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Richmond Roosters

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Richmond Roosters
Information
LeagueFrontier League
LocationRichmond, Indiana
BallparkDon McBride Stadium
Founded1995
Folded2005
League championships2 (2001, 2002)
Division championships1 (1996)
ColorsGreen, Orange, White
     

The Richmond Roosters were a professional baseball team based in Richmond, Indiana from 1995 to 2005. The Roosters played in the independent Frontier League, which at that time had no affiliation with Major League Baseball.

The Roosters began play in the third season of the Frontier League when the Kentucky Rifles franchise folded and Richmond was granted an expansion team. The team played at Don McBride Stadium in Richmond.[1] The franchise was sold after the 2005 season, moved to Traverse City, Michigan and became the Traverse City Beach Bums, who played at Wuerfel Park in the Traverse City suburb of Blair Township from 2006 to 2018.

In 2018, the franchise was then sold to the owners of the Midwest League West Michigan Whitecaps who folded the Frontier League affiliation and launched a new team in the Northwoods League, the Traverse City Pit Spitters.[2]

The team is represented in the Frontier League Hall of Fame by Richmond player-manager Fran Riordan, Richmond part-owner Duke Ward, along with Roosters first-basemen Morgan Burkhart, pitcher Matt Schweitzer, outfielder Pete Pirman, and pitcher Bobby Chandler.[3][4]

Richmond Roosters

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The Richmond Roosters returned professional baseball to Richmond, Indiana in 1995, with the last professional team being the class D Richmond Tigers of the Ohio-Indiana League, a Detroit Tigers affiliate, which folded in 1951.[5] The team played at historic McBride Stadium, which opened in 1936.[6]

The Roosters were led in the 1995 season by Morgan Burkhart, who would become the second Frontier League player to make a Major League Baseball team when he joined the Boston Red Sox in 2000. Brian Tollberg of the Chillicothe Paints was the first league alumnus to make the majors, beating Burkhart by a week in the 2000 season.[7] Burkhart won three league Frontier League MVP awards (1995-1997) and the league MVP award is now named after him.[8] On June 8, 1997, Roosters pitcher Christian Hess threw the first no-hitter in Frontier League history, defeating the Kalamazoo Kodiaks 9–0 in Kalamazoo.[9][10][11]

Richmond won back-to-back Frontier League championships in 2001 and 2002, led by player-manager Fran Riordan. In 2001, the Roosters upset the league-best Paints 2–0 in the best-of-three championship series to capture their first Frontier League title.[12][13] The team was led by pitcher Steve Carver (10-3, 3.91 ERA), closer Mike Ziroli (1-1, 2.58 ERA, 16 saves), 1B Riordan (.299 BA, 14 HR, 74 RBI) and C-1B Steve Mitrovich (.304 BA, 12 HR, 65 RBI).[14] The team repeated as Frontier League champions in 2002, again upsetting the league-best Washington Wild Things 3–1 in a best of five series for the title.[14][15][16] The Roosters were led in 2002 by pitchers Enriques Baca (10-4, 2.87 ERA) and Matt Schweitzer (8-2, 4.29 ERA), Fran Riordan (.314 BA, 11 HR, 81 RBI), and league MVP OF Phil Willingham (.360 BA, 15 HR, 86 RBI, 36 SB).[17]

Growth in the Frontier League challenged the small Richmond franchise and the ownership group elected to sell the franchise at the conclusion of the 2005 season.[18][19] The last home game for the Roosters was a 9–3 loss to the Evansville Otters on September 2, 2005, and the team finished the season on the road with the last Richmond game being a 9-8 road loss to the Florence Freedom on September 5, 2005.[20][21]

Traverse City Beach Bums

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In 2005, the Richmond Roosters were purchased and the franchise moved to Traverse City, Michigan for the 2006 Frontier League season, playing at Wuerfel Park.[22] The Beach Bums added to the franchise championship history in 2015, advancing from a play-in game to take the title in a best of five series sweep, defeating the River City Rascals 3–0.[23][24]

Declining attendance led to the team being sold at the conclusion of the 2018 season to owners of the West Michigan Whitecaps, the franchise left the Frontier League to join the summer collegiate baseball Northwoods League, and the team's name was changed to the Traverse City Pit Spitters.[25] The stadium was renamed to Turtle Creek Stadium after the sale.[26] The franchise's final Frontier League professional game was a 9–2 home loss to the Windy City ThunderBolts on August 31, 2018, before 3,142 spectators.[27]

