Sugar Land Skeeters


The Sugar Land Skeeters are an American professional baseball team located in Sugar Land, Texas. The Skeeters play in the Freedom Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, which is an independent league not affiliated with Major League Baseball. They have played their home games at Constellation Field since the beginning of the 2012 season.
The Skeeters entered the Atlantic League as an expansion team in 2010. They are the first Atlantic League team to play outside of the Northeast; the team is also the first of a planned western division to include four to six other teams. The Skeeters are the first independent league baseball team in the Greater Houston metropolitan area since the Houston Buffaloes' final season in 1961, and they are also the first from the city of Sugar Land.
The team's name, "Skeeters", is a Southern slang word for mosquito, and was the result of a team-sponsored name-the-team contest. Part of the reason for the naming is that mosquitoes are very common in the summer nights in Southeast Texas.
The Sugar Land Skeeters have played in three Atlantic League Championships. In 2014, they were swept 3–0 by the Lancaster Barnstormers in the best-of-five game series. They returned for the second time in 2016, where they won the ALPB title, 3–0, against the Long Island Ducks. Matched up against the Ducks again in 2018, the Skeeters won their second ALPB Championship in franchise history after a 4-1 win in a decisive Game 5.

Franchise history

2010–2019

In 2008, Sugar Land residents voted for the allocation of civic revenues toward the construction of a new baseball park. Initially, the former Omaha Royals were interested in moving to the city, but eventually declined because of the construction of Werner Park in suburban Omaha. City of Sugar Land officials contacted Opening Day Partners to build the ballpark in order to have the company's caliber of professional baseball in their region. The city knew that the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball would not approve of an affiliated team in the Greater Houston area, so Sugar Land chose the independent circuit. The American Association and the United Baseball League were also considered since both organizations had teams located in Texas. The city decided on the Atlantic League mainly because Opening Day Partners' other teams were already members of that league. Sugar Land's entry in the Atlantic League was officially announced on May 18, 2010.
The Skeeters began using a bullpen car in 2012. On August 20, 2012, the Skeeters announced that they were signing former MLB pitcher Roger Clemens. They also announced that Clemens would be the starting pitcher for the Skeeters on August 25, 2012. The Skeeters sold out the night of Clemens start, where Clemens pitched for 3⅓ innings and Skeeters won 1-0.
The Sugar Land City Council approved an ownership change on October 28, 2014. The Council's action cleared the way for Houston-area residents Bob and Marcie Zlotnik, who have been one-third minority partners since the 2012 season, to assume 100% ownership of SL Baseball, LLC.
Also in the 2014 season, the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball All Star Game was held at Constellation Field, Sugar Land, Texas; home of the Skeeters. Usually, in each annual All Star Game, the best players from the Freedom Division battle it out with the best players from the Liberty Division. However, in the 2014 All Star Game, the best players from all around the league faced the Sugar Land Skeeters team. Surprisingly, the Skeeters won on their home field and in front of their home crowd in a thriller with the score of 5-3. Nick Stavinoha was recognized with the MVP award for the game. The game attendance was 7,555 which was the fourth highest All Star Game attendance.
On September 17, 2015, the Sugar Land Skeeters announced their signing of former MLB All-Star Rafael Palmeiro. He had been in retirement for ten years. His son Patrick Palmeiro was also a member of the team that year. Shortly after signing with the Skeeters, Palmeiro said, "We discussed me playing earlier this year and it's something I've looked forward to since then. The chance to play with my son is an opportunity the Skeeters have offered me and I'm very excited to make it happen this weekend." On September 18, 2015, Rafael Palmeiro debuted for the Skeeters batting third, which was the spot right after his son. The father-son duo combined for five RBIs to lead Sugar Land to a 10-4 victory over the Camden Riversharks.
Shortly after the conclusion of the 2017 season, Skeeters manager Gary Gaetti stepped down from his position with the expiration of his contract. Gaetti, the only manager in franchise history at the time, was hired as the club's inaugural skipper in 2011 and managed the club for six seasons.
The Skeeters returned to the Championship Series in 2018, also against the Long Island Ducks, winning three games to two to win their second championship overall and second in three years. They would return to the Championship Series again the following year in 2019, also against Long Island, but lost in the maximum five games.

2020 (Constellation Energy League)

In 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Skeeters organization announced they would launch their own 4-team independent league – named the Constellation Energy League – with play beginning on July 3, thereby going on hiatus for the 2020 ALPB season. All games will be played at Constellation Field, with a maximum of 1,800 fans allowed at each game in accordance with social distancing guidelines. Rosters will be composed of former MLB players and other professionals who've previously played in minor-league or independent baseball. Current Skeeters skipper Pete Incaviglia will manage one of the teams, the father-son duo of Roger Clemens and Koby Clemens will manage another team, and former MLB pitchers Greg Swindell and Dave Eiland will each manage their own teams.
On June 29, 2020, the Skeeters announced that opening day would be pushed back to July 10 due to a recent spike in coronavirus cases over the past 2 weeks.
On July 2, team names and logos for all four teams were revealed:

Notable alumni

On April 24, 2014, the Sugar Land Skeeters announced a deal with ESPN that allowed for all home games at Constellation Field to be exclusively broadcast on the Internet channel ESPN3 for the 2014 season, an agreement that was renewed for both the 2015 and 2016 seasons. Away games are heard on radio station KBRZ.
For the 2017 season, the Skeeters dropped their deals with both KBRZ and ESPN. Telecasts moved to the Skeeters' YouTube channel, while radio broadcasts moved to SB Nation Radio flagship station KGOW.

Constellation Field

History

In December 2010, StarTex Power bought the rights to name the future ballpark of the Skeeters. The initial name of the field was StarTex Power Field. A year later, StarTex merged with Constellation Energy and the name Constellation Field was born on December 2011.
Constellation Field opened on April 26, 2012, when the Sugar Land Skeeters hosted the York Revolution. The ballpark cost $37 million to build and is owned by the City of Sugar Land. The exact address of the Constellation Field is 1 Stadium Dr, Sugar Land, Texas 77498.

Features

The official colors of the Sugar Land Skeeters are imperial blue, nighttime black, rawhide yellow, white, and refinery red. Aside from nighttime black, each color is a regional allusion: "imperial blue" for the Sugar Land–based Imperial Sugar company, "rawhide yellow" for the cattle industry, and "refinery red" for the area's oil refineries. The team's primary logo consists of a mosquito flying over a Texas contour with its proboscis marking Fort Bend County which is located in the Southeast Texas area. The "Skeeters" wordmark centered below is made up of sugarcane-inspired lettering – a reference to the industry's importance to the region. Centered to the right above the contour is "Sugar Land" in black letters with a "lone star."

Mascots

The Sugar Land Skeeters utilize two main mascots. Their main mascot is Swatson: a large, green mosquito who performs in stunts, fan activities, and is often found throughout the stadium during games. He can also be hired to attend events outside the stadium at schools and business events. There is also a secondary mascot, the Rally Sloth, who is used in the middle of the ninth inning whenever the Skeeters are trailing. The Rally Sloth was first used in 2019 and is the main mascot of the Sugar Land Lightning Sloths of the 2020 Constellation Energy League.

Season-by-season record

Note: The Sugar Land Skeeters will be competing in a makeshift four-team league, the Constellation Energy League, in 2020 as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic cancelling the possibility of an ALPB season.

Achievements

Current roster