Kannapolis Intimidators
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Kannapolis Intimidators Founded in 1995 Kannapolis, North Carolina |
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| Class-level | |||||
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| Current | A | ||||
| Minor league affiliations | |||||
| League | South Atlantic League | ||||
| Division | Southern Division | ||||
| Major league affiliations | |||||
| Current | Chicago White Sox (2001–present) | ||||
| Previous | Philadelphia Phillies (1995–2000) | ||||
| Minor league titles | |||||
| League titles (1) | 2005 | ||||
| Team data | |||||
| Nickname | Kannapolis Intimidators (2001–present) | ||||
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Previous names
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Piedmont Boll Weevils (1996–2000) Piedmont Phillies (1995) Spartanburg Phillies (1963-1995) |
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| Colors | Red, black, white |
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| Ballpark | Intimidators Stadium (1995–present) | ||||
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Owner(s)/
Operator(s) |
Brad Smith | ||||
| Manager | Justin Jirschele | ||||
| General Manager | Randy Long | ||||
The Kannapolis Intimidators are a minor league baseball team in Kannapolis, North Carolina. The team is a Class Low-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox and has played in the South Atlantic League under various names and team affiliations since its inception in 1995.
The Intimidators franchise moved to Kannapolis in 1995 from Spartanburg, South Carolina, where they had been a Class A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. Debate raged in the Kannapolis area over what to name the team, with team officials finally decided to call the team the Piedmont Phillies for the 1995 season.
A name-the-team contest in the fall of 1995 drew thousands of entries, and team officials settled on the boll weevil as the team's new mascot, indicative of Kannapolis' history as a textile mill town (Kannapolis natives are even called "lintheads"). The Piedmont Boll Weevils would keep that mascot until after the 2000 season, when NASCAR racing legend Dale Earnhardt purchased a share in the team's ownership. It was then that the name was changed to the Kannapolis Intimidators, in honor of Earnhardt's legendary nickname. It was also during that offseason that the team's parent club changed from the Phillies to the Chicago White Sox, making the Intimidators the third White Sox farm team to be located in the Carolinas, following the Charlotte Knights and the Winston-Salem Warthogs, now called the Winston-Salem Dash.
Earnhardt, who drove the #3 car in NASCAR, was killed in an accident at the Daytona 500 in February 2001. Following Earnhardt's death, the Intimidators avoided assigning the number 3 for team members. Team manager Razor Shines, originally slated to wear #3, subsequently changed his uniform number to #43. The team officially retired number 3 on May 15, 2002, in memory of their former co-owner, similar to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim retiring the number 26 (the 26th man) in honor of former owner Gene Autry.
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