TEAM HISTORY - Kalamazoo Kings

The early success of the Frontier League's previous Kalamazoo franchise, the Kodiaks, led the league to award an expansion team to Kalamazoo prior to the 2001 season.

The Kings had the worst record in the league in 2001, but improved toward the end of the season. There were some familiar faces as manager Andy McCauley and outfielder Willie Edwards returned to Kalamazoo. They had both been members of the Kodiaks in 1998 before moving with the team to London. The best newcomer was outfielder Schuyler Doakes, who added a league-leading 48 stolen bases to his .311 average. Despite the poor finish, the Kings were named Frontier League Organization Of the Year as they became the third Frontier League franchise to exceed 100,000 fans in a single season.

Sutherland Field was renovated following the Kings' inaugural season and renamed Homer Stryker Field. More improvements were made prior to the 2003 season.

The team made the playoffs as a wild card in 2002, beating out Rockford by one game. First baseman Joe Gerber led the way with a .322-16-68 season. Outfielders Chris Carter (.329) and Aaron Sledd (.300) provided added punch to the lineup. Matt Gunderson (8.5, 3.45) and Denny McGee (6-1, 3.48 after being acquired from Chillicothe) led the rotation. Keith Nawrockie was 7-3, 1.64 out of the bullpen as setup man for Greg Wiltshire and his 14 saves.

The Kings returned to losing in 2003, finishing fifth and changing managers in midseason, appointing catcher Matt Kent to fill the role. A bright spot was pitcher David McWatters, a native of Australia. McWatters went 8-4 with a 2.62 ERA, the latter good for fourth in the league. Offensively the spark was provided by DH Tory Haven (.328-11-44) and OFs Darryl Blaze (.300-1-15, 25 steals) and Walt Simmons (.252-10-44).

The team was vastly improved both on and off the field in 2004. The team set a record with 51 wins and missed the playoffs by only three games. The offense was led by the outfield trio of Fehlandt Lentini (.310-7-60, 28 steals), Pete Pirman (.289-11-51, 13 steals) and Darryl Blaze (.298-2-25, 27 steals). Blaze captured the Frontier League Citizenship Award, named for Kings manager Fran Riordan. Corner infielder Casey DeGroote added a .284-11-54 season to the mix.

Josh Beshears had maybe the best season yet by a Kings' starting pitcher, going 11-3, 3.03. His eleven wins were a new team record and good for second in the league. Rounding out the rotation were Ryan Jamison (7-4, 5.57), Greg Wiltshire (7-5, 3.23) and returnees Lee Naplin (7-3, 3.08) and McWatters (5-8, 4.50). Wiltshire moved into the rotation after two season as the Kings' closer. Those duties were assumed by Jake Brooks, who compiled 15 saves.

The Kings have reached the 100,000 attendance plateau every year in the league, one of a select few franchises to do so. That trend continued in 2004 as over 135,000 fans visited Homer Stryker Field. For their success both on and off the field the Kings were co-winners of the league's 2004 Organization Of the Year award.

2005 became the year of the Kings. Outfielder Pete Pirman had an incredible season, winning the MVP award with a .347-23-100 season with 35 steals, setting several single-season records, including RBI. Joining Pirman in the outfield were Darryl Blaze (.273, 25 steals) and Nick Rogers (.274-11-63, 32 steals). On the infield first baseman Tim Brown went .323-16-72, while third baseman Justin McClain hit .303 and second baseman Adam Leavitt added 15 steals. DH Tim Baywal hit .345 before heading to Chillicothe.

Beshears improved upon his excellent 2004 season by going 13-3, 3.12. His thirteen wins are the second-highest single-season total in history. The bullpen was a real strength, as Brian Beuning captured the ERA title at 2.59. Josh Daws held closer duties, saving twelve while going 7-2, 2.82.

The Kings were locked in a neck-and-neck race with Rockford all season, and had to contend with an early push by River City and a late run by Gateway. They won their first division title by a slim one-game margin and then dispatched the RiverHawks to advance to the finals. The Kings won an exciting series in five games over Chillicothe, including a shutout by Josh Martin in the decisive game, to become the Frontier League champions for 2005.

The Kings failed to repeat in 2006 but provided plenty of exciting moments. Offense was the name of the game in Kalamazoo, as the Kings led the league in home runs by a wide margin. In fact, they hit more home runs at home than any other team's total. They were also second in batting average.

The Kings' attack featured an outfield consisting of a batting champion and two most valuable players. Leading the way was CF Ian Church. Church hit .313-31-78, the 31 homers being the second highest total in FL history. In addition to pacing the league in homers, Church led in runs scored, hits, doubles and slugging percentage and was second in RBI and batting average. To no one's surprise, won the FL MVP award and was also named Baseball America magazine's independent player of the year.

Pirman returned to play right field. While not approaching his mammoth 2005 numbers, he had a solid .286-11-46 season with 27 stolen bases. LF Casey Baker won the batting title at .333 despite a gimpy left leg.

Adding to the firepower were 1B Ray Gill (.244-19-64), second to Church in dingers, utility man Justin Carroll (.282-13-44) and 3B Joseph Ramos (.283, 29 steals). Ramos was limited to DH duty toward the end of the season after an injury to his throwing arm.

As good as the offense was, the pitching was a letdown as the Kings were dead last in ERA. Josh Martin started 5-1, 3.02 but injured his shoulder in a game against the Paints on July 1 and missed the rest of the season. His spot in the rotation was taken by Scott Fogelson (6-4, 3.53). Rounding out the rotation were Michael Cervera (6-7, 5.57) and Dane DeValk (7-5, 3.92).

