Dayton Dragons

Dayton Dragons
Founded in 1988 in Rockford, Illinois
Based in Dayton, Ohio since 2000
Team logoCap insignia
Class-level
Current Class A[1]
Minor league affiliations
League Midwest League (1988–present)
Division Eastern Division
Major league affiliations
Current Cincinnati Reds (1999–present)
Previous
Minor league titles
League titles (0) None
Division titles (5)
  • 1988
  • 1993
  • 1994
  • 2001
  • 2011
Team data
Nickname Dayton Dragons (2000–present)
Previous names
  • Rockford Reds (1999)
  • Rockford Cubbies (1995–1998)
  • Rockford Royals (1993–1994)
  • Rockford Expos (1988–1992)
Ballpark Fifth Third Field (2000–present)
Previous parks
Marinelli Field (1988–1999)
Owner(s)/
Operator(s)
Palisades Arcadia Baseball LLC
Manager Dick Schofield
General Manager Robert Murphy

The Dayton Dragons are a Class A minor league baseball team playing in the Midwest League based in Dayton, Ohio. The Dragons are affiliated with the Cincinnati Reds. Their home stadium is Fifth Third Field. In 2011, they broke the record for most consecutive sellouts by a professional sports team, selling out their 815th consecutive game, breaking the record formerly held by the Portland Trail Blazers.[2][3]

The Dragons came to Dayton in 2000. They were previously a franchise based in Rockford, Illinois, and were called the Rockford Expos (1988–1992), Rockford Royals (1993–1994), Rockford Cubbies (1995–1998), and Rockford Reds (1999).

Fifth Third Field

The team's home park is Fifth Third Field in Dayton. During its first season the Dragons set a class A baseball attendance record of 581,853. Dayton broke that record in 2003 when 590,382 fans—ranking seventh in all of minor league baseball—went through the turnstiles, and again in 2004 with 593,663 paying fans.[4]

The Dragons average 8,375 fans per game, or 116% of capacity. The Dragons have been the top Class A team in attendance every year of their existence, and have set and re-broken the record for Class A attendance three times.[5] On April 17, 2007, the Dragons enjoyed their 500th consecutive sellout.[6]

On July 9, 2011, the Dragons officially set a new record of 815 consecutive sellout games.[7] The sellout streak is the longest across all professional sports in the US, passing the previous record set by the Portland Trail Blazers from 1977–1995.[8][9] On May 10, 2014, the streak of consecutive sellouts reached 1,000 games. According to the official team website, every game in the team's 15-year existence has been a sellout.[10] The Dragons continued their sellout streak throughout 2015 and finished the season with their 1,121st straight sold-out game.[11]

Ownership

In Summer of 2014 founding ownership group Mandalay Baseball Properties sold the team to Palisades Arcadia Baseball LLC.[12]

Achievements

Season-by-season records

Team Year Regular Season Post Season
Won Lost Win % Finish Won Lost Win % Result
DAY2000 70 67 .511 4th in MWL East 2 3 .400 Defeated West Michigan in League Quarterfinals, 2–1
Lost to Michigan in League Semifinals, 0–2
DAY2001 82 57 .590 2nd in MWL East 2 2 .500 Defeated Lansing in League Quarterfinals, 2–0
Lost to South Bend in League Semifinals, 0–2
DAY2002 73 67 .521 4th in MWL East 0 2 .000 Lost to West Michigan in League Quarterfinals, 0–2
DAY2003 61 78 .439 6th in MWL East Did not Qualify
DAY2004 48 92 .343 6th in MWL East Did not Qualify
DAY2005 60 79 .432 6th in MWL East Did not Qualify
DAY2006 67 73 .479 5th in MWL East Did not Qualify
DAY2007 78 62 .557 3rd in MWL East 1 2 .333 Lost to South Bend in League Quarterfinals, 1–2
DAY2008 66 72 .478 2nd in MWL East 2 2 .500 Defeated Lansing in League Quarterfinals, 2–0
Lost to South Bend In League Semifinals, 0–2
DAY2009 59 80 .425 4th in MWL East Did not Qualify
DAY2010 53 85 .384 8th in MWL East Did not Qualify
DAY2011 83 57 .593 1st in MWL East 1 2 .333 Lost to Lansing In League Quarterfinals, 1–2
DAY2012 60 78 .4358th in MWL East Did not Qualify
DAY2013 65 74 .4686th in MWL East Did not Qualify
DAY2014 68 70 .493 3rd in MWL East Did not Qualify
DAY2015 71 68 .511 5th in MWL East Did not Qualify
DAY2016 47 93 .336 8th in MWL East Did not Qualify
TOTAL 1,111 1,252 .470 8 13 .391

Major league alumni

Sixty-seven Dragons players have gone on to play in MLB since the team's move to Dayton in 2000. The following are notable players whose minor league career included playing for the Dayton Dragons, including the years they played in Dayton.

