The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks are based in Fargo, North Dakota in the US, and they are a professional baseball team who have played their home games since 1996 at Newman Outdoor Field, which is when the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks started as the members of the Northern League. They are members of the independent professional baseball league, the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, that was founded in 2005.

The History Timeline

Even though the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks baseball team joined the Northern League as an expansion team, they were able to quickly establish the franchisee as the powerhouse league. In their very first season, the team finished 53-31 as the league-best, and with that, they were able to advance further to the Northern League Championship Series. However, they failed to the St. Paul Saints, but the league record was tied with 53 wins, at that time.

In the Winnipeg playoffs in 1997, the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks team lost the first round. In 1998, they returned and created one of the greatest teams in the history of independent baseball. They also managed to set the highest winning percentage in league history, with the 64-21 record, and that mark still exists. Cruising through the playoffs, Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks were able to beat St. Paul (3 – 0), and Winnipeg (3 – 1).

Later, in 1998, Baseball America named the RedHawks, in the 1990s, as the Independent Team of the Decade. From 1999-2001, they had a streak of post-season appearances to 6 with playoff berths. However, later the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks were shut out of the post-season even with their record of 52-37, which was the first time in their history (2002).

In 2003, the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks team regrouped in the off-season, returning to the top of the Northern League. They were able to win in the first playoffs round against Schaumburg Flyers (3 – 2), after which they won their second league title against Winnipeg (3 – 1) in the Northern League Finals. The team was able to advance to the post-season again in 2004, but then they lost in Division Finals to St. Paul (3 – 1).

Dominating the regular season in 2005, posting an amazing 40 – 7 mark in the second half and winning a league record of 68 games, made them the talk of that year. They had a winning streak from the 17th of August to the 1st of September, with the 14-game winnings. But, even with such incredible games, they still fell in the finals, to Gary (3 – 2). In 2006, however, they were able to get their revenge and defeat Gary in the Northern League Finals.

Their 2006 record of 63-33 landed three of the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks’ players on the Northern League All-Start Team, together with everyone’s favorite Joe Mathis, while Mike Just was named the Rookie of the Year. In addition to the Northern League All-Star Player, Joe Mathis was also named as the Top Defensive Player in the league, while the Rookie Pitcher of the Year was Nate Cotton.

They won the second half of the Northern league North Division in 2007, but they finished overall as the 2nd-best record in the league, with 57-38. A year later, in the regular season, the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks team posted the top record of 62-34. Even though they were quite successful in the regular season, they were swept out of the first round.

The Fargo-Moorhead were able to put their stamp with their NL record fifth Championship season, in 2010, on the Northern League. A year later, in 2011, the team started to play in the American Association Independent Baseball, and for the first time in the team history, the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks had their losing record of 44-56, and for the second time in the franchise history, they missed the playoffs. However, they won the 2012 and 2013 American Association North Division Championship.

The 2019 Season

As it seems, the team was not able to make it into the finals, from 2013, but they did qualify in 2019. However, for those who followed the championship, know that the RedHawks lost the division series. This year, 2019, their manager Jim Bennett was named by the American Association as the Manager of the Year, for the independent professional baseball. Of course, the manager himself had a lot of good things to say about the team, and the great coaching staff, as “they are all part of the award”.