Does Indiana Have A Baseball Team?

Does Indiana have a baseball team? The answer may surprise you.

Introduction

Hello, and welcome to my page on whether or not Indiana has a baseball team. My name is Ben, and I’m a baseball fan from Indiana. I’ll be researching and writing about this topic in order to try and answer the question: does Indiana have a baseball team?

I’ll be looking at the history of baseball in Indiana, as well as the current state of the sport in the state. I’ll also be considering what other states have baseball teams, and whether or not Indiana is likely to get a team in the future.

Thank you for taking the time to read this page, and I hope that you find it informative.

The History of Baseball in Indiana

Baseball has a long and storied history in the state of Indiana. The first known game played in the state took place in Vincennes in 1845, between two local clubs. The first professional team was the Fort Wayne Kekiongas, who played in the National Association of Base Ball Players from 1871 to 1873. Fort Wayne has been home to minor league teams off and on since 1888, and currently is home to the Fort Wayne TinCaps of the Midwest League.

Indianapolis has also been home to minor league teams since 1888. The Indianapolis Indians of the International League were one of the most successful and longest-running franchises in minor league baseball, playing for almost a century before moving to Louisville in 1972. The current Indianapolis Indians play in the Triple-A International League.

The Current State of Baseball in Indiana

As of 2019, Indiana does not have a professional baseball team. The state did have a minor league team called the Gary SouthShore RailCats, but the team folded in 2020.

Baseball has a long history in Indiana. The first professional baseball game in the state was played in 1865, and the Indianapolis Hoosiers were a founding member of the National League in 1876. However, the Hoosiers only played for two seasons before folding due to financial problems. The Indianapolis Senators, another minor league team, played intermittently from 1902-1914 before also folding.

Since then, there have been several other attempts to bring professional baseball back to Indiana, but all have been unsuccessful. In 2017, state lawmakers proposed legislation to fund a new stadium for a potential MLB team, but the bill did not pass. In 2020, there was another attempt to bring a minor league team to Gary, but that effort also fell through.

It is unclear if or when Indiana will ever have a professional baseball team again. However, there are still several semi-professional and amateur teams in the state that fans can root for.

The Future of Baseball in Indiana

As baseball fans in Indiana know all too well, the state has been without a Major League Baseball team since the Indianapolis Indians moved to Louisville in 1953. But that could all change in the near future, as there are currently two groups working to bring a MLB team back to Indiana.

The first group, led by businessman Peter McLaughlin, is looking to build a new stadium in Gary, IN, which is just across the border from Chicago. The hope is that a team would see the stadium as a viable option for relocation or expansion. The other group, headed up by businessman Jerry Reinsdorf, is looking at ways to bring the Chicago Cubs to Indianapolis. While it’s unlikely that the Cubs would leave their historic home at Wrigley Field, Reinsdorf’s group is reportedly working on a long-term lease agreement that would keep the team in Chicago while also giving them a new home in Indianapolis.

With two groups working towards the same goal, it seems likely that Indiana will once again have a Major League Baseball team in the near future.