The Cape Catfish are a franchise of the

Prospect League The Prospect League is a collegiate summer baseball league comprising teams of college players from North America and beyond. All players in the league must have NCAA eligibility remaining in order to participate. So as to maintain their colleg ...

that plays in

Cape Girardeau, Missouri Cape Girardeau ( , french: Cap-Girardeau ; colloquially referred to as "Cape") is a city in Cape Girardeau and Scott Counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. At the 2020 census, the population was 39,540. The city is one of two principal citi ...

. The Catfish play in the Prospect League's Western conference in the Prairie Land division, along with the

Alton River Dragons The Alton River Dragons are a collegiate summer baseball team located in Alton, Illinois. They were founded in 2020 and began play in 2021 as members of the Prospect League. History On January 29, 2020, the Prospect League of collegiate summer ba ...

O'Fallon Hoots The O'Fallon Hoots are a collegiate summer league baseball team in the United States Prospect League. The team played the 2018 and 2019 seasons as the Hannibal Hoots, but only one of those seasons saw them use Hannibal, Missouri as their home; ...

, and

Springfield Lucky Horseshoes The Springfield Lucky Horseshoes are a collegiate summer league baseball team of the Prospect League. They play at Robin Roberts Stadium at Lanphier Park and are based in the city of Springfield, Illinois. The team was established in November 20 ...

Ownership

The team is owned by a partnership group that includes Anand "Andy" Patel, Mark Hogan, Kishan Patel and James Limbaugh. Hogan, a retired former baseball coach at

Southeast Missouri State University Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO) is a public university in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. In addition to the main campus, the university has four regional campuses offering full degree programs and a secondary campus housing the Holland Col ...

, will also serve as the team's

General manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all ...

Name origin

The Catfish name, a reference to the state fish of Missouri, was chosen by potential fans of the new team from a list of names that also included the Cape Bluebirds, in reference to the

Eastern bluebird The eastern bluebird (''Sialia sialis'') is a small North American migratory thrush found in open woodlands, farmlands, and orchards. The bright-blue breeding plumage of the male, easily observed on a wire or open perch, makes this species a f ...

, which is the

state bird A state bird is the insignia of a nation or a state (sub-national entity). For lists of these animals, see: * List of national birds, national birds on country level * List of Australian bird emblems, for the Australian states * List of Brazilian ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, and the Cape Steamboats, in honor of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it ...

city's history as a port on the river. "Catfish" received about 37% of the vote fan vote, beating out "Bluebirds" and "Steamboats", which received 32% and 31% of the vote, respectively.

Stadium

The Catfish play in 2,000 seat

Capaha Field Capaha Field is a baseball venue in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, United States. It is home to the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks college baseball team of the NCAA Division I Ohio Valley Conference. The field is located two blocks away from th ...

. The stadium, also home to

's baseball team, received significant renovations prior to the beginning of the team's first season.

Inaugural season

On October 16, 2018, the team announced that former Texas Rangers and

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

farmhand Steve Larkin will serve as the manager for the 2019 season. The team clinched the league's West Division championship on August 1, tying the league record for wins in a season in the process.

Seasons

Roster

References

Amateur baseball teams in Missouri Prospect League teams Baseball teams established in 2018 2018 establishments in Missouri Cape Girardeau, Missouri {{Missouri-baseball-team-stub