Lexington Legends
The Lexington Legends are a Minor League Baseball team in Lexington, Kentucky. They are a member of the South Atlantic League and are the Class A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. The plays their home games at Whitaker Bank Ballpark, located in a commercial area on the northeast side of the city just inside New Circle Road. The team's mascot is "Big L", a mustachioed baseball player and his best friend is Pee Wee.
History
The Class-A Kissimmee Cobras moved from the Florida State League to Lexington following the 2000 season. The 2001 season began under manager J. J. Cannon. The team finished their first regular season with record of 92 wins and 48 losses and in first place of the sixteen-team South Atlantic League. In the postseason, the Legends defeated the Hagerstown Suns in the first round and advanced to play the Asheville Tourists in the League Championship Series. However, the series was cancelled after the Legends won the first two games of the series due to the September 11 attacks and the Legends were declared champions after having gone up 2-0 before game three was canceled.Cannon returned to manage in 2002 and led the team to another winning record, but the Legends failed to qualify for the playoffs. Lexington made a return trip to the playoffs in 2003, but were defeated by the Lake County Captains in the first round. In 2004, the Legends finished with a record of 68-72, their first losing record in team history. The following season, the Legends posted an 81-58 regular season record and finished in first-place under manager Tim Bogar.
On May 31, 2006, Roger Clemens announced that he would come out of retirement to pitch for the Houston Astros for the remainder of the 2006 season. Planning to keep himself to a strict 60-pitch limit, Clemens returned to baseball with the Legends, where his oldest son Koby played. Father and son denied reports that Koby would catch his dad for the return. "He doesn't listen to me", Roger Clemens said. "We'd be shaking each other off and arguing too much." In his first game, Clemens threw 62 pitches, allowed no walks, and only 1 run while striking out 6 batters in three innings of work with the Legends, who won the game 5–1.
The team received national attention again in 2006 following a controversial game against the Asheville Tourists on June 25. In the fifth inning of the game, Tourists manager Joe Mikulik went on an extended tirade after being ejected from the game following an argument with an umpire. The event received coverage on various television programs, including NBC's The Tonight Show, ESPN's Pardon the Interruption and SportsCenter, and MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Roger Clemens' appearance as a Legend as well as Joe Mikulik's meltdown are chronicled in the 2011 documentary film Legendary: When Baseball Came to the Bluegrass.
On September 19, 2012, WLEX-TV in Lexington reported that the Legends would change their affiliation from Major League Baseball's Houston Astros to the Kansas City Royals.
The Lexington Legends are reportedly one of the minor league teams that would lose MLB affiliation under a new plan proposed by the MLB.
Season by season results
Since their inception, the Lexington Legends franchise has played 13 seasons - all in the South Atlantic League. As of the completion of the 2016 season, the club has played in 2,225 regular season games and compiled a record of 1,079–1,146, or a.485 winning percentage. The team has a postseason record of 9-5.| League Champions † | Post-season Berth ♦ |
| Season | Manager | Record | Win % | League | Division | GB | Post-season record | Post-season win % | Result | MLB affiliate |
| 2001 † | Joe Cannon | 92–48 | .657 | 1st | 4–0 | 1.000 | Won division series vs Hagerstown Suns, 2–0 Led Asheville Tourists 2–0 in League Championship Series Declared Co-League Champions | Houston | ||
| 2002 | Joe Cannon | 81–59 | .579 | 2nd | – | – | – | Houston | ||
| 2003 ♦ | Russ Nixon | 75–63 | .543 | 2nd | 0–2 | .000 | Lost division series vs Lake County Captains, 0–2 | Houston | ||
| 2004 | Iván DeJesús | 68–72 | .486 | 7th | – | – | – | Houston | ||
| 2005 | Tim Bogar | 81–58 | .583 | 1st | – | – | – | Houston | ||
| 2006 ♦ | Jack Lind | 75–63 | .543 | 3rd | 0–2 | .000 | Lost division series vs Lakewood BlueClaws, 0–2 | Houston | ||
| 2007 | Gregg Langbehn | 59–81 | .421 | 7th | – | – | – | Houston | ||
| 2008 | Gregg Langbehn | 45–93 | .326 | 8th | – | – | – | Houston | ||
| 2009 | Tom Lawless | 68–72 | .486 | 5th | – | – | – | Houston | ||
| 2010 | Rodney Linares | 71–68 | .511 | 4th | – | – | – | Houston | ||
| 2011 | Rodney Linares | 59–79 | .428 | 6th | – | – | – | Houston | ||
| 2012 | Iván DeJesús | 69–69 | .500 | 4th | – | – | – | Houston | ||
| 2013 | Brian Buchanan | 68–70 | .493 | 8th | 6th/4th | 9.5/10 | – | – | – | Kansas City |
| 2014 | Brian Buchanan | 57-83 | .407 | 11th | 6th/6th | 17/20.5 | – | – | – | Kansas City |
| 2015 | Omar Ramirez | 58-80 | .420 | 12th | 6th | 26.5 | – | – | – | Kansas City |
| 2016 | Omar Ramirez | 52-87 | .374 | 13th | 7th | Kansas City | ||||
| 2017 | Scott Thorman | 62-75-1 | .453 | 12th | 6th | 16 | Kansas City | |||
| 2018 † | Scott Thorman | 76-60 | .559 | 2nd | 1st | 5-1 | .833 | Won division series vs Rome Braves 2-0 Won League Championship Series vs Lakewood BlueClaws 3-1 League Champions | Kansas City | |
| 2019 † | Brooks Conrad | 68-70 | .493 | 7th | 3rd | 9 | 5-1 | .833 | Won division series vs Augusta Greenjackets 2-0 Won League Championship Series vs Hickory Crawdads 3-1 League Champions | Kansas City |
Roster
Legends Hall of Fame
The Legends have honored ten past members of the organization by inducting them in the Legends Hall of Fame. These individuals are:- Josh Anderson, outfielder, inducted in 2005
- John Buck, catcher, inducted in 2005
- Joe Cannon, manager, inducted in 2006
- Félix Escalona, second baseman, inducted in 2005
- Mike Gallo, pitcher, inducted in 2007
- Kirk Saarloos, pitcher, inducted in 2006
- David Coggin, pitcher, inducted in 2008
- Alan Stein, Team President/COO, inducted in 2005
- Charley Taylor, pitching coach, inducted in 2005
- Jon Topolski, outfielder, inducted in 2005
- Tommy Whiteman, shortstop, inducted in 2007