The Bowling Green Hot Rods are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and play their home games at Bowling Green Ballpark, which opened in 2009. The team is named for the city's connections to the automotive and racing industries such as the National Corvette Museum, Holley Carburetor, Beech Bend Raceway, and the Bowling Green Assembly Plant.
Founded in 2009, they were members of the Class A South Atlantic League in their inaugural season and played in the Class A Midwest League from 2010 to 2020. There were elevated to the High-A classification and placed in the High-A East in 2021, which restored the South Atlantic League name in 2022.
History The Hot Rods began life as the Wilmington Waves, one of two South Atlantic League expansion teams for the 2001 season. However, the Waves' stay at Brooks Field in Wilmington, North Carolina, lasted but a single season. They became the South Georgia Waves when the team was moved to the Paul Eames Sports Complex in Albany, Georgia, for the 2002 season. The team retained the moniker name when it again moved to Golden Park in Columbus, Georgia, just before the 2003 campaign. One year later, in 2004, the franchise changed names and became the Columbus Catfish.
In April 2008, ownership moved the team to Bowling Green effective for the 2009 season under the new nickname "Hot Rods." Their first manager as the Hot Rods was Matt Quatraro.
In 2010, the Hot Rods and the Lake County Captains moved from the South Atlantic League to the Midwest League, a plan meant to alleviate travel expenses associated with routine road trips as well as player movement within the teams' respective organizations.
In December 2013, Art Solomon, owner of the Hot Rods for five years, sold the team to Manhattan Capital Sports headed by Stuart Katzoff.Fuerst, Hank "It's Official: BG Hot Rods Sold" WBKO. December 11, 2013. Retrieved on January 7, 2014 The Hot Rods have been widely recognized for their promotional efforts. In 2009, the team's "What Could've Been Night" was named Promotion of the Year by MiLB.com.Hill, Benjamin "Hot Rods claim year's best promo." Minor League Baseball. October 14, 2009. Retrieved on December 10, 2010. In 2010, Hot Rods Assistant General Manager Greg Coleman was honored as Marketer of the Year by the Professional Marketing Association.
In September 2018, the team was sold to Jack Blackstock who had previously been a minority investor in the team.
That year, the Hot Rods won 90 games and captured their first ever Midwest League title, under then manager Craig Albernaz.
Along with Major League Baseball's reorganization of the minors after the 2020 season, the Hot Rods were invited to remain a Tampa Bay affiliate but be elevated to High-A in 2021 as members of the High-A East. They won the Southern Division title by ending the season with a first-place 82–36 record. They then won the High-A East championship by defeating the Greensboro Grasshoppers, 3–2, in a best-of-five series. Jeff Smith won the league's Manager of the Year Award. In 2022, the High-A East became known as the South Atlantic League, the name historically used by the regional circuit prior to the 2021 reorganization.
Head Coach Jeff Smith led the Hot Rods to a second straight SAL championships in 2022. After narrowly missing the playoffs in 2023, Head Coach Rafael Valenzuela lead the Hot Rods to an SAL championship in 2024.
Season records SeasonAffiliationManagerRecord2009RaysMatt Quatraro64–75, 3rd place South2010RaysBrady Williams61–78, 6th place East2011RaysBrady Williams77–63, 3rd place East2012RaysBrady Williams80–60, 2nd place East2013RaysJared Sandberg82–56, 1st place East2014RaysMichael Johns61–77, 8th place East2015RaysReinaldo Ruiz69–69, 6th place East2016RaysReinaldo Ruiz84–55, 1st place East (tie)2017RaysReinaldo Ruiz72–65, 3rd place East 2018RaysCraig Albernaz90–49, 1st place East2019RaysReinaldo Ruiz81–58, 2nd place East2020RaysSeason cancelled (COVID-19 pandemic)2021RaysJeff Smith82–36, 1st place South2022RaysJeff Smith78–52, 1st place South2023RaysRafael Valenzuela69–57, 2nd place South2024RaysRafael Valenzuela75–54, 1st place South2025RaysRafael Valenzuela69–61, 1st place South
Playoffs SeasonQuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinals2009 - - -2010 - - -2011 L, 2–0, Fort Wayne - -2012 L, 2–0, Lake County - -2013 L, 2–0, Fort Wayne - -2014 - - -2015 - - -2016 L, 2–1, Great Lakes - -2017 L, 2–0, Fort Wayne - -2018 W, 2–0, Lansing W, 2–0, West Michigan W, 3–1, Peoria2019 L, 2–0, South Bend - -2020 - - -2021 - - W, 3–2, Greensboro2022 –W, 2–1, RomeW, 2–1, Aberdeen2023 – – –2024 –W, 2–0 RomeW, 2–1 Hudson Valley2025 –L, 2–0 Hub City
Bowling Green Ballpark
Address: 300 E 8th Ave, Bowling Green, KY 42101 Opened: April 17, 2009 Seating capacity: 4,559 Dimensions: LF – 318 ft, CF – 400 ft, RF – 326 ft
Bowling Green Ballpark was designed by architectural firm DLR Group. The right-centerfield wall in Bowling Green Ballpark is unique in that it is concave in right-center because of the shape of a pre-existing road behind the field. The scoreboard in right-centerfield measures 35-feet tall and 56-feet wide, with the ability to show scoring, live video, advertisements, player statistics, and more. Embedded in the left field wall is a 6-foot, 3inch tall by 68-foot wide LED display board, behind which is a picnic area. There are two grass lawn seating areas- one in left-center and one at the right field line. The kids play area boasts an inflatable car customized with the Hot Rods' logo, a carousel, and a playground, and a behind the batter's eye in centerfield, a splash-pad. The Performance Food Service Club is a bar located on suite level directly behind home plate. Also on the suite level are 10 suites, the Hall of Fame suite, and a party deck—The Coca-Cola Deck.
