New York Dragons

New York Dragons Founded in 1989 New York, New York
Team logo
Secondary logo
Team Uniforms (Home/Away)
Affiliations
League	Bull League
Subleague	Lake League
Division	East (From 2012) West (1991–2011)
Team Info
Name	New York Dragons (2017-present)
Previous names	New York Minutemen (1995-2017) North York Might (1993) North York Yankees (1992) New York State Fastballs (1991) New York Fastballs (1989)
Previous locations	Buffalo, NY (1995-2016) North York, ON (1992-1993) Buffalo, NY (1991) New York, NY (1989-1990)
Colors	Green, white, brown, black
Owner	Doug Persson, Jr.
General manager	Dustin P
Ballpark
Ballpark	The Dragon's Lair
Titles
Bull Cup championships	(5) 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2008
League pennants	(5) 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2008
Division titles	(8) LL West - 1996—1999, 2001, 2003, 2009, 2011
Playoff appearances	(14) 1996—1999, 2001, 2003, 2007—2011, 2014, 2016, 2019

The New York Dragons are an American professional baseball team based in New York, New York. The team competes in the Bull League playing in the Lake League (LL) East division. They play their home games at The Dragon's Lair.

The team is a founding club of the Bull League and was originally formed in 1989 as the New York Fastballs, before undergoing a series of name changes before finally settling as the New York Minutemen in 1995. In 2017, they were relocated from Buffalo to New York City, and renamed again, to their current moniker, the New York Dragons.

The Dragons are the only team to remain undefeated in Bull Cup championships, winning it five times and never having lost a finals series. They are also the only club to have won five Bull Cups, and hold the record for the longest consecutive championship streak, winning three years straight from 1997 to 1999. They have a total of 15 playoff appearances since 1995.

The team has an all-time win-loss record of 1414-1119 (.558) as of the end of 2021.

History

1989-1995: Settling on a home

The New York Fastballs of 1989 were originally based in New York City, before becoming the New York State Fastballs after a move to Buffalo the following year. When the Central League was disbanded and the league reformed into the current Lake League and American Eagle League (now Metropolitan League), the team was realigned into the LL's West division.

In 1992, they moved to North York, Ontario, and became the North York Yankees. In 1993, the commissioner disallowed the team name "Yankees" and the team was simply referred to by it's city, North York. During the 1993 season, the team owner chose a new name, the North York Might, which was approved by the commissioner.

Former New York Minutemen logo (1995-2016)

The 1994 season was abandoned due to a work stoppage, and when the league reformed in 1995, the team no longer had an owner. The league renamed the team to the Minutemen, evoking the by-gone revolutionary militiamen that were called to action during the War of Independence. The team was moved back to Buffalo, NY, where it remained until after the 2016 season.

1996-2008: Glory Years

The Minutemen commenced an historic run of success in 1996, starting with a division winning 48-32 finish that saw them into the playoffs. With 137 team home runs, 40 more than the Metros, New York nearly swept the end of season awards, with Jim Sure being named MVP, Jack Stevens taking the Sandy Koufax Award on a 10-2, 2.22 season, and an impressive .294, 33 runs scored debut for a young Juan Gonzales to capture a Rookie of the Year Award.

The following season, 1997, the Minutemen began their historic three consecutive season run of Bull Cup championships. Stevens, a future Hall of Famer, took the Koufax award two more times in that period, and even took the MVP in 1998.

Arjen van Leeuwen
2001 ROTY

In 2000, the Minutemen finished just 2 games behind the Hamilton Industrials and missed the playoffs, though a core infield of 2B Jim Sure, 3B Chris Felix, and SS Juan Gonzales, would capture Gold Crown Awards. Felix retired after the season, and Gonzales would be traded in 2001. But the club fielded another Rookie of the Year that season, Arjen van Leeuwen, and the club strung together a 50-30 record to finish first again, and get back into the playoffs. Though the Chicoutimi Cinquantes dashed their hopes of a fourth Bull Cup by knocking them out in the LLCS, the Minutemen proved they were still well tooled and in fighting form.

