Hudson Valley Renegades
- Location: Wappingers Falls, NY
- League: New York-Penn League 1994-2019; High-A East 2021; South Atlantic League 2022-
- Affiliate: Texas Rangers 1994-95; Texas Rangers & Tampa Bay Devil Rays 1996; Tampa Bay Devil Rays/Tampa Bay Rays 1997-2020; New York Yankees 2021-present
- Ballpark: Heritage Financial Park
Team History[edit]
The Hudson Valley Renegades, formerly of the New York-Pennsylvania League, briefly in High-A East, and now in the South Atlantic League, are one of three teams from the decommissioned circuit that survived MLB's 2021 Minor League Reorganization - with all three rising two levels. The New York Yankees farmhands play their home games at Heritage Financial Park near Wappingers Falls, NY - nowhere near the Atlantic Ocean, or even more the southern Atlantic.
This was the first short-season club officially elevated, when the Yankees tabbed the long-time Tampa Bay Rays' affiliate - to the consternation of the Staten Island Yankees, who had fully expected that berth. It probably didn't hurt that the Goldklang Group owned the club, and Marvin Goldklang is a longtime minority owner of the Yanks.
The NYPL went through a different kind of upheaval in 1994, when five of its 14 teams moved - including the Erie Sailors to Dutchess County, NY. That wave was driven by moves into new stadiums that resulted from MLB writing standards for minor league ballparks into the 1990 Professional Baseball Agreement. Many locales in the NYPL were unable to meet these new standards.
The Renegades are among the teams Endeavor Group Holdings acquired in late 2021 and put under its newly created Diamond Baseball Holdings subsidiary.[1] Endeavor, which was created in a merger of two talent agencies, also owns Ultimate Fighting Championship and Miss Universe. However, after the MLB Players Association threatened to block Endeavor talent agents from representing professional baseball players on the grounds that a talent agency owning baseball teams is a conflict of interest, Endeavor sold DBH to the equity firm Silver Lake Partners - a major investor in Endeavor.
"Hudson Valley" includes Newburgh, NY, the largest town in the immediate area, which lies across the Hudson in another county. One of the team's logos represents the spectacular bridge that links the two banks of the river; the other logo (pictured above) shows the team's mascot, a raccoon named "Rascal".
In 2024, the Renegades hosted a special "Bhutan Baseball day" on August 20th. They invited players from the country to train with the team and see professional baseball being played for the first time, in addition to stopping on their way to visit New York City and the headquarters of Major League Baseball and catch a major league game. This was in response to an article on mlb.com on baseball being played in the isolated Himalayan country going viral, prompting the team to plan a grand effort to support the fledgling sport.
The 'Gades play Copa de la Diversión Hispanic engagement campaign games as Fenómenos Enmascarados del Valle de Hudson (Hudson Valley Masked Phenoms - a playful nod to the raccoon theme). Before the 2025 season, they unveiled an alternate identity as the "Hudson Valley Big Apples", a nod both to the importance of apple production in the region, and the nickname of New York City, where the team's parent club is located.
Year-by-Year Record[edit]
Further Reading[edit]
- Michael Clair: "Galvanized by viral photo, Bhutan Baseball readies for special US trip", mlb.com, February 6, 2024. [2]
- Michael Clair: "Hudson Valley Renegades' Bhutan Night shows that baseball is truly a global community", mlb.com, August 20, 2024. [3]
- Benjamin Hill: "'Big Apples' alternate identity makes Yankees' affiliate New York to the core", mlb.com, November 15, 2024. [4]
External Link[edit]
- The Official Website of the Hudson Valley Renegades
- Digitalballparks' Dutchess County Stadium history and photographic gallery
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