‘There is room for more.’ Lexington to field two minor league baseball teams in 2022.
Fans of professional baseball in Lexington will be able to double their pleasure in 2022.
Much like Chicago has the Cubs and White Sox and New York has the Mets and Yankees, Lexington will field two independent minor league baseball teams under an agreement announced Thursday by the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.
The difference will be that both of Lexington’s teams will operate under the same ownership group.
Lexington-based Stands LLC, which owns the Lexington Legends, will also field the new team, which is referred to for now as “the Kentucky team.” A nickname will be announced soon, the league said.
The new team will share Lexington Legends Ballpark with the Legends, who have played there since the stadium was built in 2001. The ballpark’s grass surface will be converted to artificial turf, according to Stands LLC CEO Andy Shea. The new team will play a full schedule in 2022, which will include games against the Legends.
“The Kentucky team” will become the 10th squad in the ALPB, which will enter its 24th season in 2022. The Legends joined the independent ALPB in 2021 after losing their longtime affiliation with Major League Baseball and went on to win the championship. The title was Lexington’s third in a row after championships in the South Atlantic League in 2018 and 2019 before the 2020 minor league baseball season was canceled because of COVID-19.
The addition of the Kentucky team, at least for 2022, allows the ALPB to create a balanced 10-team schedule.
The league fielded eight teams in 2021 — the Long Island (N.Y.) Ducks, the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, the Lancaster (Pa.) Barnstormers and the York (Pa.) Revolution in the Northern Division, and the Lexington Legends, the High Point (N.C.) Rockers, the Gastonia (N.C.) Honey Hunters and the Charleston (W.Va.) Dirty Birds in the Southern Division.
A ninth franchise, in Staten Island, N.Y., has been added for 2022. A 10th city will join the ALPB in 2023 when Hagerstown, Md., comes on board.
“The addition of the Kentucky club will provide travel advantages in our league schedule,” Atlantic League President Rick White said in a news release. “The league is grateful to Stands LLC CEO Andy Shea and the entire Legends organization for their generous offer to host a second team in their ballpark.”
Shea said the Legends look forward to sharing their home with another team.
“One thing we’ve learned about this great city is that there is room for more baseball in Lexington,” Shea said. “Our fans deserve high quality in all the games in the league’s schedule.”
Shea kiddingly added an ulterior motive.
“Besides,” he said, “a second Kentucky team doubles the chances that the Atlantic League trophy stays in Lexington another year.”
The league plans to announce its 2022 schedule by the end of this week.
This story was originally published November 11, 2021 at 12:00 PM.