Though 2002 was another playoff miss, the following season New York found themselves right back in there with a 51-29 finish, 6 games ahead of Ohio for the West division title, and this time they would fend of Chicoutimi to advance to their fourth Bull Cup. They handily defeated the Nevada Speeders, 3-1 in the best-of-five series.

The team took three years off of playoff appearances after that, namely due to ageing veterans like Stevens, who was now 35 and hitting his decline, and Jim Sure, who had fully transitioned to the DH role as his power and defense cratered, hitting a career low 7 homers in 2004.

The team gathered their strength again, with van Leeuwen and Setsuo Kimura as the primary offensive pieces, for another playoff run in 2007, the first year that wild card teams qualified into the playoffs. New York managed to get in on a #3 seed, the first wild card spot, and were swiftly swept out by Montreal, who had topped the East division.

The following season, 2008, saw New York again seeded against their division champs, Ohio Oxen, as they repeated their #3 seed wild card qualification into the postseason. They managed to edge the Oxen out of the Elimination Round, then sweep Montreal to leverage their wild card into a fifth Bull Cup finals appearance. There they came up against the Nevada Speeders again, facing them for what was then an historic third Bull Cup meeting between the same two teams. The Minutemen would sweep again, giving them an incredible 9-2 postseason record that year.

2009-2021: Just Out of Reach

New York would remain in the mix for the long run after their five Bull Cups, with four more playoff appearances, and avoiding any last place finishes in their down seasons. In 2017, the team was renamed to the Dragons to coincide with a move to New York City.

NY Dragons logo from 2017–2023

In 2024, GM Dustin Parma announced the club's new logo, along with a brand new lineup, after opening the purse strings and spending large in offseason acquisitions.

NY Dragons logo from 2024

General managers

New York Dragons General Managers
Years	Name	Record	Notes
2005–2016	Nick Bond		Bond joined a proven, talented club, and brought them back to a series of playoff runs from 2007 to 2016 that included a Bull League record fifth Bull Cup. After Alex Sanderson was hired as GM, Bond moved to the assistant role before leaving after the 2019 season.
2017	Alex Sanderson	53-47 (.530)	Alex took over the team when the club moved to New York City and were renamed the Dragons. He had a moderately successful season as GM.
2020–present	Justin Lowe	164-127 (.564) (as of end of 2021)	Rookie GM Lowe joined the club during the 2020 season, going 68-61 during his tenure (the team went 84-78 on the year). He saw immediate success the following season with a playoff appearance. He signed a slew of players to extensions, including rising star Alec Tricity, and is noted for signing hot prospect 1B Bill Vaillancourt in the 1st round of the 2020 Bull League draft as the 18th overall pick for a seemingly reasonable $1.33 million bonus.

Retired Numbers

The New York Dragons have retired two uniform numbers, though both players numbers were retired while the team was called Minutemen.

New York Dragons Retired Uniform Numbers

Jim Sure Second base Retired 2005

Jack Stevens Pitcher Retired 2007

Awards and other achievements

Player awards

Most Valuable Player Award

• 1996 — Jim Sure
• 1998 — Jack Stevens
• 2010 — Tony Cruz

Sandy Koufax Award

• 1996 — Jack Stevens
• 1997 — Jack Stevens
• 1998 — Jack Stevens

Rookie of the Year Award

• 1996 — Juan Gonzales
• 2001 — Arjen van Leeuwen
• 2002 — Mike Taylor
• 2013 — Victor Jimenez

Woodchuck Trophy

• 2001 — Mike Black
• 2018 — Alex Sanchez

Team Records

For career hitting percentage records, 2,000 plate appearances are required. For career pitching percentage records, 500 innings pitched are required.

