The Vermont Mariners are a defunct

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

team. They played in the Eastern League at

Centennial Field Delta Dental Diamond at Centennial Field is the name of the baseball stadium at the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont, and is the home of the Vermont Lake Monsters. Beyond the left-field fence is the former home of the University of ...

Burlington, Vermont Burlington, officially the City of Burlington, is the List of municipalities in Vermont, most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the county seat, seat of Chittenden County, Vermont, Chittenden County. It is located south of the Can ...

in 1988. They were affiliated with the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

History

Prior to their four-year stint as the Vermont Mariners, this franchise was known as the

Vermont Reds The Vermont Reds are a defunct minor league baseball team. They played in the Eastern League at Centennial Field in Burlington, Vermont from 1984 to 1987. They were affiliated with the Cincinnati Reds. The team won the Eastern League Championsh ...

from 1984 to 1987 and served as the Double-A affiliate of the

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

. Prior to that, the franchise was known as the

Lynn Sailors The Lynn Sailors were a Minor League Baseball franchise that originated in 1980 in Lynn, Massachusetts. The Sailors were affiliated with the Seattle Mariners from 1980 to 1982 and with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1983, when they were known as the L ...

from 1980 to 1983 and served as the Double-A affiliate of the

(1980 to 1982) and

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

(1983). By September 1988, with the team in the Eastern League playoffs, team owner Mike Agganis had decided to move the franchise to

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in Stark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, eighth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 70,872 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Canton–Massillo ...

. Canton was building a brand-new ballpark, Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium, which would have a capacity of 5,700. More so, the Canton metropolitan area offered twice the population of Burlington. Agganis told the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

, "Our attendance has averaged out to about 85,000 over five years in Burlington. In Canton, we can probably do between 225,000 and 300,000 attendance." The franchise moved to Canton after the 1988 season, affiliated with

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, and became the

Canton–Akron Indians The Canton–Akron Indians are a defunct Minor League Baseball team. They played in the Eastern League at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium in Canton, Ohio from 1989 to 1996. They were affiliated with the Cleveland Indians. History Prior to their ...

Season-by-season record

Notable players

* Chuck Carr *

Eric Fox Eric Hollis Fox (born August 15, 1963) is an American professional baseball coach. The , former Major League Baseball outfielder attended Fresno State University. Career A switch hitter who threw left-handed, Fox was taken in the 22nd round (5 ...

Jerry Goff Jerry Leroy Goff (born April 12, 1964) is an American former professional baseball catcher who played in Major League Baseball for the Montreal Expos, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Houston Astros. He was listed at and 207 pounds. In his last major lea ...

Ken Griffey Jr. George Kenneth Griffey Jr. (born November 21, 1969), nicknamed "Junior" and "the Kid", is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played 22 years in Major League Baseball (MLB). He spent most of his career with the Seattle Mari ...

* Calvin Jones * Pat Lennon *

Omar Vizquel Omar Enrique Vizquel González (; born April 24, 1967), nicknamed "Little O", is a Venezuelan former professional baseball shortstop. During his 24-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, Vizquel played for the Seattle Mariners, Cleveland Indi ...

* Jim Wilson * Clint Zavaras

References

External links

Team history
Defunct Eastern League (1938–present) teams Seattle Mariners minor league affiliates Sports clubs and teams in Burlington, Vermont Professional baseball teams in Vermont 1988 establishments in Vermont 1988 disestablishments in Vermont Defunct baseball teams in Vermont Baseball teams disestablished in 1988 Baseball teams established in 1988 {{Vermont-baseball-team-stub