Columbus Clippers

• Location: Columbus, OH
• League: International League 1977-2019; Triple-A East 2021; International League 2022-
• Affiliation: Pittsburgh Pirates 1977-1978; New York Yankees 1979-2006; Washington Nationals 2007-2008; Cleveland Indians/Cleveland Guardians 2009-2019, 2021-present
• Ballpark: Cooper Stadium 1977-2008; Huntington Park 2009-present

Team History

2001-2008 logo

The Columbus Clippers of the International League and briefly in Triple-A East, returned professional baseball to Columbus seven years after its Jets moved to Charleston, WV. The Cleveland Guardians farmhands play their home games at Huntington Park in Columbus, OH.

These boys of summer play in their parent club's old hometown. The Columbus Buckeyes joined the Western League in 1896, rebranding to Senators the next season. By the time the Western rebranded as the American League in 1900, they were in Cleveland, OH. The AL declared itself a second major league before the next season, earning that status in a brief but intense war with the National League.

The Clippers were a New York Yankees' affiliate for more than a quarter of a century, leading some to assume "Clippers" salutes Joe "The Yankee Clipper" DiMaggio. In fact, the first Clippers were future Pittsburgh Pirates. How, then, did an inland city end up naming its team for sea-going vessels? The image of slick, fast clipper ships did help the word win out, but it was only in the mix because of a sailor named Christopher (in the English version of his name) for whom the city is named.[1] The club was a Washington Nationals' affiliate in the 2007-2008 affiliation cycle before joining up with the Tribe in 2009.

Columbus having professional baseball at all is simultaneously the product of a remarkable turn-around in municipal attitude and a remarkable success. In 1970, the Columbus Jets became untenable when Franklin County, OH, declined to invest in renovating Franklin County Stadium; they were soon purchased by a Charleston, WV, businessman who promptly moved them there. However, when the Memphis Blues folded after the 1976 season, Franklin County purchased their International League franchise, renovated the same stadium, and set up shop as a minor league owner/operator. The purchase price of the Blues' franchise was $25,000, and the generally quoted value of today's Clippers is $25 million - a figure that, given the nearby (and then Low-A) Dayton Dragons' reported 2014 purchase price of $40 million, is probably half what the club would actually bring.

The Clippers play Copa de la Diversión Hispanic engagement campaign games as Veleros de Columbus (Columbus Sailboats).

