Queens Kings

New York-Penn League (2000)

Background

The Queens Kings were a cutely-named placeholder franchise operated by the New York Mets in the Class A New York-Penn League during the summer of 2000. The team played at the newly constructed Ballpark at St. John’s on the campus of St. John’s University in Jamaica, New York.

The team’s residence in Queens was temporary by design. In September 1999 the ownership of the New York Mets purchased the Toronto Blue Jays’ NY-Penn farm club in St. Catharines, Ontario. The Mets’ intention was to take over as parent club and move the team to a new 6,500-seat ballpark on Coney Island. But the Blue Jays affiliation had one more season to run and KeySpan Park in Brooklyn wouldn’t be ready until 2001. So this created the unusual situation of the New York Mets owning and operating a Toronto Blue Jays farm team in New York City during the summer of 2000.

The Kings finished their first and only season at 46-29 under field manager Eddie Rodriguez. Five Kings players ultimately advanced to the Major Leagues:

• Pitcher Brandon Lyons was the first former King to appear in the Big Leagues in August 2001. He went on to spend 13 seasons in the Majors.
• Catcher Guillermo Quiroz played parts of 10 seasons in the Majors from 2004 to 2014
• Outfielder Alex Rios became a two-time All-Star for the Blue Jays during a 12-year career
• Pitcher Mike Smith pitched 14 games for the Blue Jays in 2002 and one for the Twins in 2006.
• Outfielder Rich Thompson had a single at-bat for the Kansas City Royals in 2004 and played 23 games for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2012.

Trivia

The Kings’ mascot was a lion named Elvis.

Former Kings’ outfielder Rich Thompson competed on the NBC obstacle course competition American Ninja Warrior in July 2014.

Downloads

6/26/2000 Queens Kings Roster

Links

New York-Penn League Media Guides

New York-Penn League Programs

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