The Lexington Legends are a minor league baseball team of the South Atlantic League (SAL), and the Class A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Lexington, Kentucky, and play their home games at Whitaker Bank Ballpark, located in an industrial area on the northeast side of the city just inside New Circle Road (the city's inner beltway). The team's mascot is "Big L", a mustachioed baseball player.

Team history[link]

2001–2005[link]

The Lexington Legends began their inaugural season in 2001 under the guidance of manager Joe Cannon. That year, the team finished the regular season with an overall record of 92 wins and 48 losses; this was the best record in the sixteen team South Atlantic League. In the postseason, the Legends defeated the Hagerstown Suns in the first round and advanced to play the Asheville Tourists in the League Championship Series. The series, however, was cancelled due to the September 11 attacks and the Legends and Tourists were declared Co-League Champions.

Cannon returned to manage in 2002 and led the team to another winning season. The Legends narrowly missed advancing to playoffs that season. Lexington made a return trip to the playoffs in 2003, but they were defeated by the Lake County Captains in the first round.

In 2004, the Legends finished with a record of 68 and 72, the first losing record in team history. They returned to their winning ways in 2005 when manager Tim Bogar led the way to an overall 81 and 58 regular season record, a SAL best.

2006[link]

On May 31, 2006, it was announced that Roger Clemens would be coming out of retirement for the third time to pitch for the Houston Astros for the remainder of the 2006 season. Planning to keep himself to a strict 60-pitch limit, Clemens returned to baseball with the Legends where his oldest son, Koby, played. Father and son quashed reports that Koby would catch his dad for the return. "He doesn't listen to me," Roger Clemens said. "We'd be shaking each other off and arguing too much."^[1] He threw 62 pitches, allowed no walks, and only 1 run while striking out 6 batters in three innings of work with the Legends, who won the game, 5–1.

The team came into the national spotlight for a second time as a result of events that occurred during a game with the Asheville Tourists on June 25, 2006. In the fifth inning of that game, Tourists manager Joe Mikulik went on an extended tirade after being ejected from the game following an argument with an umpire. The event received coverate on various television programs including NBC's The Tonight Show, ESPN's Pardon the Interruption and SportsCenter, and MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

Roger Clemens' appearance as a Legend as well as Joe Mikulik's meltdown are chronicled in the 2011 documentary film Legendary: When Baseball Came to the Bluegrass.

2007 – present[link]

The Legends experienced three straight losing season from 2007 to 2009. In 2007, the team finished in 13th place overall (the second worst finish in team history) in the South Atlantic League with 59 wins and 81 losses. In 2008, the team finished in 15th place overall (the worst finish in team history) in the South Atlantic League with 45 wins and 93 losses. The 2009 Legends compiled a 68–72 record. In 2010, Lexington finished the season with a 71–68 record, good for fourth place in the division.

Season-by-season results[link]

Since its inception in Lexington, Kentucky, the Lexington Legends franchise has played ten seasons (all in the South Atlantic League as the Class A affiliate of the Houston Astros). As of the completion of the 2010 season, the club has played in 1,392 regular season games and compiled a win–loss record of 715–677; this equates to a .514 winning percentage. The team has a postseason win–loss record of 4–4.

Notes[link]

• ^a This column indicates overall wins and losses during the regular season and excludes any postseason play.
• ^b This column indicates overall position in the league standings.
• ^c This column indicates overall position in the divisional standings.
• ^d Determined by finding the difference in wins plus the difference in losses divided by two, this column indicates "games behind" the team that finished in overall first place in the division.
• ^e This column indicates wins and losses during the postseason.
• ^f Due to the September 11 attacks, the 2001 best-of-five League Championship Series against Asheville was cancelled. Asheville and Lexington were declared SAL Co-Champions.

Roster[link]

Notable alumni[link]

This list of "famous" or "notable" sporting persons has no clear inclusion or exclusion criteria. Please help to define clear inclusion criteria and edit the list to contain only subjects that fit that criteria.

Legends Hall of Fame[link]

The Legends have honored ten past members of the organization by inducting them in the Legends Hall of Fame.^[2] These individuals are:

References[link]

General

• "Lexington, Kentucky Minor League History." Baseball-Reference. Retrieved on September 11, 2010.
• "Lexington History (SAL)." The Baseball Cube. Retrieved on September 11, 2010.

