State College Spikes
State College Spikes | |||||
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Minor league affiliations | |||||
Class | Collegiate summer (2021–present) | ||||
Previous classes | Class A Short Season (1958–2020) | ||||
League | MLB Draft League (2021–present) | ||||
Previous leagues | New York–Penn League (1958–2020) | ||||
Major league affiliations | |||||
Team | Unaffiliated (2021–present) | ||||
Previous teams |
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Minor league titles | |||||
League titles (9) |
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Division titles (4) |
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Team data | |||||
Name |
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Colors | Navy blue, cardinal, old gold, yellow | ||||
Mascots | Ike the Spike & Nook Monster | ||||
Ballpark | Medlar Field at Lubrano Park (2006–present) | ||||
Previous parks |
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Owner(s)/ Operator(s) | State College Professional Baseball LP | ||||
General manager | Scott Walker | ||||
Manager | Dave Trembley |
The State College Spikes are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in State College, Pennsylvania, and play their home games at Medlar Field on the campus of Pennsylvania State University.
The team was founded in 1958 in
The team settled in its current location in the State College area in 2006 and became known as the State College Spikes. After one season with the St. Louis Cardinals in State College, the Spikes ended their affiliation and became the new Class A Short Season affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, starting in 2007 and ending in 2012. The Spikes, once again, switched affiliations back to the Cardinals from 2013 to 2020. In conjunction with MLB's reorganization of the minors after the 2020 season, the team left Minor League Baseball and became part of the MLB Draft League, which serves as a showcase for draft-eligible players.[1]
History
Stability, then instability in Auburn (1958–1980)
The State College Spikes were founded in 1958 in
Playing in Erie (1981–1987)
The new
Playing in Hamilton (1988–1992)
The team was purchased by Albany businessman Joe Vellano and the team relocated to Bernie Arbour Memorial Stadium in Hamilton, Ontario, to become the Hamilton Redbirds. The team maintained its affiliation with the Cardinals and played in Hamilton from 1988 to 1992. In 1991, Vellano sold the Redbirds to a limited partnership headed by Barry Gordon and Marc Klee. Gordon and Klee planned to relocate the team to New Jersey where partner Rob Hillard was heading up management of a new stadium. The team spent a lame duck 1991 season in Hamilton, but in 1992, the team set the all-time record for winning percentage by a St. Louis Cardinals minor league team at .651, with a record of 56–20.
Playing in Glens Falls (1993)
The team relocated again to Glens Falls, New York, to become the Glens Falls Redbirds. The team still maintained its affiliation with the Cardinals. This relocation was only interim as the team played at East Field for the 1993 season only while the team was waiting for their new stadium in Sussex County, New Jersey to be completed.
The team's relocation to Glens Falls welcomed back professional baseball in five years. The team that previously played in Glens Falls before the Redbirds was the
Playing in New Jersey (1994–2005)
The team completed its relocation to
Over the next nine seasons, the team experienced only one more winning season, going 39–37 in 2002. While the team suffered through several losing seasons, they quietly established new standards for Minor League Baseball attendance. With the arrival of additional teams in the
Playing in State College (2006–present)
In October 2005, the owners agreed to sell the
2013 Year of the Deer
2013 was the first of 2-year deal with the St. Louis Cardinals. This would be the best year in the State College Spikes History to date with a winning season of 48–27 season. They were successful at home, with a strong 30–8 record. on the road was not so nice to them with a record of 18–19. If they were to make it to playoffs. They needed the home field advantage. They locked up the Pinckney Division over Jamestown Jammers who would make it to playoffs under the wildcard and what was very important Home field advantage. The Spikes would face the Jamestown Jammers for a 3-game Series for the right to play in the Championship game. They would lose the first game of the series and would win the next 2 that were at home and move into championship series against the Tri-City Valley Cats. Where they would win game 1 and return home only to lose and tie the series up, 1–1. The final game would see the Spikes jump out to a 1-run lead and have Tri-City answer that call with 4 runs. An amazing try in the bottom of the ninth with Mason Katz hitting a 2 run Home run to bring the score to 4–3 Tri-City but the State College Spikes would go 3 out with Cesar Valera going down swinging for the third and final out. Records were shattered with Jimmy Bosco outfielder hitting for the cycle, David Washington setting the single season record for home runs of 10 and 50 RBIs. Steven Ramos would win the Batting avg. race in the New York Penn League with a .341. This season would also see the Bull Penn have the lowest ERA in all of American Baseball Major League and Minor League. Thanks to the help of great pitchers of Mitch Harris, Kevin Herget, and Jacob Booden. The Spike would have multiple walk-off wins giving this team the nickname "cardiac kids" and a long list of multiple hit games and turning double plays. The State College Spikes hope to continue this winning ways in 2014
2014 records will be broken
2014 proved to be the start of a winning season. Most of 2013 players moved up and a new roster entered. One new player named Rowan Wick would belt a record 14 home runs out over the fences, breaking David Washington's record of 12 before being moved up to Single A Advanced. Jake Stone would wear the #32 and follow David Washington's run of Grand Slams belting one out of the park on July 4, the same day David Washington did. Alex Deloan would also join in the home run race hitting, 6 home runs. The State College Spikes team would put Auburn Dubbledays down on July 25, by setting a new single game run record with a score of 17–3 with the bottom third scoring 9 runs. The team was in the playoff chase again with a 7-game lead over Williamsport Crosscutters as of July 25.
