The Springfield Lucky Horseshoes are a collegiate summer league

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 of the

Prospect League The Prospect League is a collegiate summer baseball league comprising teams of college players from North America and beyond. All players in the league must have NCAA eligibility remaining in order to participate. So as to maintain their colleg ...

. They play at Robin Roberts Stadium at Lanphier Park and are based in the city of

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...

. The team was established in November 2007 as the Springfield Sliders and were an expansion franchise for the 2008 season. The Lucky Horseshoes and other collegiate summer leagues and teams exist to give top college players professional-like experience without affecting

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

eligibility. The

Central Illinois Collegiate League The Central Illinois Collegiate League (CICL) was a collegiate wooden bat summer baseball league. It was composed of five teams from Illinois and Indiana. The CICL was founded in 1963 as a charter member of National Collegiate Athletic Associatio ...

(CICL) season was divided into two-halves with the first half winner playing the second half winner in a best-of-three series. The Sliders dominated the first half of the 2008 season with a 20–4 record, winning by seven games. Springfield won the CICL Regular Season Championship with a 30–17 record, leaving the 2nd place team 4.5 games behind. In the 2008 playoffs, Springfield defeated the Danville Dans in three games to win the 2008 CICL Championship. The CICL merged with the

after the 2008 season, with the Prospect League name carrying forward into the 2009 season and beyond. Today, the Lucky Horseshoes are a member of the Western Conference of the Prospect League in the Prairie Land Division with the

Alton River Dragons The Alton River Dragons are a collegiate summer baseball team located in Alton, Illinois. They were founded in 2020 and began play in 2021 as members of the Prospect League. History On January 29, 2020, the Prospect League of collegiate summer ba ...

Cape Catfish The Cape Catfish are a franchise of the Prospect League that plays in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. The Catfish play in the Prospect League's Western conference in the Prairie Land division, along with the Alton River Dragons, O'Fallon Hoots, and S ...

, and

O'Fallon Hoots The O'Fallon Hoots are a collegiate summer league baseball team in the United States Prospect League. The team played the 2018 and 2019 seasons as the Hannibal Hoots, but only one of those seasons saw them use Hannibal, Missouri as their home; ...

History

The Sliders are the third collegiate wood bat franchise in Springfield. The

Springfield Capitals The Springfield Capitals were an independent baseball league team in Springfield, Illinois. The Capitals were members of the Frontier League from 1996 to 2001. The Capitals won the Frontier League championship in 1996 and in 1998. After the 2001 se ...

were the first, operating from 1963 to 1977 as a member of the CICL. After the 1977 season, the Capitals ceased operations to make way for a minor league team, the

Springfield Redbirds The Louisville Bats are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Louisville, Kentucky, and are named in dual reference to the winged mammal and baseball ...

, for the 1978 season. The Springfield Redbirds would serve as the Triple-A affiliate of the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

for four seasons, winning an

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 ...

championship in 1980. After the Redbirds controversially moved to

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

for the 1982 season and became the

Louisville Redbirds Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

, Springfield was without a baseball team for one season. The Springfield Rifles began play in 1983 and were members of the CICL through 2006. The Rifles played their home games at

Lincoln Land Community College Lincoln Land Community College is a public community college in Springfield, Illinois. It has extended branches in different locations, including Beardstown, Jacksonville, Litchfield and Taylorville, Illinois. The main campus is less than half ...

for all but one season, and suffered from extremely low attendance. Beginning in 1996 and running through 2001, Springfield was also home to the second version of the

who this time were a member of the

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 Sliders won their first game in franchise history against the

Quincy Gems The Quincy Gems are a collegiate summer league baseball team located in Quincy, Illinois. The Gems were originally a part of the Central Illinois Collegiate League and joined the Prospect League with several other CICL teams prior to the 2009 s ...

