Abilene Prairie Dogs
| Abilene Prairie Dogs 1995–1999 Abilene, Texas |
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The Abilene Prairie Dogs (Abilene, Texas) were a minor-league baseball team in the former Texas-Louisiana League. Beginning in 1995, the Prairie Dogs, (or Dogs, as the fans commonly called them), began play at Abilene Christian University's Crutcher Scott Field. Under the management of Charlie Kerfeld, the Prairie Dogs accumulated a dismal 40-60 record, earning them the last place in their League. 1996 brought a new manager, Phil Stephenson, who led the Dogs to a League Championship with a 67-31 record. In 1997, the Dogs returned to last place standing (36-52) under the management of Barry Jones. Jones rallied the Dogs in 1998, to take a fourth place position with a 39-45 record for the year. In 1999, Jones moved on to the Ozark Mountain Ducks, and was replaced by Dan Madsen, who took the Dogs to a 46-38 third place League standing in their final year of play.
The franchise was plagued by low home-field attendance numbers after 1996. Most fans declined to attend games at Crutcher Scott Field, because of Abilene Christian University's smoke-free, alcohol-free policies.[citation needed]
It was announced on January 31, 2012 that the Abilene Prairie Dogs would return to play in June 2012 as a part of the southern division of the North American Baseball League. Their home field will be Walt Driggers Field, on the campus of McMurry University, in Abilene.
