Journals

Fort Myers Miracle Founded in 1926 Fort Myers, Florida
100px 100px Team logo Cap insignia
Class-level
Current	A-Advanced ( REDIRECT Template:Baseball year–present)
Previous	Class A ( REDIRECT Template:Baseball year- REDIRECT Template:Baseball year) Class D (1926-28) ( REDIRECT Template:Baseball year)
Minor league affiliations
League	Florida State League
Division	South Division
Major league affiliations
Current	Minnesota Twins ( REDIRECT Template:Baseball year–present)
Previous	San Diego Padres ( REDIRECT Template:Baseball year– REDIRECT Template:Baseball year) Baltimore Orioles ( REDIRECT Template:Baseball year– REDIRECT Template:Baseball year) Philadelphia Phillies ( REDIRECT Template:Baseball year– REDIRECT Template:Baseball year)
Minor league titles
League titles	6 ( REDIRECT Template:Baseball year, REDIRECT Template:Baseball year, REDIRECT Template:Baseball year, REDIRECT Template:Baseball year, REDIRECT Template:Baseball year, REDIRECT Template:Baseball year)
Division titles	3 ( REDIRECT Template:Baseball year, REDIRECT Template:Baseball year, 2014) First Half: 4 ( REDIRECT Template:Baseball year, 2008, REDIRECT Template:Baseball year, 2014) Second Half: 4 (1995, REDIRECT Template:Baseball year REDIRECT Template:Baseball year, REDIRECT Template:Baseball year)
Team data
Nickname	Fort Myers Miracle
Previous names	Fort Myers Palms (1926), Miami Hustlers, ( REDIRECT Template:Baseball year– REDIRECT Template:Baseball year), Miami Marlins ( REDIRECT Template:Baseball year– REDIRECT Template:Baseball year, REDIRECT Template:Baseball year– REDIRECT Template:Baseball year), Miami Orioles ( REDIRECT Template:Baseball year– REDIRECT Template:Baseball year), Miami Miracle ( REDIRECT Template:Baseball year– REDIRECT Template:Baseball year)
Colors	Navy, Red, White
Ballpark	Hammond Stadium (1992–Present)
Previous parks	Pompano Beach Municipal Stadium (1990–1991) FIU Baseball Stadium (1989) Bobby Maduro Miami Stadium (1962–1988) Miami Field (1927-28) Terry Park Ballfield (1926)
Owner(s)/ Operator(s)	SJS Beacon
Manager	Jeff Smith
General manager	Andrew Seymour

The Fort Myers Miracle is the Class A Advanced minor league baseball affiliate of the Minnesota Twins Major League Baseball club, based in Fort Myers, Florida and currently managed by Jeff Smith. Home games are played at the CenturyLink Sports Complex in Hammond Stadium, which has a capacity of 7,500, and opened in

1. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year. The park is also used as the Minnesota Twins' Spring Training facility. Prior to Twins Spring Training and the 2014 Florida State League season, Phase I of a two-part renovation was completed with the addition of an outfield boardwalk. The second phase of the renovation, which includes new sky suites, concessions, wider concourses and new offices for the Miracle staff, will be completed before Spring Training in 2015. Due to the start of construction on Phase II in August 2014, the Miracle played the final 10 home dates, including playoffs, at JetBlue Park.

The majority owner is SJS Beacon, a privately held company managed by Jason Hochberg, who purchased the club from Marvin Goldklang at the beginning of the

1. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year season. Musician Jimmy Buffett and actor Bill Murray were minority owners of the team.

History

The Miracle franchise was founded in

1. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year, as the Fort Myers Palms. One year later, the team moved to Miami, Florida and were renamed the Miami Hustlers. The team became temporarily inactive, with the rest of the Florida State League, midway through the
2. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year season. Even though the Florida State League resumed play in
3. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year, the Hustlers remained inactive until they were reactivated by the FSL during the
4. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year–
5. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year offseason to serve as the Class D affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. The team was renamed the Miami Marlins in honor of the original Marlins of the Triple-A International League who had moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico (and subsequently Charleston, South Carolina) following the
6. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year season.

File:Cal Ripken Jr. in 1993.jpg Before embarking on his Hall of Fame career with the Baltimore Orioles, Cal Ripken, Jr was a member of the Miami Orioles

In

1. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year, there was a restructuring of the classification system of all Minor League Baseball, which resulted in the FSL changing from Class D to its current status of Class A-Advanced. They became a Baltimore Orioles affiliate in
2. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year, and were renamed the Miami Orioles after their MLB parent club from
3. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year–
4. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year.

Upon the Baltimore Orioles' severing of their affiliation with the Miami Orioles following the 1981 season, the franchise reverted to the Marlins name and participated in the

1. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year FSL season as an independent entry. Without a Major League affiliate, this team was composed of undrafted players from the area, free agents from various organizations and players on loan from the Baltimore Orioles, San Diego Padres, and Oakland A's organizations.

