The Batavia Muckdogs are a minor league baseball

Minor league baseball

Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...

 team based in Batavia

Batavia (city), New York

Batavia is a city in Genesee County, Western New York, USA, located near the middle of Genesee County, entirely within the Town of Batavia. Its population as of the 2000 census was 16,256...

, a city in Genesee County

Genesee County, New York

Genesee County is a county located in Western New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 60,079. Its name is from the Seneca Indian word Gen-nis'-hee-yo meaning "The Beautiful Valley." Its county seat is Batavia.- History :...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The Muckdogs are the current Short-Season A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...

. Their home field is Dwyer Stadium

Dwyer Stadium

Dwyer Stadium is a stadium in Batavia, New York. It is primarily used for baseball, and is the home field of the Batavia Muckdogs minor league baseball team. It opened in 1996 and holds 2,600 people. It replaced an older stadium on the same site built in 1939 also known as Dwyer Stadium.-External...

 in Batavia.

Many future stars have passed through Batavia, including Ryan Howard

Ryan Howard

Ryan James Howard is a Major League Baseball first baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies. Nicknamed "The Big Piece", Howard stands and weighs . He bats and throws left-handed....

, Chase Utley

Chase Utley

Chase Cameron Utley is a second baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball. A native of the Greater Los Angeles area, he was raised in the city of Long Beach. He was a star baseball player at Long Beach Polytechnic High School, before moving on to UCLA...

, Ryan Madson

Ryan Madson

Ryan Michael Madson , nicknamed "Mad Dog", is a Major League Baseball relief pitcher, who is a currently a free agent...

, Johnny Estrada

Johnny Estrada

Johnny Pulado Estrada III is a former American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves, Arizona Diamondbacks, Milwaukee Brewers and the Washington Nationals.Estrada was selected in the 17th round of the 1997 Major...

, Marlon Anderson

Marlon Anderson

Marlon Ordell Anderson is a former Major League Baseball utility player. He was widely known for his clutch hits, and writers for publications including The New York Times and Newsday had referred to him as one of the best pinch-hitters in the game...

, Marlon Byrd

Marlon Byrd

Marlon Jerrard Byrd , popularly known as The Position or The Possish or Sish, is a Major League Baseball outfielder for the Chicago Cubs...

, Carlos Carrasco

Carlos Carrasco (baseball)

Carlos Luis Carrasco is a right-handed pitcher for the Cleveland Indians.-Career:Carrasco was signed as an undrafted free agent on November 25, by the Philadelphia Phillies. In , Carrasco spent the entire season at the Single-A level with the Lakewood BlueClaws, compiling a 2.26 ERA in 159.1...

, Kelly Gruber

Kelly Gruber

Kelly Wayne Gruber is a former Major League Baseball third baseman.-Early career:Gruber played baseball at Westlake High School in Austin, Texas where his number was later retired. He was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 1st round of the 1980 amateur draft but did not see time with the team...

, Doc Ellis, Lou Marson

Lou Marson

Louis Glenn Marson is an American professional baseball catcher with the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball. Marson stands and weighs . He bats and throws right-handed...

, Clayton Mortensen

Clayton Mortensen

Clayton Grant Mortensen is a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Colorado Rockies. He was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals 36th overall in the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft. After graduating from Madison High School, Mortensen went on to play at Treasure Valley Community College, then...

, Alfredo Simon

Alfredo Simón

Alfredo Simón Cabrera is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher with the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball. From 2001 through part of 2004 he pitched under the name Carlos Cabrera.-Minor leagues:...

, Brad Ziegler

Brad Ziegler

Brad Gregory Ziegler is a Major League Baseball relief pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks.-Minor leagues:...

 and Ned Yost

Ned Yost

Edgar Frederick "Ned" Yost III is a former Major League Baseball catcher and current manager of the Kansas City Royals. He is the former manager of the Milwaukee Brewers.-Playing career:...

. NFL

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

 tailback

Tailback

Tailback can mean:* Halfback * A line of motor vehicles caught up in traffic congestion; a traffic jam...

