North Shore Spirit
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North Shore Spirit | |
Founded | 2002 |
Ballpark | Fraser Field |
Based in | Lynn, Massachusetts |
Team Colors | blue and red |
League | Can-Am League |
Team Trainer | Erica Gagnon |
General manager | Brent Connolly |
Owner | Nick Lopardo |
The North Shore Spirit are a CanAm League team based in Lynn, Massachusetts. Since the 2005 season, they have played in the Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball, which is not affilitated with Major League Baseball.
The club was formed in 2003.
The Spirit are owned by Nicholas Lopardo, a major contributor to the Susquehanna University Athletics Program. Lopardo acquired the team in 2002 when he purchased the then-Waterbury (Connecticut) Spirit. After the formation of the team was announced in August of 2002, Lopardo funded a massive, expensive renovation of Fraser Field. $2 million was put into improvements in seating, comfort, and technology of the field.
In their first season, 2003, 90,000 people attended Spirit games, a record for pro baseball at Fraser Field. In the 2003 season, the Spirit won the first-half North Division championship and defeated the Quebec Capitales in the first round of the playoffs, 3 games to 0, then were swept by the Brockton Rox, 3 games to 0, in the league championship series, giving Brockton the Northeast League title. Another highlight of the 2003 season was a game against the New Jersey Jackals wherein the Spirit set over 15 Northeast League records by scoring 14 runs in one inning. On the field, the team featured two players who were signed by Major League Baseball organizations: Carlos Sepulveda, OF, by the Florida Marlins and Marcos Agramonte, 2B, by the San Diego Padres. Also in that year the team held a ceremony honoring legendary North Shore baseball player Tony Conigliaro and retiring his number 25.
In 2004 the Spirit played host to 120,000 fans, breaking the record they had set the year before, and ranking 3rd in league attendance behind the Brockton Rox and Quebec Capitales. They once again won the first-half North Division Championship, in record fashion, shattering the league record for first half winning percentage with 35 wins in the 46 game half. The Spirit also once again defeated the Quebec Capitales in the first round of the playoffs, 3 games to 2, but lost in the championship series again, 3 games to 2, to the New Jersey Jackals. In 2004 the Spirit honored another local baseball legend, Johnny Pesky, affectionately known as "Mr. Red Sox." The team featured two more players who would be picked up by Major League Organizations, this time, two pitchers: John Kelly and Jeremy Sugarman, who were signed by the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds, respectively.
2005 was the first year that the Spirit failed to make the playoffs, but nonetheless they had a good season, finishing with the 2nd best record in the league behind Quebec and drawing over 100,000 fans to Fraser Field for the second consecutive season. On September 3, 2005, the last home game of the season, owner Nick Lopardo responded to rumors of the franchise's demise with an emphatic assurance that the Spirit would be back for their fourth season at Fraser Field.
Can-Am League and North Shore Spirit history was made in April of 2006 as ex-Spirit player Ken Ray made his Major League Baseball debut for the Atlanta Braves, striking out Barry Bonds as part of a 1-2-3 inning against the San Francisco Giants. Since then, Ray has become a mainstay in the Atlanta bullpen. He remains the only CanAm league alum to be playing in the Majors.
On July 12, 2006, the Spirit won their third first-half championship in franchise history, qualifying for the 2006 CanAm League Playoffs.
In the 2006 playoffs, the Spirit were defeated in the first round by the Quebec Capitales, 3-2, splitting the first two games at Fraser Field and then losing two out of three in Quebec City.
The Spirit also host local charity events and other local sporting ventures at Fraser Field. Lopardo sponsors the annual Agganis Classics, named after local sports legend Harry Agganis, high school baseball, football, soccer and softball games that raise money to provide scholarships for student athletes. Nick Lopardo also helped found the US Women's World Cup baseball team, and the North American Women's Baseball League, and hosted the league's first national championship tournament at Fraser Field in 2004.
Quick facts
Team Colors Red, White, and Blue
Mascot Slugger, a large blue bird with red, white, and yellow trim
Broadcaster John Leahy
Radio Station WWZN 1510 AM (The Zone), Boston, MA.