State College Spikes Founded in 1983 University Park, Pennsylvania | |||
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Owner(s)/Operated by: State College Professional Baseball LP | |||
Manager: Gary Robinson | |||
General Manager: Jason Dambach |
The State College Spikes are a Short-Season A classification American minor league baseball team originally affiliated with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2006. On September 21, 2006, it was announced that they would be affiliated with the Pittsburgh Pirates beginning in 2007.[3] They are a member of the New York - Penn League playing at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park in University Park, Pennsylvania since June 2006.
In October 2005, the owners of the New Jersey Cardinals agreed to sell the club to a group headed by the principal partners of the class double-A Eastern League Altoona Curve. This allowed for a professional team to share the new Medlar Field at Lubrano Park with the host Nittany Lions of Pennsylvania State University, on whose campus the park stands.
The name "Spikes" has a threefold meaning. The club's official logo depicts a young white-tailed deer, for whom a "spike" is an undeveloped antler, symbolic of a young team member who may develop into a Major League Baseball player. The name also refers to a railroad spike, similar to the way the name "Altoona Curve" commemorates the famous Horseshoe Curve on the Pennsylvania Railroad. Finally, baseball players have long worn shoes with spikes. The official colors are Penn State navy blue, cardinal, old gold, and moonlight yellow.