Closer Brad Blackwell was 2-0, 1.86 and his 22 saves were more than Don Wolfe's 1995 record but less than Windy City's Brian Beuning tallied in 2006. Setup men were Cooper Eddy (3.74), Jeff Long (3.75) and Brandon Martin (3.28).

The Kings had a weekday matinee early in the season that drew crowds of schoolchildren in excess of 5,000, the set a club record when 7,492 fans showed up for the July 4 game and fireworks. Kalamazoo was in contention, hovering just a few games out all season before a 6-9 run at the end of the season dropped them out of contention and under .500.

The 2007 season began inauspiciously with reports of financial problems casting a shadow over the future of the team. The players didn't seem to mind, as they made a run at the playoffs and actually improved on their 2007 performance.

Ramos returned and was the star of the offense. Completely healed of his 2006 injuries, he played every game and hit .302-5-52 and stole 32 bases. His performance earned him a spot on the post season all star team, as did that of catcher Mike Russell (.255-17-61). DH Josh Carter (.311-12-75) was second in the league in RBI. The Kings once again had a solid outfield, with Jeff Grose (.314, 13 steals) and Simon Williams (.274, 13 steals) while Keith Brachold (.261-12-62) split time between the outfield and first base. Dependable second baseman Kyle Kmiecik (.281-10-49) missed only one game.

Jeff Long (11-5, 3.85) moved out of the bullpen and into the role of stopper. Sam Mann (6-2, 3.65) and Trent Lare (5-4, 3.17) were solid and Steve Shippey went 5-3, 2.76, joining the Kings after his release by Traverse City. DeValk won five games working as both starter and reliever. Dan Caldwell (2-0, 3.69) and John Brownell (4-4, 3.38 after joining the team from Rockford) were the primary setup men. John Sullivan (12 saves) began the season as the closer but lost the role to Mark Kelly (3.41, nine saves) in July.

The Kings looked at midseason like the frontrunners for the wild card playoff spot, and indeed it was theirs to lose. Unfortunately they did just that, dropping the last three games of the season at Rockford as the RiverHawks went to the playoffs and the Kings went home.

There was no such drama in 2009, as the Kings started the season 7-1. After running neck-and-neck with Traverse City most of the seaosn, the Kings eventually pulled away and won the division by ten games, tying Windy City for the league's best record. Fran Riordan captured Manager Of the Year honors.

Kalamazoo did not lead the league in any major category, but they were in the top half in all of them. Pacing the offense were Rookie Of the Year Brendan Murphy (.332-16-77). Grose (.252-5-54), Williams (.282-20-57, 15 steals) and Russell (.285-19-75) all provided veteran leadership. Utility man Matt Hudgins added ten homers. Kyle Kmiecik wsa the primary shortstop, but Jorge Araiza split time between third and short. Speed at the top of the lineup was provided by Joe Ramos (.281-10-65, 45 steals), who made the transition to second base, and outfielder Brandon Anderson (.294, 34 steals).

John Brownell (11-2, 3.87) joined the Kings in a preseason trade and established himself as the ace of the staff. Veteran Jeff Long (9-4, 3.83)and lefty Trent Lare (8-5, 4.13)were good as well. Joe DiPietro went 7-5, 3.28 as a swing man, and Bernard Robert went 4-2, 3.79 after joining the Kings late in the season. Brandon Parillo (2.93, 20 saves) was the league's top closer. Dan Baerlocher (3.59) won seven games out of the bullpen. Joining them in the bullpen were Rich Babb (3.33) and Joe Catanese (3.16). Veteran lefty Jon Troop went 2-0, 3.00 before having his seaosn cut short due to injury.

The Kings beat Gateway three games to one in the playoffs' first round, setting up a meeting between the league's two best teams in the finals. After the start of the finals was delayed several days by flooding at Homer Stryker Field due to the remnants of Hurricane Gustav, the decision was made to play the entire series in Windy City. The series proved to be anticlimactic as the Kings were swept in three games.

Year	Won	Lost	GB	Finish	Attendance	Manager	Playoffs First Round	Playoffs Second Round

2001	25	59	26	6E	103,031	Andy McCauley (11-39)/ Woody Sorrell (14-20)
2002	46	38	10	3E	103,880	Woody Sorrell	Lost to Washington 2-0
2003	33	56	23	5E	127,198	Ed Stabile (17-26)/ Matt Kent (16-30)
2004	51	45	11	3E	135,654	Fran Riordan
2005	53	43	--	1E	132,909	Fran Riordan	Beat Rockford 3-1	Beat Chillicothe 3-2
2006	47	49	12	4E	119,530	Fran Riordan
2007	51	45	17	3C	54,950	Fran Riordan
2008	60	36	--	1E	83,157	Fran Riordan	Beat Southern Illinois 3-1	Lost to Windy City 3-0
2009	58	38	--	1E	70,499	Fran Riordan	Lost to Lake Erie 3-2
2010	28	68	29	6E	56,342	Jamie Keefe (7-31)/ Matt Maloney (21-37)

Franchise Player: OF Chris Carter (2002-03) had two great seasons with the Kings. He hit .329 in 2002 and topped that by winning the batting title with a .364 mark in 2003. He did this despite being acquired by the Baltimore Orioles organization in early August.


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