 Ricky Williams

Ricky Williams

Errick Lynne "Ricky" Williams, Jr. is an American football running back for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints fifth overall in the 1999 NFL Draft...

 played for the team for a season before returning to Texas to prepare for the upcoming NCAA football season, where he later won the Heisman Award. Prior to the 1997 season, the Muckdogs were called the Batavia Clippers. A fan poll picked both the current name and logo.

The Muckdogs logo is a dog on a crushed fence in the shape of an "M" surrounded by muck

Muck (soil)

Muck is a soil made up primarily of humus from drained swampland. It is known as black soil in The Fens of eastern England, where it was originally mainly fen and bog. It is used there, as in the United States, for growing specialty crops such as onions, carrots, celery, and potatoes...

 with baseballs on either side.

The Muckdogs were originally affiliated with the Philadelphia Phillies

Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...

, from their inception in 1988 to 2006. Beginning with the 2007 season, the Phillies Short-Season A affiliate is the Williamsport Crosscutters

Williamsport Crosscutters

The Williamsport Crosscutters are a Short-Season A classification minor league baseball team based in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, in the United States...

.

On March 12, 2008, it was announced that the Rochester Red Wings

Rochester Red Wings

The Rochester Red Wings are a minor league baseball team based in Rochester, New York. The team plays in the International League and is the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins major-league club. The Red Wings play in Frontier Field, located in downtown Rochester.The Red Wings were an...

 would take over operational control of the Muckdogs. The Wings will run every aspect of operations: concessions, media and community relations and promotions.

Batavia swept the Florida Marlins

Florida Marlins

The Miami Marlins are a professional baseball team based in Miami, Florida, United States. Established in 1993 as an expansion franchise called the Florida Marlins, the Marlins are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Marlins played their home games at...

 affiliate the Jamestown Jammers

Jamestown Jammers

The Jamestown Jammers are a minor league baseball team in Jamestown, New York, United States. The team is the Short-Season A classification affiliate of the Miami Marlins and plays in the New York - Penn League...

 to claim the 2008 NY-Penn League championship on September 14, 2008 by a score of 9-3, after defeating the Boston Red Sox

Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...

 affiliate the Lowell Spinners

Lowell Spinners

The Lowell Spinners are a Short-Season A minor league baseball affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.-History:Founded in 1996 after Clyde Smoll moved the Elmira Pioneers to Lowell, Massachusetts, the Spinners play in the New York - Penn League, which has a Short-Season A classification with 76 games a...

 two games to one in the semi-finals.

In popular culture

At the end of the 2001 movie, Summer Catch

Summer Catch

Summer Catch is a 2001 romantic comedy film starring Freddie Prinze Jr., Jessica Biel, and Matthew Lillard. The story takes place on Cape Cod, but the majority of the film was shot in Southport, North Carolina.-Plot:...

, Freddie Prinze, Jr.

Freddie Prinze, Jr.

Freddie James Prinze, Jr. is an American actor. He rose to fame during the late 1990s and early 2000s, after starring in several Hollywood films aimed at teenage audiences, I Know What You Did Last Summer and its sequel, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer , as well as She's All That , Summer...

's character, Ryan Dunne is signed by the Phillies and assigned to the Muckdogs to start his professional career.

External links

• Batavia Muckdogs webpage
• St. Louis Cardinals Minor Leagues at Scout.com
• Photographs of Dwyer Stadium, home of the Batavia Muckdogs - Rochester Area Ballparks
• "Safe at Home," article about the Muckdogs by Batavia native Bill Kauffman
  Bill Kauffman
  Bill Kauffman is an American political writer generally aligned with the paleoconservative movement. He was born in Batavia, New York, and currently resides in Elba, New York, with his wife and daughter....
  
   in The American Conservative
  The American Conservative
  The American Conservative is a monthly U.S. opinion magazine published by Ron Unz. Its first editor was Scott McConnell, his successors being Kara Hopkins and the present incumbent, Daniel McCarthy....