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The Carolina Mudcats were a minor league baseball team based in Zebulon, North Carolina. They were a Double-A Southern League team from 1991 to 2011. The team played their home games at Five County Stadium. In 2010 the franchise moved to Pensacola, Florida in a series of purchases and relocations, becoming the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. Concurrently, a Carolina League franchise from Kinston, North Carolina was moved to Zebulon, taking on the Carolina Mudcats name. ==History== The origins of the first Mudcats franchise date back to 1959, when the Chicago White Sox's affiliate, the Charleston White Sox, began play in the South Atlantic League (now the Southern League). The team relocated several times, playing in Charleston, South Carolina (1959–1961), Savannah, Georgia (1962), Lynchburg, Virginia (1963-1965), and Evansville, Indiana (1966-1968), before moving to Columbus, Georgia in 1969 to play in Golden Park. The team was known as the Columbus Astros from 1970 to 1988, when it became an affiliate of the Houston Astros. Following the 1988 season, new owner Steve Bryant held a contest among season ticket holders to rename the team, and as a result, in 1989 the team became the Columbus Mudcats. In 1991, Bryant moved the club to Zebulon, North Carolina and renamed it the Carolina Mudcats.〔("Mudcats celebrate 15th year in Five County" ) (2006). ''The Wilson Daily Times''. Retrieved February 2007〕〔Seaton, Ned (March 28, 1996). ("Minor league caps; major league profits" ). ''St. Petersburg Times''. Retrieved February 28, 2012.〕 In Zebulon the Mudcats played in Five County Stadium, a 6,500-seat stadium near the convergence of five counties: Wake, Nash, Johnston, Franklin, and Wilson. It was built in 1991 and renovated in 1999. As the Carolina Mudcats, the team won three Southern League Championships in 1995, 1996 and again in 2003 as Miguel Cabrera helped the team in the first half of the season, and won the 1996 Bob Freitas Award for excellence in Minor League Baseball. In 2010, businessman Quint Studer bought the Mudcats franchise amid a complicated series of purchases and moves in order to bring a Double-A team to Pensacola, Florida. The franchise would become the Pensacola Blue Wahoos for the 2012 season. In order to settle this purchase, Studer facilitated the relocation of the Kinston Indians of the Class-A Carolina League to Zebulon, where they took up the Mudcats name. In total, the arrangements cost Studer around $2 million.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Carolina Mudcats (1991–2011)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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