Gary SouthShore RailCats
| Gary SouthShore RailCats | |||||
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| League | American Association (Central Division) | ||||
| Location | Gary, Indiana | ||||
| Ballpark | U.S. Steel Yard | ||||
| Year founded | 2001 | ||||
| League championships | 3 (2005, 2007, 2013) | ||||
| Division championships | 3 (2006, 2007, 2009) | ||||
| Former name(s) | Gary SouthShore RailCats (2002–present) | ||||
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| Colors | green, maroon, silver, white |
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| Retired numbers | 42, 45 23 Willie Glen | ||||
| Ownership | Salvi Sports Enterprises | ||||
| Manager | Greg Tagert | ||||
| General Manager | Brian Lyter | ||||
| Media | Post-Tribune, Northwest Indiana Times | ||||
| Website | railcatsbaseball |
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The Gary SouthShore RailCats are a professional baseball team based in Gary, Indiana, in the United States. The RailCats are a member of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. The RailCats have played their home games at the U.S. Steel Yard since 2002, when the team started as a member of the Northern League. In 2011 the team became a member of the modern American Association.
During their time in the Northern League, the RailCats were the only team to ever reach the Championship Series five years in a row (2005–09) and won league championships in 2005, 2007, and 2013.
On January 23, 2001, the Northern League announced that it had awarded a franchise to Northwest Sports Ventures, LLC . In June a Limited Liability Company by the name of Victory Sports Group was officially registered in Missouri, led by Michael A. Tatoian.
Amid much controversy, ground was broken for a new 6,000 seat stadium in Gary, Indiana. Mayor Scott King received much scrutiny for his decision to fund such a stadium; the city of Gary has had a history of mayors who have funded massive white elephants. Again with much controversy the city signed a fifteen-year lease with the team ownership for the future baseball stadium.
In September, 2001, the team was officially named the Gary SouthShore RailCats, drawing its name from both the city's deep history of freight lines and the South Shore Line commuter train (visible over the left field wall at the stadium).
The stadium construction was behind schedule forcing the RailCats to play their first season entirely on the road. The city of Gary paid a financial penalty for failure to complete the stadium on time, which helped finance their season. The RailCats traveled approximately 12,000 miles to play 90 games. Despite that, RailCats manager Joe Calfapietra was named the Northern League Manager of the Year after his club won 35 games, the most ever by a team that played exclusively on the road.
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