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Baseball in Lansing Timeline

1889 In the first year of existence for a pro baseball team in Lansing, W.H. Mumby manages the squad to a 42-56 record and fourth place in the six-team Michigan State League.
1890 Under the direction of Al Manassau, the team loses all 17 of its first 21 games before the Michigan State League folds in June.
1895 The Lansing Senators post a highly-respectable 56-36 record in the Michigan State League, finishing in second place. The team features 47-year-old Bud Fowler (born John W. Jackson in Cooperstown, New York), the very first professional African American baseball player. Fowler made his debut in 1878 in the International Association. In 1895, he is the only black baseball player playing professionally anywhere in the country. Fowler will finish his career with a batting average of .308 in 465 career minor league games. The team also features future Senators manager Jack Morrissey, who bats .362. The star of the team, though, is Jack Daley, who bats .397 with 124 runs scored, 143 hits, and 25 home runs.
1897 After a year's hiatus, Lansing rejoins the league... only to see the MSL shut down again in mid-season with the team in second place.
1902 Another tale of economic woe: The Senators shut down operations in August. The league disbands soon after.
1907 Playing in the Southern Michigan League, the Senators finish 46-57 behind the leadership of proud Lansing native John "Jack" Morrissey. It is Morrissey's first of eight consecutive seasons in charge of the Senators. He had played in the National League with Cincinnati in 1902-03, batting .258 in 41 games.
1908 Lansing finishes with a middling 60-65 record, but pitcher George Pearce makes a name for himself with 298 strikeouts. Player/manager Morrissey piles up 141 hits to lead the offense.
1910 In Jack Morrissey's finest season at the helm of the Senators, Vic Saier (175 hits) and Homer "Slab" Warner (23) lead Lansing to an 87-52 record, tied for first place with Kalamazoo in the eight-team Southern Michigan League. However, the Celery Eaters defeat the Senators in a playoff for the league championship.
1911 Slab Warner outdoes himself, setting a new SML record with 26 wins and striking out 231 batters. The Senators post a 79-55 mark, good for second place in the Southern Michigan League.
1912 Al "Bull" Durham, playing for Lansing and Bay City, sets a new league record with 25 home runs and Jack Onslow tears up SML pitching to the tune of a .385 batting average, but the Senators finish only 65-62. 1913 - T.H. Nellis collects 146 hits in the Senators' first season
in the newly-named Southern Michigan Association, but the team finishes just barely out of the cellar in the eight-team league.
1914 On July 10, the middling 33-35 Senators move to Mt. Clemens and become the Bathers, finishing 63-80. Following the season's conclusion, the Southern Michigan Association disbands.
1921 Now playing in the Central League, the third-place Senators finish 65-63 thanks in large part to 18 wins from star pitcher Lawrence Reno and a .348 batting average from Charles Miller.
1922 Lansing slips to 60-67 and fifth place, though Les Bell stars with a .329 batting average. The league shuts down after the season.
1940 Affiliated with the St. Louis Cardinals as part of Branch Rickey's groundbreaking farm system, the Lansing Lancers are the doormat of the six-team Michigan State League despite a dynamic offense, batting .294 as a team. Gerald Burmeister paces his teammates with a .360 average, 15 home runs and 86 RBI. Teammate Dick Sisler, son of Hall of Famer George Sisler, bats .322; he would later play eight seasons in the Major Leagues.
1941 Renamed the Senators and no longer affiliated with the Cards, Lansing loses 78 of 113 games, with Everett Robinson's .345 average and 95 RBI going for naught. The team disbands at season's end and the league follows shortly thereafter.
1996 Professional baseball returns to Lansing with the Lugnuts, a Class-A Midwest League affilliate of the Kansas City Royals. The franchise that became the Lugnuts was born in Lafayette, IN, in 1955, moving to Waterloo, IA, in 1957, where it would stay for 35 seasons. The franchise was purchased by Tom Dickson and Sherrie Myers in 1995, who moved it to
Springfield, Illinois. The next year, it was brought to the capital city of Michigan. The very first game played at brand new Oldsmobile Park was between the University of Michigan and Michigan State University on April 3, 1996, won by the Wolverines, 5-4, in 10 innings. On July 6, the Colorado Silver Bullets, an all-female pro baseball team, play at Oldsmobile Park. The Silver Bullets, managed by Hall of Famer Phil Niekro, lose to the Madison Stars, 8-1. Over the course of this inaugural season, the Lugnuts set a record for Minor League Baseball attendance, drawing 538,326 fans. Pitcher Blaine Mull sets single-season franchise records with 15 victories and 174.2 innings pitched, though he also allows a franchise-record 186 base hits.
1997 How could an inaugural season be topped? By first hosting the Midwest League All-Star Game (won by the Eastern Division, 6-5) and then winning the Midwest League Championship, which the Lugnuts did after just barely making it into the playoffs with a 69-68 record. In the first round, Lansing defeats Michigan 2-games-to-1; in the second round, Lansing sweeps Fort Wayne in two straight games; and in the championship round, Lansing outlasts Kane County in dramatic fashion, 3-games-to-2. The season also sees Jose Santiago make his debut with the Kansas City Royals, making him the first Lugnut to reach the Major Leagues.
