The Vermont Mariners were a One-Year Wonder in the Class AA Eastern League, born of a shotgun marriage between Burlington’s Eastern League franchise and a rather disgruntled Major League sponsor, the Seattle Mariners. Despite lasting just one season, the Vermont Mariners can claim one certified Hall-of-Famer in outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. and a second graduate, the masterful shortstop Omar Vizquel, who many feel should be in Cooperstown as well.
Eastern League (1984-1987) Born: September 8, 1983 – The Lynn Pirates relocate to Burlington, VT Affiliation Change: September 15, 1987 (Vermont Mariners) First Game: April
This Pittsburgh Pirates’ Class AA farm club lasted only season at Fraser Field in Lynn, Massachusetts in 1983. The Pirates followed on the heels of the Lynn Sailors (1980-1982), a Seattle Mariners affiliate that struggled to find an audience in the small, economically depressed city north of Boston. The club’s box office was so weak that the Pirates were asked to play all of their playoff dates on the road. Despite this disadvantage, the Lynn Pirates advanced to the Eastern League championship series in their only summer of play. The ball club moved to Burlington, Vermont in 1984.
The Akron Aeros were a long-time Class AA farm club of the Cleveland Indians, playing under the Aeros for sixteen seasons. The ball club was lured from nearby Canton, Ohio in 1997 with the promise of a $31 million new stadium, Canal Park. The franchise remains in the Eastern League to this day and still serves as a Cleveland farm club, but changed its name to the Akron RubberDucks in 2014.
The Lynn Sailors were a Class AA Eastern League Farm Club of the Seattle Mariners from 1980 through 1982. The arrival of the Sailors in 1980 marked the return of professional baseball to Lynn, Massachusetts’ Fraser Field for the first time since the departure of the Lynn Tigers in 1949. Following the 1982 season, the Mariners withdrew from Lynn and the Pittsburgh Pirates became Lynn’s new parent organization. The 1983 Lynn Pirates season would turn out to be the final summer that the North Shore community would host affiliated Minor League Baseball as the former Sailors/Pirates franchise moved to Burlington, Vermont in 1984.
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