The Paintsville Yankees was the primary moniker of the minor league baseball team located in

Paintsville Paintsville () is a home rule-class city along Paint Creek in Johnson County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 3,459 during the 2010 U.S. Census. History A Paint Lick Station was referred to in ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

from 1978 to 1984.

History

Also known as the Paintsville Brewers (1983-1984) and Paintsville Highlanders (1979), the Paintsville team was affiliated with the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

(1979-1982) and

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

(1983-1984) as members of the Rookie level

Appalachian League The Appalachian League is a collegiate summer baseball league that operates in the Appalachian regions of Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Designed for rising freshmen and sophomores using wood bats, its season runs from ...

. In the team's short history, they were Appalachian League champions from 1979 to 1981 and 1983. They came in second in 1982 and 1984. The franchise moved to Montana for the 1985 season. Notably,

Jim Morris James Samuel Morris Jr. (born January 19, 1964) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for two seasons with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Although brief, Morris' career is noted for making hi ...

, subject of the Disney Movie " The Rookie" made his professional debut for Paintsville in 1983. Major League All-Stars

José Rijo José Antonio Rijo Abreu (born May 13, 1965) is a Dominican former pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who spent the majority of his career with the Cincinnati Reds (1988–1995 and 2001–2002). Originally signed by the New York Yankees as ...

, Ron Hansen and

Dan Plesac Daniel Thomas Plesac (born February 4, 1962) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher with an 18-year career from 1986 to 2003. He played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, Arizona Diamondbacks, a ...

are Paintsville alumni. When asked about his impressions of playing in Paintsville, Morris commented: “I thought it was fantastic, it was up in the mountains. Jenny Wiley State Park was right there, which was awesome. Being from Texas, you get scrub oaks and pecan trees, but you guys had all the hills and valleys and lakes … it was incredible. We had a good time there.”

The ballpark

The Paintsville teams played their home games at

Johnson Central High School Johnson Central High School is a public secondary school located at 257 North Mayo Trail on the northwest side of Paintsville, Kentucky, United States. The school serves as the Johnson County School District's consolidated high school. As of ...

's Paul G. Fyffe Field, which was demolished in 2007. Paul Fyffe owned and marketed the minor league teams.

Managers

* Ronald Mihal (1978) * Bill Livesey (1979) *Mike Easom (1980–1981) *Mike Notaro (1982) *

Tom Gamboa Thomas Harold Gamboa (born February 28, 1948) is an American professional baseball coach and manager. Gamboa has managed in the minor leagues as high as AAA (the Toledo Mud Hens in the International League and the Albuquerque Dukes in the Pacifi ...

(1983) * Ron Hansen (1984)

Notable alumni

Mike Birkbeck Michael Laurence Birkbeck (born March 10, 1961) is a college baseball coach and former baseball pitcher. He is the pitching coach at Kent State University. Birkbeck attended Orrville High School in Orrville, Ohio and played college baseball at th ...

(1983) *

Chris Bosio Christopher Louis Bosio (born April 3, 1963) is an American former professional baseball pitcher and pitching coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers and Seattle Mariners from 1986 to 1996. He was listed at and ...

(1983) *

Glenn Braggs Glenn Erick Braggs (born October 17, 1962) is an American former Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball outfielder and designated hitter. Braggs was a member of the Cincinnati Reds team that defeated the Oakland Athletics in the ...

(1983) * Jim Corsi (1982) *

Orestes Destrade Orestes Destrade Cucuas (born May 8, 1962) is a Cuban former professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Florida Marlins. Destrade also played in Nippon Professional ...

(1981) *

Pete Filson William Peter Filson (born September 28, 1958) is a retired Major League Baseball pitcher. He played during seven seasons at the major league level for the Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, and Kansas City Royals. Playing car ...

(1979) * Greg Gagne (1979) * Ron Hansen(MGR, 1984) 2x MLB All-Star; 1960 AL Rookie of the Year *

Kevin Hickey Kevin John Hickey (February 25, 1956 – May 16, 2012) was an American left-handed pitcher who spent six seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Chicago White Sox (1981–1983) and Baltimore Orioles (1989–1991). It was with the White S ...

(1978) * Bill Lindsey (1981) *

(1983) Movie " The Rookie" *

Otis Nixon Otis Junior Nixon (born January 9, 1959) is an American former professional baseball center fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1983), Cleveland Indians (1984–87), Montreal Expos (1988–90), Atlanta Brav ...

(1979) * Ed Olwine (1980) *

Jeff Parrett Jeffrey Dale Parrett (born August 26, 1961) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher who played for the Montreal Expos (1986–88), Philadelphia Phillies (1989–90 and 1996), Atlanta Braves (1990–91), Oakland Athletics (1992) ...

(1983) *

Dan Pasqua Daniel Anthony Pasqua (born October 17, 1961) is an American professional baseball outfielder and first baseman who played in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox from 1985 through 1994. He works as a community repr ...

(1982) *

(1983) 3x MLB All-Star *

Eric Plunk Eric Vaughn Plunk (born September 3, 1963) is an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1986 through 1999. He pitched for the Oakland Athletics, New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, and Milwaukee Brewers. ...

(1982) *

(1982) MLB All-Star; 1990 World Series MVP

References

Defunct Appalachian League teams Professional baseball teams in Kentucky New York Yankees minor league affiliates 1979 establishments in Kentucky 1982 disestablishments in Kentucky Baseball teams established in 1979 Baseball teams disestablished in 1982 Milwaukee Brewers minor league affiliates Defunct baseball teams in Kentucky Paintsville, Kentucky {{Kentucky-baseball-team-stub

History

The ballpark

Managers

Notable alumni

See also

References