Illustration of manager Don Leppert on the cover of a 1987 Kenosha Twins Baseball Program from the Midwest League

Kenosha Twins

Midwest League (1984-1992)

Tombstone

Born: 1984 – The Wisconsin Rapids Twins relocate to Kenosha, WI
Move Announced: March 1992 (Fort Wayne Wizards)

First Game: April 13, 1984 ( W 4-2 @ Quad Cities Cubs)
Last Game: September 3, 1992 (W 7-6 vs. Rockford Expos)

Midwest League Champions: 1985 & 1987

Stadium

Simmons Field (3,000)11986 Appleton Foxes Program

Ownership & Affiliation

Owners:

Major League Affiliation: Minnesota Twins

Attendance

Kenosha was consistently one of the poorest draws in the Midwest League. The Twins’ debut season of 1984 was the only season that Kenosha did not rank last or next-to-last in the league attendance charts.

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Source: The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.), Lloyd Johnson & Miles Wolff, 2007

 

Background

The Kenosha Twins were the Class A farm club of the Minnesota Twins from 1984 until 1992.  The team played at historic Simmons Field erected in 1920). The ballpark received a $350,000 face lift when the former Wisconsin Rapids Twins relocated to Kenosha in 1984.  Team owner Bob Lee, Sr. was a local plumbing contractor who had played minor league baseball as a young man.

The Twins won Midwest League championships in 1985 and 1987.  Future Major League All-Stars Chuck Knoblauch, Denny Neagle and Brad Radke headlined the prospects who came up through Kenosha during the Twins era.

1985 Kenosha Twins Baseball Yearbook from the Midwest League

Move To Fort Wayne

By the early 1990’s, attendance in Kenosha ranked near the bottom of the Midwest League.  Simmons Field no longer met the minimum facility standards established by the 1990 Professional Baseball Agreement, which delineated the relationship between Major League Baseball teams and their farm clubs.  At the end of the 1991 season, Bob Lee sold the team to Eric Margenau, a prolific minor league investor from New York City.

In March 1992, Margenau announced that the team would move to a new ballpark in Fort Wayne, Indiana for the 1993 season. He kept the ball club in Kenosha for one last lame duck season in the summer of 1992. The Kenosha Twins played their final game at Simmons Field on September 3, 1992, a 7-6 win over the Rockford Expos before a season-best crowd of 1,928 fans.

The team became the Fort Wayne Wizards in 1993. The team remains in Fort Wayne as of 2018. The ball club is known today as the Fort Wayne TinCaps following another name change in 2002.

 

Downloads

1986 Kenosha Twins Ticket & Advertising Brochure

1986 Kenosha Twins Ticket Brochure

 

Links

Midwest League Media Guides

Midwest League Programs

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Comments

5 Responses

  1. The only Twins game I attended was the last one they had. It was fun game with a triple play and grand slam. The owner took to a microphone and said they would be back but I’m still waiting. Simmons field is still around holding Northwoods league games.

    1. No. The Twins left Kenosha following the 1992 season. Ortiz did not begin his professional career until 1994. He did spend a full season in the Midwest League (and in Wisconsin) in 1996, but it was with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.

      Drew

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