Binghamton Rumble Ponies
- Location: Binghamton, NY
- League: Eastern League 2017-2019, Double-A Northeast 2021; Eastern League 2022-
- Affiliation: New York Mets 2017-
- Ballpark: Mirabito Stadium 2017-
Team History[edit]
The Binghamton Rumble Ponies, of the Double-A Eastern League and briefly in Double-A Northeast, narrowly survived MLB's 2021 Minor League Reorganization. The New York Mets farmhands play their home games at Mirabito Stadium in Binghamton, NY.
They were on the original elimination list, but when the Mets were sold their new owner re-signed the Ponies. That plus an already planned 2019 multimillion-dollar renovation to their aging ballpark literally kept them in the game.
Greater Binghamton had baseball as early as 1877, this franchise since 1992, when the big Mets moved the recently purchased Williamsport Bills here as the Binghamton Mets.
The big club soon sold the farm club to local owners. The majority owner who called the affiliation "our most treasured asset" in 2010 made three deals to sell the team in the next five years. The first two would have caused the B-Mets to move but never closed. The 2015-2016 off-season sale that finally closed kept the club in town and with the Mets, but the new owner changed the nickname before the 2017 season. "Rumble Ponies" refers to wooden horses on merry-go-rounds in a city that bills itself The Carousel Capital of World. The club sold again in late 2021, but this new owner immediately allayed any worries of a move by signing a 23-year stadium lease extension.
Heisman Trophy Winner and former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow homered on the first pitch he saw as a 2018 Pony - his third first-day homer in four levels - and made the EL All-Star team before a season-ending hand injury. As had been true throughout Tebow's brief professional baseball odyssey, in what became known as "The Tebow Effect," the Ponies thoroughly outdrew their normal attendance while he was with them.
The EL was founded in Binghamton in 1923.
The Ponies play Copa de la Diversión Hispanic engagement campaign games as Cóndores de Binghamton (Binghamton Condors).
Year-by-Year Record[edit]
Year | Record | Finish | Manager | Playoffs | Hitting coach | Pitching coach | Coach |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2017 | 85-54 | 2nd | Luis Rojas | Lost in 1st round | Val Pascucci | Glenn Abbott | |
2018 | 64-76 | 9th | Luis Rojas | Val Pascucci | Frank Viola | Luis Rivera | |
2019 | 67-73 | 8th | Kevin Boles | Tony Jaramillo | Jonathan Hurst | Ender Chavez | |
2020 | Season cancelled | ||||||
2021 | 47-60 | 9th | Lorenzo Bundy | Bruce Fields | Jonathan Hurst | Joe Raccuia | |
2022 | 53-83 | 11th | Reid Brignac | Tommy Joseph | Jerome Williams | Mariano Duncan | |
2023 | 74-61 | 2nd | Reid Brignac | Lost League Finals | Darin Everson | A.J. Sager | Mariano Duncan, Jeremy Cologna |
2024 | 69-67 | 6th | Reid Brignac | Darin Everson | A.J. Sager | Mariano Duncan, Juan Loyo |
Further Reading[edit]
- Michael Clair: "The Binghamton Mets have changed their name to the fearsome Rumble Ponies", "Cut 4", mlb.com, November 3, 2016. [1]
Related Sites[edit]
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