The Kentucky Wild Health Genomes are here. Here’s how and why they exist.
Tuesday morning’s unveiling of the Kentucky Wild Health Genomes as the 10th team in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball — an official partner league of Major League Baseball — gave Lexington two professional baseball teams in the same league.
But with the Lexington Legends already well established in the city and the Atlantic League — winning the championship in October in the team’s first season in the league — why were the Genomes created?
More than anything else, the Genomes were born out of logistical and scheduling necessity.
The Atlantic League was set to field nine full-time teams this season, which would have created an imbalance in the league’s North Division and South Division.
With the creation of the Genomes, the league’s divisions are now equally balanced with five teams each.
The Genomes have been placed in the South Division along with the Legends, High Point (N.C.) Rockers, Gastonia (N.C.) Honey Hunters and Charleston (W.Va.) Dirty Birds.
In November, when the addition of a second Atlantic League franchise in Lexington was first announced, Rick White, the president of the Atlantic League, said the new franchise would provide travel advantages for the league’s scheduling.
Andy Shea, the CEO of Lexington-based Stands LLC, which oversees both the Genomes and Legends, said one of the factors that led him to suggest to White that Lexington could support a second Atlantic League team was the stadium renovations taking place at Wild Health Field, formerly known as Lexington Legends Ballpark.
The ballpark’s grass surface is being changed to artificial turf, new LED field lights will be installed, new LED ribbon-board signage will be added and a new, larger video board will also be found at the stadium.
Shea said the stadium will be able to create LED light shows that have become commonplace across the sports landscape.
“‘We’ve got an amazing market, we’ve got an amazing sports enthusiastic market, I think we could make it and make it do great,’” Shea said he told White.
On Tuesday, Shea highlighted how distinct it is that two professional baseball teams will share the same stadium in Lexington.
The 2022 Atlantic League season, which will begin for both the Genomes and Legends on April 21, will see more than 120 Atlantic League games played at Wild Health Field from April to September.
This number will be a single-season record for an Atlantic League stadium, and comes in addition to games the ballpark will host in the Ohio Valley Conference college baseball tournament in late May.
“I don’t think we could have even had the conversation about a second team, let alone everything else, if it wasn’t for the artificial turf,” Shea said. “That really was the gateway into that whole conversation. … I don’t think a single person will be upset that we’re not going to pull tarp here ever again. … It is such a benefit for the staff and the fans to have artificial turf, let alone the players and the technology on it now.”
What’s in a name?
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word “Genome” means “one haploid set of chromosomes with the genes they contain.”
In simpler words, the term “genome” refers to the genetic material of an organism.
So why is Central Kentucky’s newest sports team called the Genomes? You can thank a local medical clinic for that.
Wild Health, which has its name both on the stadium the Genomes and Legends will share and the new team nickname, is a genomics-based medical clinic located in Lexington.
Wild Health has also operated COVID-19 testing and vaccination clinics in the region.
Shea said Tuesday it was “partly coincidence, partly fun and almost good timing” that Wild Health got its name on both the stadium and the new team.
Shea added that a focus during the naming-rights process for what became Wild Health Field was finding a community-focused partner.
“Especially these last couple of years, Wild Health has served and helped our community just as much, if not more, than any other private business in the entire commonwealth,” Shea said. “That is something that has gone noticed 100% as a citizen, as a father, as a husband and as a business operator in Lexington, Kentucky.”
Shea also said Wild Health’s position as leaders in the sports science and sports nutrition industries will help with recruiting players and assisting players with their career goals.
“We’ve been working tirelessly to really master this genomic precision medicine, especially with our professional athletes,” said Nate Berry, a health coach at Wild Health who has past experience working in athletic performance at NCAA Division I colleges. “How can we optimize every area of their performance and dig deeper, really push the edge? We’re just super enthusiastic and excited to bring that to this team setting and support these individuals and their goals.”
When asked by the Herald-Leader what the length of the naming-rights agreement with Wild Health is for the stadium, Shea said, “it’s semi-fluid.”
“Hopefully it will be until the end of time, but it’s something that we’re all constantly talking about and making sure that it’s A1, beneficial both (for the) community as well as economically for both of us,” Shea said.
Shea also noted the uniqueness of the Genomes team nickname, something he said prospective Genomes players have already pointed out to him.
“There are not a lot of very, 100% uniquely, original team names,” Shea said. “Whether it’s in baseball, basketball, whatever the case is. Genomes is A1 unique and that’s something that I think we all take a lot of pride in.”
What to expect on the field?
Like the Legends and the other Atlantic League teams, the Genomes’ roster will be filled by baseball players from a variety of backgrounds.
Some will be fresh out of college and looking for their start in professional baseball. Others will be players who have fallen out of affiliated ball and are playing in the Atlantic League with the goal of getting back into Major League Baseball’s farm system.
And others will be former MLB players, likely in the later stages of their careers, who still want to play the game at a high level.
Some of the first players signed by the Genomes reflect this melting pot.
According to the online Atlantic League transaction tracker, the Genomes signed their first two players as free agents on Monday: Teodoro Martinez (outfielder) and Jimmy Paredes (designated hitter).
Paredes — a former player with the Lexington Legends when the Legends were part of MLB’s affiliated minor league system — has nearly 1,000 at-bats in MLB and was an Atlantic League end-of-season all-star selection last year with Charleston.
Shea also said the Genomes have signed former University of Kentucky player Luke Becker and two other former Legends players: Samir Duenez and Chase Vallot.
The Genomes will be managed by Mark Minicozzi, who managed Charleston in the Atlantic League last season.
It was also announced this month the Genomes will feature the first female coach, Lindsay Gardner, in Atlantic League history. Gardner will work as the hitting development coordinator for the Genomes, an appointment that comes in connection with the Louisville Slugger Hitting Science Center.
Baseball fans in Lexington will have more than 120 opportunities to check out Atlantic League baseball this summer, but the surge of America’s pastime in the city may not last long.
Another franchise in Hagerstown, Md., is scheduled to join the Atlantic League for the 2023 season, which would give the league an unbalanced 11 teams if the Genomes continued to exist.
When asked by the Herald-Leader if there are plans for the Genomes to play beyond the 2022 season, Shea said there “is nothing concrete … nothing set right now.”
This story was originally published February 11, 2022 at 6:30 AM.
