Northwest Arkansas Naturals
Encyclopedia
The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are a Minor League Baseball
(MiLB) team based in Springdale
, Arkansas
. The team is member of the Texas League
, and serves as the Double-A affiliate to the Kansas City Royals
. They relocated to Springdale from Wichita
, Kansas
in 2008. They were previously known as the Wichita Wranglers
. The team also had previous incarnations as the Amarillo Gold Sox
and Beaumont Golden Gators
.
The Naturals play at Arvest Ballpark. The facility is located at the intersection of 56th Street and Watkins, and was completed in early 2008.
throughout Bob Rich, Jr.'s 18-year ownership of the team. In 2006, he sought a move to Springdale, Arkansas, contingent on a citizen vote to approve financing for a new stadium.
The pro-baseball movement in Springdale had counted on the support of the Rev. Ronnie Floyd
, influential pastor of local megachurch
First Baptist Church of Springdale. In June 2006, Floyd abruptly pulled his support after he discovered that the team would serve alcohol at games, making professional baseball a contentious and evenly-split issue in Northwest Arkansas. The July vote on a measure to extend a one-cent sales tax
to raise $50 million for the stadium passed by only 15 votes.
as the "Natural State," as well as the Robert Redford
film, The Natural
. The name was chosen after receiving 33 percent of the votes in an online fan poll, beating second-place choice "Thunder Chickens" by six percent (Springdale is world headquarters for Tyson Foods
, a leading supplier of poultry products).
The Rich Family owes much of its baseball success to the Redford film. In 1983, Bob Rich, Jr. bought the Class AA Buffalo Bisons
, who had suffered miserable attendance the previous season, for a mere $100,000. That year, Hollywood producers approached Rich about filming scenes of The Natural at Buffalo's War Memorial Stadium. With the success of the film, local interest in the team rose and attendance at the Bisons' games nearly tripled. Rich was then able to finance the Bisons' lucrative move to the Class AAA American Association
.
-based Arkansas Travelers
. The winner of the season series between the two teams earns the Diamond Series Cup. The Naturals captured the cup in 2008, winning the season series 18-14.
The two teams met in the first round of the 2008 Texas League playoffs, as the Travelers won the first-half title in the North Division and the Naturals won the second-half title. Arkansas swept the series 3-0 to advance to the final.
The Naturals would continue to have early success, advancing to the playoffs in 2009 and 2010. In 2009, the Naturals would win the North Division title, only to lose in the Texas League Championship Series to the Midland RockHounds. In 2010, the Naturals would sweep the first and second half titles, won the North Division title for a second straight year and avenged their loss to Midland in 2009, winning the Texas League title in a 3-1 series victory over the RockHounds.
On June 8, 2008, pitcher Jeff Fulchino
became the first former Natural to play in Major League Baseball, throwing a scoreless inning in relief during a 6-3 Royals loss at Yankee Stadium
. Carlos Rosa
, another former Natural, has also pitched in relief for the Royals.
Royals owner and former Wal-Mart
CEO David Glass lives in nearby Bella Vista, Arkansas
.
. It cost $33 million to build, while the rest of the $50 million approved by Springdale voters will go toward road and infrastructure improvements. The stadium seats 6,500, but additional berm
areas allow a maximum capacity of about 7,800.
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...
(MiLB) team based in Springdale
Springdale, Arkansas
As of the census of 2010, there were 69,797 people, 22,805 households, and 16,640 families residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 64.7% White, 0.82% Black or African American, 1.8% Native American, 1.4% Asian, 5.7% Pacific Islander, 22% from other races, and 2.9% from two or more...
, Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
. The team is member of the Texas League
Texas League
The Texas League is a minor league baseball league which operates in the South Central United States. It is classified a Double-A league. The league was founded in 1888 and ran through 1892...
, and serves as the Double-A affiliate to the Kansas City Royals
Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals are a Major League Baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals are a member of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From 1973 to the present, the Royals have played in Kauffman Stadium...
. They relocated to Springdale from Wichita
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
in 2008. They were previously known as the Wichita Wranglers
Wichita Wranglers
The Wichita Wranglers were a minor league baseball team based in Wichita, Kansas. The team, which played in the Texas League, was the Double-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals major-league club from 1995 to 2007, and of the San Diego Padres from 1987 to 1994. The Wranglers played in...
. The team also had previous incarnations as the Amarillo Gold Sox
Amarillo Gold Sox
The Amarillo Gold Sox was the name of a minor league baseball franchise that represented the city of Amarillo, Texas, in the Class D West Texas-New Mexico League, the Class A Western League and the Class AA Texas League at various times between 1939 and 1982....
and Beaumont Golden Gators
Beaumont Golden Gators
The Beaumont Golden Gators were a minor league baseball team in the double A Texas League from 1983 to 1986. Owned by insurance man Ted Moor, the team was an affiliate of the San Diego Padres for their entire tenure...
.
The Naturals play at Arvest Ballpark. The facility is located at the intersection of 56th Street and Watkins, and was completed in early 2008.
Origin
The Wichita Wranglers had struggled with low attendance numbers and an aging Lawrence-Dumont StadiumLawrence-Dumont Stadium
Lawrence-Dumont Stadium is a stadium in Wichita, Kansas. It is primarily used for baseball, and is the home field of the Wichita Wingnuts independent baseball team. It was built in 1934, underwent renovations in 2001 which brought improvements to the stadium sound system, new infield turf, a new...
throughout Bob Rich, Jr.'s 18-year ownership of the team. In 2006, he sought a move to Springdale, Arkansas, contingent on a citizen vote to approve financing for a new stadium.
