New York Dragons
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| Affiliations | |||||||
| League | Bull League | ||||||
| Subleague | Lake League | ||||||
| Division | East (From 2012)
West (1991–2011) | ||||||
| Team Info | |||||||
| Name | New York Dragons (2017-present)
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| 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
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| Owner | Doug Persson, Jr.
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| General manager | Dustin P | ||||||
| Ballpark | |||||||
| Ballpark | The Dragon's Lair | ||||||
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| 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.
Contents
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
 Jim Sure Second base Retired 2005 |
 Jack Stevens Pitcher Retired 2007 |
Awards and other achievements
Player awards
Most Valuable Player Award
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