Media coverage In addition to internet streaming coverage on MILB.tv, the Hot Rods are broadcast locally on radio station WKCT AM 930 and translator W281BV (104.1 FM) since 2022. WBGN was the original flagship station of Hot Rods baseball for the team's first 12 years in Bowling Green from 2009 to 2021.Dyer, Diane (Match 14, 2022). "WDNS/WKCT to Serve as New Hot Rods Flagship Station." BeechTree News. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
Mascots
Axle, an anthropomorphic bear, is one of the Hot Rods' mascots. Debuting in 2009, Axle wears an orange Hot Rods uniform, number 00. The Hot Rods' furry, fun-loving bear has entertained crowds at Bowling Green Ballpark while making good on his promise to become a true community ambassador. Roscoe, the Hot Rods' second mascot, debuted during the 2010 season. Roscoe is a Grease Monkey, who wears a navy Hot Rods jersey.
Turbo is a Golden Retriever who was adopted into the Hot Rods family on December 13, 2019. He is currently training to become a "batdog", retrieving bats and balls and returning them to the Hot Rods' dugout, as well as delivering balls to the home plate umpire, for the 2021 season. Turbo is one of a few bat dogs in Minor League Baseball.
Roster
Alumni
The following are players in Major League Baseball who played, at one time, for the Hot Rods. Players are listed under the team they debuted for.
Tampa Bay Rays Matt Moore Alex Colome Tim Beckham Enny Romero Kevin Kiermaier CJ Riefenhauser Kirby Yates Ryan Brett Andrew Bellatti Luke Maile Blake Snell Taylor Motter Ryan Garton Dylan Floro Juniel Querecuto Austin Pruitt Jose Alvarado Ryne Stanek Hunter Wood Jacob Faria Yonny Chirinos Johnny Field Willy Adames Jaime Schultz Diego Castillo Justin Williams Brandon Lowe Nick Ciuffo Nate Lowe Michael Brosseau Brendan McKay Ian Gibaut Kean Wong Josh Fleming Shane McClanahan Kevin Padlo Brent Honeywell Jr. Taylor Walls Wander Franco Vidal Brujan Joshua Lowe Shane Baz
San Francisco Giants Albert Suarez Roberto Gomez Enderson Franco Joe McCarthy Sam Long
Arizona Diamondbacks Oscar Hernandez Merrill Kelly
Detroit Tigers Kyle Lobstein Ryan Carpenter
Los Angeles Angels Luis Rengifo Matt Ramsey Kenny Rosenberg
Texas Rangers Kyle Bird Brock Burke
Miami Marlins Derek Dietrich Jesús Sánchez
St. Louis Cardinals Genesis Cabrera Roel Ramirez
Kansas City Royals Wilking Rodriguez
San Diego Padres Chris Rearick Jake Cronenworth
Washington Nationals Felipe Vazquez
Baltimore Orioles Joey Rickard
Philadelphia Phillies Tyler Goeddel Cristopher Sánchez
Los Angeles Dodgers Andrew Toles
Colorado Rockies German Marquez
Toronto Blue Jays Taylor Guerrieri
Seattle Mariners Parker Markel
Oakland Athletics Jonah Heim
Minnesota Twins Joe Ryan
Cincinnati Reds Riley O'Brien
New York Mets Jake Hager
References
External links Official website