Season-by-season records

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Richmond Roosters
Year W-L PCT Place Postseason
1995 38-32 .543 4th in FL
1996 39-35 .527 1st in FL West League Division Series: Lost vs. Springfield Capitals 2-1
1997 43-37 .538 2nd in FL West League Division Series: Lost vs. Evansville Otters 2-1
1998 49-31 .612 2nd in FL West
1999 40-43 .482 4th in FL East
2000 40-43 .482 4th in FL East
2001 49-35 .583 2nd in FL East League Division Series: Defeated the Dubois County Dragons 2-1
Frontier League Championship Series: Defeated the Chillicothe Paints 2-0
Frontier League Champions
2002 53-31 .631 2nd in FL East League Division Series: Defeated the Dubois County Dragons 2-1
Frontier League Championship Series: Defeated the Washington Wild Things 3-1
Frontier League Champions
2003 50-39 .562 4th in FL East
2004 43-53 .448 5th in FL East
2005 39-56 .415 6th in FL East
Totals 483-435 .526
Playoffs 12-7 .632 1 Division Title, 4 Playoff Appearances, 2 Championships

References

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  1. ^ "Richmond Roosters - Frontier League". The Baseball Cube.
  2. ^ "Traverse City to Northwoods League". Ballpark Digest. August Publications. September 26, 2018. Retrieved September 30, 2018.
  3. ^ "Hall of Fame". Frontier League.
  4. ^ Jimenez, Jesus (July 10, 2018). "Former Richmond Roosters co-owner Duke Ward to enter Frontier League Hall of Fame". Palladium-Item. Richmond, Indiana.
  5. ^ "Richmond Tigers minor league baseball Statistics and Roster on StatsCrew.com". StatsCrew.com.
  6. ^ Chapin, Josh (June 11, 2016). "McBride Stadium: 80 years of history". Palladium-Item. Richmond, Indiana.
  7. ^ Cooper, J. J. (May 27, 2021). "Commissioner Bill Lee's Legacy Lives On In Frontier League After Retiring". Baseball America.
  8. ^ "League History". Frontier League.
  9. ^ Bundy, Sam (June 9, 1997). "Roosters' Hess holds Kodiaks hitless". Palladium-Item. Richmond, Indiana. p. B1 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Roosters Continued from Page B1". Palladium-Item. Richmond, Indiana. June 9, 1997. p. B4 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Important dates in Roosters history". Palladium-Item. Richmond, Indiana. July 1, 2005. p. A8 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Tincher, Don (September 8, 2001). "Roosters new champions". Palladium-Item. Richmond, Indiana. p. B1 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Roosters continued From Page B1". Palladium-Item. Richmond, Indiana. September 8, 2001. p. B3 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ a b "2001 Richmond Roosters minor league baseball Statistics on StatsCrew.com". StatsCrew.com.
  15. ^ Clark, Jan (September 8, 2002). "Roosters champs again". Palladium-Item. Richmond, Indiana. p. C1 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Roosters Continues from Page C1". Palladium-Item. Richmond, Indiana. September 8, 2002. p. C4 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "2002 Richmond Roosters minor league baseball Statistics on StatsCrew.com". StatsCrew.com.
  18. ^ Jimenez, Jesus (July 5, 2015). "The Rooster years: Frontier League team's 11-year home". Palladium-Item. Richmond, Indiana.
  19. ^ Redd, Vernon (July 1, 2005). "Goodbye Roosters". Palladium-Item. Richmond, Indiana. p. A1 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Redd, Vernon (September 6, 2005). "Roosters go out with one final loss". Palladium-Item. Richmond, Indiana. p. B1 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "Roosters Continued from Page B1". Palladium-Item. Richmond, Indiana. September 6, 2005. p. B3 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ Foster, Terry (April 2, 2006). "Beach Bums join the party". The Detroit News. p. 9C – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ "2015 Traverse City Beach Bums minor league baseball Roster on StatsCrew.com". StatsCrew.com.
  24. ^ "Traverse City eliminates Rascals". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. September 20, 2015. p. C2 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ Cook, James (December 25, 2018). "Top 10: Beach Bums sold, change leagues (No. 6)". Traverse City Record-Eagle.
  26. ^ Mahieu, Devon (December 17, 2019). "Pit Spitters Park renamed Turtle Creek Stadium with new partnership". WPBN-TV. Retrieved June 13, 2021.
  27. ^ "Windy City ThunderBolts vs Traverse City Beach Bums box score". Pointstreak Sports Technologies. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
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