The
Bowling Green Hot Rods are a
minor league baseballMinor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...
team in
Bowling Green, KentuckyBowling Green is the third-most populous city in the state of Kentucky after Louisville and Lexington, with a population of 58,067 as of the 2010 Census. It is the county seat of Warren County and the principal city of the Bowling Green, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area with an estimated 2009...
. They are a Class A team in the
Midwest LeagueThe Midwest League is a Class-A minor league baseball league which operates in the Midwestern United States.-History:Six teams – the Belleville Stags, the Centralia Cubs, the Marion Indians, the Mattoon Indians or East Frankfort White Sox, the Mount Vernon Braves, and the West Frankfort...
, and have been a
farm teamIn sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team or nursery club, is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher level at a given point...
of the
Tampa Bay RaysThe Tampa Bay Rays are a Major League Baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays are a member of the Eastern Division of MLB's American League. Since their inception in , the club has played at Tropicana Field...
since September 29, 2006. The team began playing at
Bowling Green BallparkBowling Green Ballpark is a 4,500-seat stadium in Downtown Bowling Green, Kentucky. It is primarily used for baseball and is home to the Bowling Green Hot Rods of the Midwest League of minor league baseball. This state-of-the-art stadium opened with Citizens First Opening Night on April 17, 2009...
in 2009, replacing the
Columbus CatfishThe Columbus Catfish were a minor league baseball team in Columbus, Georgia. They were a Class A team in the South Atlantic League, and were an affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays since September 29, 2006. The Catfish relocated to Bowling Green, Kentucky for the 2009 season.The Catfish played home...
.
The "Hot Rods" name refers to the connections that Bowling Green has to the automotive and racing industries such the
National Corvette MuseumThe National Corvette Museum showcases the Chevrolet Corvette, an American sports car that has been in production since 1953. It is located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, off Interstate 65's Exit 28...
, Holley Carburetor,
Beech Bend RacewayBeech Bend Park is an amusement park, campground and automobile race track located in Warren County, Kentucky, USA, just outside the limits of the city of Bowling Green.-History:...
and the
Bowling Green Assembly PlantThe Bowling Green Assembly Plant is a General Motors automobile factory in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It is a specialized plant assembling GM's Y-body sports cars, the Chevrolet Corvette and formerly the Cadillac XLR....
, which in the only location in the world that produces
General MotorsGeneral Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
'
Chevrolet CorvetteThe Chevrolet Corvette is a sports car by the Chevrolet division of General Motors that has been produced in six generations. The first model, a convertible, was designed by Harley Earl and introduced at the GM Motorama in 1953 as a concept show car. Myron Scott is credited for naming the car after...
.
History
The Hot Rods began life as the
Wilmington WavesThe Wilmington Waves were a minor league baseball team in Wilmington, North Carolina. They were a Low-A class team that played in the South Atlantic League, and were a farm team of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the franchise’s only year in Wilmington. They played all of their home games at Brooks...
, one of two
South Atlantic LeagueThe South Atlantic League is a minor league baseball league based chiefly in the Southeastern United States, with the exception of three teams in the Mid-Atlantic States...
expansion teams for the 2001 season. However, the Waves' stay at
Brooks FieldBrooks Field is a stadium in Wilmington, North Carolina on the campus of UNC-Wilmington. Brooks Field is the home of the UNC Wilmington Seahawks and is the host site of the Colonial Athletic Association baseball Tournament. The ballpark has a capacity of 3,000 people and first opened in...
in
Wilmington, North CarolinaWilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...
lasted for a mere single season. The Waves took on the "South Georgia" moniker when the team was moved to the
Paul Eames Sports ComplexThe Paul Eames Sports Complex is a minor league baseball stadium, located in Albany, Georgia. The stadium is the home of the South Georgia Peanuts, of the South Coast League. It was the former home of the Albany Polecats, the Albany Alligators and the South Georgia Waves before the team moved to...
in
Albany, GeorgiaAlbany is a city in and the county seat of Dougherty County, Georgia, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. It is the principal city of the Albany, Georgia metropolitan area and the southwest part of the state. The population was 77,434 at the 2010 U.S. Census, making it the...
for the 2002 season. The team retained the
South Georgia WavesThe South Georgia Waves was a Low-A class minor league baseball team in Albany, Georgia for one season before relocating to Columbus, Georgia where they operated under the same name for the 2003 season before being rebranded the Columbus Catfish...
name when it again moved to
Golden ParkGolden Park is a 5,000-seat baseball-only stadium in Columbus, Georgia, United States, that opened in 1926. Located on the Chattahoochee River in Downtown Columbus, it currently is not home to any professional baseball team...
in
Columbus, GeorgiaColumbus is a city in and the county seat of Muscogee County, Georgia, United States, with which it is consolidated. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 189,885. It is the principal city of the Columbus, Georgia metropolitan area, which, in 2009, had an estimated population of 292,795...
just before the 2003 campaign. One year later, in 2004, the franchise would change names and became the
Columbus CatfishThe Columbus Catfish were a minor league baseball team in Columbus, Georgia. They were a Class A team in the South Atlantic League, and were an affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays since September 29, 2006. The Catfish relocated to Bowling Green, Kentucky for the 2009 season.The Catfish played home...
.
In April 2008, the team moved the team to
Bowling GreenBowling Green is the third-most populous city in the state of Kentucky after Louisville and Lexington, with a population of 58,067 as of the 2010 Census. It is the county seat of Warren County and the principal city of the Bowling Green, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area with an estimated 2009...
for the 2009 season under the new nickname "Hot Rods."
In 2010, the Hot Rods and the
Lake County CaptainsThe Lake County Captains are a minor league baseball team in Eastlake, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. The team, a Class A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians, plays in the Midwest League....
moved from the
South Atlantic LeagueThe South Atlantic League is a minor league baseball league based chiefly in the Southeastern United States, with the exception of three teams in the Mid-Atlantic States...
to the
Midwest LeagueThe Midwest League is a Class-A minor league baseball league which operates in the Midwestern United States.-History:Six teams – the Belleville Stags, the Centralia Cubs, the Marion Indians, the Mattoon Indians or East Frankfort White Sox, the Mount Vernon Braves, and the West Frankfort...
, a plan meant to alleviate travel expenses associated with routine road trips as well as player movement within the teams' respective major/minor league systems.
The Hot Rods have been widely recognized for their creative and fun promotional efforts. In 2009, the team's What Could've Been Night was named Promotion of the Year by MiLB.com. In 2010, Hot Rods Assistant General Manager Greg Coleman was honored as Marketer of the Year by the Professional Marketing Association.
External links