Madison Mallards
| Madison Mallards | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
||||
| League | Northwoods League (South Division) | |||
| Location | Madison, Wisconsin | |||
| Ballpark | Warner Park | |||
| Year founded | 2001 | |||
| League championships | 2 (2004, 2013) | |||
| Division championships | 4 (Overall: 2004, 2005, 2008 First half: 2003, 2013) |
|||
| Former name(s) | Madison Mallards (2001–present) | |||
| Colors | Green, silver, white, gold |
|||
| Ownership | Steve Schmitt | |||
| Management | President: Vern Stenman General Manager: Tyler Isham |
|||
| Manager | Donnie Scott | |||
| Media |
Wisconsin State Journal WOZN-AM/FM |
|||
| Website | MallardsBaseball.com | |||
The Madison Mallards are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Madison, Wisconsin that plays in the Northwoods League. Warner Park on Madison’s North side is the team's home field. The 2017 season will mark the Mallards' 17th season.
The Mallards are one of 20 teams in the Northwoods League, playing 72 games per season, in late-May through mid-August. The Northwoods League is a summer collegiate league that provides an opportunity for college players to spend their summers and display their talents to professional scouts. Players must be enrolled in college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility to participate. The league is designed to give college players the minor league experience, providing players an opportunity to play under the same conditions using wooden bats, minor league specification baseballs, experiencing overnight road trips, and playing nightly before fans in a stadium.
The Mallards maintain roughly 30 members on the team, including 14 position players, 16 pitchers.
The history of minor league baseball in Madison begins with the early success of the Madison Muskies. A Midwest League Oakland A's affiliate, the Muskies were competitive and gained a healthy following in the years following their 1982 origins. Unfortunately by 1993 the crowds had declined and the Muskies became less profitable. In 1994 the Muskies were replaced for a single season by the St Louis affiliate, Madison Hatters. 1996 began the five-year stint of the independent Madison Black Wolf, but once again low attendance and little interest plagued the team and they were forced to move to a more profitable community.
In 2001 area businessman, Steve Schmitt, introduced the Madison Mallards to Warner Park. The Mallards would be a new team in the young Northwoods League featuring amateur college ball players playing summer ball during their off-season. The gamble was that a successful team could be built using amateur ball players in a family atmosphere.
The Mallards made it to the playoffs in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2013, 2015, and 2016. They have made four Northwoods League Championship Series appearances, which resulted in runner-up finishes in 2005 and 2008. They won the Northwoods League championship in 2004 and 2013.
...
Wikipedia