The pro-baseball movement in Springdale had counted on the support of the Rev. Ronnie Floyd
Ronnie Floyd
Ronnie Wayne Floyd is the Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Springdale in Springdale, Arkansas, USA and of its second campus the The Church At Pinnacle Hills in Rogers, Arkansas, both "megachurches". On Jan...
, influential pastor of local megachurch
Megachurch
A megachurch is a church having 2,000 or more in average weekend attendance. The Hartford Institute's database lists more than 1,300 such Protestant churches in the United States. According to that data, approximately 50 churches on the list have attendance ranging from 10,000 to 47,000...
First Baptist Church of Springdale. In June 2006, Floyd abruptly pulled his support after he discovered that the team would serve alcohol at games, making professional baseball a contentious and evenly-split issue in Northwest Arkansas. The July vote on a measure to extend a one-cent sales tax
Sales tax
A sales tax is a tax, usually paid by the consumer at the point of purchase, itemized separately from the base price, for certain goods and services. The tax amount is usually calculated by applying a percentage rate to the taxable price of a sale....
to raise $50 million for the stadium passed by only 15 votes.
Team name
The team's nickname plays off the state's nicknameNickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
as the "Natural State," as well as the Robert Redford
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
film, The Natural
The Natural (film)
The Natural is a 1984 film adaptation of Bernard Malamud's 1952 baseball novel of the same name, directed by Barry Levinson and starring Robert Redford, Glenn Close and Robert Duvall...
. The name was chosen after receiving 33 percent of the votes in an online fan poll, beating second-place choice "Thunder Chickens" by six percent (Springdale is world headquarters for Tyson Foods
Tyson Foods
Tyson Foods, Inc. is a multinational corporation based in Springdale, Arkansas, that operates in the food industry. The company is the world's second largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef, and pork only behind Brazilian JBS S.A., and annually exports the largest percentage of beef out of...
, a leading supplier of poultry products).
The Rich Family owes much of its baseball success to the Redford film. In 1983, Bob Rich, Jr. bought the Class AA Buffalo Bisons
Buffalo Bisons
The Buffalo Bisons are a minor league baseball team based in Buffalo, New York. They currently play in the International League and are the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets...
, who had suffered miserable attendance the previous season, for a mere $100,000. That year, Hollywood producers approached Rich about filming scenes of The Natural at Buffalo's War Memorial Stadium. With the success of the film, local interest in the team rose and attendance at the Bisons' games nearly tripled. Rich was then able to finance the Bisons' lucrative move to the Class AAA American Association
American Association (20th century)
The American Association was a minor league baseball league at the Triple-A level of baseball in the United States from to and to . Together with the International League, it contested the Junior World Series which determined the championship team in minor league baseball, at least for the...
.
Play as the Naturals
The Naturals share an intrastate rivalry with the North Little RockNorth Little Rock, Arkansas
the city was 62.55% White, 33.98% Black or African American, 0.41% Native American, 0.59% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.18% from other races, and 1.26% from two or more races...
-based Arkansas Travelers
Arkansas Travelers
The Arkansas Travelers, also known informally as The Travs, are a Minor League Baseball team based in Little Rock, Arkansas. The team, which plays in the Texas League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Major League club....
. The winner of the season series between the two teams earns the Diamond Series Cup. The Naturals captured the cup in 2008, winning the season series 18-14.
The two teams met in the first round of the 2008 Texas League playoffs, as the Travelers won the first-half title in the North Division and the Naturals won the second-half title. Arkansas swept the series 3-0 to advance to the final.
The Naturals would continue to have early success, advancing to the playoffs in 2009 and 2010. In 2009, the Naturals would win the North Division title, only to lose in the Texas League Championship Series to the Midland RockHounds. In 2010, the Naturals would sweep the first and second half titles, won the North Division title for a second straight year and avenged their loss to Midland in 2009, winning the Texas League title in a 3-1 series victory over the RockHounds.
On June 8, 2008, pitcher Jeff Fulchino
Jeff Fulchino
Jeffrey Paul Fulchino is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. His rise to prominence came under the tutelage of Edward Poisson, head baseball coach of Trinity High School in Manchester, New Hampshire. Fulchino is the pride of Hollis, New Hampshire. He is the first Hollis...
became the first former Natural to play in Major League Baseball, throwing a scoreless inning in relief during a 6-3 Royals loss at Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium was a stadium located in The Bronx in New York City, New York. It was the home ballpark of the New York Yankees from 1923 to 1973 and from 1976 to 2008. The stadium hosted 6,581 Yankees regular season home games during its 85-year history. It was also the former home of the New York...
. Carlos Rosa
Carlos Rosa
Carlos Rosa Mayi is a Major League Baseball pitcher who currently plays for the Chiba Lotte Marines in Nippon Professional Baseball....
, another former Natural, has also pitched in relief for the Royals.
Royals owner and former Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
CEO David Glass lives in nearby Bella Vista, Arkansas
Bella Vista, Arkansas
Bella Vista is a city in Benton County, Arkansas. It previously was the largest unincorporated community in the state of Arkansas; however, in November 2006 it voted to incorporate and form a municipality. The Bella Vista Property Owners Association estimates that there are currently 24,000...
.
Stadium
Arvest Ballpark was designed by HOK Sport of Kansas City, MissouriKansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
. It cost $33 million to build, while the rest of the $50 million approved by Springdale voters will go toward road and infrastructure improvements. The stadium seats 6,500, but additional berm
Berm
A berm is a level space, shelf, or raised barrier separating two areas. Berm originates in the Middle Dutch and German berme and came into usage in English via French.- History :...
areas allow a maximum capacity of about 7,800.