Lexington Counter Clocks

The Lexington Counter Clocks are an American professional baseball team based in Lexington, Kentucky. They are a member of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a "partner league" of Major League Baseball.[3][4] The Counter Clocks have played their home games at Counter Clocks Field since 2001.

Lexington Counter Clocks
Team logo Cap insignia
Information
LeagueAtlantic League of Professional Baseball (South Division)
LocationLexington, Kentucky
BallparkCounter Clocks Field (2001–present)
Year founded2001
Nickname(s)Lexington Counter Clocks (2023–present)
League championships
  • 2001
  • 2018
  • 2019
  • 2021
Division championships
  • 2001
  • 2018
  • 2019
  • 2021
Former name(s)Lexington Legends (2001–2022)
Former league(s)South Atlantic League (2001–2020)
ColorsBlue, white, red
     
OwnershipNathan & Keri Lyons (Vintage South Development)[1][2]
ManagerBarry Lyons
General ManagerJustin Ferrarella

History

The Class-A Kissimmee Cobras moved from the Florida State League to Lexington following the 2000 season, and changed their name to the Lexington Legends. The 2001 season began under manager J. J. Cannon. The team finished their first regular season with record of 92 wins and 48 losses and in first place of the sixteen-team South Atlantic League. In the postseason, the Legends defeated the Hagerstown Suns in the first round and advanced to play the Asheville Tourists in the League Championship Series. However, the series was cancelled after the Legends won the first two games of the series due to the September 11 attacks and the Legends were declared co-champions after having gone up 2–0 before game three was cancelled.

Cannon returned to manage in 2002 and led the team to another winning record, but the Legends failed to qualify for the playoffs. Lexington made a return trip to the playoffs in 2003, but were defeated by the Lake County Captains in the first round. In 2004, the Legends finished with a record of 68–72, their first losing record in team history. The following season, the Legends posted an 81–58 regular season record and finished in first-place under manager Tim Bogar.

Roger Clemens

On May 31, 2006, Roger Clemens announced that he would come out of retirement to pitch for the Houston Astros for the remainder of the 2006 season. Planning to keep himself to a strict 60-pitch limit, Clemens returned to baseball with the Legends, where his oldest son Koby played. Father and son denied reports that Koby would catch his dad for the return. "He doesn't listen to me", Roger Clemens said. "We'd be shaking each other off and arguing too much."[5] In his first game, Clemens threw 62 pitches, allowed no walks, and only 1 run while striking out 6 batters in three innings of work with the Legends, who won the game 5–1.

Joe Mikulik incident

The team received national attention again in 2006 following a controversial game against the Asheville Tourists on June 25. In the fifth inning of the game, Tourists manager Joe Mikulik went on an extended tirade after being ejected from the game following an argument with an umpire. The event received coverage on various television programs, including NBC's The Tonight Show, ESPN's Pardon the Interruption and SportsCenter, and MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Roger Clemens' appearance as a Legend as well as Joe Mikulik's meltdown are chronicled in the 2011 documentary film Legendary: When Baseball Came to the Bluegrass.

2021 and beyond

The Lexington Legends were one of the minor league teams that lost MLB affiliation under a new plan by MLB.[6] On February 18, 2021, the team announced that it would be joining the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, an independent MLB Partner league, for the 2021 season.[7]

On October 28, 2022, the team and their ballpark were sold to Nathan and Keri Lyons.[1][2]

2023 name change

It was announced March 6, 2023, that the team was changing its name to the Lexington Counter Clocks.[8] Since then, their ballpark has been known as Counter Clocks Field.

Branding and mascots
The Legends' logo from 2013 to 2023 featuring Big L

The Legends' mascot was Big L, a mustachioed baseball player caricature. His best friend was Pee Wee, another team mascot. The team's colors were blue, green, and yellow.

Along with its new name, in 2023 the Lexington Counter Clocks introduced two new mascots: Hoss, a horse that races to the left, and Dinger, a clock swinging a bat.[9] The team's colors are now blue, red, and white.

Season by season results

Since their inception, the Lexington franchise has played 22 seasons, originally in the South Atlantic League (2001–2019) and later the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (2021–present). As of the completion of the 2022 season, the club had played in 2,886 regular season games and compiled a record of 1,400–1,486 for a .485 winning percentage. The team postseason record was 19–8.