Statistic	Single season record			Career record
	Player	Record	Year	Player	Record
Batting average	Alec Tricity	.326	2019	Setsuo Kimura	.298
On base percentage	Hugh Lambert	.444	2020	Jim Sure	.414
Slugging percentage	Pedro Rosario	.573	2020	Jim Sure	.589
Games	Pedro Rosario	159	2019	Setsuo Kimura	1,332
At bats	Tony Cruz	617	2019	Setsuo Kimura	5,674
Runs	Tony Cruz	112	2019	Setsuo Kimura	816
Hits	Alec Tricity	185	2019	Setsuo Kimura	1,463
Doubles	Bubbles Smith	42	2021	Setsuo Kimura	263
Triples	Nick Runner Tony Cruz Mark Fernandes	7	1998 2019 1996	Tony Cruz	36
Home runs	Pedro Rosario Tony Cruz	39	2020 2019	Setsuo Kimura	267
Runs batted in	Pedro Rosario	124	2020	Setsuo Kimura	881
Stolen bases	Robert Araica	54	2021	Tony Cruz	146
Earned runs average	Steve Rollins	2.79	2021	Jack Stevens	3.06
Wins	Ricky Naugler	20	2019	Jack Stevens	83
Losses	A.C. Deucey	14	2019	Jack Stevens	44
Saves	Herb Steward	33	2019	Steve Tyler	88
Games pitched	Herb Steward	72	2019	Charlie Parra	190
Games started	Steve Rollins	34	2020	Jack Stevens	175
Complete games	Steve Rollins	15	2020	Steve Rollins	43
Shutouts	Steve Rollins	6	2020	Steve Rollins	12
Innings pitched	Steve Rollins	276.2	2020	Jack Stevens	1,167.1
Strikeouts	Steve Rollins	246	2020	Jack Stevens	1,479

Hall of Fame Players

New York Dragons Hall of Famers
Player	Position	Inducted
Mark Fernandes	Center fielder	2009
Flamer Flaherty	Pitcher	2010
Jack Stevens	Pitcher	2013
Jim Sure	Second baseman	2012

Championships

The New York Dragons are the winningest team in Bull League history, having won five Bull Cups, having never been defeated in any of their Bull Cup finals appearances. They are the only team in the Bull League to have won three Bull Cups in consecutive years (1997—1999). Each of the championship titles were won while the team was called Minutemen.

Bull Cup Champions
Preceded by: Richmond Ravens	1997—1999	Succeeded by: Kingston Battlements
Preceded by: Hamilton Industrials	2003	Succeeded by: Chicoutimi Cinquantes
Preceded by: Montreal Metros	2008	Succeeded by: Ohio Oxen
Lake League Champions
Preceded by: Kingston Battlements	1997—1999	Succeeded by: Kingston Battlements
Preceded by: Hamilton Industrials	2003	Succeeded by: Chicoutimi Cinquantes
Preceded by: Montreal Metros	2008	Succeeded by: Ohio Oxen
Lake League West Division Titles
Preceded by: Ohio Oxen	1996—1999	Succeeded by: Kingston Battlements
Preceded by: Hamilton Industrials	2001	Succeeded by: Hamilton Industrials
Preceded by: Hamilton Industrials	2003	Succeeded by: Ohio Oxen
Preceded by: Ohio Oxen	2009	Succeeded by: Ohio Oxen
Preceded by: Ohio Oxen	2011	Succeeded by: Ohio Oxen

Minor League Affiliations

Level	Team	League	Location
AAA	Anaheim Pharaohs	Cow League	Anaheim, California
AA	Sacramento Marauders	Heifer League	Sacramento, California
A	Duluth Trout	Calf League	Duluth, Minnesota
Short Season A	Troy Titans	New England League	Troy, New York
Rookie	West Palm Beach Dragons	Florida Rookie League	West Palm Beach, Florida

References

Bull League (2026)