The Evansville Otters are a professional baseball team based in Evansville, Indiana . They compete in the Frontier League (FL) as a member of the Central Division in the Midwest Conference. Since their establishment in 1995, the Otters have played at historic Bosse Field , which originally opened in 1915. The Otters are the oldest current team in the Frontier League and have won two championships (2006 and 2016).
17-626: When the Otters began play in 1995, they returned baseball to Evansville for the first time in a decade. The city had been without a team since the Evansville Triplets relocated following the 1984 season. The Otters have been a success on the field and off since their first season of play in Evansville. On the field the Otters have reached the playoffs in 9 seasons, including six Frontier League Championship series with FLCS wins in 2006 and 2016. Off
34-619: A Minor League Baseball team of the Triple-A American Association (AA) from 1970 to 1984. They were located in Evansville, Indiana , and played their home games at Bosse Field . The Triplets served as a farm club for three major league franchises: the Minnesota Twins (1970), Milwaukee Brewers (1971–1973), and Detroit Tigers (1974–1984). The Triplets were established in 1970 as an expansion team in conjunction with
51-553: The 1969 Major League Baseball expansion . In 1984, the team was sold to Larry Schmittou and other owners of the Nashville Sounds of the Double-A Southern League , who relocated the team to Nashville, Tennessee , in 1985. Over 15 seasons of play, Evansville played in 2,061 regular season games and compiled a win–loss record of 1,032–1,026–3 (.501). They reached the postseason on four occasions. They won
68-577: The American Association for the 1970 season. One went to Wichita, Kansas , the other to Evansville, Indiana , which had previously hosted Minor League Baseball teams but never above the Double-A classification. A contest was held to select a name for the new franchise. "Evansville Triplets" was selected from over 3,000 entries. The fitting name refers to the team playing at the Triple-A level and that
85-599: The American Association championship in 1972 as the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They later won two additional American Association titles with the Detroit Tigers (1975 and 1979). The 1975 club also won the Junior World Series . The Triplets had an overall postseason record of 16–8 (.667). Due to the 1969 Major League Baseball expansion , there was a need for two additional Triple-A teams in
102-710: The Detroit Tigers from 1974 to 1984. The team won their second AA title in 1975 by defeating the Denver Bears , 4–2. They went on to win the Junior World Series , 4–1, against the Tidewater Tides . Manager Fred Hatfield won the 1975 American Association Manager of the Year Award . Les Moss won the same award in 1978). Under Manager of the Year Jim Leyland , the 1979 club won a third AA championship, 4–2, over
119-573: The Milwaukee Brewers . In 1972, the Triplets won their first American Association championship against their expansion partner, the Wichita Aeros , 3–0. Lloyd Gladden won the 1972 American Association Most Valuable Pitcher Award having pitched to a 15–9 record with a 2.71 earned run average and 141 strikeouts . The Triplets enjoyed their greatest success as the top minor league affiliate of
136-663: The Oklahoma City 89ers . Billy Gardner was selected as the AA's 1980 Manager of the Year. In July 1984, the team's owners arrived at terms to sell the Triplets for a reported sum of US$ 780,000 to the owners of the Nashville Sounds , a Double-A club of the Southern League , who intended to move the franchise to Nashville, Tennessee , for the 1985 season. The Southern League wanted team president Larry Schmittou to surrender his franchise to
153-582: The Frontier League Championship Series in 2023 for the first time since 2016 but lost in five games to the Quebec Capitales . Pitchers Utility players Catchers Infielders Outfielders Manager Coaches [REDACTED] Disabled list ‡ Inactive list § Suspended list updated July 16, 2024 Transactions Evansville Triplets The Evansville Triplets were
170-635: The Junior World Series were played for most of the years of the 20th century, off and on depending on the fortunes of the various leagues involved. Most often it was held between the champions of the International League (IL) and the American Association (AA). This left the third, and sometimes stronger, minor circuit called the Pacific Coast League (PCL) out of this minor league championship series. After not being held in 1972 and 1974,
187-431: The field, the Otters set numerous league attendance records in their early seasons. The Otters drew 90,000 fans in their first season, more than the entire Frontier League had in its inaugural season two years earlier. The Otters have averaged over 2,500 fans per game since they started playing at Bosse Field in Evansville, most recently setting a 2013 league best with 3,200 fans per game. The first Evansville Otters game
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#1732855076335204-635: The last Junior World Series was held in 1975. The Junior World Series was superseded by the Triple-A Classic , held from 1988 to 1991. Then, from 1998 to 2000, the Triple-A World Series pitted the IL and PCL champs (as the AA had folded in 1997). The Triple-A Baseball National Championship Game was established in 2006. In Game 2 of the 1956 Junior World Series, Roger Maris set a record with seven runs batted in . The 1919 championship series
221-505: The league, but he wanted to send Nashville's existing Southern League franchise to Evansville to continue as the Triplets at Double-A. However, a combination of the league's disapproval of the move and the City of Evansville being unwilling to upgrade Bosse Field meant the end of affiliated baseball in Evansville. The Triplets' legacy was retired, and the Triple-A Sounds carried on the history of
238-505: The major league level including George Sherrill , Andrew Werner , Brandyn Sittinger , and Randy Wynne . The success of the Otters in Evansville led to the move of more Frontier League teams to larger cities, many of which have built new ballparks, leading to the increased stability and success of the league in recent years. On May 27, 2014, the Otters became the first team in the Frontier League to reach 800 wins. The Otters reached
255-626: The preceding Double-A team. Junior World Series The Junior World Series was a postseason championship series between champions of two of the three highest minor league baseball leagues modeled on the World Series of Major League Baseball . It was called the Little World Series (no relation to the Little League World Series ) until 1932, and acquired other official names at different times. The various iterations of
272-459: The team would represent not just Indiana , but the entire tri-state area, including Kentucky and Illinois . It was also a word play on the Minnesota Twins , Evansville's first major league affiliate. The new team would play at Bosse Field , which opened in 1915. After spending their inaugural 1970 season affiliated with the Minnesota Twins, Evansville then spent the next three seasons with
289-667: Was played on June 15, 1995. The Otters were awarded the Frontier League Organization of the Year Award in 1997, and the Commissioner's Award of Excellence in 2004. They earned their 689th win, a league record, on August 18, 2011. The team hosted the largest crowd ever at Bosse Field on July 24, 2013, with 8,253 fans in attendance. The Otters welcomed their 2,000,000th fan to the ballpark on August 18, 2013. The Otters have promoted over 50 of their players to Major League Baseball franchises. Four Otters have gone on to careers at
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