2016: Another championship comes to State College
The Spikes jumped out to a large divisional lead early in the 2016 season. While West Virginia and Williamsport both made late runs, State College easily won the Pinckney Division in mid-August and clinched the number one seed in the NYPL playoffs a week later. After taking game one of the semifinals against the Staten Island Yankees on the road, the Spikes lost game two at home to set up a winner-take-all game three. The Spikes won that game to set up a finals clash with the Hudson Valley Renegades, a team that had success against State College during the season and won the regular season series between the teams. Despite that, State College swept Hudson Valley in two games to clinch their second league title since relocation to Happy Valley.
Affiliation split with Pittsburgh
"We're not one of these ownership groups that demands a winner every single year, but we haven't even put playoff tickets on sale," Spikes general manager Jason Dambach said in June 2012. "We've never really even come close to the playoffs. "So the mandate has been put out there. We didn't have a good team last year, and so it really doesn't make any sense to re-sign with the Pirates until September, if we are to do that."
Team name
The team name "Spikes" has a threefold meaning. The club's official logo depicts a young
Season-by-season records
(Place listed is finish in the six-team Pinckney Division, 2006–2019)
- 2006: 39–36 (3rd), manager Mark DeJohn
- 2007: 36–39 (3rd), manager Turner Ward
- 2008: 18–56 (6th), manager Brad Fischer
- 2009: 38–38 (3rd), manager Gary Robinson
- 2010: 33–42 (5th), manager Dave Turgeon
- 2011: 31–44 (n/a), manager Kimera Bartee
- 2012: 35–41 (n/a), manager Dave Turgeon
- 2013: 48–27(1st), manager Oliver Marmol
- 2014: 48–28(1st), manager Oliver Marmol
- 2015: 41-35(3rd), manager Johnny Rodriguez
- 2017: 40-35 (2nd)
- 2018: 36-40 (4th)
- 2019: 39-36 (3rd), manager Jose Leon
- 2021: 29-30-3 (4th), manager Delwyn Young
Playoffs
- 2013 season: Defeated Jamestown 2–1 in semifinals; lost to Tri-City 2–1 in championship.
- 2014 season: Defeated Hudson Valley 2–1 in semifinals; defeated Tri-City 2–1 to win championship.
- 2016 season: Defeated Staten Island 2–1 in semifinals; defeated Hudson Valley 2–0 to win championship.
Roster
Players | Coaches/Other | |||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
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Manager
Coaches
~ Development list |
References
- ^ "Mahoning Valley Scrappers Retain Affiliation With Major League Baseball in New MLB Draft League". Mahoning Valley Scrappers. Minor League Baseball. November 20, 2020. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
- ^ "State College, St. Louis sign new PDC". Milb.com. September 17, 2012. Retrieved September 19, 2012.
- ^ Giger, Cory (June 3, 2012). "Tired of losing: Spikes considering ending affiliation with Pirates". Altoona Mirror. Archived from the original on August 10, 2014. Retrieved September 19, 2012.
- ^ a b c Giger, Cory (September 18, 2012). "The strange tale of how the Pirates/Spikes affiliation ended". Altoona Mirror. Retrieved September 19, 2012.
- ^ a b c d Rob Biertempfel (September 17, 2012). "Don't blame Spikes for split with Pirates". Blog.triblive.com. Archived from the original on September 21, 2012. Retrieved September 19, 2012.