League Champions
†		 Post-season Berth
♦
SeasonManagerRecord[a]Win %League[b]Division[c]GB[d]Post-season record[e]Post-season win %ResultMLB/League affiliate
2001
†		Joe Cannon92–48.6571st1st–4–01.000Won division series vs Hagerstown Suns, 2–0
Led Asheville Tourists 2–0 in League Championship Series
Declared Co-League Champions[f]		Houston
2002Joe Cannon81–59.5792nd2nd2½–––Houston
2003
♦		Russ Nixon75–63.5437th2nd250–2.000Lost division series vs Lake County Captains, 0–2Houston
2004Iván DeJesús68–72.48610th7th17–––Houston
2005Tim Bogar81–58.5831st1st—–––Houston
2006
♦		Jack Lind75–63.5435th3rd8½0–2.000Lost division series vs Lakewood BlueClaws, 0–2Houston
2007Gregg Langbehn59–81.42113th7th25–––Houston
2008Gregg Langbehn45–93.32616th8th34–––Houston
2009Tom Lawless68–72.4869th5th8½–––Houston
2010Rodney Linares71–68.5116th4th8½–––Houston
2011Rodney Linares59–79.42812th6th19½–––Houston
2012Iván DeJesús69–69.5007th4th18–––Houston
2013Brian Buchanan68–70.4938th6th/4th9.5/10–––Kansas City
2014 Brian Buchanan 57–83 .407 11th 6th/6th 17/20.5 – – – Kansas City
2015 Omar Ramirez 58–80 .420 12th 6th 26.5 – – – Kansas City
2016 Omar Ramirez 52–87 .374 13th 7th – – – Kansas City
2017 Scott Thorman 62–75 .453 12th 6th 16 – – – Kansas City
2018
†		 Scott Thorman 76–60 .559 2nd 1st - 5–1 .833 Won division series vs Rome Braves 2–0
Won League Championship Series vs Lakewood BlueClaws 3–1
League Champions		 Kansas City
2019
†		 Brooks Conrad 68–70 .493 7th 3rd 9 5–1 .833 Won division series vs Augusta Greenjackets 2–0
Won League Championship Series vs Hickory Crawdads 3–1
League Champions		 Kansas City
2020 Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021
†		 P.J. Phillips 60–60 .500 4th 2nd 4.5 5–2 .714 Won division series vs Charleston Dirty Birds 2–1
Won League Championship Series vs Long Island Ducks 3–1
League Champions		 Atlantic League of Professional Baseball
2022P.J. Phillips56–76.4247th4th32–––Atlantic League of Professional Baseball

Notes
  • a This column indicates overall wins and losses during the regular season and excludes any postseason play.
  • b This column indicates overall position in the league standings.
  • c This column indicates overall position in the divisional standings[split seasons for 2013 and 2014].
  • d Determined by finding the difference in wins plus the difference in losses divided by two, this column indicates "games behind" the team that finished in overall first place in the division [split seasons for 2013 and 2014].
  • e This column indicates wins and losses during the postseason.
  • f Due to the September 11 attacks, the 2001 best-of-five League Championship Series against Asheville was cancelled. Asheville and Lexington were declared SAL Co-Champions.

Roster
Lexington Counter Clocks roster
Active (25-man) roster Coaches/Other

Pitchers

  • -- Cooper Brune
  • -- Yeudy García
  • -- J. C. Sulbaran
  • -- Edison Suriel
  • -- Ean Walda



  

Catchers

  • -- Alex Holderbach

Infielders

Outfielders

  • -- J. C. Encarnacion
  • -- Connor Owings
  

Manager

Coaches

  • -- Enohel Polanco (Hitting)
  • -- Cameron Roth (Pitching)
  • -- Bryan Swalley (Defense)

Disabled list
‡ Inactive list
§ Suspended list

 updated March 31, 2023
 Transactions

Lexington Legends Hall of Fame

The Lexington Legends honored ten past members of the organization by inducting them in the Lexington Legends Hall of Fame.[10] These individuals are:

References
General
Specific
  1. "Nashville developer acquires Lexington Legends, Wild Health Field". WLEX-TV. October 28, 2022. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  2. "Lexington Legends, Wild Health Field sold to Nashville developer". Kentucky Sports Radio. October 28, 2022. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  3. "Indy Atlantic League designated MLB Partner League". Ballpark Digest. August Publishing. September 23, 2020. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
  4. "American Association, Frontier League now MLB Partner Leagues". Ballpark Digest. August Publishing. September 24, 2020. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
  5. Bailey, Rick. "Pitch and catch at the park, Clemens style FATHER, SON 'GET AT IT' IN 90-MINUTE SESSION". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved June 2, 2006.
  6. "Lexington Legends part of proposed downsizing". Lexington Herald-Leader. November 17, 2019. Archived from the original on November 18, 2019. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
  7. "Legends join the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball". The Lane Report. February 18, 2021. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
  8. "New for 2023: Lexington Counter Clocks". Ballpark Digest. August Publications. March 6, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  9. "We're the Lexington Counter Clocks". Lexington Counter Clocks. March 6, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  10. "Legends Hall Of Fame | Lexington Legends History". Minor League Baseball. Archived from the original on March 11, 2016. Retrieved September 11, 2010.
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