Personnel

The Dragons have had eight managers in their history:

Team affiliations

Level Team League Location
MLB Cincinnati Reds National League Cincinnati
AAA Louisville Bats International League Louisville, Kentucky
AA Pensacola Blue Wahoos Southern League Pensacola, Florida
A+ Daytona Tortugas Florida State League Daytona Beach, Florida
A Dayton Dragons Midwest League Dayton, Ohio
Rookie Billings Mustangs Pioneer League Billings, Montana
Rookie AZL Reds Arizona League Goodyear, Arizona
Rookie DSL Reds Dominican Summer League Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Media

All Dragons home and road games are broadcast on radio on 980 WONE, with Tom Nichols as the broadcaster. The broadcasts are also available via the internet at daytondragons.com and wone.com and on mobile devices via the Dragons mobile app.

The Dragons began televising games on WHIO-TV digital channel 7.2 (Time Warner Cable channels 23 and 372) on April 9, 2009,[25] eventually airing 25 games per season. Tom Nichols handled the play-by-play. Guest color commentators in 2014 included Billy Hamilton, Ken Griffey Sr., Ron Oester, Bill Doran, Doug Bair, Todd Benzinger, Hal McCoy, Josh Hall, and Chris Sexton among others.[26] Starting with the April 9. 2016 home opener, telecasts have moved to WBDT, which will air 25 home games per season.[27]

Roster

Dayton Dragons roster
Players Coaches/Other

Pitchers

  • -- Mark Armstrong
  • 39 Manuel Aybar
  • 31 Wendolyn Bautista
  • 16 Lucas Benenati
  • 44 Ty Boyles
  • 23 Jacob Constante
  • 29 Ryan Hendrix
  • 35 Jake Johnson
  • 26 Jeremy Kivel
  • 15 Sandy Lugo
  •  4 Sarkis Ohanian
  • 32 Austin Orewiler
  • 34 Braulio Ortiz
  • 17 Tanner Rainey
  • 26 Jordan Ramsey
  •  8 Jesus Reyes
  • 19 Tony Santillan
  • 11 Alex Webb

Catchers

Infielders

  • 24 Brantley Bell
  •  2 Luis Gonzalez
  • 30 Avain Rachal
  • 13 Nick Senzel
  • -- Cory Thompson
  • 25 James Vasquez

Outfielders

  • 36 Narciso Crook
  • 13 Shane Mardirosian
  • 10 Mitch Piatnik
  •  7 Zack Shields
  •  6 Daniel Sweet
  •  3 Josciel Veras

Designated hitters

  • 20 Kevin Franklin

Manager

Coaches



7-day disabled list
* On Cincinnati Reds 40-man roster
# Rehab assignment
∞ Reserve list
‡ Restricted list
§ Suspended list
† Temporary inactive list
Roster updated October 10, 2016
Transactions
More MiLB rosters
Cincinnati Reds minor league players

References

  1. http://www.milb.com/milb/info/classifications.jsp
  2. "Dragons Break All-Time Sports Sell-Out Record". Dayton Dragons News. Milb.com. 2012-04-18. Retrieved 2012-07-15.
  3. "Dayton Dragons Break Sellout Record". WHIOtv.com. 2011-07-11. Retrieved 2012-07-15.
  4. "History | Midwest League About". Web.minorleaguebaseball.com. Retrieved 2012-07-15.
  5. "Ten Hottest Tickets". Dayton Dragons. Retrieved April 22, 2007.
  6. "Hottest tickets in sports". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved April 22, 2007.
  7. "Dragons Break All-Time Sports Sell-Out Record". milb.com. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
  8. "Dayton Dragons all time professional sellout streak MLB".
  9. Neumann, Thomas (8 July 2011). "Dayton Dragons break Portland Trail Blazers' sellout streak". ESPN.com. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  10. "Dragons Sell-Out Streak Reaches 1,000". milb.com. 10 May 2014.
  11. 1 2 "Dragons Attendance again High in National Rankings". milb.com. 10 September 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  12. "Focus is on Dayton, Dragons' new owners say". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  13. "About the Dayton Dragons".
  14. "Crunching the 2011 Minor League Baseball attendance figures | News". Ballparkdigest.com. 2011-09-12. Retrieved 2012-07-15.
  15. Samuels, Holly. "Dragons knock record out of the park". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
  16. Dragons Selected as Organization of the Year. Dayton.dragon.milb.com (August 23, 2011). Retrieved on September 23, 2011.
  17. Dragons enter playoffs with best record in team history. Daytondailynews.com (September 6, 2011). Retrieved on September 23, 2011.
  18. Dragons End Regular Season with Record-Breaking Win. Web.minorleaguebaseball.com (September 5, 2011). Retrieved on September 23, 2011.
  19. Dragons pitchers set MWL record. Daytondailynews.com (September 4, 2011). Retrieved on September 23, 2011.
  20. "Dragons are finalist for team of the year award". milb.com. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
  21. Klebnikov, Sergei (July 8, 2016). "Minor League Baseball's Most Valuable Teams – 3. Dayton Dragons". Forbes. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
  22. Jablonski, David (20 November 2012). "Dragons Claim Minor League Baseball's Top Honor". Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  23. Major Award Winners, milb.com
  24. "Dragons land 2013 Midwest League All-Star Game". BallparkDigest.com. 2012-06-22. Retrieved 2012-07-15.
  25. Katz, Marc (April 3, 2009). "Dragons like their viewership chances". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
  26. Dragons on TV Wednesday, milb.com, 26 August 2014.
  27. Pendleton, Marc F. (March 21, 2016). "Dragons partner with CW". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
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