The following season the Miami Marlins became a San Diego Padres affiliate. This partnership lasted two years and the Marlins were without a parent club for the

1. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year season. Again, they filled their roster with talent on loan from various organizations, along with eleven former major leaguers looking to rejuvenate their careers. They stuck with this formula through the
2. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year season.

In

1. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year, the Marlins were renamed the Miami Miracle after a group of investors that included Bill Murray and Jimmy Buffett purchased the club. They moved the team from Bobby Maduro Miami Stadium, which the team had called home for the vast majority of its time in South Florida, to Florida International University's University Park.

File:HammondStadium.jpg

Hammond Stadium

The Miracle were sold again a year later to the Marv Goldklang Group. Mike Veeck (son of Hall of Fame inductee Bill Veeck, and author of the book, Fun is Good) also became part owner of the organization while Murray and Buffett still maintained their shares as well.

In 1990, the team moved again, playing its home games at Pompano Beach Municipal Stadium. The team spent two seasons in Pompano Beach with future big league skipper Fredi Gonzalez at the helm.

In

1. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year, with the impending arrival of MLB's Florida Marlins, the Goldklang Group returned the Miracle to Fort Myers. The Miracle operated as a co-op club with the Minnesota Twins that season, and became a full Twins affiliate a year later. The current Player Development Contract runs through 2018.

Miracle in Fort Myers

File:MiraclevsBlueJays.JPG

The 2008 1st & 2nd half Western Division champions take the field in game 2 of the playoffs at Hammond Stadium

Since moving to Fort Myers for the 1992 season, the Miracle have qualified for the Florida State League Playoffs eight times. The Miracle won the FSL West Division first half in

1. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year and
2. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year and the FSL West second half in
3. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year,
4. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year and
5. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year. In
6. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year, the Florida State League adopted a North-South set up of divisions. In that year, the Miracle won both the FSL South first and second half under manager Jeff Smith. Despite a regular season record of 80-58 and winning game one of a best-of-three series on the road, the Charlotte Stone Crabs defeated the Miracle in games two and three.

After a three season hiatus, the Miracle returned to the FSL Playoffs under first-year manager Doug Mientkiewicz. Guiding a star-studded team of Twins prospects such as Miguel Sano, Kennys Vargas and Eddie Rosario, the Miracle won the first half in the FSL South with a 45-22 record. The 45 wins tied the franchise record for the most in a single half and the winning percentage of .672 marked the best for a half in team history. Posting the best overall record in the Florida State League at 79-56 during the regular season, the Miracle again fell to the Stone Crabs in the FSL South Divisional Playoff. Charlotte held the league-best Fort Myers offense, that included the consensus top prospect in baseball Byron Buxton, to just one run in a two-game sweep.

2014 Championship Season

Entering the

1. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year season, the Miracle had appeared in the Florida State League Championship series twice; losing to the Daytona Cubs in 1995 and 2008. For a second consecutive season, Mientkiewicz led the Miracle to a first half title in the FSL South, narrowly edging the St. Lucie Mets by one game in the standings with a final day win, 4-0, over the Bradenton Marauders. Fort Myers finished with a first half record of 41-28 with a roster featuring top prospects Jose Berrios, Jorge Polanco and Adam Brett Walker. During the 2014 campaign, Walker broke the Miracle franchise record for home runs in a season with 25; previously held by Brock Peterson with 21 in 2006. Walker was also a 2014 FSL All-Star Game MVP and Home Run Derby Champion at the 2014 FSL All-Star Game in Bradenton, Fla. at McKechnie Field. In the second half, the Miracle posted a record of 41-29 for an overall mark of 82-57, second-best in team history.

In the FSL South Divisional Playoff, the Miracle faced Bradenton. Trailing 7-3 in the top of the fourth inning, Jason Kanzler hit an opposite field grand slam to tie the game in the first of a best-of-three series. After the fifth inning, play was halted for 58 minutes due to rain. When the game resumed in the top of the sixth, Dalton Hicks drove in the eventual game-winning run with a single. The Miracle won game one, 8-7, and Kanzler had six runs batted in. In game two, the Miracle scored six runs in the bottom of the third inning to take 6-1 lead. Miracle starter D. J. Baxendale earned the win with six innings allowing just one unearned run and five strikeouts. After a two-game sweep of the Marauders, the Miracle advanced to the FSL Championship series for the third time in team history.

Facing the Cubs again, the Miracle hosted the first two games of the best-of-five series at JetBlue Park. The Miracle pitching staff allowed just one run in a pair of wins. Fort Myers took game one, 5-1, and game two, 5-0. With a 2-0 series lead for the Miracle, the Cubs staved off elimination in game three at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona, Fla. After a two-hour, seven-minute delay, the Cubs and Miracle engaged in a back-and-forth battle with Daytona eventually going on to win, 8-7. The Cubs trailed 6-5 in the bottom of the eighth inning, but took the lead on a three-run homer by Wilson Contreras. After the Cubs' win, the two teams had to wait a day after heavy storms made the field in Daytona unplayable. On Monday, September 8, the Miracle and Cubs played game four. Fort Myers built a 2-0 lead midway through the fourth inning. Daytona tied the game in the sixth. Going into extra innings, Kanzler gave the Miracle a 4-2 lead with a two-run homer in the top of the eleventh. Zack Jones recorded a perfect ninth inning, striking out Contreras for the save. The FSL Championship was the first in team history since moving to Fort Myers in 1992. The series win also marked the first time the Daytona Cubs had lost a FSL Playoff series.

