Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

Did You Know?

• The 1978 Appleton Foxes set a franchise record with a 97–40 season and were named one of the 100 greatest minor league teams of all-time in 2001.
• The team rebranded as the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in 1995, a name chosen by area school children.
• Shortstop Alex Rodriguez was named the league's Prospect of the Year in 1994 while playing for the team.

History

Appleton, the largest community in Wisconsin's Fox Cities region, has been home to minor league baseball since the 1800s. The city's professional baseball roots go back to 1891, when the Appleton Papermakers were formed in the Wisconsin State League, a league that lasted just one season. Another Papermakers team played in the Wisconsin–Illinois League from 1909 to 1914. The Wisconsin State League was brought back in 1940, and the Papermakers were part of it from 1940 to 1942 and again from 1946 until both the team and the league folded in 1953.

In 1958, the Fox Cities Foxes entered the Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League, better known as the Three-I League, as a Class B affiliate of the Washington Senators. They played their home games at Goodland Field in Appleton. The team was owned and run by Appleton Baseball Club, Inc., a nonprofit organization with a volunteer board of directors, which kept control of the franchise until 2020. The Foxes opened their first season on the road on April 27, 1958, beating the Davenport DavSox 9-2. Their first home game came on May 3, a 6-0 shutout of the Cedar Rapids Braves. The Senators partnership lasted only two years, with the Foxes posting a combined 115-140 record.

Before the 1960 season, the team switched to a Baltimore Orioles affiliation. Under manager Earl Weaver, a future Hall of Famer, the Foxes won the Three-I League pennant with a league-best 82-56 record. Third baseman Pete Ward was named league MVP, and first baseman Boog Powell earned Rookie of the Year honors. The roster also included pitcher Pat Gillick, who would later be inducted into the Hall of Fame as an executive. The Three-I League stopped operations after 1961, hoping to return in 1963. Because of this, the Fox Cities team moved to the Class D Midwest League in 1962. Even though the team finished below .500, manager Cal Ripken Sr. won the league's Manager of the Year award. The Midwest League was reclassified as Class A in 1963. In 1964, manager Billy DeMars guided the Foxes to a second-half title, which set up a single championship game against the Clinton C-Sox. The Foxes won that game, securing their first Midwest League championship. The Baltimore affiliation ended after the 1965 season, with the Foxes holding a 401-352 record over six years.

Mascots

The team’s main mascot is Fang, a golden-yellow timber rattler with a red tongue who wears the same uniform as the players. A secondary mascot, Whiffer, has teal fur and a green face and hands, looking much like the Phillie Phanatic. Before Fang and the 1995 rebrand, Appleton’s mascot was Freddy Fox, a fox in the team’s jersey and cap. Around 1980, the mascot was Homer Run, a human in a Foxes-style uniform.

Achievements

Over the years, the Foxes/Timber Rattlers franchise has seen four players and seven managers earn league awards for their work with the team. The club has thrown 14 no-hitters, which means a pitcher or group of pitchers allowed zero hits in a game. A perfect game—far more uncommon—happens when no batter reaches base by a hit, walk, hit by pitch, or error. Those 14 no-hitters involved 19 different pitchers. Nine were complete games by a single pitcher, while five were combined efforts.