Cleburne Railroaders

History

The history of professional baseball in Cleburne goes back to the original Cleburne Railroaders, which played in the Texas League, winning the 1906 league championship. However, this team lasted only one season. A second iteration of the Railroaders competed in the Texas–Oklahoma League in 1911-1912, winning the 1911 championship. They played their home games at Gorman's Park, now part of Hulen Park.

The modern Railroaders were announced as an expansion franchise in the American Association on October 6, 2016. The team plays in The Depot at Cleburne Station (now La Moderna Field), a new $25 million stadium that was recognized as a fan-favorite independent league stadium by Ballpark Digest in 2017.

On June 12, 2020, it was announced that the Railroaders were one of six teams that would go on hiatus during an abbreviated 2020 American Association season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

In 2021, the Cleburne Railroaders announced three new additions to their ownership group: Neil Leibman, Alan Miller, and Jon Ryan. Leibman is the Texas Rangers Chief Operating Officer and President of Business Operations and owns multiple professional sports teams. Miller is the owner of COLLiDE Agency and Ryan is a former NFL player and are part owners of the Portland Pickles independent baseball team located in Oregon.

In 2023, the Railroaders announced a new majority partnership group, Railroaders Baseball Partners LLC, with REV Entertainment (the official events partner of the Texas Rangers) serving as managing partner for the team.

Branding and mascots

The Railroaders’ colors were originally orange and blue. In 2021, the team's colors were changed to reflect the red, blue, and white of the flag of Texas: “caboose red,” “steel rail blue,” and “whistle post white.” Additionally, the Railroaders also introduced a new mascot to their team, known as Gandy. Gandy joined Spike, the original mascot (a cartoon rail spike), in representing the Railroaders and what they stand for. Gandy's background is that he was a part of the Santa Fe railroad track maintenance gang. These maintenance gangs were known as Gandy Dancers because they would sing a variety of songs while they were working on the track.

Prior to the 2026 season, the Railroaders once again refreshed their branding and changed their primary colors to "Railroad Navy", "Texas Red", "Spike Silver", and "Cleburne Blue". The Gandy mascot was retired, and the Spike mascot was updated. The team also announced several new logos, along with its three jerseys for the season: White/Primary (home), Red/Heritage (away), and a new alternate Blue/Cleburne Pride.

Season-by-season records

Roster

(bench) (pitching) (hitting) (clubhouse manager) (trainer)

Notable alumni

• Mitch Glasser (2017)
• Shawn Zarraga (2017)
• Winston Abreu (2017)
• Preston Palmeiro (2018)
• Ryan Brett (2019)
• Nefi Ogando (2019)
• Daniel Robertson (2019)
• Bubby Rossman (2019)
• Ozzie Martínez (2021)
• Logan Verrett (2021)
• Jacob Rhame (2021)
• D. J. Peterson (2021)
• Michael Mariot (2021, 2023)
• Nick Gardewine (2021–2023)
• Nick Shumpert (2022)
• Héctor Sánchez (2022)
• Hunter Cervenka (2022)
• Kevin McCarthy (2022)
• Josh Lucas (2022)
• Zac Reininger (2022)
• Wyatt Mathisen (2022)
• Riley Smith (2023)
• Delino DeShields Jr. (2023)
• Bret Boswell (2023–present)
• Chris Muller (2024–present)
• Brian O'Grady (2024–present)
• Thomas Dillard (2024–present)
• Shed Long Jr. (2024–present)
• Trent Giambrone (2024)
• Seth Romero (2024)
• Beau Burrows (2024–present)
• Caleb Smith (2024–present)

References

References

1. Reichard, Kevin. (2020-09-24). "American Association, Frontier League now MLB Partner Leagues".
2. Smith, Matt. (2016-06-13). "The Depot stadium construction begins".
3. (October 2015). "League Champions".
4. (October 6, 2016). "Cleburne Railroaders join American Association".
5. (2017-07-03). "Best of the Ballparks 2017, Independent Baseball: The Depot at Cleburne Station".
6. (June 12, 2020). "Independent American Association to start baseball season July 3 with limited fans". ESPN.
7. Francis, Robert. (2021-03-18). "Texas Rangers executive, others added to Cleburne Railroaders ownership group".
8. Stevenson, Stefan. (March 17, 2021). "Texas Rangers President, Former NFL Punter Join Cleburne Railroaders Ownership Group".
9. "CLEBURNE RAILROADERS ANNOUNCE NEW OWNERSHIP TEAM AND MANAGEMENT PARTNER".
10. Crisp, A. J.. "Railroader makeover; New colors, logos, uniforms 'put Cleburne on the map'".
11. Lutz, Armando. "Railroaders: Next Stop – New Era Revealed".
12. "Railroaders Manager Mike Jeffcoat Announces Retirement". Cleburne Railroaders.
13. Cain, Scott. (2017). "Cleburne Baseball: A Railroader History". The History Press.