Tombstone
Born: March 24, 1994 – The Waterloo Diamonds relocate to Springfield, IL11Strasen, Marty & Jamison, Tim. “Report: Baseball is out of Waterloo”. The Courier (Waterloo, IA). March 22, 1994
Move Announced: October 10, 1994 (Lansing Lugnuts)2Makinen, Tim. “Sultans to swing into town”. The State Journal (Lansing, MI). October 11, 1994
First Game: April 10, 1994 (W 10-4 @ Clinton LumberKings)
Last Game: September 2, 1995 (L 7-1 vs. Peoria Chiefs)
Midwest League Championships: None
Stadium
Lanphier Park (5,000)31995 Kane County Cougars Program
Opened: 1928
Marketing
Team Colors: Purple, Black & Silver4ASSOCIATED PRESS. “Sultans hit Springfield”. The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI). March 26, 1994
Ownership & Affiliation
Attendance
Background
The Sultans were a misbegotten Minor League Baseball club that scuffled through two disappointing seasons in the Illinois state capital in the mid-1990’s. The circumstances of the Sultans’ formation virtually ensured the ballclub would fail from the outset.
Springfield, Illinois lies 90 minutes north of St. Louis, Missouri. For 12 summers from 1982 until 1993, the city’s Lanphier Park hosted a St. Louis Cardinals farm team in the Class A Midwest League. The St. Louis organization owned the Springfield Cardinals outright. During the 1993 season, negotiations between St. Louis and the City of Springfield to renew the minor league team’s lease at Lanphier Park broke down. The Cardinals sold the franchise to new investors who moved the franchise to Madison, Wisconsin ahead of the 1994 season.
Meanwhile, the Midwest League community of Waterloo, Iowa was on the verge of losing professional baseball after ninety years of nearly uninterrupted play. The city’s Municipal Stadium fell short of the new standards for Class A ballparks imposed by the Professional Baseball Agreement of 1990 that governed relations between Major League Baseball teams and their farm clubs. With both the city of Waterloo and the Waterloo Diamonds‘ local owners unable to foot the estimated $800,000 bill for required upgrades, the team was put up for sale during the summer of 1993.5Martin, Tim. “In one city, team’s move no home run”. The State Journal (Lansing, MI). February 5, 1996. Chicago businessman Tom Dickson and his business partner Tom Rubens reached terms to purchase the club for a reported $1.8 – $2.0 million price tag.6Nelson, Jim. “Circling the bases: Lights flickered, then they went out.” The Courier (Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA). June 21, 2015
Dickson intended to operate the Diamonds in Waterloo for one final season in 1994 before moving on to greener pastures (i.e., a community with a sparkling new ballpark). The Diamonds historically enjoyed a $1 annual lease at Municipal Stadium. But Waterloo officials, made aware of the skyrocketing value of Class A franchises by the Diamonds’ sale price, demanded $500,000 rent for the 1994 season in an effort to claw back to city’s prior investments to upgrade Municipal Stadium. The demand stalled the sale and forced the Midwest League to step in to seize the franchise. In late March 1994, just a few weeks before Opening Day, the Midwest League hastily moved the Diamonds franchise to Springfield’s now-vacant Lanphier Park and finally approved the sale to Tom Dickson.
Doomed
The Sultans arrived in Springfield two weeks before opening day with a snazzy new name and a trendy 90’s color scheme of purple, black & silver, but little else. The team had no time to mount any sort of conventional ticket or sponsorship sales effort or marketing campaign.
Furthermore, Springfield fans were long-accustomed to cheering on prospects for the nearby St. Louis Cardinals. But the Sultans were now a farm club of the San Diego Padres, a relationship that held little appeal for local fans. The St. Louis Cardinals, primarily concerned with player development rather than profits, made a practice of keeping low prices and giving away tickets liberally in Springfield.77Martin, Tim. “In one city, team’s move no home run”. The State Journal (Lansing, MI). February 5, 1996. [/mfn] The Sultans raised prices adding another wrinkle to the team’s challenges.
Dickson lost a reported $500,000 during the 1994 season, as the Sultans ranked last in the 14-team Midwest League in attendance (54,218).8Martin, Tim. “In one city, team’s move no home run”. The State Journal (Lansing, MI). February 5, 1996.
On the field, San Diego didn’t provide much of a team to entertain Springfield fans. The Sultans finished 69-71 under field manager Ed Romero. 19-year old shortstop Jorge Velandia was the only member of the 1994 team to eventually make the Majors, playing parts of eight Major League seasons between 1997 and 2008. The 1994 squad also featured Bobby Bonds Jr., younger brother of San Francisco Giants superstar Barry Bonds.
Lame Ducks
In October 1994, Dickson announced that the Sultans would move to Lansing, Michigan in 1996 to play in a brand new $12.8 million ballpark. But first he Sultans would play a second and final season in Springfield.
The Padres left town and the Kansas City Royals took over as Springfield’s parent club in 1995. With the Sultans now dead men walking, attendance plunged further (39,476), once again last among the 14 Midwest League clubs.
The Royals sent somewhat better prospects than the Padres a year earlier. Four 1995 Sultans ultimately advanced to the Major Leagues.
19-year old catcher Matt Treanor, who would move with the club to Lansing in 1996, enjoyed the longest stay in the Majors but it would take him a full decade in the minors to get there. Treanor made his Major League debut with the Florida Marlins at age 28 in June 1994 and went on to play parts of eight seasons in the Show. Along the way, Treanor married beach volleyball superstar Misty May. As Misty May-Treanor, she would win three consecutive Olympic Gold Medals with Kerri Walsh Jennings at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 summer Olympics.
Aftermath
The Sultans moved to Lansing, Michigan as planned in 1996. As the Lansing Lugnuts, the club drew 538,325 fans during their debut season at Lansing’s Oldsmobile Park. A quarter century later in 2021, Tom Dickson still owns the Lugnuts.
After the Sultans left town, affiliated professional baseball never returned to Springfield. The Springfield Capitals of the independent Frontier League set up shop at Lanphier Park in 1996 and stayed until 2001.
Today the city plays host to the Springfield Sliders, a collegiate amateur team that debuted in 2014.
Voices
“Everything was iffy with [the Sultans] from the start. We heard rumors about Lansing a lot, but we were like mushrooms. Kept in the dark.”
– Springfield City Alderman Irv Smith (1996 Lansing State Journal interview)99Martin, Tim. “In one city, team’s move no home run”. The State Journal (Lansing, MI). February 5, 1996. [/mfn]
Springfield Sultans Shop
Links
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