Williamsport Crosscutters

The Williamsport Crosscutters are a Short-Season A classification minor league baseball team based in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, in the United States. They are a Philadelphia Phillies affiliate in the short-season New York - Penn League, playing their home games at Bowman Field, the second oldest minor league ballpark in the United States.

History

Through 1993, the club was the Geneva Cubs, playing in Geneva, New York. For the 1994 season, the club moved to Williamsport, occupying an historic facility that had not been used for professional baseball for the previous two seasons. The club became known as the Williamsport Cubs, a Class A short season affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, retaining that name through 1998. In 1999, the team switched affiliations from the Chicago Cubs to the Pittsburgh Pirates and the team name became "the Crosscutters". At the end of the 2006 season, the team became an affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, with the Pittsburgh affiliation switching to the State College Spikes.

The Crosscutters shared the New York-Penn League championship with the Brooklyn Cyclones in 2001, after losing the first game of the series. Both teams were declared champions after the remainder of the series was canceled in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Crosscutters again made the playoffs in 2002 but were eliminated in the first round. However, the team returned to win the championship series, against the Cyclones, in 2003.

The name "Crosscutters" reflects the logging heritage of Williamsport, once known as the "Lumber Capital of the World." The city, historically having the largest amount of millionaires per capita, is on the West Branch Susquehanna River, and logging barons once lived in mansions along Fourth Street, which became known as "Millionaires' Row". To this day, sports teams at Williamsport Area High School are known as the Millionaires.

Championships

In 2001, the Crosscutters and Brooklyn Cyclones were declared the New York - Penn League's co-champions. The Crosscutters lost the first game of the best of three championship series, and the rest of the series was cancelled after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

In 2003, the Crosscutters won the New York - Penn League championship outright, defeating the Cyclones in two games to sweep the series.

Logos and uniforms

The official colors of the Williamsport Crosscutters are Phillies red, navy blue, grey, dark tan, and ivory.^[1] The team most recently changed its brand prior to the 2008 season, one year following an affiliation change from the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Philadelphia Phillies. The colors resemble the red, white, and blue scheme of the Phillies, but with some additional colors and minor tweaks. The former colors were burgundy and black.

The Crosscutters wear a red cap with the W-shaped saw cap logo in dark tan and ivory for home games, and a navy blue cap with a logo depicting a capital "C" superimposed over a tree stump. The home uniforms include sleeveless, white jerseys with traditional red piping and the "Cutters" wordmark in grey and red, outlined in navy blue. The number on the back is in navy blue with white and red outline. The undershirts are red, with the secondary logo centered on the left sleeve. The socks and belts are also red. The away uniforms are grey, but otherwise the same as the homes.

Current roster

Alumni

References

External links

• Williamsport Crosscutters official website
• New York - Penn League official website
• Photographs of Historic Bowman Field, home of the Williamsport Crosscutters - Rochester Area Ballparks