Miracle in the Media

The Miracle's name and logo appeared in the 1998 film Major League: Back to the Minors. Gus Cantrell (Scott Bakula) pitched for the Miracle before retiring to become the manager of the Buzz.

Roster

File:Jose Canseco 2009.jpg

In 1982, Jose Canseco was an Oakland A's farmhand on loan to the Miami Marlins

Fort Myers Miracle roster
Players				Coaches/Other
Pitchers 21 Madison Boer 16 J. T. Chargois 37 Ryan Eades 38 Brian Gilbert 33 Steven Gruver 10px 43 Chih-Wei Hu 45 David Hurlbut 10px 22 Brett Lee 10px 41 Ethan Mildren 24 Alex Muren 44 Brandon Peterson 19 Tim Shibuya 31 Aaron Slegers  2 Kohl Stewart 35 Todd Van Steel 33 Luke Westphal -- Corey Williams 10px		Catchers 25 Mitch Garver 11 Michael Quesada 17 Alex Swim Infielders 15 Niko Goodrum 23 Bryan Haar 10px 13 Aderlin Mejia  5 Tanner Vavra  7 Engelb Vielma  4 Logan Wader Outfielders 12 Chad Christensen  8 Jason Kanzler -- Max Kepler *  9 Marcus Knecht		Manager 40 Jeff Smith Coaches 48 Ivan Arteaga (pitching) 26 Jim Dwyer (hitting) 10px 7-day disabled list * On Minnesota Twins 40-man roster ∞ Reserve list § Suspended list ‡ Restricted list # Rehab assignment Roster updated April 12, 2015 Transactions → More MiLB rosters → Minnesota Twins minor league players

FSL All-Stars

File:AAAA7323 Joe Mauer.jpg

Joe Mauer was a 2003 FSL All-Star for the Fort Myers Miracle

1. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year - Troy Buckley, Brian Raabe

1. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year - Brent Brede, Steve Hazlett†, Damian Miller

1. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year - Gus Gandarillas, Andrew Kontorinis‡, Matt Lawton‡‡, Scott Moten, Chad Roper††

1. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year - Shane Bowers

1. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year - Mike Moriarty, Javier Valentín

1. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year - Chad Allen, Phil Haigler, Jacque Jones, Brad Niedermaier, David Ortiz†† ‡‡, A. J. Pierzynski‡‡

1. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year - Joe Mays, Chad Moeller, Tommy Peterman‡,

1. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year - Matt LeCroy, Kyle Lohse

1. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year - Brandon Masters, Juan Rincón, Saul Rivera, Rubén Salazar, Brad Thomas††

1. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year - Ronnie Corona, Juan Padilla

1. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year - Beau Kemp, Josh Rabe, Matt Scanlon††

1. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year - J.D. Durbin, Jason Kubel, Joe Mauer‡‡

1. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year - Scott Baker††, Travis Bowyer††, Kaulana Kuhaulua, Francisco Liriano, José Morales, Justin Olson

1. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year - Nick Blackburn, Matt Moses, Denard Span

1. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year - Alexi Casilla, Matt Garza††, Kyle Geiger, Brandon Roberts, Kevin Slowey

1. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year - Eddie Morlan, Ryan Mullins††, Oswaldo Sosa

1. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year - Robert Delaney, Brian Dinkelman, Jeff Manship, Wilson Ramos, Anthony Slama, Rene Tosoni†, Danny Valencia

1. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year - David Bromberg, Chris Cates, Carlos Gutierrez††, Steven Hirschfeld, Daniel Lehmann††, Chris Parmelee, Ben Revere, Steve Singleton, Spencer Steedley

1. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year - Billy Bullock, Kyle Gibson††, Chris Herrmann, Yangervis Solarte††

1. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year - Brian Dozier††, Bruce Pugh††, Danny Rams, Dakota Watts

1. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year - Ricky Bowen, Pat Dean, Josmil Pinto, Daniel Santana

1. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year - D.J. Baxendale††, Matt Koch, Zack Jones, Taylor Rogers, Miguel Sano††, Kennys Vargas, Corey Williams

1. REDIRECT Template:Baseball year - Jose Berrios, David Hurlbut†, Brett Lee†, Adam Brett Walker‡

† Injured & did not play
†† Promoted & did not play
‡ FSL All-Star Game MVP
‡‡ MLB All-Star

File:Miraclemascot.jpg

Miss-A-Miracle poses for a picture with some young fans

External links

• Official website