York White Roses

The York White Roses, also known as the York Pirates in their last two seasons of existence, played from 1884 to 1969. The White Roses were bitter rivals of the Red Roses of the nearby city of Lancaster. Both teams were named after the two factions of England's historic Wars of the Roses.

Revolution

York tried for ten years to bring professional baseball back to the city. The process looked promising in 2003, until politics halted the project. The new baseball stadium was to be located at Small Athletic Field, on York City School District property, but the district's board voted negatively as they did not believe the ballpark would be the best use of district money and land. For three years, political and financial discussions continued to delay the project. A new site for the stadium was agreed upon in the Arch Street neighborhood, with all of the pieces falling into place. Other sites that were considered but did not come to fruition were Hoffman Field and the Ohio Blenders of PA, Inc.

In April 2006, the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball formally announced an expansion team for the city of York.^[7] One of the prominent members of the team's ownership group was Brooks Robinson, who played with the York White Roses and later with the Baltimore Orioles from 1955 to 1977. A statue of Robinson was erected in the area outside the stadium entrance and called Brooks Robinson Plaza in his honor.^[8] Robinson died in 2023.^[9]

The Revolution's inaugural season saw the team finish third in the South Division with a record of 58–68. Their fortunes changed quickly, however, with 2008 bringing a first-place finish in the newly named Freedom Division and the franchise's first trip to the playoffs. The Revs were ousted early in the 2008 playoffs, but were back in 2010 when they won the Atlantic League championship, the first professional baseball title the city had won since the 1969 York Pirates of the Eastern League.^[3] The Revs took home the trophy again in 2011, winning back-to-back championships and becoming just the second team in league history to accomplish the feat. They returned to the playoffs for a third straight season in 2012, but lost in the opening round.

In the 2009 preseason, the Revolution joined the two other Atlantic League teams in holding their spring training at home instead of the traditional site in Lakeland, Florida. The respective ownership groups of the three teams came to this decision so as to cut costs, citing the 2008 economic recession.

On March 24, 2014, the Revolution became the first professional baseball team to accept Bitcoins as a form of payment for ticket purchases.^[10]

All-Star Games

The Revolution hosted the 2011 Atlantic League All-Star Game at WellSpan Park on July 14, 2011. They had seven players named to the All-Star team in addition to manager Andy Etchenbarren, who skippered the Freedom Division. In front of a sellout crowd, two of those Revolution players, Corey Thurman and Val Majewski, helped to lead the Freedom Division to a 7–0 shutout over the Liberty Division. Thurman started the game, throwing two shutout innings and Majewski hit a solo homerun over the right field wall to start the scoring. Michael Hernandez of the Somerset Patriots ended up taking home the game's MVP award with a solo blast of his own and an RBI triple in the seventh inning.^[11] Prior to the game, Val Majewski participated in the homerun derby and was a member of the winning team. The first pitch of the All-Star Game was thrown out by former Dover High School football player and then Green Bay Packer John Kuhn.^[12]

The Revolution again hosted the Atlantic League All-Star Game at WellSpan Park in July 2019.^[13]

War of the Roses

The South Central Pennsylvania cities of Lancaster and York have a historical rivalry in all sporting events from the high-school level to the professional. Since both cities are named after the English cities of Lancaster and York, their former Pennsylvania baseball teams were named for the opposing sides of the Wars of the Roses. As a metaphor, "War of the Roses" describes the intense baseball matches fought between the Lancaster Red Roses and the York White Roses. With the addition of York to the Atlantic League, the Revolution and Barnstormers now continue this tradition as they battle each other for lower Susquehanna supremacy.

The "War of the Roses" was rekindled with the sound of celebratory cannon-fire at the start of the 2007 Atlantic League season in Wrightsville, a borough located on the Susquehanna River, the natural boundary between Lancaster and York counties. The winner of the War of the Roses is presented with the Community Cup, while the defeated team is obligated to sing the ballpark classic "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" and plant a rose garden at the opponent's ballpark with their representative color: red for Lancaster, white for York. The first Community Cup was championed by the Barnstormers in the 2007 season, though the Revolution avenged them by winning it in 2008.^[14] The clubs also competed in the Route 30 Showdown in 2009–2011, an annual cross-county doubleheader inadvertently created at the conclusion of the 2008 season by a rain-delay.^[15]

Mascots

The York Revolution's official mascot is an anthropomorphic, blue creature named DownTown. He wears the team's home jersey, the primary cap worn backwards, with blue and white sneakers. DownTown debuted on March 31, 2007, at the Mascot: The Musical production at the DreamWrights Theater. His full name is DownTown Yorkie, and is the result of a sponsorship deal with Downtown Inc, a partnership of community-minded companies that work to improve and celebrate downtown York.^[27][28] Downtown wears a jersey with the number "00".^[29] The mascot was designed by the Raymond Entertainment Group, which also produced the Phillie Phanatic's costume.

DownTown has a cousin named SmallTown, who will occasionally turn up at games. He debuted in 2009 and wears the number "1⁄2". A kid wears the costume and follows DownTown for a day.^[29]

The Revolution also host a character named Cannonball Charlie, who fires a cannon after each home run or home game victory by the team. He wears the uniform of a period Continental Army soldier.^[30]

Offensive

• Hits: 172.....James Shanks, 2010
• Doubles: 38.....Andres Perez, 2013
• Triples: 17.....Eric Patterson, 2014
• Homeruns: 34.....Chris Nowak, 2012
• RBIs: 107.....Chris Nowak, 2012
• Walks: 84.....Scott Grimes, 2010
• Stolen bases: 55.....Wilson Valdez, 2014

Pitching

• Wins: 15.....Chris Cody, 2013
• Strikeouts: 139.....Chris Cody, 2013
• Saves: 35.....Mike DeMark, 2016