Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Northwest Arkansas Naturals Founded in 2008 Springdale, Arkansas
Team logo Cap insignia
Class-level
Current	Double-A (2008–present)
Minor league affiliations
League	Texas League (2008–present)
Division	North Division
Major league affiliations
Current	Kansas City Royals (2008–present)
Minor league titles
League titles (1)	2010
Division titles (4)	2009 2010 2015 2016
Team data
Nickname	Northwest Arkansas Naturals (2008–present)
Ballpark	Arvest Ballpark (2008–present)
Owner(s)/ Operator(s)	Rich Products Corporation
Manager	Vance Wilson
General Manager	Justin Cole

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are a Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team based in Springdale, Arkansas. The team is member of the Texas League, and serves as the Double-A affiliate to the Kansas City Royals. They relocated to Springdale from Wichita, Kansas, in 2008. They were previously known as the Wichita Wranglers. The team also had previous incarnations as the Amarillo Gold Sox and Beaumont Golden Gators.

The Naturals play at Arvest Ballpark. The facility is located at the intersection of 56th Street and Watkins, and was completed in early 2008.

Origin

The Wichita Wranglers had struggled with low attendance numbers and an aging Lawrence-Dumont Stadium throughout Bob Rich, Jr.'s 18-year ownership of the team. In 2006, he sought a move to Springdale, Arkansas, contingent on a citizen vote to approve financing for a new stadium.

The pro-baseball movement in Springdale had counted on the support of the Rev. Ronnie Floyd, influential pastor of local megachurch First Baptist Church of Springdale. In June 2006, Floyd abruptly pulled his support after he discovered that the team would serve alcohol at games,^[1] making professional baseball a contentious and evenly split issue in Northwest Arkansas. The July vote on a measure to extend a one-cent sales tax to raise $50 million for the stadium passed by only 15 votes.^[2]

Team name

The team's nickname plays off the state's nickname as the "Natural State," as well as the Robert Redford film, The Natural. The Rich Family owes much of its baseball success to the Redford film. In 1983, Bob Rich, Jr. bought the Class AA Buffalo Bisons, who had suffered low attendance the previous season, for $100,000. That year, Hollywood producers approached Rich about filming scenes of The Natural at Buffalo's War Memorial Stadium. Following the release of the film, local interest in the team rose and attendance at the Bisons' games nearly tripled. Rich was then able to finance the Bisons' move to the Class AAA American Association. In something of a coincidence, the AAA Bisons were formerly the Wichita Aeros, meaning Rich has purchased two different teams that had played previously in Wichita, Kansas.

The "Naturals" name was chosen after receiving 33% of the votes in an online fan poll, beating second-place choice "Thunder Chickens" by six percent^[3] The "Thunder Chickens" moniker was a nod to Springdale-based Tyson Foods, which is the nation's largest supplier of poultry products, and to the region's poultry industry. Every season the team embraces the Thunder Chickens brand for a single game with uniforms and merchandise.^[4]

Play as the Naturals

The Naturals had early success, advancing to the playoffs in 2009 and 2010. In 2009, the Naturals would win the North Division title, only to lose in the Texas League Championship Series to the Midland RockHounds. In 2010, the Naturals would sweep the first and second half titles, won the North Division title for a second straight year and avenged their loss to Midland in 2009, winning the Texas League title in a 3-1 series victory over the RockHounds.

On June 8, 2008, pitcher Jeff Fulchino became the first former Natural to play in Major League Baseball, throwing a scoreless inning in relief during a 6-3 Royals loss at Yankee Stadium.

Royals owner and former Wal-Mart CEO David Glass lives in nearby Bella Vista, Arkansas.^[5]

Stadium

Arvest Ballpark was designed by HOK Sport of Kansas City, Missouri. It cost $33 million to build, while the rest of the $50 million approved by Springdale voters will go toward road and infrastructure improvements.^[6] The stadium seats 6,500, but additional berm areas allow a maximum capacity of about 7,800.

Roster

References

External links

• Official website of the Northwest Arkansas Naturals
• Map to Arvest Ballpark
• History at Baseball-Reference.com

Sports teams based in Arkansas
Baseball	TL: Arkansas Travelers Northwest Arkansas Naturals
Basketball	ABA: Conway Cyclones Texarkana Panthers
Football	WFA: Arkansas Wildcats
Roller derby	WFTDA: Northwest Arkansas Roller Derby
College athletics	NCAA Division I Arkansas Arkansas State Arkansas–Pine Bluff Central Arkansas Little Rock NCAA Division II Arkansas Tech Arkansas–Fort Smith Arkansas–Monticello Harding Henderson State Ouachita Baptist Southern Arkansas NCAA Division III Hendrix Ozarks NAIA Central Baptist Crowley's Ridge John Brown Lyon Philander Smith Williams Baptist NJCAA Arkansas Baptist Mid-South North Arkansas NCCAA Central Baptist Crowley's Ridge Ecclesia
High school athletics	Arkansas Activities Association Class 7A Class 6A Class 5A Class 4A Class 3A Class 2A Class 1A