One of the proposed new names for Joplin’s new professional baseball team was the 66ers. That name didn’t win, but Route 66 figures prominently in the team’s logo anyway.
In an homage to Joplin’s baseball past, the independent Southwest League team’s nickname will be the Miners. Ballpark Digest explained the significance of the choice, which received a majority of votes from more than 700 submissions:
The name ties into Joplin’s baseball past, as the Joplin Miners played for 49 seasons between 1902 and 1954. Baseball Hall of inductees Mickey Mantle and Whitey Herzog played for Joplin. Mantle played for the Miners in 1950 at the age of 18 years old. In April 1920, Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Ty Cobb and his Detroit Tigers played an exhibition game against the Miners at Joe Becker Stadium. […]
The Miners were long time affiliates of the New York Yankees (1946-1953; 1935-1942). They were also affiliates of the St. Louis Browns (1933), Boston Red Sox (1934) and the St. Louis Cardinals (1954).
In addition to 66ers, other name finalists were the Tornadoes, Twisters, Jacks and Phoenix.
The same century-old Joe Becker Stadium, which sits a few blocks north of Route 66 in Joplin, underwent a $4.7 million renovation a few years ago. The Joplin Blasters baseball teams played there in 2015 and 2016 but left after a dispute over the lease.
The winning Miners name was submitted by Lee Ann Koehler, who won season tickets for life from the team and said she saw Mantle hit a home run in the stadium in 1950 before he headed to New York to begin a Hall-of-Fame career with the Yankees. The Miners name also reflects the region’s long history of lead and zinc mining.
The club told Ballpark Digest the Route 66 shield became a part of the logo because of Joplin’s long association with the highway. Beam Team Design and its creator, Alan Beam, of Denton, Texas, created the design.
The Joplin Miners will begin play in spring 2019 with a 112-game schedule with the Waco BlueCats and the Royse City Griffins, both of Texas. Three other teams in the Southwest League will be announced by July 1.
(Image of the Joplin Miners logo via Facebook)
Good Luck to the Joplin Miners! Great that folks out there remember their baseball history!
Thank you for taking the time to make a post about our new team in Joplin. That was very gracious of you!