, 7–3. The team won the Western Division championship in 2010 (won both halves of the season) and played in the Western Division championship series after the 2016 as the 2nd Half champions, but lost the series to the

. The inclusion of the Gems in the 2016 series was controversial due to the Prospect League allowing an extra game played by the Gems to count in the standings for the season's 1st Half. The Gems and the

DuPage Drones The DuPage Drones were a summer collegiate baseball team based in Lisle, Illinois. They were a member of the summer collegiate Prospect League. The Drones played at the Village of Lisle-Benedictine University Sports Complex at Benedictine Univer ...

played a 31st game, while the remaining four teams only played thirty games. The Sliders, had the Gems only been able to count thirty games for the season's 1st Half, would have won both halves of the season, as they held a tiebreaker over the Gems. Such a decision would have seen the Sliders and Drones play in the Western Division championship series, as the Drones had the second-best overall season record in the division. Quincy would go on to lose the Prospect League Championship Series to the

West Virginia Miners The West Virginia Miners are a collegiate summer baseball team located in Beckley, West Virginia. The team began play in the Prospect League for the 2010 season. Home games are played at Linda K. Epling Stadium at the Upper Deck Training Cent ...

. The Prospect League has since abandoned the first half winner and second half winner playoff format, instead opting to have the two teams with the best overall season records in each division advance to their respective divisional playoffs. On February 17, 2022, the Sliders rebranded as the Springfield Lucky Horseshoes, named after the

sandwich A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...

that originated in Springfield.

Gun giveaway controversy

During the 2016 season, the Sliders announced that an in-game promotion during their June 22 game against the

would feature a 50/50 drawing for a choice of several guns. The promotion drew attention and anger from a number of fans in the local community, given the short amount of time between the giveaway and the mass murder of 49 people at

Pulse In medicine, a pulse represents the tactile arterial palpation of the cardiac cycle (heartbeat) by trained fingertips. The pulse may be palpated in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surface of the body, such as at the nec ...

nightclub in

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

. The team's owner and General Manager, Todd Miller, told local media outlets that he gave thought to cancelling the giveaway, planned well in advance of the terrorist act, but instead chose to go forward with the promotion. Miller and the owner of the gun store providing the firearms emphasized that the weapons would not be at the stadium during the giveaway and that the winner would still have to comply with all applicable laws for purchasing a gun, in order to claim their prize. The game saw triple the number of fans in attendance than a typical game that season. The team has since given away two more guns at its games.

Former players in professional baseball

Since joining the Prospect League for the 2009 season, the Sliders have seen several players drafted by

MLB 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), ...

teams.

Elliot Soto Elliot Soto (born August 21, 1989) is an American professional baseball infielder in the Minnesota Twins organization. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Angels. After spending 10 seasons in the minors, Soto made ...

was selected in the 2010 MLB draft by the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

and made his MLB debut in 2020 with the

Los Angeles 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 ...

. Most recently,

Chatham, Illinois Chatham is a village in Sangamon County, Illinois, United States. It is located 2.8 miles south of Springfield and has a retail trade area that extends into four other municipalities, including Springfield. The population was 11,500 as of the 20 ...

(just south of Springfield) native

Nick Maton Nicholas Maton ( ; born February 18, 1997) is an American professional baseball utility player for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball at Eastern Illinois University and Lincoln Land Community College. Ma ...

was selected in the

2017 MLB draft The 2017 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft began on June 12, 2017. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first 36 picks, including the first round and compensatory picks, were broadcast on MLB Network on J ...

by the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

in the 7th round and made his MLB debut with the Phillies in 2021.

Seasons

Stadium

The Lucky Horseshoes play at Robin Roberts Stadium. The stadium opened in 1928 and was renovated/expanded over the years to its current 5,200 seat capacity. During the 2017 season, 29,532 fans attended Sliders games at Robin Roberts stadium, ranking the facility as the fourth-most visited stadium in the Prospect League. The stadium has been the home to a number of minor league and independent teams since it opened in 1928. During the 2019 season, just under 28,000 fans attended Sliders games at the stadium, ranking the facility as the third-most visited stadium in the Prospect League, despite the team's on-field performance, which saw it set a new league record for most losses in a season at 48.

Roster

References

External links

Official Site
{{Illinois Sports Amateur baseball teams in Illinois Prospect League teams Lucky Horseshoes Baseball teams established in 2007 2007 establishments in Illinois