Springfield Sultans
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Lansing Lugnuts Founded in 1955 Lansing, Michigan |
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| Class-level | |||||
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| Current | Class-A (1955–present) | ||||
| Minor league affiliations | |||||
| League | Midwest League (1955–present) | ||||
| Division | Eastern Division | ||||
| Major league affiliations | |||||
| Current | Toronto Blue Jays (2005–present) | ||||
| Previous |
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| Minor league titles | |||||
| League titles (9) |
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| Division titles (5) |
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| Team data | |||||
| Nickname | Lansing Lugnuts (1996–present) | ||||
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Previous names
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| Colors | Red and silver | ||||
| Ballpark | Cooley Law School Stadium (1996–present) | ||||
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Previous parks
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Owner(s)/
Operator(s) |
Tom Dickson & Sherrie Myers | ||||
| Manager | Cesar Martin | ||||
| General Manager | Nick Grueser | ||||
The Lansing Lugnuts are a Class-A minor league baseball team, affiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays, that plays in the Midwest League.
The Midwest League came to Lansing, Michigan after owners Tom Dickson and Sherrie Myers moved the team to work with the City for a public-private lease to build a new stadium. Mayor David Hollister, and the City Council worked to attract the owners and build the stadium for downtown economic development. The team began playing in downtown Lansing in 1996. The franchise began as the Lafayette Red Sox in Lafayette, Indiana, in 1955; after two seasons it became the Waterloo Hawks, moving to Waterloo, Iowa, where it stayed for 36 seasons. Before the 1994 season it moved to Springfield, Illinois, but only spent two seasons there before moving to Lansing. The franchise was an affiliate of the Kansas City Royals on two separate occasions in three different cities: as the Waterloo Royals from 1969 through 1976, as the Sultans of Springfield in 1995, and then, upon the team's move to Lansing, from 1996 through 1998. The Lugnuts were then an affiliate of the Chicago Cubs from 1999 through 2004 before joining the Jays' farm system for the 2005 season. In September 2014, the Jays extended their agreement with the Lugnuts through the 2016 season. In October 2016, their player development contract was extended through the 2018 season.
The team plays at Cooley Law School Stadium (previously known as Oldsmobile Park and named after the now-defunct General Motors division that was based there), which opened in 1996. The new name comes from a naming rights deal with Thomas M. Cooley Law School, based in Lansing. Cooley Law School Stadium is also the home of Jackson Field, named after Jackson Life Insurance, based in Lansing. The stadium seats over 10,000 fans and is one of the most handicapped accessible stadiums in the country. The franchise national attendance record of 538,326 was set during its inaugural year. They won the Midwest League Championship in 1997 and 2003. The Lugnuts have their own original song which plays immediately after the national anthem for every home game accompanied by their mascot, Big Lug.
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