Lexington will soon be home to TWO minor league baseball teams
Move over Lexington Legends, there’s a new team in town.
If you haven’t been able to get your fill of minor league baseball in central Kentucky over the years, that won’t be a problem much longer. The city of Lexington will add another club from the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) ahead of the 2022 season, it was announced on Thursday.
The team will be referred to as the Kentucky team (KY) until a new name is decided. It is owned by Lexington-based Stands LLC. The ALPB is about to embark on its 24th season in 2022.
The Kentucky team will share its home stadium with the Legends at Whitaker Bank Ballpark just outside of downtown Lexington. Both clubs will play each other when the full 2022 schedule is announced. The Legends were recently dropped from Major League Baseball back in December and picked up by the ALPB (a partner league with the MLB) a couple of months later in February.
Currently, the ALPB is comprised of eight franchises:
North (Liberty) Division: Lancaster Barnstormers (PA), Long Island Ducks (NY), Southern Maryland Blue Crabs (MD), and York Revolution (PA).
South (Freedom) Divison: Charleston Dirty Birds (WV), Gastonia Honey Hunters (NC), High Point Rockers (NC), and Lexington Legends (KY).
Below is a portion of the ALPB’s press release from Thursday.
The Kentucky team will provide a 10th team and balanced schedule in the year in which a Staten Island club will join the eight existing Atlantic League clubs. A 10th city will join the league in 2023 when Hagerstown, Maryland, fields an Atlantic League club.
“The addition of the Kentucky club will provide travel advantages in our league schedule,” said Atlantic League President Rick White. “The league is grateful to Stands LLC CEO Andy Shea and the entire Legends organization for their generous offer to host a second team in their ballpark.”
Shea, who noted the agreement was made easier by the earlier decision to install an artificial turf field in Lexington, said the Legends look forward to sharing their home with another team.
“One thing we’ve learned about this great city is that there is room for more baseball in Lexington,” Shea said. “Our fans deserve high quality in all the games in the league’s schedule.”
With a wink, Shea added an ulterior motive.
“Besides,” he said, “a second Kentucky team doubles the chances that the Atlantic League trophy stays in Lexington another year.”
The league is finalizing its 2022 schedule and plans to issue it by the end of this week.
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