The Amarillo Thunderheads, formerly known as the Amarillo Sox, were a professional minor league baseball team based in

Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Potter County. It is the 14th-most populous city in Texas and the largest city in the Texas Panhandle. A portion of the city extends into Randall County ...

. They were members of the

American Association of Independent Professional Baseball The American Association of Professional Baseball is an independent professional baseball league founded in 2005. It operates in the central United States and Canada, mostly in cities not served by Major League Baseball teams or their minor lea ...

, an

independent baseball league An independent baseball league is a professional baseball organization in the United States or Canada that is not overseen by Major League Baseball and is outside the Minor League Baseball clubs affiliated to it. The Northern League and Frontie ...

unaffiliated with

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

, and played their home games at

Potter County Memorial Stadium Potter County Memorial Stadium is a baseball-only stadium in Amarillo, Texas. It was most recently home to the Texas AirHogs, a professional baseball team and member of the American Association, and the West Texas A&M Buffaloes baseball team, wh ...

. The team relocated to Amarillo in 2011. They were previously known as the

Pensacola Pelicans The Pensacola Pelicans were a minor league baseball team based in Pensacola, Florida. In various incarnations, they played in three different independent baseball leagues (leagues unaffiliated with Major League Baseball) from 2002 to 2010. They ...

, based in

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ...

. On December 2, 2014, they changed their name to the Amarillo Thunderheads. Following the 2015 season, the team was merged into the

Texas AirHogs The Texas AirHogs were a professional baseball team based in Grand Prairie, Texas from 2008 to 2020. The AirHogs were members of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. Be ...

History

In 2010, businessman

Quint Studer Quinton D. Studer (born 1951) is a Pensacola, Florida businessman and philanthropist, known as the co-owner of the minor league baseball team the Pensacola Blue Wahoos and founder of the healthcare consulting company, Studer Group. Early life a ...

sold his

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

franchise, the

, to the

Amarillo Amarillo ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat, seat of Potter County, Texas, Potter County. It is the List of cities in Texas by population, 14th-most populous city in Texas and th ...

group as part of a series of purchases aimed at bringing an affiliated Double-A team to Pensacola. The franchise secured a lease to Amarillo National Bank Stadium, replacing the Amarillo Dillas of

United League Baseball United League Baseball was an independent baseball league that operated in Texas. The league operated from 2006 to 2009. The league then temporarily merged with the Northern League and the Golden Baseball League to form the North American Leagu ...

, who were evicted after missing payments on their lease. Former

Amarillo Gold Sox The Amarillo Gold Sox was the name of an American minor league baseball franchise that represented the city of Amarillo, Texas, in the Class D West Texas–New Mexico League, the Class A Western League and the Double-A Texas League at various t ...

and

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

pitcher Mark Lee was General Manager from 2006 to 2014. Stephanie Tucker, co-owner and General Manager of the Amarillo Venom, was named Executive Vice President/General Manager of the Sox following Lee's departure. The franchise was originally going to be named the

after the longtime minor league team from the later 1930s through 1982. However, a trademark issue with the collegiate woodbat team the

Marysville Gold Sox The Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox were a summer collegiate wood-bat baseball club based in Marysville, California, in the United States, that began as an independent professional team in 1995. They played their home games at Bryant Field, adjacent to El ...

in California has forced the team to back away from using the name. Lee thus opted to name the team simply the Amarillo Sox, and revealed the team's name and logo at a January 5, 2011 press conference. Additionally, Lee named former

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

player John Harris field manager. After the 2014 season, the Sox were renamed the Amarillo Thunderheads. On November 19, 2015, American Association commissioner Miles Wolff announced that there would no longer be interleague play between the AA and the

Can-Am League The Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball, commonly known as the Can-Am League, was a professional, independent baseball league with teams in the Northeast United States and Eastern Canada, founded in 2005 as a reorganization ...

(for which he is also commissioner) and that for the 2016 season the Thunderheads and the

Grand Prairie AirHogs The Texas AirHogs were a professional baseball team based in Grand Prairie, Texas from 2008 to 2020. The AirHogs were members of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. Be ...

would operate as a joint team with 25 games in Amarillo and 25 games in Grand Prairie to make a 12 team league. Following the season the team announced that they would not be returning to Amarillo, and would play all games in Grand Prairie for 2017.

Season-by-season record

References

External links

Amarillo Sox Official WebsiteAmerican Association Official Website
{{Texas sports Defunct American Association of Professional Baseball teams Professional baseball teams in Texas Sports in Amarillo, Texas 2010 establishments in Texas 2015 disestablishments in Texas Baseball teams established in 2010 Sports clubs disestablished in 2015 Defunct independent baseball league teams Defunct baseball teams in Texas

History

Season-by-season record

See also

References

External links