The horseshoe is an open-faced sandwich originating in Springfield, Illinois , United States. It consists of thick-sliced toasted bread (often Texas toast ), a hamburger patty or other choice of meat, French fries , and cheese sauce .
20-793: The Springfield Lucky Horseshoes are a collegiate summer league baseball team of the Prospect League . They play at Robin Roberts Stadium at Lanphier Park and are based in the city of Springfield, Illinois . 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 eligibility. The Central Illinois Collegiate League (CICL) season
40-451: 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 nightclub in Orlando . 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
60-629: A dash of cayenne pepper. A smaller portion, with one slice of bread and one serving of meat, is called a pony shoe. A breakfast horseshoe is also available. The hamburger and french fries are replaced with sausage or bacon, eggs, and hash browns . The cheese sauce can also be substituted with milk gravy . Ross' Restaurant in Bettendorf, Iowa , was known for a similar dish called the Magic Mountain before closing permanently in February 2023. Instead of
80-648: The Quincy Gems . 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 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
100-533: The United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operate from early June to early August. In contrast to college baseball , which allow aluminum or other composite baseball bats , players in these leagues use only wooden bats, hence the common nickname of these leagues as "wood-bat leagues". Collegiate summer leagues allow college baseball players
120-519: The 1982 season and became the Louisville Redbirds , 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 for all but one season, and suffered from extremely low attendance. Beginning in 1996 and running through 2001, Springfield was also home to
140-579: The 2008 CICL Championship. The CICL merged with the Prospect League after the 2008 season, with the Prospect League name carrying forward into the 2009 season and beyond. The Lucky Horseshoes play in the Prospect League's Western Conference – Northwest Division along with the Burlington Bees , Clinton LumberKings , and Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp . The Sliders are the third collegiate wood bat franchise in Springfield. The Springfield Capitals were
160-601: 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. Pitchers Catchers Infielders Outfielders Manager Coaches [REDACTED] Disabled list ‡ Inactive list § Suspended list updated March 15, 2024 Collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in
180-560: The Phillies in 2021. 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
200-658: The Prospect League for the 2009 season, the Sliders have seen several players drafted by MLB teams. Elliot Soto was selected in the 2010 MLB draft by the Chicago Cubs and made his MLB debut in 2020 with the Los Angeles Angels . Most recently, Chatham, Illinois (just south of Springfield) native Nick Maton was selected in the 2017 MLB draft by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 7th round and made his MLB debut with
220-584: The ability to compete using professional rules and equipment, giving them experience and allowing professional scouts the opportunity to observe players under such conditions. To find a collegiate summer team, players work with their college coaches and prospective teams' general managers. They report to summer leagues after completing their spring collegiate season with their NCAA , NAIA , NJCAA , CCCAA , and NWAC teams. Some players arrive late due to their college team's postseason play, which sometimes runs into early June. In some cases, players are drafted during
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#1732858945527240-486: The collegiate summer season. These draftees can remain with their collegiate summer team until they sign a professional contract. During the season, players are housed by volunteer host families and bussed to and from road games. The leagues vary greatly in their attendances, quality of play, and ability to attract scouts. The Alaska Baseball League (ABL) and the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) are considered
260-694: 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 , for the 1978 season. The Springfield Redbirds would serve as the Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals for four seasons, winning an American Association championship in 1980. After the Redbirds controversially moved to Louisville for
280-471: The ham. It is not uncommon to substitute other meat for the hamburger, such as chicken or ham, or use more than one type of meat. The fries may also be substituted with tater tots , waffle fries , or other forms of fried potatoes. Although cheese sauces vary by chef, it is generally derived from Welsh rarebit . Common ingredients include eggs, stale beer, butter, sharp cheddar cheese, Worcestershire sauce , flour, dry mustard, paprika, salt and pepper, and
300-700: 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 Prospect League has since abandoned the first half winner and second half winner playoff format, instead opting to have
320-518: The second version of the Springfield Capitals who this time were a member of the Frontier League . The Sliders won their first game in franchise history against the Quincy Gems , 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
340-492: 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. Since joining
360-424: The two premier collegiate summer leagues. This list is organized by federation. Source: Chicago Suburban Baseball League Horseshoe sandwich While hamburger has become the most common meat on a horseshoe, the original meat was ham. The "horseshoe" name has been variously attributed to the horseshoe -like shape of a slice of bone-in ham , or to the horseshoe-like arrangement of potato wedges around
380-471: 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 that originated in Springfield. During the 2016 season, the Sliders announced that an in-game promotion during their June 22 game against the DuPage Drones would feature
400-548: 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
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