Montgomery Biscuits

Montgomery Biscuits Founded in 2004 Montgomery, Alabama
Team Logo Cap Insignia
Class-Level
Double-A
Minor League affiliations
Southern League (1973-Present) Southern Division
Major League affiliations
Tampa Bay Rays (2004-Present)
Name
Montgomery Biscuits (2004-present)
Ballpark
Montgomery Riverwalk Stadium
Minor League titles
League titles	2006, 2007
Division titles	2006, 2007
Owner(s)/Operated by: Tom Dickson & Sherrie Myers / Montgomery Professional Baseball, LLC
Manager: Billy Gardner, Jr.
General Manager: Greg Rauch

The Montgomery Biscuits are a minor league baseball team based in Montgomery, Alabama. The team is the Class AA affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays and plays in the Southern League. The 2004 season was the team's first in Montgomery. The Biscuits play in Montgomery Riverwalk Stadium, which has a capacity of 7,000. The franchise joined the Southern League in 1973 as the Orlando Twins, a minor-league affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, which held spring training in Orlando, Florida at the time. The Orlando Twins played at Tinker Field in downtown Orlando, near the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium. In 1990, the team was renamed the Orlando Sun Rays. In 1993, the Chicago Cubs became the team's new major-league affiliate, and the team was renamed the Orlando Cubs. While still a Chicago Cubs affiliate, the team renamed itself once again in 1997 and became the Orlando Rays. The following year, for one season only, the Seattle Mariners were the Rays' major-league affiliate. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays, an American League expansion team in 1998, assumed the Orlando Rays' major-league affiliation the following year.

Orlando Rays

The Orlando Rays' last season at Tinker Field was 1999. From 2000 to 2003, the Orlando Rays played in Kissimmee, Florida, at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort. Despite the fact that the team played in a state-of-the-art stadium that was built in 1997 and used during spring training by the Atlanta Braves, attendance did not meet expectations; after trailing the Southern League in attendance in multiple years, the Rays' owners announced the team would move to Montgomery in 2004 (terminating their 10-year lease with Disney after four seasons). Rays players who went on to the major-league level include Carl Crawford, Toby Hall, Jorge Cantu, Dewon Brazelton, Chad Gaudin, Matt Diaz, Jonny Gomes and Seth McClung. The Biscuits became Montgomery's first professional baseball team since 1980, when the Montgomery Rebels played their final season in the Southern League. The Biscuits' owners selected the team's nickname from an entry in a "name the team" contest, due in part to the potential marketing and pun possibilities (ex. "Hey, Butter, Butter, Butter" or the team's souvenir store, the "Biscuit Basket"). During games, biscuits are shot from an air cannon, into the stands. While in Orlando, the franchise won three Southern League championships: in 1981 (as the Twins), 1991 (as the Sun Rays), and 1999 (as the Rays). On September 15, 2006, in just their third year of existence, the Biscuits defeated the Huntsville Stars to win the team's first Southern League championship in Montgomery. One year later, in 2007, the Biscuits again defeated the Huntsville Stars to win their second consecutive Southern League championship. They became the first team since the 1975-1977 Montgomery Rebels to win back-to-back championships. Current Major League Baseball players who first played for the Biscuits include pitchers Scott Kazmir, Chad Orvella, James Shields, Jason Hammel, Brian Stokes, and Juan Salas, catcher Shawn Riggans, infielder B.J. Upton, and outfielders Delmon Young and Joey Gathright.

External links

• Official site

	This box:  •  • edit Sports teams based in Alabama
Baseball	SL: Birmingham Barons, Huntsville Stars, Mobile BayBears, Montgomery Biscuits
Basketball	USBA: Birmingham Crusaders
Football	af2: Tennessee Valley Vipers, NWFA: Alabama Renegades, Gulf Coast Herricanes, NAFL1: Alabama Lightning, Central Alabama Renegades, Mobile Sharks
Hockey	SPHL: Huntsville Havoc
Roller Derby	WFTDA: Dixie Derby Girls
College athletics (NCAA Division I)	University of Alabama • Auburn University • University of Alabama at Birmingham • Troy University • Alabama A&M University • Alabama State University • Jacksonville State University • Samford University • University of South Alabama • University of Alabama at Huntsville (ice hockey only)