2020 Season Gone
Clinton, Iowa – June 30, 2020 Major League Baseball (MLB) informed Minor League Baseball (MiLB) that it will not be providing any players to the affiliated teams for the 2020 season. As a result, there will not be a Minor League Baseball season in 2020, ending hopes for the Clinton
Clinton, Iowa – June 30, 2020 Major League Baseball (MLB) informed Minor League Baseball (MiLB) that it will not be providing any players to the affiliated teams for the 2020 season. As a result, there will not be a Minor League Baseball season in 2020, ending hopes for the Clinton Lumber Kings and the other 159 affiliated clubs across North America.
“We knew when the players were sent home from Spring Training that the odds of playing a full schedule were slim, but we held out hope for at least a portion of games that we could play to try to bring baseball to our fans and our community,” stated LumberKings General Manager Ted Tornow. “The 2020 season ended before it really began. With a worldwide pandemic grinding everyday life to a halt and the slow progression back to real life – it just made it impossible to play.”
The LumberKings had 70 home games scheduled for this season and annually host over a hundred events at NelsonCorp Field. Since the delay of the season, the club had been involved with their weekly ‘Curbside Concessions’ and more recently started hosting concerts, company outings, graduation parties, High School baseball games and batting practice for fans. The club is preparing for a Fourth of July weekend featuring a concert on Friday night and fireworks on Saturday night.
“Unfortunately it is not only the fans missing out,” Tornow said. “But we have our full-time staff and the 125 plus part-time seasonal employees that work out here that make each season enjoyable for our fans. This is a huge socio-economic loss for us and the community.”
2020 marks the first summer that Clinton will be without organized baseball since 1878. Through the 1918 flu pandemic, two World Wars, the Korean War, the Vietnam conflict and the Great Depression, organized baseball has been played in Clinton for 142 years.
Individual tickets purchased for any 2020 game can be exchanged for any game during the 2021 season. Season ticket holders and corporate partners will be contacted with options for each particular case moving into the 2021 season.