The Amarillo Thunderheads, formerly known as the Amarillo Sox, were a professional

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

team based in

Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Potter County, Texas, Potter County, though most of the southern half of the city extends into Randall County, Texas, Randall County ...

. They were members of the

American Association of Independent Professional Baseball The American Association of Professional Baseball is an independent professional baseball league founded in 2005. It operates in the central United States and Canada, mostly in cities not served by Major League Baseball teams or their minor lea ...

, an

independent baseball league An independent baseball league is a professional baseball league in the United States or Canada that is not overseen by Major League Baseball or its affiliated Minor League Baseball system (historically referred to as organized baseball). Inde ...

unaffiliated with

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

, and played their home games at Potter County Memorial Stadium. The team relocated to Amarillo in 2011. They were previously known as the

Pensacola Pelicans The Pensacola Pelicans were a minor league baseball team based in Pensacola, Florida. In various incarnations, they played in three different independent baseball leagues (leagues unaffiliated with Major League Baseball) from 2002 to 2010. They p ...

, based in

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only incorporated city, city in Escambia County, Florida, Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

. On December 2, 2014, they changed their name to the Amarillo Thunderheads. Following the 2015 season, the team was merged into the Texas AirHogs.

History

In 2010, businessman Quint Studer sold his American Association franchise, the

, to the Amarillo group as part of a series of purchases aimed at bringing an affiliated Double-A team to Pensacola. The franchise secured a lease to Amarillo National Bank Stadium, replacing the Amarillo Dillas of

United League Baseball United League Baseball was an Independent league baseball, independent baseball league that operated in Texas. The league operated from 2006 to 2009. The league then temporarily merged with the Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010), Northern L ...

, who were evicted after missing payments on their lease. Former Amarillo Gold Sox and

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

pitcher Mark Lee was General Manager from 2006 to 2014. Stephanie Tucker, co-owner and General Manager of the Amarillo Venom, was named Executive Vice President/General Manager of the Sox following Lee's departure. The franchise was originally going to be named the Amarillo Gold Sox after the longtime minor league team from the later 1930s through 1982. However, a trademark issue with the collegiate woodbat team the Marysville Gold Sox in California has forced the team to back away from using the name. Lee thus opted to name the team simply the Amarillo Sox, and revealed the team's name and logo at a January 5, 2011 press conference. Additionally, Lee named former

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

player John Harris field manager. After the 2014 season, the Sox were renamed the Amarillo Thunderheads. On November 19, 2015, American Association commissioner Miles Wolff announced that there would no longer be interleague play between the AA and the Can-Am League (for which he is also commissioner) and that for the 2016 season the Thunderheads and the

Grand Prairie AirHogs The Texas AirHogs were a professional baseball team based in Grand Prairie, Texas from 2008 to 2020. The AirHogs were members of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. B ...

would operate as a joint team with 25 games in Amarillo and 25 games in Grand Prairie to make a 12 team league. Following the season the team announced that they would not be returning to Amarillo, and would play all games in Grand Prairie for 2017.

Season-by-season record

References

External links

Amarillo Sox Official Website
* {{Texas sports Defunct American Association of Professional Baseball teams Professional baseball teams in Texas Sports in Amarillo, Texas 2010 establishments in Texas 2015 disestablishments in Texas Baseball teams established in 2010 Baseball teams disestablished in 2015 Defunct independent baseball league teams Defunct baseball teams in Texas

History

Season-by-season record

See also

References

External links