Kannapolis Intimidators
The
Kannapolis Intimidators is a
minor league baseball team in
Kannapolis, North Carolina. The team is a Class A affiliate of the
Chicago White Sox and has played in the
South Atlantic League under various names and team affiliations since its inception in
1995.
The Intimidators franchise moved to Kannapolis in
1995 from
Spartanburg, South Carolina, where they had been a Class A affiliate of the
Philadelphia Phillies. Debate raged in the Kannapolis area over what to name the team, with the team's front office changing how it answered the phones almost constantly - from "Piedmont Phillies" (in reference to the region of
North Carolina that Kannapolis is situated in), to "Kannapolis Phillies," and for a time even "Lake Fisher Phillies" (Lake Fisher is a small
reservoir that sits near the team's stadium). Team officials finally decided to call the team the
Piedmont Phillies for the 1995 season.
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Piedmont Boll Weevils logo |
A name-the-team contest in the fall of 1995 drew thousands of entries, and team officials settled on the
boll weevil as the team's new mascot, indicative of Kannapolis' history as a
textile mill town (Kannapolis natives are even called "lintheads"). The
Piedmont Boll Weevils would keep that mascot until after the
2000 season, when NASCAR racing legend
Dale Earnhardt purchased a share in the team's ownership. It was then that the name was changed to the Kannapolis Intimidators, in honor of Earnhardt's legendary nickname. It was also during that offseason that the team's parent club changed from the Phillies to the
Chicago White Sox, making the Intimidators the third White Sox farm team to be located in the Carolinas, following the
Charlotte Knights (who actually play their home games in suburban
Fort Mill,
South Carolina) and the
Winston-Salem Warthogs.
Dale Earnhardt, whose NASCAR number was 3, was killed in an accident at the Daytona 500 in February 2001. After Earnhardt's death, the Intimidators avoided the number 3 for team members. For example, Manager Razor Shines had to change his uniform number because it had been slated to be number 3 (became #43). Owners of the team ultimately retired number 3 on May 15, 2002, in memory of their former co-owner. This is similar to what the
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim did for number 26 (the 26th player on the roster) for former owner
Gene Autry.
The team's logo was designed by Sam Bass, who has designed paint schemes and uniforms on many NASCAR, Champ Car, and IRL race cars.
The team plays in
Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium in Kannapolis. "The Cannon" was still under construction when the Piedmont Phillies began play in 1995. Upon completion in the winter of 1996, the stadium seated 4,700 fans.
Current or former
Major League Baseball players to pass through Kannapolis include
Jimmy Rollins and
David Coggin of the Philadelphia Phillies. Also,
NFL running back
Ricky Williams played for the Boll Weevils during the late 1990's while he was also playing
college football for the
University of Texas.
Smith Family Baseball, owned by
Illinois businessman Dale Smith and his son Brad (the team's President) bought the team from
Dale Earnhardt, Inc. and motorsports magnate
Bruton Smith in December of
2004.
Larry and Sue Hedrick, the owners who bought the Spartanburg Phillies in
1993 and eventually moved them to Kannapolis, retained a minority share of the team's ownership.
Smith Family baseball owns 100 percent of the franchise with the purchase in 2004, Larry and Sue Hendrick are no longer minority owners
The Intimidators have won one SAL championship series:
*
2005 - Defeated
Hagerstown 3 games to 1
*
Official team website*
Photos of Fieldcrest Cannon and information about team history
