The Cedar Rapids Kernels are Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

. They are located in

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County, Iowa, Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River (Iowa River), Cedar River, north of Iowa City, Iowa, Iowa City and north ...

, and play their home games at Veterans Memorial Stadium. The Kernels are owned by Cedar Rapids Ball Club, Inc. (also known as Cedar Rapids Baseball Club, Inc.).

Cedar Rapids baseball history

Cedar Rapids Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River, north of Iowa City and northeast of Des Moines, the state's capital and largest city. ...

first began play in 1890 and have played 110 seasons through 2015. The franchise has been a member of various leagues preceding the Midwest League. They have been a member of the Central Association (1949), Western League (1934–1937),

Mississippi Valley League The Mississippi Valley League (MVL) was a baseball Class D level minor league that operated from 1922 through 1933. Playing its last year as a Class B level league, the league franchises were based in Iowa and Illinois. Like many leagues at the ...

(1922–1932), Central Association (1913–1917), Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League (1901–1909, 1920–1921, 1938–1942, 1950–1961), Western Association (1896–1899), Eastern Iowa League (1895) and the Illinois–Iowa League (1890–1891). The team also had numerous nicknames prior to joining the Midwest League: Cedar Rapids Braves (1958–1962), Cedar Rapids Raiders (1953–1957), Cedar Rapids Indians (1950–1952), Cedar Rapids Rockets (1949), Cedar Rapids Raiders (1934–1942), Cedar Rapids Red Raiders (1963–1964), Cedar Rapids Bunnies (1904–1932), Cedar Rapids Rabbits (1896–1903) and Cedar Rapids Canaries (1890–1891). When Cedar Rapids was awarded a Midwest League franchise in 1962, the franchise switched back to the Red Raiders (1962–1964) nickname. Subsequently, the team used the name of the major league franchise it affiliated with: the Cardinals (1965–1972), the Astros (1973–1974), the Giants (1975–1979), and the Reds (1980–1992). The team adopted the current "Kernels" nickname before the 1993 season. On the field, the franchise won Midwest League championships in 1988, 1992, and 1994. In conjunction with Major League Baseball's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Kernels were organized into the High-A Central. In 2022, the High-A Central became known as the Midwest League, the name historically used by the regional circuit prior to the 2021 reorganization.

Ballpark

The team's first home ballpark was Belden Hill Park, followed by the original Veterans Memorial Stadium, which opened in 1949. In August 2000 voters approved a referendum to build a new ballpark adjacent to the old one, which was demolished after the 2001 season. The new Veterans Memorial Stadium was completed in time for the opening of the 2002 season, and the Kernels set a franchise attendance record of 196,066 in the new park's inaugural year.

Roster

Notable alumni

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

alumni *

Lou Boudreau Louis Boudreau (July 17, 1917 – August 10, 2001), nicknamed "Old Shufflefoot", "Handsome Lou", and "The Good Kid", was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 15 seasons, primarily as a ...

(1938) Inducted, (1970) * Trevor Hoffman (1991) Inducted, (2018) * John McGraw (1891) Inducted, (1937) * Ted Simmons (1967) Inducted, (2020) Notable alumni * Barney Pelty (1903) * Bill Wambsganss (1913) * Bill Zuber (1932) * Allie Reynolds (1940–41) 5 x MLB All-Star; 1952 AL ERA Leader *

Rocky Colavito Rocco Domenico "Rocky" Colavito Jr. (born August 10, 1933) is an American former professional baseball player, coach and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from 1955 to 1968, most prominently as a me ...

(1952) 6 x MLB All-Star; 1959 AL Home Run Leader; 1965 AL RBI Leader * John Roseboro (1955) 4 x MLB All-Star * Denis Menke (1958–59) 2 x MLB All-Star *

Tony Cloninger Tony Lee Cloninger (August 13, 1940 – July 24, 2018) was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from through for the Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds an ...

(1959) * Tommie Aaron (1960) * Ron Hunt (1960–61) 2 x MLB All-Star * Nate Colbert (1965) 3 x MLB All-Star * Pedro Borbon (1966) * Jerry Reuss (1967) 2 x MLB All-Star * Ken Reitz (1969) GG; MLB All-Star * Bob Forsch (1970) * Jerry Mumphrey (1972) MLB All-Star * Larry Herndon (1972) * Joe Sambito (1974) MLB All-Star * Bob Brenly (1977) MLB All-Star; MGR: 2001 World Series Champions – Arizona Diamondbacks * Chili Davis (1978) 3 x MLB All-Star * Rob Deer (1979) *

Eric Davis The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

(1982) 2 x MLB All-Star * Paul O'Neill (1982) 5 x MLB All-Star * Chris Sabo (1983) 3 x MLB AS; 1988 NL Rookie of the Year * Kal Daniels (1983) * Kurt Stillwell (1984) MLB All-Star * Rob Dibble (1985) 2 x MLB All-Star * Reggie Sanders (1990) MLB All-Star *

Bengie Molina Benjamin José Molina (born July 20, 1974), nicknamed "Big Money", is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) catcher. He played for the Anaheim Angels / Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (1998–2005), Toronto Blue Jays (2006), San Francisco Giants (2 ...

(1994–95) *

Jason Dickson Jason Royce Dickson (born March 30, 1973) is a Canadian former professional baseball pitcher. Dickson is a graduate of Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College. He played for the Somerset Patriots and was drafted by the California Angels in the 6t ...

(1995) MLB All-Star * Jarrod Washburn (1995) * Ramón Ortiz (1997) * Ken Hill (1998) MLB All-Star * John Lackey (2000) MLB All-Star; 2007 AL ERA Leader * Bobby Jenks (2001) 2 x MLB All-Star * Mike Napoli (2001–02) MLB All-Star * Ervin Santana (2002) 2 x MLB All-Star * Casey Kotchman (2002) * Jeff Mathis (2002) * Joel Peralta (2002) * Joe Saunders (2002) MLB All-Star * Alberto Callaspo (2003) * Erick Aybar (2003) MLB All-Star * Howie Kendrick (2004) MLB All-Star; 2019 World Series Champion – Washington Nationals * Sean Rodriguez (2004) * Alexi Casilla (2004–05) * Miguel González (2005) * Nick Adenhart (2006) Died Age 22 * Darren O'Day (2006) MLB All-Star *

Mark Trumbo Mark Trumbo (born January 16, 1986) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim from 2010 through 2013, for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2 ...

(2006–07) MLB All-Star * Jordan Walden (2008) MLB All-Star *

Mike Trout Michael Nelson Trout (born August 7, 1991) is an American professional baseball center fielder for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). Trout is a ten-time MLB All-Star, three-time American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) ...

(2009–10) 8 x MLB All-Star; 2012 AL Rookie of the Year; 3 x AL Most Valuable Player (2014, 2016, 2019) * Garrett Richards (2010) * Jean Segura (2010) MLB All-Star * Patrick Corbin (2010) 2 x MLB All-Star; 2019 World Series Champion – Washington Nationals * Mike Clevinger (2012) * Byron Buxton (2013) * Joe Mauer (2014) 6 x MLB All-Star; 3 x AL Batting Title (2006, 2008, 2009); 2009 AL Most Valuable Player * Ricky Nolasco (2015)

References

Sources

* Dinda, Joel (2003),
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in the Midwest League
* Koolbeck, Mike, "History of Cedar Rapids Professional Baseball", published in the ''Cedar Rapids Kernels Souvenir Program'', 2001

External links