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Evansville Triplets

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}

{{Infobox Minor League Baseball

| name = Evansville Triplets

| firstseason = 1970

| lastseason = 1984

| allyears =

| city = Evansville, Indiana

| logo = EvansvilleTripletsLogo1980.PNG

| uniformlogo = EvansvilleTripletsCaoLogo.PNG

| class level = Triple-A (1970–1984)

| league = American Association (1970–1984)

| majorleague = {{plainlist|

}}

| nickname = Evansville Triplets (1970–1984)

| ballpark = Bosse Field (1970–1984)

| classnum = 1

| classchamps = 1975

| leaguenum = 3

| leaguechamps = {{hlist|1972|1975|1979}}

| divnum = 4

| divisionchamps = {{hlist|1972|1975|1979|1981}}

}}

The Evansville Triplets were a Minor League Baseball team of the Triple-A American Association (AA) from 1970 to 1984. They were located in Evansville, Indiana, and played their home games at Bosse Field. The Triplets served as a farm club for three major league franchises: the Minnesota Twins (1970), Milwaukee Brewers (1971–1973), and Detroit Tigers (1974–1984).

The Triplets were established in 1970 as an expansion team in conjunction with the 1969 Major League Baseball expansion. In 1984, the team was sold to Larry Schmittou and other owners of the Nashville Sounds of the Double-A Southern League, who relocated the team to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1985.

Over 15 seasons of play, Evansville played in 2,061 regular season games and compiled a win–loss record of 1,032–1,026–3 (.501). They reached the postseason on four occasions. They won the American Association championship in 1972 as the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They later won two additional American Association titles with the Detroit Tigers (1975 and 1979). The 1975 club also won the Junior World Series. The Triplets had an overall postseason record of 16–8 (.667).

History

Due to the 1969 Major League Baseball expansion, there was a need for two additional Triple-A teams in the American Association for the 1970 season.{{sfn|O'Neal|1991|p=140}} One went to Wichita, Kansas, the other to Evansville, Indiana, which had previously hosted Minor League Baseball teams but never above the Double-A classification. A contest was held to select a name for the new franchise. "Evansville Triplets" was selected from over 3,000 entries. The fitting name refers to the team playing at the Triple-A level and that the team would represent not just Indiana, but the entire tri-state area, including Kentucky and Illinois. It was also a word play on the Minnesota Twins, Evansville's first major league affiliate. The new team would play at Bosse Field, which opened in 1915.

After spending their inaugural 1970 season affiliated with the Minnesota Twins, Evansville then spent the next three seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers. In 1972, the Triplets won their first American Association championship against their expansion partner, the Wichita Aeros, 3–0.{{cite web|url=http://www.tripleabaseball.com/PostSeasonAA.jsp|title=American Association Playoff Results|website=Triple-A Baseball|access-date=December 12, 2019}} Lloyd Gladden won the 1972 American Association Most Valuable Pitcher Award having pitched to a 15–9 record with a 2.71 earned run average and 141 strikeouts.{{cite web|url=http://www.tripleabaseball.com/AAAwards.jsp|title=American Association Special Award Winners|website=Triple-A Baseball|access-date=December 19, 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=gladde001llo|title=Lloyd Gladden Minor League Statistics and History|website=Baseball-Reference|publisher=Sports Reference|access-date=December 19, 2019}}

The Triplets enjoyed their greatest success as the top minor league affiliate of the Detroit Tigers from 1974 to 1984. The team won their second AA title in 1975 by defeating the Denver Bears, 4–2. They went on to win the Junior World Series, 4–1, against the Tidewater Tides.{{cite web|url=http://www.tripleabaseball.com/PostSeasonOthers.jsp|title=Triple-A Baseball Interleague Post-Season Play Results|website=Triple-A Baseball|access-date=December 12, 2019}} Manager Fred Hatfield won the 1975 American Association Manager of the Year Award. Les Moss won the same award in 1978). Under Manager of the Year Jim Leyland, the 1979 club won a third AA championship, 4–2, over the Oklahoma City 89ers. Billy Gardner was selected as the AA's 1980 Manager of the Year.

In July 1984, the team's owners arrived at terms to sell the Triplets for a reported sum of US$780,000 to the owners of the Nashville Sounds, a Double-A club of the Southern League, who intended to move the franchise to Nashville, Tennessee, for the 1985 season.{{cite web|last=Bibb|first=John|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/30950801/big_leagues_next_schmittou/|title=Big Leagues Next: Schmittou|work=The Tennessean|location=Nashville|date=July 12, 1984|access-date=April 25, 2019|page=1-F}} The Southern League wanted team president Larry Schmittou to surrender his franchise to the league, but he wanted to send Nashville's existing Southern League franchise to Evansville to continue as the Triplets at Double-A. However, a combination of the league's disapproval of the move and the City of Evansville being unwilling to upgrade Bosse Field meant the end of affiliated baseball in Evansville. The Triplets' legacy was retired, and the Triple-A Sounds carried on the history of the preceding Double-A team, which relocated to Alabama and became the Huntsville Stars.{{cite book |last=Woody |first=Larry |date=1996 |title=Schmittou: A Grand Slam in Baseball, Business, and Life |location=Nashville |publisher=Eggmann Publishing Company |isbn=1-886371-33-4 |pages=101–102}}

Season-by-season results

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; text-align:center;"

