Kingsport Mets

Kingsport Mets
Founded in 1921
Kingsport, Tennessee
Team logoCap insignia
Class-level
Current Rookie (1963, 1969–1982, 1984–present)
Previous
  • Class D- (1957, 1960–1962)
  • Class D (1955)
  • Class C (1954)
  • Class D (1921–1925, 1938–1953)
Minor league affiliations
League Appalachian League (1955, 1957, 1960–1963, 1969–1982, 1984–present)
Division West Division
Previous leagues
Major league affiliations
Current New York Mets (1980–1982, 1984–present)
Previous
Minor league titles
League titles (7)
  • 1944
  • 1945
  • 1951
  • 1973
  • 1977
  • 1988
  • 1995
Division titles (5)
  • 1973
  • 1977
  • 1988
  • 1995
  • 1996
Team data
Nickname Kingsport Mets (1980–1982, 1984–present)
Previous names
  • Kingsport Braves (1974–1979)
  • Kingsport Royals (1969–1973)
  • Kingsport Pirates (1960–1963)
  • Kingsport Orioles (1957)
  • Kingsport Cherokees (1943–1955)
  • Kingsport Dodgers (1942)
  • Kingsport Cherokees (1938–1941)
  • Kingsport Indians (1921–1925)
Colors Blue, orange, white
              
Mascot Slider
Ballpark Hunter Wright Stadium (1995–present)
Previous parks
 Dobyns-Bennett High School (1969–1982, 1984–1994)
Owner(s)/
Operator(s)
 New York Mets/S&H Baseball
Manager Luis Rivera
General Manager Brian Paupeck

The Kingsport Mets are a Minor League Baseball team of the Appalachian League and the Rookie affiliate of the New York Mets. They are located in Kingsport, Tennessee, and are named for the team's major league affiliate. The team plays its home games at Hunter Wright Stadium which opened in 1995 and has a seating capacity of 2,500. The Mets previously played at Dobyns-Bennett High School. In 1983, while Dobyns-Bennett's field was being renovated, the team temporarily moved to Sarasota, Florida, and played in the Gulf Coast League as the Gulf Coast League Mets.

Team history

The first professional team to hail from Kingsport was the Kingsport Indians who played in the Appalachian League from 1921 to 1925. From 1938 to 1941, the Kingsport team was known as the Cherokees, but changed to the Dodgers in 1942 when the team became a farm team of Major League Baseball's Brooklyn Dodgers. They reverted to the Cherokees name in 1943 and continued to play under this moniker through 1955. The Kingsport Cherokees competed in the Mountain States League from 1953 to 1954, before returning to the Appalachian League in 1957 as the Kingsport Orioles after two years of dormancy. After another two years on hiatus, Kinsport returned as the Pirates from 1960 to 1963. From 1969 to 1970, they competed as the Kingsport Royals. Notable players during this period include Al Cowens and U L Washington.

From 1974 to 1979, they were known as the Braves. As an Atlanta Braves affiliate, multiple future major leaguers played for them, including Matt Sinatro, Rick Behenna, Jose Alvarez, Steve Bedrosian, Paul Runge, Brad Komminsk, Milt Thompson, Brook Jacoby, and Mike Payne. Additionally, National League MVP Dale Murphy and Cy Young Award winner Steve Bedrosian played in Kingsport.

In 1980, the team became known as the Kingsport Mets, the name under which the team has competed since then—with the exception of playing the 1983 season in Sarasota, Florida, as the Gulf Coast League Mets while their home stadium underwent renovations. Players Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden, Kevin Mitchell, José Reyes, David Wright, Lastings Milledge, and A. J. Burnett made their professional debuts in Kingsport. The Mets won the Appalachian League Championship in 1988 and 1985.

All Silver Anniversary Team

In 2005, the team selected 14 former players and a manager for its All Silver Anniversary Team in commemoration of 25 years as a Mets affiliate.

Position Player
Catcher Fordyce, BrookBrook Fordyce
First baseman Jefferies, GreggGregg Jefferies
Second baseman Veras, QuilvioQuilvio Veras
Shortstop Reyes, JoséJosé Reyes
Third baseman Wright, DavidDavid Wright
Left fielder Mitchell, KevinKevin Mitchell
Center fielder Wilson, PrestonPreston Wilson
Right fielder Strawberry, DarrylDarryl Strawberry
Designated hitter Long, TerrenceTerrence Long
Utility player Daubach, BrianBrian Daubach
Right-handed pitcher Gooden, DwightDwight Gooden
Left-handed pitcher Schourek, PetePete Schourek
Relief pitcher Myers, RandyRandy Myers
Relief pitcher Isringhausen, JasonJason Isringhausen
Manager Gibbons, JohnJohn Gibbons

Year-by-year record

(from Baseball Reference)

Year Record Win % Finish GB Manager Postseason
1974 31–39–1 .443 7th 21.5 Hoyt Wilhelm —
1975 33–33 .500 6th 7 Gene Hassell —
1976 25–42 .373 8th 23.5 Bobby Dews —
1977 43–26 .623 1st — Bob Didier League Champions
1978 33–37 .471 5th 8.5 Eddie Haas —
1979 39–31 .557 2nd 15.5 Gene Hassell —
1980 35–35–1 .500 3rd 11 —
1981 21–49 .300 6th 25 Al Jackson —
1982 28–40 .412 7th 4.5 Ed Olsen —
1984 31–38 .449 7th 9 Dan Radison —

Playoffs

Roster

Kingsport Mets roster
Players Coaches/Other

Pitchers

  • -- Eucebio Arias §
  • 19 Connor Buchmann
  • 17 Edwin German
  • 18 Ronald Guedez
  • 15 Colin Holderman
  • 36 Kurtis Horne
  • 46 Joel Huertas
  • 21 Trent Johnson
  • 16 Max Kuhns
  • 25 Jose Carlos Medina
  • 38 Joe Napolitano
  • 34 Darwin Ramos
  •  6 Jake Simon
  • 43 Blake Taylor
  • 27 Placido Torres
  • 39 Sixto Torres
  • 33 Adonis Uceta
  • 35 Chris Viall

Catchers

  • 35 Scott Manea
  • 11 Dionis Rodriguez

Infielders

  •  7 Cecilio Aybar
  • 12 Yeffry De Aza
  • 13 Reed Gamache
  • 24 Jose Maria
  • 23 Walter Rasquin

Outfielders

  • 32 Ricardo Cespedes
  • -- Bradley Marquez ‡
  • 44 Jose Miguel Medina
  •  2 Raphael Ramirez
  • 20 Ian Strom
  •  3 Jeremy Wolf

Manager

  •  9 Luis Rivera

Coaches

  • 56 Ender Chavez (hitting)
  • 40 Royce Ring (pitching)



7-day disabled list
* On New York Mets 40-man roster
# Rehab assignment
∞ Reserve list
‡ Restricted list
§ Suspended list
† Temporary inactive list
Roster updated September 1, 2016
Transactions
→ More MiLB rosters
→ New York Mets minor league players

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/18/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.