Fort Wayne Wizards

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Fort Wayne Wizards Founded in 1993 Fort Wayne, Indiana
Team Logo Cap Insignia
Class-Level
Single-A (1993-present)
Minor League affiliations
Midwest League (1993-present) Eastern Division
Major League affiliations
San Diego Padres (1999-present) Minnesota Twins (1993-1998)
Name
Fort Wayne Wizards (1993-present)
Ballpark
Memorial Stadium (1993-2008) New Fort Wayne Ballpark (opening in 2009)
Minor League titles
League titles
Division titles
Owner(s)/Operated by: Hardball Capital
Manager: Doug Dascenzo
General Manager: Mike Nutter

The Fort Wayne Wizards are a Class A minor league baseball team, affiliated with the San Diego Padres, that plays in the Midwest League.

The Midwest League came to Fort Wayne in 1993. The franchise dates back from the league's days as the Illinois State League, starting in 1947 in Mattoon, Illinois. In 1958 the team moved to Keokuk, Iowa, where it spent five seasons; it was based in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin (1963-1983) and Kenosha, Wisconsin (1984-1992) before moving to Fort Wayne. The team was a Minnesota Twins farm team before they affiliated with the Padres in 1999. In 2006, the team was sold to a pair of businessmen from Atlanta who also own the Salem Avalanche.

The team's home park is Memorial Stadium, which opened in 1993; the franchise attendance record of 318,506 was also set that year. Current construction plans call for the building of a new stadium in downtown Fort Wayne for the Wizards as part of the Harrison Square revitalization project. The stadium is set to open in time for the start of the 2009 season.^[1]

The mascot of the Wizards is Dinger the Dragon. Before that, the Wizards were represented by Wayne the Wizard.

Contents 1 Notable former players 2 Sources 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Notable former players

• Torii Hunter
• Corey Koskie
• Matt Lawton
• A.J. Pierzynski
• Sean Burroughs
• Craig Cooper
• LaTroy Hawkins
• Clay Condrey
• Jake Peavy
• Josh Barfield
• Óliver Pérez
• A.J. Bridges

[edit] Sources

• Dinda, J. (2003), "Fort Wayne, Indiana, in the Midwest League," http://www.mwlguide.com/cities/fortwayne/index.html

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Fort Wayne Wizards website
• MadFriars.com
• Baseball in Fort Wayne

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