Williamsport Crosscutters Founded in 1993 Williamsport, Pennsylvania |
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Class-level | |||||
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Current | Short season A | ||||
Minor league affiliations | |||||
League | New York–Penn League | ||||
Division | Pinckney Division | ||||
Major league affiliations | |||||
Current | Philadelphia Phillies (2007–present) | ||||
Previous |
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Minor league titles | |||||
League titles (2) |
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Division titles (1) | 2015 | ||||
Team data | |||||
Nickname |
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Colors | Red, navy blue, gray, tan, ivory |
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Ballpark | BB&T Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field (1994–present) | ||||
Manager | Pat Borders |
The Williamsport Crosscutters are a Class A-Short Season Minor League Baseball team based in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, in the United States. They are a Philadelphia Phillies affiliate in the short-season New York–Penn League, playing their home games at BB&T Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field, the second oldest minor league ballpark in the United States.
Through 1993, the club was the Geneva Cubs, playing in Geneva, New York. For the 1994 season, the club moved to Williamsport, occupying an historic facility that had not been used for professional baseball for the previous two seasons. The club became known as the Williamsport Cubs, a Class A short season affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, retaining that name through 1998. In 1999, the team switched affiliations from the Chicago Cubs to the Pittsburgh Pirates and the team name became "the Crosscutters". At the end of the 2006 season, the team became an affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, with the Pittsburgh affiliation switching to the State College Spikes.
The Crosscutters shared the New York–Penn League championship with the Brooklyn Cyclones in 2001, after losing the first game of the series. Both teams were declared champions after the remainder of the series was canceled in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Crosscutters again made the playoffs in 2002 but were eliminated in the first round. However, the team returned to win the championship series, against the Cyclones, in 2003.
The name "Crosscutters" reflects the logging heritage of Williamsport, once known as the "Lumber Capital of the World." The city, historically having the largest amount of millionaires per capita, is on the West Branch Susquehanna River, and logging barons once lived in mansions along Fourth Street, which became known as "Millionaires' Row". To this day, sports teams at Williamsport Area High School are known as the Millionaires.