1999 After missing the playoffs in 1998, the Lugnuts enter 1999 with a new affiliation, switching from the Royals to the Chicago Cubs, and returning to the postseason behind Midwest League Prospect of the Year Corey Patterson, who hit for the Lugnuts' first cycle on July 5 at South Bend. In the first round, Lansing sweeps away Michigan in two games before having the tables turned on them in a two-game sweep by Wisconsin in the second round.
2000 Ryan Gripp leads the league with a .333 batting average and 166 hits, adding 20 home runs and 92 RBI while Oscar Montero posts an astonishing 0.37 ERA, allowing one ER in 24.1 innings, but the Lugnuts finish 70-68 and miss the playoffs. A dubious achievement happens on June 13 when Clinton's Scott Dunn twirls a 7-0 perfect game against Lansing.
2002 Another All-Star Game and MWL Championship in the same season? Almost. Lansing hosts its second Midwest League All-Star Game (the East defeating the West, 6-3), but fall in the Championship Series to Peoria, 3-games-to-1.
2003 A memorable April 21: Donnie Hood hits for the cycle and Justin Jones, Westin O'Brien, Mark Carter combine to throw the first no-hitter in franchise history, blanking Dayton, 15-0. The season gets better from there: Lansing's Keith Butler collects three hits in three at-bats and drives in the game-winning run in the All-Star Game to be named the Star of Stars. In September, the Lugnuts win their second Midwest League Championship in dominating fashion, sweeping South Bend in two games, Battle Creek in two games, and Beloit in three games. Starters Anderson Tavares, Carlos Vasquez, and Andy Sisco lead the way, with lights-out closer Jason Wylie saving a franchise record 29 games to go along with 1.38 ERA
2004 Eight different Lugnuts are named to the Midwest League All-Star Team, though one stands above the rest. The Lugnuts' Brian Dopirak is honored as both the Most Valuable Player and the Prospect of the Year after ripping up Midwest League Pitching for a .307 batting average, 39 home runs, and 120 RBI. Both home run and RBI totals set new franchise records. Chris Walker adds a franchise record 60 stolen bases. On the mound, catcher-turned-ace Carlos Marmol posts 14 wins and strikes out 154, though he is overshadowed somewhat by 21-year-old Sean Marshall, who records a startling 1.11 ERA in seven starts, striking out 51 while allowing only 29 hits, six earned runs and four walks in 48.2 innings. The season also sees Mark Prior make a pair of rehab starts on assignment
2005 In the offseason, the Lugnuts switch affiliations from the Cubs to the Toronto Blue Jays, though the change does not result in a fifth consecutive entrance into the postseason. Still, seven different players earn All-Star Game nods, including highly-regarded pitching prospect Casey Janssen. In seven starts, Janssen notches a 4-0 record with a 1.37 ERA and a 38/4 strikeout/walk ratio. The season's other highlight sees Chip Cannon hit for the cycle in the midst of a 14-13, 13-inning victory against Clinton on June 2.
2007 The inaugural Crosstown Showdown is held between Michigan St. and Lansing on April 3, won 4-3 by the Lugnuts in nail-biting fashion. The season's star is Blue Jays top prospect Travis Snider, who hits for the cycle in reverse order (amidst a 5-for-5 night) in a 9-3 victory at Fort Wayne on July 7. He finishes the season with a team-leading .313 batting average, 143 base hits, 16 home runs, and 93 runs batted in. On August 25, there is a different reason to celebrate as the Lugnuts welcome in Oldsmobile Park's 5,000,000th fan.
2008 Behind Clayton McCullough, the Lugnuts win their first division title since 1999, wrapping up the first-half Eastern Division title.
2009 In the third Crosstown Showdown presented by Auto-Owners Insurance on April 16, the Lugnuts and Michigan State Spartans draw a record crowd of 12,992, as the Spartans win a 12-2 laugher for their first victory in the annual exhibition series.
2010 Before the season, Oldsmobile Park is renamed Cooley Law School Stadium. On May 1, Chris Hopkins' walk-off single in the 10th lifts the Lugnuts to a 3-2 win over the TinCaps for the team's 1,000th all-time victory.
2011 Steered by MWL Manager of the Year Mike Redmond and spearheaded by MWL Midseason/Postseason All-Star outfielders Michael Crouse and Jake Marisnick. The Lugnuts qualify for the playoffs via tiebreaker on the last day of the first half, then make an unexpected postseason run to the Midwest League Championship Series. Down to their last out in Game 2 of their first round series against powerful Dayton, the Lugs receive a dramatic two-run game-winning home run from Matt Nuzzo on September 9, starting a string of four consecutive playoff victories vs. Dayton and Fort Wayne to clinch the Eastern Division title. However, the Lugnuts are swept in three games by Quad Cities in the finals.