Hickory Crawdads
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Wikipedia - Hickory Crawdads
The Hickory Crawdads are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Hickory, North Carolina, and play their home games at L. P. Frans Stadium, which opened in 1993 and has roughly 4,000 fixed seats.
Established in 1993 as members of the South Atlantic League (SAL), the Crawdads were affiliated with the Chicago White Sox through 1998. They became a farm club of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1999 and won the South Atlantic League championship in 2002 and 2004. Hickory has been affiliated with the Texas Rangers since 2009. The Crawdads won a third SAL championship in 2015. They moved to the High-A East in 2021, but this was renamed the South Atlantic League in 2022. They will be joining the Carolina League in 2025.
History
Several minor league baseball teams known as the Hickory Rebels played in Hickory, North Carolina, intermittently from 1936 to 1960. Local businessman Don Beaver purchased the Gastonia Rangers and relocated them from Gastonia, North Carolina, to Hickory for the 1993 season. Prior to the move, the Gastonia team had served as a minor league affiliate of both the Rangers and the Montreal Expos.
Fans were invited to submit suggestions for the team's name. Among the finalists were "Woodchucks", "River Rats", "Valley Cats", and "Hound Dogs". The chosen name, "Crawdads", was selected because of the animals' strength and presence in local waterways.
The Crawdads played in the South Atlantic League as the Class A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox in their inaugural 1993 season. The six-year affiliation regularly saw Hickory at or near the bottom of the standings, though they did qualify for the playoffs twice. On both occasions, however, they were eliminated without winning any games. The affiliation ended after the 1998 season with team accumulating a 374–464 record over that period.
Hickory entered into a new affiliation with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1999. The Crawdads reached the postseason in five of ten seasons with Pittsburgh. They won two South Atlantic League championships, the first in 2002 and the second in 2004. The affiliation ended after the 2008 season with Hickory going 705–677 over a span of 10 years.
The Crawdads became an affiliate of the Texas Rangers in 2009. Since then, they reached the SAL finals on two occasions and won the championship in 2015. Following the 2017 season, the Rangers purchased the team from Beaver.
In conjunction with Major League Baseball's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Crawdads were organized into the High-A East. In 2022, the High-A East became known as the South Atlantic League, the name historically used by the regional circuit prior to the 2021 reorganization.
In July 2024, MiLB announced that the Crawdads, while remaining an affiliate of the Texas Rangers, will be demoted to class Single-A and join the Carolina League in 2025.
The Hickory Crawdads have a strong fan base and are known for their competitive spirit and dedication to the game. The team has produced many talented players who have gone on to have successful careers in Major League Baseball.
The team's name, the Crawdads, pays homage to the local wildlife in the area, as crawdads are a common sight in the creeks and rivers of North Carolina. The team's colors are red, black, and white, and their mascot, Conrad the Crawdad, is a beloved figure at games and events.
Overall, the Hickory Crawdads are a respected and competitive team in the Minor League Baseball circuit, and they continue to bring excitement and entertainment to their fans with each game they play.