For the eight months or so where Ohio State football is in the offseason, fans struggle to get their sports-fix.
The nearest pro-football teams are in Cleveland and Cincinnati – but neither experience much success. In fact, both teams have just five playoff wins combined since 1990 and neither had ever won the Super Bowl.
The same problem exists at the pro-level for baseball, too. The nearest teams are the Reds down in Cincinnati and the Guardians up in Cleveland. The two combined have just three playoff series wins over the past decade and the most recent World Series victory for either team occurred way back in 1990, when the Reds topped the Athletic in four games.
And then there’s basketball. Ohio is home to just one NBA franchise – the lowly Cleveland Cavaliers.
Sure, the Cavs won a championship with Lebron James in 2015, but outside of that, the franchise has had very little success. The team without James has just three seasons with 50 wins or more and zero finals appearances. Not a great track record.
So that leaves fans with two professional options to root for that’s located in Columbus – the Columbus Crew and the Columbus Blue Jackets.
But let’s be frank – nobody in Columbus, let alone America – cares much for soccer or hockey. Just 7% of Americans listed soccer, and only 4% listed hockey, as their favorite sport according to Gallup polling. While Baseball isn’t much higher at 9%, it’s safe to assume that the sport enjoys much more popularity in Ohio. The Buckeye State is home to America’s first professional baseball team – the Reds, and the blockbuster film, Major League, is about the Indians.
But in Columbus, no baseball teams play at the highest level. You have Ohio State Baseball, which we’ve covered here, but they haven’t won anything relevant since the sixties.
So that leaves minor-league baseball. But before you roll your eyes and click off this page, allow me a bit to explain:
Unlike some other Ohio teams, the Clippers win games
The Clippers have a reputation for winning big-time matches.
In their 45-year history, the team has won two class-titles, 11 league titles and 12 division titles. To translate that into MLB terms – that’s two world-series wins, with league and division titles meaning virtually the same thing as they do at the pro-level.
In other words, the Clippers are a damn good baseball team.
In fact, on the 100th anniversary of the start of minor league play, historians ranked the 1992 Clippers team as the 72nd best all-time. Quite the statement.
The Clippers have also seen a plethora of its players win the sport’s most prestigious awards. Six Executive of the Year winners, two Manager of the Year recipients, six Rookie of the Year nods eight MVPs and a half-dozen Most Valuable Pitchers have been Clippers personnel or players.
Future MLB stars are born at the Minor League level
Of those award winners, several have gone on to make a splash in baseball – be it the big leagues or internationally.
J. T. Snow is one name that immediately comes to mind. Snow played with the Clippers in 1992, winning both Rookie of the Year and the league’s MVP awards. He went on to play for several MLB teams, most notably the San Francisco Giants, where won six consecutive Gold Glove Awards.
Another name is Fernando Seguignol, often regarded as one of the best switch-hitters to ever play in Japan.
“It’s his stint with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, however, that earns him his spot. Returning to Japan in 2004, Seguignol became one of the most consistent hitters in the league, totaling more than 135 hits in three consecutive years (2004-2006) and tying for the home run title in 2004. For his efforts, he was named to the Best Nine twice (2004, 2006), and still holds the NPB record for home runs in a single season by a switch hitter with 44 in 2004,” A Japanball.com article reads.
And then there’s the man who needs no introduction: Francisco Lindor.
Lindor played for the Clippers in the 2015 season. Afterwards, he was promoted to the major leagues and never looked back. In his first full year playing in the majors, Lindor won a Gold Glove and Platinum Glove award, finishing ninth in MVP voting. Every season since, he’s been one of the top players at the highest level.
So, going to a Clippers game today means getting to watch the Snows, Seguignols and Lindors of tomorrow.
So, why are they called the Clippers? What even is a Clipper?
Now that I’ve sold you on being a Clippers fan, here are some other facts you need to know.
The team was founded in 1977 and began as a farm team for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Eventually, the team became affiliated with the Yankees and Washington Nationals before finally becoming the triple-A team of the Guardians in 2009.
It was also in 2009 that the team moved to its current spot – Huntington Park. The stadium seats 10,000 fans and is located in the Arena District, right next to Nationwide Arena where the Blue Jackets play.
The team’s name – the Clippers – “was picked for alliterative reasons, and because clippers elicited images of “sleek” and “fast,” and because conjuring the sea connects to the city’s eponymous tie with Christopher Columbus,” a Columbus Dispatch reads.
And that’s it, a complete rundown of the Clippers. A quick rundown of the team, its history and what you need to know.
So, saddle up (or raise up your anchors) and get ready to enjoy some quality baseball!