Celebrating their 21st anniversary year in 2023, the Tri-City ValleyCats have been stalwarts on the minor-league baseball scene. Their history added a new chapter in 2021 when the ValleyCats became members of the Frontier League. 

Now in its third year of membership in the Frontier League, Tri-City is looking to carve its place among the premier independent-league franchise in baseball. 

Get to know more about the organization with the following primer.

Team Overview 

Former New York-Penn League franchise and Class-A affiliate of the Houston Astros, the Tri-City ValleyCats moved into the MLB Partner Frontier League in 2021. The organization has made an impression in its short time, too, finishing above .500 in each of its first two Frontier seasons and last year boasting the hottest prospect on the minor-league circuit. 

More on that shortly. 

What year were the Tri-City ValleyCats founded? 

Debuting in 2002, Tri-City launched when the former Pittsfield Mets/turned Pittsfield Astros relocated after the 2001 season. 

"We have the right mix of people to make it a success season," ValleyCats vice president and GM Rick Murphy told the Poughkeepsie Journal in 2002. 

It wasn't just a successful season; 2002 marked the beginning of two successful decades and counting. The club has remained in Tri-City for twice as long as in either of their previous homes, Little Falls, New York or Pittsfield. 

Who owns the Tri-City ValleyCats ?

Bill Gladstone owned the franchise from 1992 until his death at 88 years old in spring 2020. Gladstone's passing contributed to a tumultuous time for the club, coupled with its loss of affiliation with the Astros. 

In a 2022 interview with the Times-Union in Albany, however, the aforementioned Rick Murphy said: "Probably one of the most rewarding things that I've experienced is being able to take an entity, our team, that was pushed aside by Major League Baseball, and be able to remain viable through a pandemic and, in the last two years, put ourselves in a position that we could have a sustained, viable entity in this market.

"I didn't know that two years ago."

What is the history of the Tri-City ValleyCats team name and mascot?

Long named the Mets for its affiliation with the New York Major League franchise, then a one-year stint named the Astros at the end of its run in Pittsfield, the organization rebranded as the ValleyCats upon moving to Troy. 

Tri-City is unique in that it has multiple mascots under the franchise's banner. SouthPaw is the most recognizable, and an inductee to the Mascot Hall of Fame. 

Have the Tri-City ValleyCats ever won a Frontier League championship?

Tri-City has not won a Frontier League championship in either of its first two full seasons. The club does boast three New York-Penn League titles, however, with the most recent coming in 2018.   

Where do the Tri-City ValleyCats play?

The ValleyCats have played at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium in Troy, New York, since the club's inception in 2002. The venue was built by the DLR Group out of Tampa, an architecture firm with an impressive resume of venues spread across the country. 

"Ballpark architecture is a tough field. Every fan who comes through the turnstiles is a critic," Gary Haber wrote in a January 2002 profile of DLR Group's Stan Meradith. "'People have strong input about what you're designing,'" said Ralph Belton in the Tribune article. Belton was designer of the Seattle Mariners park that hosted the 2023 MLB All-Star Game. 

Tri-City ValleyCats Notable Alumni

A long and distinguished list of alumni have played for the ValleyCats, though last season may have been the most high-profile ever during that player's tenure in Tri-City; certainly in the club's independent-league era. 

Kumar Rocker shined in his outstanding stint with the ValleyCats, prior to going No. 3 overall to the Texas Rangers in last summer's MLB draft. He joined a fraternity of other past ValleyCats that includes former MLB Most Valuable Player and six-time Silver Slugger winner Jose Altuve.

Altuve is chief among the club's all-time standout alumni at the plate, while 2015 Cy Young Award winner Dallas Keuchel is the organization's most high-profile pitching product.

Tri-City ValleyCats Schedule

Check out the Tri-City ValleyCats schedule here.

How To Watch The Tri-City ValleyCats

Atlantic, Frontier, Pioneer and the Coastal Summer Plain League, as well as the Florida Collegiate Summer League, are all streaming on FloBaseball and the FloSports app. Replays, highlights and more news can be found on the site.