Specific

External links[link]

• Lexington Legends official website

v t e Sports teams based in Kentucky Baseball IL: Louisville Bats · MWL: Bowling Green Hot Rods · SAL: Lexington Legends · FL: Florence Freedom Football UIFL: Eastern Kentucky Drillers · Kentucky Monsters · WFA: Derby City Dynamite · WSFL: Louisville Belles Lacrosse NALL: Kentucky Stickhorses Roller derby WFTDA: Black-n-Bluegrass RollerGirls · Derby City Rollergirls · Vette City Roller Derby Soccer PDL: River City Rovers · PASL-Pro: Louisville Lightning Australian rules football USAFL: Louisville Kings College athletics (NCAA Division I) Bellarmine Knights (lacrosse only) · Eastern Kentucky Colonels · Kentucky Wildcats · Louisville Cardinals · Morehead State Eagles · Murray State Racers · Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

Bryce Harper
Washington Nationals – No. 34
Outfielder
Born: (1992-10-16) October 16, 1992 (age 19) Las Vegas, Nevada
Bats: Left	Throws: Right
MLB debut
April 28, 2012 for the Washington Nationals
Career statistics (through May 30, 2012)
Batting average	.274
Home runs	4
Runs batted in	11
Teams
Washington Nationals (2012–present)
Career highlights and awards
2010 Golden Spikes Award

Bryce Aron Max Harper^[1] (born October 16, 1992) is an American professional baseball outfielder with the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball. Harper was selected by the Nationals with the first overall pick in the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft. He stands at 6 feet 3 inches and weighs 225 lbs.^[2][3]

Harper won the 2010 Golden Spikes Award, awarded annually to the best amateur baseball player.^[4] Going into the 2012 season, baseball prospect-watchers, including Baseball America, MLB.com, and Baseball Prospectus routinely ranked Harper as a top #3 prospect. He made his MLB debut with the Nationals on April 28, 2012.

College career[link]

Harper earned his General Educational Development after his sophomore year at Las Vegas High School in December 2009, making him eligible for the June 2010 amateur draft in order to begin his professional baseball career earlier.^[5][6] For the 2010 college season, 17-year-old Harper enrolled at the College of Southern Nevada of the Scenic West Athletic Conference (SWAC) in National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). An advantage for Harper in his eventual transition to his professional career was that the SWAC, like MLB, uses wooden bats in conference play. In 66 games, he hit 31 home runs, 98 RBI, hitting .443/.526/.987 (AVG/OBP/SLG).^[7] His 31 home runs shattered the school's previous record of 12. He was named the 2010 SWAC Player of the Year.^[8] The next day, in a doubleheader, he went 2-for-5 with a three-run double in the first game, and in the second game went 6-for-6 with 4 home runs, a triple, and a double.^[9]

On June 2, 2010, Harper was ejected from a National Junior College World Series game by home plate umpire Don Gilmore after a called third strike. Harper drew a line in the dirt with his bat as he left the plate, presumably to show where he thought the pitch was. It was Harper's second ejection of the year, and resulted in a two-game suspension.^[10] The suspension ended his amateur career, as Southern Nevada lost the game from which Harper was ejected and lost their next game with Harper suspended, which eliminated them from the tournament.^[11]

Harper won the 2010 Golden Spikes Award.^[4] In May 2012, the book The Last Natural: Bryce Harper's Big Gamble in Sin City and the Greatest Amateur Season Ever by sportswriter Rob Miech was published by the Thomas Dunne Books imprint at St. Martin's Press. The book chronicles Harper's historic college season and culminates in his being the first player selected in the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft and signing a multimillion-dollar contract just before the signing deadline. Steve Rushin endorsed the book as "a fascinating eyewitness account, a baseball version of the Beatles in Hamburg circa 1961, just before the klieg lights get switched on."^[12]

Professional career[link]

Harper playing for the Hagerstown Suns, Single-A affiliates of the Nationals, in 2011.

