The Kalamazoo Kings were a professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

team based in

Kalamazoo, Michigan Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolit ...

, in the United States between 2001-2010. The Kings were a member of the independent

Frontier League The Frontier League is a professional independent baseball league with teams in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Eastern Canada. Formed in 1993, it is the oldest currently running independent league in the United States. The le ...

. The Kings played their home games at Homer Stryker Field. A previous Frontier League team named the

Kalamazoo Kodiaks Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County, Michigan, Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo ...

had existed in Kalamazoo from 1996-1998, playing in the same stadium, before relocating to

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

and being renamed the

London Werewolves The London Werewolves were an independent Frontier League baseball team based in London, Ontario, Canada. The team had previously been known as the Kalamazoo Kodiaks, from Kalamazoo, Michigan. The team arrived in London for the 1999 season and mo ...

Team history

In their second Frontier League season, Kalamazoo hosted the 2002 Frontier League All-Star game on July 10. The night before, the

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), ...

All-Star game ended in a controversial 7-7 tie after 11 innings. The Frontier League owners in attendance determined that their league All-Star Game should never end in a tie and designed a Home Run Derby to be the tie breaker. The game did end in a tie and the Home Run Derby took place. Brody Jackson of the

River City Rascals The River City Rascals were a professional baseball team based in O'Fallon, Missouri, in the United States. The Rascals were a member of the West Division of the Frontier League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. From the 1999 ...

hit the eventual game winner for the West Division. The Derby drew national attention for the League immediately, with a 30-minute segment on

Fox Sports Radio Fox Sports Radio is an American sports radio network. Based in Los Angeles, California, the network is operated and managed by Premiere Networks in a content partnership with Fox Corporation's Fox Sports division and iHeartMedia, parent company ...

’s national broadcast and continuing to have the television footage shown the following afternoon on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

’s

SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television show, television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of United States, American cable television, cable and satellite television television network, network ESPN. The show ...

. Frontier League Commissioner Bill Lee did 12 radio interviews on stations throughout the country and interviews with several newspapers including The

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

and

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

. A derby has settled a tie in four Frontier League All-Star games - 2002, 2003, 2006 and 2008. HomerStrykerField

The 2005 Kalamazoo season was the highlight for the franchise as the Kings won the Western division with a 53-43 (.552) record, advancing to the playoffs, defeating the

Rockford RiverHawks The Rockford Aviators were a professional baseball team based in Rockford, Illinois that played in the independent Frontier League. Rockford previously had a team in the Frontier League called the RiverHawks (2002-2009). There was no Rockford tea ...

3-1 to advance to their first Frontier League championship series. Kalamazoo would take the best-of-five series 3-2 against the

Chillicothe Paints The Chillicothe Paints are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Chillicothe, Ohio, in the United States. The team is a member of the summer collegiate Prospect League. The Paints previously played in the professional independent Frontier Lea ...

to take the title. The Kings were managed by former

Richmond Roosters The Richmond Roosters were a professional baseball team based in Richmond, Indiana from 1995-2005. The Roosters played in the independent Frontier League, which at that time had no affiliation with Major League Baseball. The Roosters began play ...

manager Fran Riordan where had won back-to-back titles in 2002 and 2003. The 2005 Kings were led by pitcher Josh Beshears (13-3, 3.12 ERA), closer Josh Daws (7-2, 12 saves, 2.82 ERA), 1B Tim Brown (.323 BA, 16 HR, 71 RBI), and Frontier League MVP RF Pete Pirman (.347 BA, 23 HR, 100 RBI). The Kings returned to the championship series again in 2008, winning the Eastern division with a dominating 60-36 (.625) record, but lost to the

Windy City Thunderbolts The Windy City ThunderBolts are a professional baseball team based in the Chicago suburb of Crestwood, Illinois, in the United States. The ThunderBolts are a member of the Frontier League, which is a partner league of Major League Baseball. Sinc ...

3-0. John Brownell (11-2, 3.87 ERA), Brandon Parillo (1-3, 20 saves, 2.93 ERA) and Brendan Murphy (.332 BA, 16 HR, 77 RBI) paced the Kings. With financial and attendance pressures, the Kings franchise folded operations for the 2011 season. In 2012, Kalamazoo Baseball, LLC sued Frontier Professional Baseball, Inc. claiming that they purposely interfered with the sale of the Kalamazoo Kings in 2011, in order to remove the Kings franchise from the league. In the suit, Kalamazoo Baseball, LLC requested $25,000 in damages, as well as interest and attorney fees. The Kalamazoo Kings are represented in the Frontier League Hall of Fame by OF Pete Pirman, OF Willie Edwards, and manager Fran Riordan.

Seasons

In popular culture

The Kalamazoo Kings were referenced in the comic strip ''

Gil Thorp ''Gil Thorp'' is a sports-oriented comic strip which has been published since September 8, 1958. The main character, Gil Thorp, is the athletic director of Milford High School and coaches the football, basketball, and baseball teams. In additi ...

''.

References

External links

Frontier League

Kings page at OurSports Central
{{Frontier League Frontier League teams Defunct baseball teams in Michigan Sports in Kalamazoo, Michigan Baseball teams disestablished in 2008 Baseball teams established in 2001 2001 establishments in Michigan Defunct independent baseball league teams Defunct Frontier League teams 2008 disestablishments in Michigan