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Hagerstown Suns AI simulator
(@Hagerstown Suns_simulator)
Hub AI
Hagerstown Suns AI simulator
(@Hagerstown Suns_simulator)
Hagerstown Suns
The Hagerstown Suns were a Minor League Baseball team based in Hagerstown, Maryland. They were a member of the South Atlantic League and, from 2007 through 2020, were the Class A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They played their home games at Municipal Stadium which was opened in 1930 and seated 4,600 people. The team mascot was Woolie, a giant woolly bear caterpillar.
The ownership of the previous Double A Hagerstown Suns chose to move their existing Hagerstown franchise to Bowie as the Bowie Baysox. Hagerstown would not go without, though. Winston Blenckstone immediately relocated his Myrtle Beach Hurricanes franchise in the Class A South Atlantic League (SAL) to Hagerstown after the 1992 season and promptly renamed them the Suns.
The change brought a competitive team to Hagerstown for the 1993 season. The offense got steady power production from Mike Coolbaugh, who led the team with 16 home runs. The best all-around hitter on the team proved to be D.J. Boston. Boston hit .315 with 13 home runs and 93 runs batted in (RBI). Those numbers were good enough to earn him league Most Valuable Player (MVP) honors. Two outfielders, Rickey Cradle and Jose Herrera, put together solid seasons at the plate for the Suns. Herrera hit .317 in 95 games, while Cradle belted 13 home runs. Brad Cornett led the team in earned run average (ERA), with a 2.40 mark, and also innings pitched, with 172.1. Silva went 12–4 with a 2.52 ERA in 142.2 innings. In that time frame, Silva struck out 161 batters.
In 1994, the Suns reached the playoffs for the first time since 1991. On offense, the team was led by former first round draft choice Shannon Stewart. Stewart hit .324 with 4 home runs and 25 RBI in an injury-shortened season. Tom Evans returned from the 1993 squad, hitting .273 with 13 home runs and 48 RBI in 95 games. The power was supplied by Lorenzo Delacruz and Ryan Jones, who hit 19 and 18 home runs, respectively. Jones also had a team leading 72 RBI. Edwin Hurtado went 11–2 with a 2.95 ERA in 33 games, 16 of which were starts. The bullpen was headlined by Steve Sinclair and Dave Sinnes. Sinclair appeared in 37 games out of the bullpen and picked up a total of 9 wins with 105 innings pitched. Sinclair only made one start for the Suns all year. Closer Sinnes tied for the South Atlantic League lead with 37 saves.
In 1995, veteran Jeff Ladd was the home run leader on the team. Ladd hit 19 home runs in 95 games before a promotion to Double-A Knoxville. That turned out to be Ladd's last professional season. Bobby Llanos hit 17 home runs and produced a team leading 63 RBI. The Suns got stable production behind the plate from Julio Mosquera. Mosquera hit .291 in 108 games for the team. Brian Smith pitched his way to a 9–1 record in 47 games out of the bullpen and picked up 21 saves along the way. He also had 101 strikeouts in 104 innings. Doug Meiners proved to be the Suns' best starter of the season. He went 8–4 with a 2.99 ERA in 18 starts. Another highlight from the starting staff was Tom Davey, who went 4–1 with a 3.38 ERA in 8 starts.
The 1996 campaign was the Suns' first losing year in the SAL. First basemen Mike Whitlock led the team in home runs (20) and RBI (91) with a .252 batting average while drawing a franchise record 108 walks. He did this in 131 games at the age of 19, yet never played a game in the major leagues. Another player who displayed power was Craig Wilson. Wilson hit 11 home runs with 70 RBI while maintaining a .261 batting average. Craig Stone returned from the 1995 squad, batting .310 with 10 home runs and 35 RBI in 56 games. Mike Johnson won a staff-leading 11 games and also had a team-leading total of 162.2 innings pitched. He made his major league debut a season later with the Baltimore Orioles. Tom Davey won 10 games and had a 3.87 ERA in 26 starts.
In 1997, the offense was led by Luis Lopez, who put together one of the best individual years by a Sun ever. Lopez batted .358 with 11 home runs and 99 RBI. These numbers would give him SAL MVP honors. The pitching staff was led by Clint Lawrence, who won a team-leading 13 games in 26 starts. One pitcher who had a bizarre season was starter Gary Glover. Glover posted a 3.73 ERA and threw a team leading 173.2 innings. He, along with John Bale, tied for the team lead in strikeouts with 155. Despite these advantages, his overall record was 6–17. Those 17 losses set a franchise record. The Suns finished in last place, 11 games behind first place Charleston (West Virginia).
The 1998 offense got power from catcher/first basemen Bobby Cripps. Cripps hit 29 home runs and also led the Suns with 88 RBI and threw out 47 percent of would-be base stealers in 56 games behind the plate. Mike Young batted .282 with 16 home runs and 86 RBI at second base. Two other future major league All Stars on the Suns that year were Vernon Wells and César Izturis. Wells batted .285 with 11 home runs and 65 RBI. Izturis meanwhile had a .262 average with a team-leading 20 stolen bases. John Sneed had one of the best seasons ever by a Suns pitcher, as he won a franchise record 16 games, while losing just 2, with a 2.56 ERA in 27 starts. He also collected 200 strikeouts in 161.1 innings pitched. Clayton Andrews returned from the 1997 squad and nearly matched Sneed's dominance. He went 10–7 with a 2.28 ERA and had 193 strikeouts in 162 innings pitched. The Suns closer was Jaron Seabury, who had a 1.65 ERA in 45 games with 17 saves. The Suns won the first-half division title and finished with the best record in the Northern Division. They made the playoffs and won in the first round, but did not advance to the championship because the league now had a three-round playoff format featuring 8 out of 14 teams. In the second round, the Suns would lose to the eventual league champion Capital City Bombers.