Harper was drafted #1 overall by the Washington Nationals,^[13] becoming the Nationals second consecutive number one overall pick of the Major League Baseball Draft, following Stephen Strasburg.^[14] Although Harper had predominantly played catcher, the Nationals drafted him as an outfielder to extend his career and to accelerate his player development, so that he could debut in MLB earlier. He has been considered one of the most highly touted prospects in Major League Baseball History. ^[13]

Harper signed a 7-year contract worth $18.9 million,^[15] and on August 26, 2010, Harper was introduced by the Nationals. Harper said he chose to wear #34 because "I always loved Mickey Mantle, three and four equals seven."^[16]

After batting .419 with a .407 OBP (and leading his team in hits, homers, RBI and walks) in the Nationals' fall instructional league, Harper was selected to participate in the Arizona Fall League as a member of the Scottsdale Scorpions taxi-squad,^[17] the second-youngest player in the history of the league (two days older than when Mets' prospect Fernando Martínez appeared in the league in 2006).^[18] He batted .343 and slugged .729.^[19] On November 20, Harper and the Scottsdale Scorpions won the 2010 Arizona Fall League Championship.

After batting .399 in spring training, the Nationals optioned Harper to the Hagerstown Suns of the Class-A South Atlantic League to begin his minor league career.^[20] In April 2011, after a slow start in the minor leagues, Harper visited optometrist Dr. Keith Smithson who reportedly told him, "I don't know how you ever hit before. You have some of the worst eyes I've ever seen." In his first 20 games after receiving contact lenses, Harper hit .480, collecting 7 home runs, 40 doubles and 23 RBI.^[21]

Harper was selected to represent the United States in the 2011 All-Star Futures Game during the 2011 All Star Game weekend. He was promoted to the Double-A Harrisburg Senators on July 4. Harper went 4 for 4 in his AA debut with two singles, a double, triple and a walk.^[22]

On August 18, 2011, Harper injured his hamstring while running from first to third base on an extra base hit. The injury was severe enough that he had to be carried off the field by his coaches. Harper was placed on the 7-day disabled list, and it was reported that the injury had ended Harper's season.^[23]

During 2012 spring training, Harper was optioned to AAA Syracuse, where he started the season, playing centerfield.^[24] After a strong start, Harper was called up to the Nationals on April 27, 2012, as Ryan Zimmerman was placed on the DL. He made his MLB debut with the Nationals the next day against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Harper grounded out to the pitcher (Chad Billingsley) in his first career Major League at bat. He recorded his first Major League hit with a double in his third at-bat against Billingsley and got his first RBI on a sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth against Javy Guerra.^[25]

On May 6, 2012 Harper was hit in the lower back by Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels in the first inning on the first pitch of the at bat. ^[26] Harper would steal home plate that same inning, but the Nationals lost the game 9-3. Hamels subsequently admitted to hitting him intentionally and was suspended by MLB for 5 games.

On May 14, 2012, Harper hit his first Major League home run, a solo blast off of San Diego Padres pitcher Tim Stauffer.^[27] He was the youngest player to homer in the major leagues since Adrian Beltre in 1998.^[28]

Career accomplishments[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2012)

Personal life[link]

	Biography portal
	Baseball portal

Harper's older brother, Bryan, was a left-handed pitcher for College of Southern Nevada with Bryce. Bryan now plays for the University of South Carolina Gamecocks, back to back winners of the 2010 and 2011 College World Series. Bryan was also selected in the 2010 MLB Draft, by the Chicago Cubs.^[29][30] He did not sign and then was drafted in the 2011 MLB Draft by the Washington Nationals.

Harper was featured in an episode of ESPN E:60^[31] and was on the cover of Sports Illustrated in May 2009.^[32] Harper also just recieved a sponsorship deal with a nutritional supplement company focusing on active lifestyles, MusclePharm. ^[33]

Read more: MusclePharm Signs Pro Baseball Rookie Phenom Bryce Harper As Sponsored Athlete - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/recommended/ci_20681350#ixzz1wM2Zge4h Read The Denver Post's Terms of Use of its content: http://www.denverpost.com/termsofuse

Bryce Harper is also a member of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.^[34]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bryce Harper

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or Baseball-Reference, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Bryce Harper's College Statistics