!rowspan="2" scope="col"|Season

!colspan="5" scope="col"|Regular season

!colspan="3" scope="col"|Postseason

!rowspan="2" scope="col"|MLB affiliate

!rowspan="2" scope="col" class="unsortable"|{{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}}

scope="col"|Record

!scope="col"|Win %

!scope="col"|League

!scope="col"|Division

!scope="col"|{{Abbr|GB|Games behind}}

!scope="col"|Record

!scope="col"|Win %

!scope="col" class="unsortable"|Result

scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 1970

| 67–71 || .486 || 7th || 4th || 6 || — || — || — || Minnesota Twins || {{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?id=11d3a394|title=1970 American Association|work=Baseball-Reference|publisher=Sports Reference|access-date=October 6, 2019}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 1971

| 60–78–2 || .435 || 8th || 4th || {{frac|23|1|2}} || — || — || — || Milwaukee Brewers || {{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?id=492c9c1d|title=1971 American Association|work=Baseball-Reference|publisher=Sports Reference|access-date=October 6, 2019}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 1972

| 83–57 || .593 || 2nd || 1st || — || 3–0 || 1.000 || Won AA championship vs Wichita Aeros, 3–0 || Milwaukee Brewers || {{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?id=0a53e9f4|title=1972 American Association|work=Baseball-Reference|publisher=Sports Reference|access-date=October 6, 2019}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 1973

| 66–70 || .485 || 5th || 3rd || 17 || — || — || — || Milwaukee Brewers || {{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?id=b4ad3c3e|title=1973 American Association|work=Baseball-Reference|publisher=Sports Reference|access-date=October 6, 2019}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 1974

| 68–67 || .504 || 4th || 3rd || 10 || — || — || — || Detroit Tigers || {{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?id=1c874a94|title=1974 American Association|work=Baseball-Reference|publisher=Sports Reference|access-date=October 6, 2019}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 1975

| 77–59–1 || .566 || 2nd || 1st || — || 8–3 || .727 || Won AA championship vs Denver Bears, 4–2
Won Junior World Series vs Tidewater Tides, 4–1 || Detroit Tigers || {{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?id=b0264bb8|title=1975 American Association|work=Baseball-Reference|publisher=Sports Reference|access-date=October 6, 2019}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 1976

| 55–81 || .404 || 8th || 4th || 23 || — || — || — || Detroit Tigers || {{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?id=11c2ada9|title=1976 American Association|work=Baseball-Reference|publisher=Sports Reference|access-date=October 6, 2019}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 1977

| 65–68 || .489 || 6th || 3rd || 10 || — || — || — || Detroit Tigers || {{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?id=117c1fbc|title=1977 American Association|work=Baseball-Reference|publisher=Sports Reference|access-date=October 6, 2019}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 1978

| 78–58 || .574 || 2nd || 2nd || {{frac|1|2}} || — || — || — || Detroit Tigers || {{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?id=4d125bb0|title=1978 American Association|work=Baseball-Reference|publisher=Sports Reference|access-date=October 6, 2019}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 1979

| 78–58 || .574 || 1st || 1st || — || 4–2 || .667 || Won AA championship vs Oklahoma City 89ers, 4–2 || Detroit Tigers || {{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?id=479364d4|title=1979 American Association|work=Baseball-Reference|publisher=Sports Reference|access-date=October 6, 2019}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 1980

| 61–74 || .452 || 5th (tie) || 2nd || {{frac|13|1|2}} || — || — || — || Detroit Tigers || {{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?id=2d817175|title=1980 American Association|work=Baseball-Reference|publisher=Sports Reference|access-date=October 6, 2019}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 1981

| 73–63 || .537 || 3rd || 1st || — || 1–3 || .250 || Lost semi-finals vs Denver Bears, 3–1{{sfn|O'Neal|1991|p=362}} || Detroit Tigers || {{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?id=aea7e162|title=1981 American Association|work=Baseball-Reference|publisher=Sports Reference|access-date=October 6, 2019}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 1982

| 68–65 || .511 || 5th (tie) || 4th || {{frac|5|1|2}} || — || — || — || Detroit Tigers || {{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?id=817a004e|title=1982 American Association|work=Baseball-Reference|publisher=Sports Reference|access-date=October 6, 2019}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 1983

| 61–75 || .449 || 8th || 4th || {{frac|17|1|2}} || — || — || — || Detroit Tigers || {{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?id=9103199d|title=1983 American Association|work=Baseball-Reference|publisher=Sports Reference|access-date=October 6, 2019}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 1984

| 72–82 || .468 || 6th || 6th || 19 || — || — || — || Detroit Tigers || {{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?id=1f5744c3|title=1984 American Association|work=Baseball-Reference|publisher=Sports Reference|access-date=October 6, 2019}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center"| Totals

!1,032–1,026–3

!.501

!—

!—

!—

!16–8

!.667

! 1 Class title, 3 League titles

!—

!—

Notable alumni

See also

References

;Specific

{{reflist}}

;General

  • {{cite book |last=O'Neal |first=Bill |date=1991 |title=The American Association: A Baseball History, 1902–1991 |publisher=Eakin Press |isbn=0-89015-812-6}}

External links

  • [https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi?city=Evansville&state=IN&country=US Statistics from Baseball-Reference]
  • [http://www.thebaseballcube.com/teams/team_10517.shtml Statistics from The Baseball Cube]

Category:1970 establishments in Indiana

Category:1984 disestablishments in Indiana

Category:Defunct American Association (1902–1997) teams

Category:Defunct baseball teams in Indiana

Category:Detroit Tigers minor league affiliates

Category:Milwaukee Brewers minor league affiliates

Category:Minnesota Twins minor league affiliates

Category:Professional baseball teams in Indiana

Category:Sports in Evansville, Indiana

Category:Baseball teams established in 1970

Category:Baseball teams disestablished in 1984