WICHITA, KS- The Wichita Wingnuts announced their 2010 schedule on Thursday.
The 96-game schedule features eight Friday and nine Saturday home dates, more than the Wingnuts have had in either of their first two years. Official start times for the games will be announced soon.
A link to the schedule can be found here.
For the first time in their history, the Wingnuts begin the season on the road, heading to rival St. Paul for a three-game series on May 13th. Wichita's home opener is set for Tuesday, May 18th versus the Sioux Falls, which kicks off a seven-game homestand. Wichita enjoys 29 home games in the first half. Nearly every game in the first half will have a direct impact on the pennant race, as 45 of the Wingnuts' 48 contests are against division opponents.
Wichita has 20 scheduled games without a day off from July 6th-25th, their longest such stretch of the year. While the 76th annual NBC World Series takes place in Wichita, the Wingnuts will play 13 road games in a 14-day span from July 29th-August 11th.
In addition to facing its rivals from the North, the Wingnuts welcome the Fort Worth Cats and El Paso Diablos to Wichita for the first time since 2008. Pensacola and Shreveport-Bossier are the only teams who do not visit Lawrence-Dumont Stadium this season, while the Wingnuts travel everywhere in the league with the exception of Grand Prairie.
Wichita's first meeting with Lincoln, the team that edged the Wingnuts in five games in the North Division Series, is on May 25th at Haymarket Park. The Saltdogs' first trip to Wichita is the following weekend, beginning on June 4th.
The Wingnuts also formally announced the date for the 2010 American Association All-Star Game. The mid-summer classic is scheduled for Tuesday, July 27th at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium. In 2009, the Wingnuts sent a league-high seven players to the All-Star game in Grand Prairie. Festivities will take place at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium leading up to the game which features the North Division's best versus the South's. The annual All-Star banquet will be held in Wichita the night before.
In 2009, Wichita won the North Division's first half by nine games, going 32-16 and had the league's best overall record in the regular season at 58-38. The Wingnuts featured seven mid-season all-stars, five postseason all-stars, the league's Most Valuable Player in Greg Porter, as well as the Manager of the Year Kevin Hooper. Hooper signed a two-year extension to stay with the Wingnuts shortly after the season ended. The Wingnuts expect to announce their first wave of player signings for 2010 within the next month.
The Wingnuts are accepting deposits for season tickets and packages for the 2010 season. For more information, call the Wingnuts' office at (316) 264-4625.
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