Cleburne Railroaders

Cleburne Railroaders
Information
LeagueAmerican Association of Professional Baseball (East Division)
LocationCleburne, Texas
BallparkThe Depot at Cleburne Station
Founded2017
ColorsCaboose Red, Steel Rail Blue, Whistle Post White
     
ManagerPete Incaviglia
Websiterailroaderbaseball.com

The Cleburne Railroaders are a professional baseball team based in Cleburne, Texas, that plays in the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseball.[1] The team, which began play in 2017, plays its home games at The Depot at Cleburne Station.[2]

History

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A different team known as the Cleburne Railroaders played in the Texas League, where they won the 1906 championship.[3] The team won the 1911 Texas–Oklahoma League championship. They played their home games at Gorman's Park, now part of Hulen Park.

The modern Railroaders were announced as an expansion franchise in the American Association on October 6, 2016.[4] The team plays in the Depot, a new US$25 million stadium that was recognized as the fan-favorite independent stadium by Ballpark Digest in 2017.[5]

On June 12, 2020, it was announced that the Railroaders were one of six teams that would not be participating in the 2020 American Association season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[6]

New ownership

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The Cleburne Railroaders announced three new additions to their ownership group: Neil Leibman, Alan Miller, and Jon Ryan.[7] Leibman is the Texas Rangers Chief Operating Officer and President of Business Operations and owns multiple professional sports teams.[8] Miller is the owner of COLLiDE Agency and Ryan is a former NFL player and are part owners of the Portland Pickles independent baseball team located in Oregon. These additions to the ownership team came about in 2021 and these three will help in preparation for the upcoming season.

New colors

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The Railroaders colors have changed from orange and blue to colors that are inspired by the flag of Texas. The new colors are: caboose red, steel rail blue and whistle post white.[9]

New uniforms

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The Railroaders will have three uniforms for this upcoming 2021 season. The home uniform is a white jersey with 'Railroaders' script across the chest. The pants are white with red and navy piping, the numbers are red, and on the sleeve there are Gandy and American Association patches. The away jerseys consist of a grey jersey and grey pants with the same patches as the home uniforms on the sleeves. Lastly, there is the Heritage uniform which features a navy blue top and grey pants with stirrups mimicking the ones worn by the original Railroaders team back in 1906.[9]

Gandy

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Railroaders also introduced a new mascot to their team, known as Gandy. Gandy will join Spike, the original mascot, in representing the Railroaders and what they stand for. Gandy's background is that he was a part of the Santa Fe railroad track maintenance gang. These maintenance gangs were known as Gandy Dancers because they would sing a variety of songs while they were working on the track.[9]

Season-by-season records

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Cleburne Railroaders season records
Season League Division Regular Season Postseason Manager Ref
Record Win% Division GB Record Win% Result
2017 AA South 47–53 .470 2nd 14.5 Did not qualify
2018 AA South 33–66 .333 5th 37.5 Did not qualify
2019 AA South 57–43 .570 3rd 1 Did not qualify
2020 AA South On hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021 AA South 54–46 .540 2nd 15 0–1 .000 Wild Card Game, Lost to Sioux City Logan Watkins

Roster

[edit]
Cleburne Railroaders roster
Active (25-man) roster Coaches/Other

Pitchers

  • 32 Dylan Bice
  • 18 Luke Boyd
  • 25 Beau Burrows
  • 23 Jacob Gilliland
  • 36 Kyle Johnston
  • 31 Theo McDowell
  • 16 Kade Mechals
  •  2 Jalen Miller
  • 33 Chris Muller
  • 40 Brady Puckett
  • 28 Kristian Scott
  • 20 Caleb Smith
  • 38 Johnathon Tripp
  • 30 Antonio Velez
  • 34 Mark Washington



  

Catchers

  • 27 Blake Grant-Parks
  • 11 Jaxx Groshans

Infielders

Outfielders

  •  3 Hill Alexander
  •  9 Blaze Brothers
  • 29 Korey Holland
  •  1 Jesus Lujano
  • 21 Brian O'Grady
  

Manager

Coaches

  • 14 Brooks Carey (bench)
  • 22 Billy Horn (pitching)
  • 13 Rudy Jaramillo (hitting)
  •    Jacob Popoff (clubhouse manager)
  •    Arturo Valles (trainer)

Disabled list
‡ Inactive list
§ Suspended list

Roster updated August 9, 2024
 Transactions

Notable alumni

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Further reading

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  • Cleburne Baseball: A Railroader History by Scott Cain[10]

References

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  1. ^ Reichard, Kevin (2020-09-24). "American Association, Frontier League now MLB Partner Leagues". Ballpark Digest. Retrieved 2021-02-18.
  2. ^ "The Depot stadium construction begins". Cleburne Times-Review. June 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
  3. ^ "League Champions". October 2015. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
  4. ^ "Cleburne Railroaders join American Association". October 6, 2016. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
  5. ^ Editors, Ballpark Digest (2017-07-03). "Best of the Ballparks 2017, Independent Baseball: The Depot at Cleburne Station". Ballpark Digest. Retrieved 2021-03-24. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  6. ^ "Independent American Association to start baseball season July 3 with limited fans". ESPN. June 12, 2020. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  7. ^ Francis, Robert (2021-03-18). "Texas Rangers executive, others added to Cleburne Railroaders ownership group". Fort Worth Business Press. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
  8. ^ Stevenson, Stefan (March 17, 2021). "Texas Rangers President, Former NFL Punter Join Cleburne Railroaders Ownership Group". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  9. ^ a b c [email protected], A. J. Crisp. "Railroader makeover; New colors, logos, uniforms 'put Cleburne on the map'". Cleburne Times-Review. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
  10. ^ Cain, Scott (2017). Cleburne Baseball: A Railroader History. Charleston, South Carolina: The History Press. ISBN 9781467137010. OCLC 959035985.
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