Beloit Snappers

Beloit Snappers Founded in 1982 Beloit, Wisconsin
Team logo Cap insignia
Class-level
Current	Class A
Minor league affiliations
League	Midwest League
Division	Western Division
Major league affiliations
Current	Oakland Athletics (2013–present)
Previous	Minnesota Twins (2005–2012) Milwaukee Brewers (1982–2004)
Minor league titles
League titles (1)	1995
Division titles (1)	2007
Team data
Nickname	Beloit Snappers (1995–present)
Previous names	Beloit Brewers (1982–1994)
Colors	green, navy blue, & yellow
Mascot	Snappy D. Turtle
Ballpark	Harry C. Pohlman Field
Owner(s)/ Operator(s)	Beloit Professional Baseball Association
Manager	Fran Riordan
General Manager	Dennis Conerton

Chris Parmelee with the Snappers in 2008

The Beloit Snappers are a Class A minor league baseball team affiliated with the Oakland Athletics,^[1] that plays in the Midwest League and is based in Beloit, Wisconsin.^[2] The Snappers play their home games at Harry C. Pohlman Field at Telfer Park; built in 1982, the franchise attendance record of 10,127 was set in 1986. Beloit joined the Midwest League as an expansion franchise in 1982. The club was a Milwaukee Brewers farm team from its inception through 2004. Beloit switched to the Minnesota Twins' farm system for the 2005 season. The organization adopted the Snappers nickname in 1995 after using its parent team's nickname for its first 13 seasons. The name derives from the snapping turtle, because Beloit was formerly known as Turtle Village and there is still a Turtle Creek and a town of Turtle. All of these are named for a turtle-shaped Indian mound on the campus of Beloit College.

The 2003 team included two sons of former major league players. Prince Fielder, the son of former American League home run champion Cecil Fielder and Tony Gwynn, Jr., son of Tony Gwynn. Future major leaguer Danny Valencia played for the 2007 team. Another noted Major Leaguer, Jim Morris of The Rookie fame played for the Beloit Brewers when he came out of college in the 1980s. Other former Snappers players who moved on to Major League ball include Greg Vaughn, Geoff Jenkins, Jeff D'Amico Ron Belliard, and Yovani Gallardo. Minnesota Twins players that have come through include Matt Garza and Kevin Slowey.

After the Milwaukee Brewers withdrew their affiliation with Beloit due to the lack of a new stadium, efforts were started to build one similar to facilities used by the Rockford RiverHawks or the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. One possible scenario involved construction on a site near Janesville, which could have included renaming the team to reflect a broader Rock County audience.^[3] However, no new stadium was built and improvements, including redoing the entire field and repairing the concrete concourse, have been made to the existing site in recent years. After the 2012 season, the city of Beloit appropriated $100,000 in order to completely redo the outfield. The outfield was raised and leveled with the infield and a new sprinkler system was installed.^[4][5]

Roster

Beloit Snappers roster
Players				Coaches/Other
Pitchers 27 Xavier Altamirano 36 Boomer Biegalski 13 Dustin Driver 28 Angel Duno 18 Kyle Friedrichs 22 Kevin Johnson 11 Cody Kurz 16 Jared Lyons 26 Evan Manarino 32 Corey Miller 17 James Naile 19 Armando Ruiz 30 Andrew Tomasovich 31 Jesus Zambrano		Catchers 15 Jose Chavez 10 Nick Collins Infielders 12 Edwin Diaz  3 Trent Gilbert 21 Ryan Howell  5 Chris Iriart  4 Trace Loehr  2 Jesus Lopez Outfielders 20 Skye Bolt 18 Justin Higley 14 Steven Pallares 35 Brett Siddall		Manager 33 Fran Riordan Coaches 25 Juan Dilone (hitting) 37 Don Schulze (pitching) 7-day disabled list * On Oakland Athletics 40-man roster # Rehab assignment ∞ Reserve list ‡ Restricted list § Suspended list † Temporary inactive list Roster updated April 2, 2016 Transactions → More MiLB rosters → Oakland Athletics minor league players

Notable alumni

Craig Breslow

Danny Valencia (2012)

