Lancaster Barnstormers

The Lancaster Barnstormers were an Atlantic League team based in Lancaster, PA. Starting with the 2005 season, they have played in the South Division of the Atlantic League. Following the 2023 season, they were renamed the Lancaster Stormers.

The team played at Clipper Magazine Stadium on the northwestern side of the city. Baseball fans in Lancaster waited for 44 years for another baseball team since the Lancaster Red Roses folded after the 1961 season. In 2003, Lancastrians chose the name Barnstormers over Red Roses in a name-the-team contest. The name "Barnstormers" refers to the act of "barnstorming" which, means to travel around an area appearing in exhibition sports events, especially baseball games. Lancaster County's farmland hosted many of these exhibition games during the early 1900s. The name also refers to the numerous farms in the surrounding county, many of which are Amish.

The Barnstormers used to employ former Major Leaguer, Rick Wise, as the pitching coach. He was the winning pitcher for the Boston Red Sox in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series. Other than his experience with the Red Sox, he pitched for the Cleveland Indians, the Philadelphia Phillies, the San Diego Padres, and the St. Louis Cardinals.

Lancaster New Era: The Barnstormers

In 2003, the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball formally announced an expansion franchise for Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In October of that year the team was named the Barnstormers and Lancastrians held their collective breath for the team to sign Lancaster native, Tom Herr, to be the manager. In November 2004, the Barnstormers announced the signing of Tom Herr as the first team manager of the team. His son, Aaron, played briefly with Lancaster until he was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals and allocated to their AA farm team, the Springfield Cardinals in 2005.

The Lancaster Barnstormers first playing season came in 2005 at the newly-built Clipper Magazine Stadium. On May 11, the Barnstormers lost their first game 4-3 to the Atlantic City Surf, in front of 7,300 fans. They finished the 2005 season with a record of 64 wins and 76 losses.

The team gets heavy coverage in the local newspapers and receives significant following from Lancaster-area fans, many of whom hail the organization as family-friendly in their planning of events for game nights. Even though some in the Lancaster area have speculated the possibility of the Barnstormers organization becoming a Major League-affiliated club, the nearby affiliated Harrisburg Senators and the Reading Phillies have made it clear that they will not waive their territorial claims over Lancaster.

A brand-new, York, Pennsylvania baseball team will start play in the 2007 season, with the renewal of an old rivalry between Lancaster and York. The Barnstormers will continue the Red Roses tradition as they will battle the York Baseball Team for lower Susquehanna River supremacy.

Quick facts

uniform colors: White with red piping for home games and grey for away games. Both with the word "Lancaster" across the front and number on the back. Navy blue hats with the letter "L" with a streaking baseball. Alternate uniforms, also used for batting practice, are navy blue with "Barnstomers" across the front.

logo design: The word "Lancaster" in script in white with navy blue and khaki outline superimposed over the peak of a red barn and a streaking baseball with the word "Barnstormers," in red, inside the khaki and navy blue streaks.

mascot: Cylo.

Year-by-Year Record

Year	Record	Finish	Manager	Playoffs	Hitting Coach
2005	63-77	6th	Tom Herr
2006	75-51	2nd	Tom Herr	League Champs
2007	57-69	6th	Frank Klebe
2008	64-76	8th	Von Hayes
2009	67-73	5th	Von Hayes (39-46) / Tom Herr (28-27)
2010	63-76	6th	Tom Herr		Lance Burkhart
2011	69-56	3rd	Butch Hobson	Lost in 1st round	Lance Burkhart
2012	88-52	1st	Butch Hobson	Lost in league finals	Lance Burkhart
2013	72-67	3rd	Butch Hobson		Lance Burkhart
2014	81-59	2nd	Butch Hobson	League Champs
2015	75-65	3rd	Butch Hobson	Lost in 1st round
2016	67-73	6th	Butch Hobson / Rich Rundles (interim)
2017	76-64	1st (t)	Ross Peeples		Josh Bell
2018	74-52	2nd	Ross Peeples	Lost in 1st Round	Josh Bell
2019	51-89	8th	Ross Peeples		Josh Bell
2020	Season cancelled
2021	56-63	6th	Ross Peeples
2022	73-58	3rd	Ross Peeples	League Champs
2023	62-62	6th	Ross Peeples	League Champs

External Links

• Lancaster Barnstormers

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