Springfield Ponies was the primary name of

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 ...

teams based in

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is the most populous city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, and its county seat. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ea ...

, that played between 1893 and 1943. The team competed as the Ponies through its history, except for single seasons as the Maroons (1895), Tips (1915), and Green Sox (1917), and three seasons each as the Rifles (1932, 1942–1943) and Nationals (1939–1941). The team played its home games at

Pynchon Park Pynchon Park, also known as Hampden Park and League Park, was a sports venue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It was opened in 1853 by the Hampden Agricultural Society and was destroyed by fire in 1966. The venue hosted various events, including h ...

(also known as Hampden Park). The team was a member of several baseball leagues, including three that were known as the Eastern League. The team's longest tenure was in the second Eastern League, in which it played from 1916 to 1932. During most of its history, the team had no farm-team arrangement with a

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 ...

team, as much of its history antedated formal affiliations. When operating as the Rifles, the team was affiliated for one season with the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

(1932) and for one season with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

(1943). When operating as the Nationals, it was affiliated with the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

for the 1939 season. The team finished atop league standings three times at the end of a full regular season (1895, 1908, and 1911) and once at the end of a truncated regular season (1932). The team won playoff series twice (1895 and 1927), although it played mostly in leagues without postseasons. Three of the team's managers were later inducted to the

National 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 a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United St ...

in recognition of their major-league playing careers:

Roger Connor Roger Connor (July 1, 1857 – January 4, 1931) was an American 19th-century Major League Baseball (MLB) player. He played for several teams, but his longest tenure was in New York, where he was responsible for the New York Gothams becoming kno ...

(manager in 1902–1903), Billy Hamilton (manager in 1914), and

Rabbit Maranville Walter James Vincent "Rabbit" Maranville (November 11, 1891 – January 6, 1954) was an American professional baseball shortstop, second baseman and Manager (baseball), manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Braves (base ...

(manager in 1941). Two fellow inductees played for Springfield late in their careers:

Dan Brouthers Dennis Joseph "Dan" Brouthers (; May 8, 1858 – August 2, 1932) was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball whose career spanned the period from to , with a brief return in . Nicknamed "Big Dan" for his size, he was and weighed , w ...

(1896–1899) and Jim O'Rourke (1903, 1907). Brouthers had a .415

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

in 126 games for the Ponies in 1897.

Earlier teams

Prior to 1893, teams from Springfield competed in six minor-league seasons, each in a different league: * 1878 in the International Association * 1879 in the National Association * 1884 in the Massachusetts State Association * 1885 in the Southern New England League * 1887 in the Eastern League These early teams were simply known as Springfield or the Springfields. The teams of 1879, 1885- and 1887 failed to complete their seasons.

Records by season

The following table lists each season between 1893 and 1943, when teams from Springfield competed primarily as the Ponies. designates a year in which the team's nickname was not Ponies: 1895 as Maroons, 1915 as Tips, 1917 as Green Sox, 1939–1941 as Nationals, and 1932/1942/1943 as Rifles.

References

{{reflist 1893 establishments in Massachusetts 1934 disestablishments in Massachusetts Baseball teams established in 1893 Baseball teams disestablished in 1934 Defunct baseball teams in Massachusetts Defunct Eastern League (1938–present) teams Defunct minor league baseball teams Northeastern League teams Professional baseball teams in Massachusetts

Ponies A pony is a type of small horse, usually measured under a specified height at maturity. Ponies often have thicker coats, manes and tails, compared to larger horses, and proportionally shorter legs, wider barrels, heavier , thicker necks and s ...

Connecticut League teams Defunct Connecticut State League teams Eastern League (1916–1932) teams Defunct Eastern Association teams

Earlier teams

Records by season

See also

References