Hagerstown Suns
The Hagerstown Suns were a Minor League Baseball team based in Hagerstown, Maryland. They were a member of the South Atlantic League and, from 2007 through 2020, were the Class A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They played their home games at Municipal Stadium which was opened in 1930 and seated 4,600 people. The team mascot was Woolie, a giant woolly bear caterpillar.
The ownership of the previous Double A Hagerstown Suns chose to move their existing Hagerstown franchise to Bowie as the Bowie Baysox. Hagerstown would not go without, though. Winston Blenckstone immediately relocated his Myrtle Beach Hurricanes franchise in the Class A South Atlantic League (SAL) to Hagerstown after the 1992 season and promptly renamed them the Suns.
The change brought a competitive team to Hagerstown for the 1993 season. The offense got steady power production from Mike Coolbaugh, who led the team with 16 home runs. The best all-around hitter on the team proved to be D.J. Boston. Boston hit .315 with 13 home runs and 93 runs batted in (RBI). Those numbers were good enough to earn him league Most Valuable Player (MVP) honors. Two outfielders, Rickey Cradle and Jose Herrera, put together solid seasons at the plate for the Suns. Herrera hit .317 in 95 games, while Cradle belted 13 home runs. Brad Cornett led the team in earned run average (ERA), with a 2.40 mark, and also innings pitched, with 172.1. Silva went 12–4 with a 2.52 ERA in 142.2 innings. In that time frame, Silva struck out 161 batters.
In 1994, the Suns reached the playoffs for the first time since 1991. On offense, the team was led by former first round draft choice Shannon Stewart. Stewart hit .324 with 4 home runs and 25 RBI in an injury-shortened season. Tom Evans returned from the 1993 squad, hitting .273 with 13 home runs and 48 RBI in 95 games. The power was supplied by Lorenzo Delacruz and Ryan Jones, who hit 19 and 18 home runs, respectively. Jones also had a team leading 72 RBI. Edwin Hurtado went 11–2 with a 2.95 ERA in 33 games, 16 of which were starts. The bullpen was headlined by Steve Sinclair and Dave Sinnes. Sinclair appeared in 37 games out of the bullpen and picked up a total of 9 wins with 105 innings pitched. Sinclair only made one start for the Suns all year. Closer Sinnes tied for the South Atlantic League lead with 37 saves.
In 1995, veteran Jeff Ladd was the home run leader on the team. Ladd hit 19 home runs in 95 games before a promotion to Double-A Knoxville. That turned out to be Ladd's last professional season. Bobby Llanos hit 17 home runs and produced a team leading 63 RBI. The Suns got stable production behind the plate from Julio Mosquera. Mosquera hit .291 in 108 games for the team. Brian Smith pitched his way to a 9–1 record in 47 games out of the bullpen and picked up 21 saves along the way. He also had 101 strikeouts in 104 innings. Doug Meiners proved to be the Suns' best starter of the season. He went 8–4 with a 2.99 ERA in 18 starts. Another highlight from the starting staff was Tom Davey, who went 4–1 with a 3.38 ERA in 8 starts.
The 1996 campaign was the Suns' first losing year in the SAL. First basemen Mike Whitlock led the team in home runs (20) and RBI (91) with a .252 batting average while drawing a franchise record 108 walks. He did this in 131 games at the age of 19, yet never played a game in the major leagues. Another player who displayed power was Craig Wilson. Wilson hit 11 home runs with 70 RBI while maintaining a .261 batting average. Craig Stone returned from the 1995 squad, batting .310 with 10 home runs and 35 RBI in 56 games. Mike Johnson won a staff-leading 11 games and also had a team-leading total of 162.2 innings pitched. He made his major league debut a season later with the Baltimore Orioles. Tom Davey won 10 games and had a 3.87 ERA in 26 starts.
In 1997, the offense was led by Luis Lopez, who put together one of the best individual years by a Sun ever. Lopez batted .358 with 11 home runs and 99 RBI. These numbers would give him SAL MVP honors. The pitching staff was led by Clint Lawrence, who won a team-leading 13 games in 26 starts. One pitcher who had a bizarre season was starter Gary Glover. Glover posted a 3.73 ERA and threw a team leading 173.2 innings. He, along with John Bale, tied for the team lead in strikeouts with 155. Despite these advantages, his overall record was 6–17. Those 17 losses set a franchise record. The Suns finished in last place, 11 games behind first place Charleston (West Virginia).
The 1998 offense got power from catcher/first basemen Bobby Cripps. Cripps hit 29 home runs and also led the Suns with 88 RBI and threw out 47 percent of would-be base stealers in 56 games behind the plate. Mike Young batted .282 with 16 home runs and 86 RBI at second base. Two other future major league All Stars on the Suns that year were Vernon Wells and César Izturis. Wells batted .285 with 11 home runs and 65 RBI. Izturis meanwhile had a .262 average with a team-leading 20 stolen bases. John Sneed had one of the best seasons ever by a Suns pitcher, as he won a franchise record 16 games, while losing just 2, with a 2.56 ERA in 27 starts. He also collected 200 strikeouts in 161.1 innings pitched. Clayton Andrews returned from the 1997 squad and nearly matched Sneed's dominance. He went 10–7 with a 2.28 ERA and had 193 strikeouts in 162 innings pitched. The Suns closer was Jaron Seabury, who had a 1.65 ERA in 45 games with 17 saves. The Suns won the first-half division title and finished with the best record in the Northern Division. They made the playoffs and won in the first round, but did not advance to the championship because the league now had a three-round playoff format featuring 8 out of 14 teams. In the second round, the Suns would lose to the eventual league champion Capital City Bombers.