Wisconsin Timber Rattlers


The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers are a minor league baseball team of the Midwest League, and the Class A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. The team is located in Grand Chute, Wisconsin, right outside of Appleton in the Fox Cities. They are named for the timber rattlesnake, which oddly enough is not indigenous to the area. The team plays its home games at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium, which opened in 1995 and seats 5,170 fans. The Timber Rattlers have won nine league championships, most recently in 2012. World Series-winning Managers Earl Weaver and Jack McKeon were Managers at Appleton. Baseball Hall of Fame members Pat Gillick, Earl Weaver, Goose Gossage, and Harold Baines played for Appleton. Five future Cy Young Award winners and three Most Valuable Player recipients were on Appleton/Wisconsin rosters. The 1978 Appleton Foxes were recognized as one of the 100 greatest minor league teams of all time.

History

The team began play as the Appleton Foxes in the Three-I League in 1958, five years after Appleton's previous minor league franchise, the Papermakers, folded along with the rest of the Wisconsin State League. The Papermakers had played in the Wisconsin–Illinois League before starting the franchise again decades later in the Wisconsin State League. The Foxes joined the Midwest League in 1962 after the Three-I League disbanded, and continue play in the MWL today.
The Foxes played at Appleton's Goodland Field and League Park before moving to their current home at Fox Cities Stadium, a larger, more modern ballpark on Appleton's northwest side. With the move, the Foxes took the new name of Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in an effort to attract fans outside the immediate Appleton/Fox Cities area. The franchise set its all-time attendance record of 253,240 in 2009, the first year of their affiliation with the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Timber Rattlers are a non-stock club governed by Appleton Baseball Club, Inc., which is community-owned. Appleton Baseball Club has a 12-person board of directors. It has 168 active shareholders and 347 shares as of September 2008.

Notable alumni

alumni
Other Notable alumni

Roster