The Lansing Lugnuts are a Minor League Baseball team in the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. They are located in Lansing, Michigan, and play their home games at Jackson Field.

The Midwest League moved to Lansing after owners Tom Dickson and Sherrie Myers worked with the city to create a public-private agreement to build a new stadium. Mayor David Hollister and the City Council helped attract the team and build the stadium to support economic growth in downtown Lansing. The team started playing in downtown Lansing in 1996. The franchise was originally called the Lafayette Red Sox in Lafayette, Indiana, in 1955. After two seasons, it became the Waterloo Hawks and moved to Waterloo, Iowa, where it stayed for 36 seasons. Before the 1994 season, the team moved to Springfield, Illinois, but stayed there for only two seasons before relocating to Lansing. The franchise was an affiliate of the Kansas City Royals in three cities: as the Waterloo Royals from 1969 to 1976, as the Sultans of Springfield in 1995, and as the Lansing Royals from 1996 to 1998. The Lugnuts were then an affiliate of the Chicago Cubs from 1999 to 2004 and joined the Toronto Blue Jays' farm system in 2005. In September 2014, the Blue Jays extended their agreement with the Lugnuts through the 2016 season. In October 2016, their player development contract was extended through the 2018 season. Since 2021, the team has been the High-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics.

Jackson Field, the Lugnuts' stadium, opened in 1996. The stadium holds more than 10,000 fans and is one of the most accessible stadiums for people with disabilities in the country. The franchise’s attendance record of 538,326 was set during its first season. The Lugnuts won the Midwest League Championship in 1997 and 2003. The team has its own original song that plays after the national anthem at every home game, performed with their mascot, Big Lug.

In 2021, Major League Baseball reorganized Minor League Baseball, and the Lugnuts were placed in the High-A Central. In 2022, the High-A Central was renamed the Midwest League, the name it used before the 2021 reorganization.

Crosstown Showdown

Since 2007, the Lansing Lugnuts have taken part in an annual exhibition game with nearby Michigan State University. This event attracts many students each year. The team's record and the number of people who attended each game are as follows:

Media coverage

Jesse Goldberg-Strassler broadcasts Lugnuts home and away games on WVFN-AM. WVFN aired Lugnuts games from 2001 to 2003. Lugnuts games also aired on WJIM-AM from 1996 to 2000 and on WQTX-FM from 2004 to 2016. A few games each season were broadcast on WLNS-TV from 1996 through 2001. From 2002 to 2009, one game was aired each season on WILX-TV.

Alumni

The following is a list of players who have played in Major League Baseball and were part of the Lugnuts team at some point. This partial list includes players who returned to play after injuries and those who grew their skills in Lansing.

• Orber Moreno
• Kiko Calero
• Eugenio Vélez