Meet the Triple-A East Midwest Division - Columbus Clippers

The 2021 season begins in just eight days! This year, the Omaha Storm Chasers are part of a new Triple-A league, Triple-A East.

Triple-A East is one of the new leagues in Minor League Baseball formed as a result of the contraction of Minor League Baseball following the renegotiation of the Professional Baseball Agreement after its expiration in September of 2020. Triple-A East includes teams that previously played in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, the Triple-A International League, the Double-A Southern League, and the independent American Association. Triple-A East includes 20 teams and is divided into three divisions: Midwest, Northeast, and Southeast. There will be limited inter-divisional play in 2021 to mitigate travel. The Omaha Storm Chasers will only face teams in the Midwest Division during the 2021 season.

After getting to know the Northeast and Southeast divisions, it's time to learn about the opponents that Omaha will be facing this season, the teams in the Midwest Division. We start with the Columbus Clippers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians.

 

COLUMBUS CLIPPERS

The Columbus Clippers are the Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians and have been since 2009, when they began playing at Huntington Park. Prior to that season, the Clippers were previously affiliated with Washington ('07-'08), New York-AL ('79-'06), and Pittsburgh ('77-78).

Columbus and Omaha have never been in the same league, but they did meet 21 times during the regular season during the Triple-A Alliance years between 1988-1991, when the International League and American Association played interleague games. Omaha is just under .500 against Columbus all-time, with a 10-11 record.

However, the most recent meeting between the two teams came in Omaha's first season as the Storm Chasers in 2011, when the Chasers won the Pacific Coast League championship and earned a spot in the Triple-A National Championship Game. The Clippers won that game, 8-3, in Albuquerque, N.M., to earn their second consecutive Triple-A National Championship—an achievement the Chasers equaled in 2013 and 2014.

 

 

The Storm Chasers and Clippers clash for three different series in 2021 twice in Columbus at Huntington Park and once at Werner Park:

• May 11 at Columbus - 5:15 p.m. CT
• May 12 at Columbus - 5:15 p.m. CT
• May 13 at Columbus - 11:05 a.m. CT
• May 14 at Columbus - 6:05 p.m. CT
• May 15 at Columbus - 1:05 p.m. CT
• Aug. 3 at Columbus - 6:05 p.m. CT
• Aug. 4 at Columbus - 6:05 p.m. CT
• Aug. 5 at Columbus - 6:05 p.m. CT
• Aug. 6 at Columbus - 6:05 p.m. CT
• Aug. 7 at Columbus - 6:05 p.m. CT
• Aug. 8 at Columbus - 3:05 p.m. CT
• Aug. 17 vs. Columbus - 7:05 p.m.
• Aug. 18 vs. Columbus - 7:05 p.m.
• Aug. 19 vs. Columbus - 7:05 p.m.
• Aug. 20 vs. Columbus - 7:05 p.m.
• Aug. 21 vs. Columbus - 7:05 p.m.
• Aug. 22 vs. Columbus - 5:05 p.m.

 

The Clippers went 81-59 in 2019 to claim the franchise's 17th division title and 11th Governors' Cup. In the postseason, Columbus defeated the Gwinnett Stripers and Durham Bulls to reach the 2019 Triple-A National Championship Game before falling to the Sacramento River Cats.