Minnesota Twins Affiliate Players

• Eddie Rosario (2012) 2015 AL Triples Leader
• Miguel Sano (2012)
• Brian Dozier (2010) MLB AS
• J.J. Hardy (2010) 3 x GG; 2 x MLB AS
• Aaron Hicks (2010)
• Danny Santana (2010)
• Liam Hendriks (2009)
• Alexi Casilla (2008)
• Ben Revere (2008) 2014 NL Hits Leader
• Yangervis Solarte (2008)
• Wilson Ramos (2007) 2014 Tony Conigliaro Award
• Danny Valencia (2007)
• Brian Duensing (2006)
• Chris Parmelee (2006)
• Matt Garza (2005) 2008 ALCS MVP
• Evan Meek (2005) MLB AS
• Trevor Plouffe (2005)
• Carlos Silva (2005)
• Kevin Slowey (2005)

Milwaukee Brewers Affiliate Players

• Chris Capuano (2004) MLB AS
• Carlos Corporan (2004)
• Dana Eveland (2004)
• Yovani Gallardo (2004) MLB AS
• Carlos Villanueva (2004)
• Craig Breslow (2003)
• Tony Gwynn, Jr. (2003)
• Manny Parra (2003)
• Rickie Weeks (2003) MLB AS
• Tom Wilhelmsen (2003)
• Mike Adams (2002)
• Prince Fielder (2002-03) 6 x MLB AS; 2007 NL Home Run Leader; 2009 NL RBI Leader
• Geoff Jenkins (2001) MLB AS
• Mark Leiter (2001)
• Bill Hall (2000)
• Don Money (2000-04, MGR) 4 x MLB AS
• Fernando Vina (1999) 2 x GG: MLB AS
• Chad Fox (1998)
• Mike Matheny (1998) 4 x GG; MLB MGR: St. Louis Cardinals (2012-Present)
• José Valentín (1997)
• Ronnie Belliard (1995) MLB AS
• Jeff D'Amico (1995, 1997)
• Turner Ward (1995)
• Kevin Seitzer (1994) 2 x MLB AS; 1987 AL Hits Leader
• Cory Lidle (1996) Died: Age 34
• Greg Vaughn (1994) 4 x MLB AS
• Mike Boddicker (1993) GG; MLB AS
• Jeff Cirillo (1992) MLB AS
• Teddy Higuera (1992) MLB AS
• Darren Holmes (1991) 13 MLB Seasons
• Greg Mathews (1991)
• Ed Nunez (1991)
• Jim Gantner (1990)
• Bill Krueger (1990)
• Paul Molitor (1990) 7 x MLB AS; 3,319 Career Hits; 3 x AL Hits Leader (1991, 1993, 1996); Baseball Hall of Fame (2004)
• Greg Brock
• Cal Eldred (1989)
• Paul Mirabella (1989)
• Troy O'Leary (1989-1990)
• Dale Sveum (1989) MLB MGR
• Pat Listach (1988) 1992 AL Rookie of the Year
• Dave Nilsson (1988, 1998) MLB AS
• Steve Sparks (1988)
• John Jaha (1987, 1995, 1998) MLB AS
• Bill Spiers (1987, 1992)
• Greg Vaughn (1987)
• Doug Henry (1986)
• Randy Veres (1986)
• B.J. Surhoff (1985) MLB AS
• Tom Candiotti (1984) MLB AS
• Jim Morris (1984-85) Subject of 2002 Movie The Rookie
• Jeff Parrett (1984)
• Mike Birkbeck (1983
• Chris Bosio (1983-84, 1990) MLB AS
• Chuck Crim (1983, 1990)
• Juan Nieves (1983)
• Billy Jo Robidoux (1983)
• Bill Wegman (1982, 1990) 11 MLB Seasons

References

1. Meisel, Zach. "A's make Beloit Snappers their Class A affiliate". Major League Baseball. Retrieved September 26, 2012.
2. "Midwest League Teams". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
3. "Beloit Snappers". Archived from the original on August 1, 2008. Retrieved July 24, 2008.
4. Zinck, Shaun (December 8, 2012). "Pohlman Field's Makeover Done". Beloit Daily News. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
5. Zinck, Shaun (October 3, 2013). "Pohlman Field Work Nears Completion". Beloit Daily News. Retrieved June 1, 2014.

External links

• Official Beloit Snappers website