Averaged 8,535 fans in attendance per game in 2010^[9]
• On July 9, 2011, set the new record of the most consecutive sold out games (815 total) in all of professional sports.^[10]
• Notable part-owners of the team include former Ohio State running back Archie Griffin and basketball Hall of Famer Magic Johnson.^[11]
• In 2011, Ballpark Digest named the Dragons the "Minor League Baseball Organization of the Year."^[12] This honor came during a year in which they set the all-time professional sports sellout streak of 815 (they finished the season at 843 consecutive sellouts); finished 1st in the Midwest League Eastern Division and had the overall best Midwest League record (.593); set franchise records for wins (83–57), wins in a half (48–22 during the second half, which was also the best record among the 80 teams in the seven full-season Minor League Baseball leagues that split their seasons), road wins (38), and wins in a month (22 in August); set franchise records for team ERA (3.39) and shutout wins (14); set a Midwest League pitching record for strikeouts (1,292); and set a franchise record for stolen bases (224, including 103 by shortstop Billy Hamilton, which was the 9th highest total ever for a Minor Leaguer).^[13][14][15]

Year-by-year Records

Former players

Many former Dragons players have gone on to play in the MLB. Some notable players include:

• Austin Kearns (2000)
• José Acevedo (2000)
• Ray Olmedo (2000)
• Adam Dunn (2000)
• John Koronka (2001)
• Wily Mo Peña (2001)
• Edwin Encarnacion (2001–2002)
• Todd Coffey (2002–2003)
• Miguel Perez (2003–2004)
• Joey Votto (2003–2004)
• Chris Dickerson (2004)
• Homer Bailey (2005)
• Johnny Cueto (2006)
• Jay Bruce (2006)
• Logan Ondrusek (2006)
• Drew Stubbs (2007)

Personnel

The Dragons have had six managers in their history:

• Freddie Benavides (2000)
• Donnie Scott (2001–2003, 2007–2008)
• Alonzo Powell (2004–2005)
• Billy Gardner, Jr. (2006)
• Todd Benzinger (2009–2010)
• Delino DeShields (2011–present)

The Dragons are broadcast on 980 WONE, with Tom Nichols and Mike Couzens as the broadcasters.

Roster

References

External links

• Dayton, Ohio, in the Midwest League
• Dayton Dragons web site
• Twitter @DaytonDragons
• Dayton Dragons Dayton Daily News