Evansville Triplets

The Evansville Triplets were a minor league baseball team of the American Association from 1970 to 1984. Due to expansion in the Major Leagues, there was a need for two additional Triple-A teams; this led to expansion in the American Association for the 1970 season. Triple-A baseball would exist in Evansville, Indiana, for the first time. In order to select a name for the new franchise, a contest was held and a $500 savings certificate was offered to whoever gave the best name for the team; the name Evansville Triplets was selected from over 3,000 entries. (Fittingly, "Triplets" was appropriate for three reasons: the team would play Triple-A ball; the name was a play on Twins, for whom Evansville would serve as its top affiliate; and the fact that the name would represent not just Indiana, but the tri-state area, including Kentucky and Illinois.)

Contents

• Alumni from the 1984 Championship Detroit Tigers
• Other alumni
• References

In its first season, the Triplets were the Triple-A farm team for the Minnesota Twins; they then spent three seasons as the Triple-A farm team for the Milwaukee Brewers. However, the Triplets enjoyed their greatest success as the top minor league affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, winning two American Association pennants, three division titles and the 1975 Junior World Series. In its last season, Evansville was the Triple-A farm team for the Detroit Tigers. In 1985, the Triplets were purchased by Larry Schmittou and moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to become the Nashville Sounds.

Schmittou and team owners arrived at terms in June 1984 to purchase the Evansville Triplets, with plans to move the franchise from Evansville to Nashville for the 1985 season. In order to prove to the team's Nashville banks, which would back the purchase, that the move was financially viable, Schmittou commissioned a survey to evaluate the potential turnout for a Triple-A team versus a Double-A team. Though the research proved to team owners that the move was a sensible decision, the banks were not impressed. So the team switched banks and went ahead with the purchase and relocation. The Triplets' legacy was retired, and the team that was moved to Nashville, the Triple-A Sounds, carried on the history of the Double-A team that preceded it.

Schmittou considered moving Nashville’s existing Southern League franchise to Evansville. However, city leaders balked at making the necessary improvements to then 69-year-old Bosse Field, currently the third-oldest ballpark in continuous operation behind Wrigley Field and Fenway Park. City leaders in Huntsville, Alabama, including then Mayor Joe W. Davis, were instrumental in building a new stadium there and Schmittou moved the team to Huntsville, where it became the Huntsville Stars.

Jim Leyland managed the Triplets for three years (1979–1981).