Year-by-Year Record

Year	Record	Finish	Manager	Playoffs	Hitting coach	Pitching coach	Coach
1977	65-75	7th	Tim Murtaugh (10-24) / Johnny Lipon (54-51)
1978	61-78	7th	Johnny Lipon			Cot Deal
1979	85-54	1st	Gene Michael	League Champs	Mickey Vernon	Stan Williams	Jerry McNertney
1980	83-57	1st	Joe Altobelli	League Champs		Sammy Ellis	Jerry McNertney
1981	88-51	1st	Frank Verdi	League Champs		Sammy Ellis	Jerry McNertney
1982	79-61	2nd	Frank Verdi	Lost in 1st round		Sammy Ellis	Jerry McNertney
1983	83-57	1st	Johnny Oates	Lost in 1st round	Mickey Vernon	Mark Connor	Jerry McNertney
1984	82-57	1st	Stump Merrill	Lost in 1st round	Mickey Vernon	Mark Connor/?	Gil Patterson
1985	75-64	3rd	Doug Holmquist (10-12) / Stump Merrill (65-52)	Lost League Finals	Mickey Vernon	Q.V. Lowe	Jerry McNertney
1986	62-77	6th (t)	Barry Foote		Brian Butterfield	Dave LaRoche
1987	77-63	2nd	Bucky Dent	League Champs	Champ Summers	Ken Rowe
1988	65-77	5th	Bucky Dent		Champ Summers	Ken Rowe
1989	77-69	3rd (t)	Bucky Dent (68-62) / Rick Down (9-7)		Champ Summers	Ken Rowe	Gary Tuck
1990	87-59	2nd	Stump Merrill (34-25) / Rick Down (53-34)	Lost League Finals	Clete Boyer	Ken Rowe	Trey Hillman
1991	85-59	1st	Rick Down	League Champs	Clete Boyer	Russ Meyer	Gary Denbo
1992	95-49	1st	Rick Down	League Champs	Ted Uhlaender	Mike Brown	Howard Cassady
1993	78-62	3rd	Stump Merrill		Ted Uhlaender	Mike Brown	Howard Cassady
1994	74-68	4th	Stump Merrill		Tom Spencer	Nardi Contreras	Howard Cassady
1995	71-68	4th	Bill Evers		Gary Denbo	Dave Schuler	Howard Cassady
1996	85-57	1st	Stump Merrill	League Champs		Oscar Acosta	Howard Cassady & Rob Thomson
1997	79-63	3rd	Stump Merrill	Lost League Finals		Oscar Acosta	Arnie Beyeler, Howard Cassady & Rob Thomson
1998	67-77	12th	Stump Merrill			Oscar Acosta	Howard Cassady
1999	83-58	1st	Trey Hillman	Lost in 1st round	Bill Robinson	Rick Tomlin	Howard Cassady
2000	75-69	8th	Trey Hillman		Bill Robinson	Rick Tomlin/ Greg Pavlick	Howard Cassady
2001	67-76	9th	Trey Hillman		Bill Robinson	Greg Pavlick	Howard Cassady
2002	59-83	12th	Brian Butterfield (12-25) / Frank Howard (3-4) / Stump Merrill (44-53)		Dan Radison	Tom Filer	Howard Cassady
2003	76-68	4th	Bucky Dent		Sal Rende	Neil Allen	Howard Cassady
2004	80-64	3rd	Bucky Dent	Lost in 1st round	Kevin Long	Neil Allen
2005	77-67	5th	Bucky Dent		Kevin Long	Gil Patterson	Frank Howard
2006	69-73	9th	Dave Miley		Kevin Long	Neil Allen	Frank Howard
2007	64-80	11th (t)	John Stearns		Bobby Williams	Steve McCatty	Boots Day
2008	69-73	7th (t)	Tim Foli		Rick Eckstein	Steve McCatty
2009	57-85	13th	Torey Lovullo		Jon Nunnally	Scott Radinsky
2010	79-65	4th	Mike Sarbaugh	League Champs	Lee May Jr.	Charles Nagy
2011	88-56	1st	Mike Sarbaugh	League Champs	Lee May Jr.	Ruben Niebla
2012	75-69	6th	Mike Sarbaugh		Phil Clark	Ruben Niebla
2013	71-73	8th	Chris Tremie		Phil Clark	Tony Arnold
2014	79-65	2nd (t)	Chris Tremie	Lost in 1st Round	Jim Rickon	Tony Arnold
2015	83-61	1st(t)	Chris Tremie	League Champs	Rouglas Odor	Carl Willis/Tony Arnold	Omir Santos
2016	82-62	3rd	Chris Tremie	Lost in 1st round	Rouglas Odor	Steve Karsay	Omir Santos
2017	71-71	6th (t)	Chris Tremie		Rouglas Odor	Steve Karsay
2018	73-67	5th	Chris Tremie		Johnny Narron	Steve Karsay	Bobby Magallanes
2019	81-59	1st	Tony Mansolino	League Champs	Andy Tracy	Rigo Beltran	Kyle Hudson
2020	Season cancelled
2021	56-62	13th	Andy Tracy	3-6	Jason Esposito	Rigo Beltran	J.T. Maguire
2022	85-64	4th	Andy Tracy		Jason Esposito	Rigo Beltran, Cody Buckel	Kyle Lindquist
2023	68-79	17th	Andy Tracy		Junior Betances	Cody Buckel, Owen Dew	Greg DiCenzo
2024	80-68	3rd	Andy Tracy	Lost League Finals	Junior Betances, Michael Mergenthaler	Owen Dew	Daniel Robertson, Andrew Moore
2025	64-81	13th	Andy Tracy		Junior Betances, Matt Angle	Cody Buckel, Brandon League	Daniel Robertson, Chase Barbary
2026			Andy Tracy		Ordomar Valdez, Matt Angle	Andrew Moore, Nick Wittgren	Daniel Robertson, Mac Seibert

Further Reading

• J. David Herman: Almost Yankees: The Summer of ’81 and the Greatest Baseball Team You’ve Never Heard Of, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE, 2019. ISBN 978-1-4962-0889-7

External Link

• The Official Site of the Columbus Clippers