Editing Springfield-Ozark Mountain Ducks (section)

==History==

In April 1998, Texas-Louisiana League president and co-founder Byron Pierce announced that the league would put a new team in [[Ozark, Missouri|Ozark]] pending financing for a new ballpark. In August the funding was secured. Construction on the stadium started in late fall and took four months to complete.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-springfield-news-leader-new-ballpark/152874327/|title=Sight for Ozark Ballpark Announced|first=Traci|last=Shirley|website=Springfield News-Leader}}</ref>

The peculiar team name and mascot was picked from a name-the-team contest in 1998. The winning entry{{emdash}}by Craig Cremer of Ozark{{emdash}}was picked out of 65,000 submissions. Cremer says the kid-friendly name was derived from a combination of the [[Ozark Mountains]] and the [[Ride the Ducks]] boat ride in [[Branson, Missouri|Branson]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-springfield-news-leader-mountain-duc/152873316/|title=Mountain Ducks Make Nest in Ozark|first=Scott|last=Puryear|website=Springfield News-Leader}}</ref>

The Mountain Ducks played their inaugural game on May 27, 1999 on the road, a 7-4 loss to the [[Amarillo Dillas]]. Their first home game came two weeks later on June 10 in front of 4,764 people, a 5-2 loss, also against Amarillo.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-springfield-news-leader-ducks-come-u/107040496/|title=Ducks Come Up Short|first=Eric|last=Bailey|website=Springfield News-Leader}}</ref>

Success on the field was hard to come by for the team. The Mountain Ducks only made the postseason one time during its tenure, a first round exit in 2000.

Two players with Major League experience played for Springfield-Ozark: Outfielder [[Mel Hall]] (2002) played 13 seasons, mostly with the [[Cleveland Guardians|Cleveland Indians]] and [[New York Yankees]] and Pitcher Mike Smith (1999-2001). Smith played in 15 games over two seasons with the [[Baltimore Orioles]].<ref>{{Cite web | title=Mike Smith  Minor, Mexican & Independent Leagues Statistics {{!}} Baseball-Reference.com | url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=smith-006mic | access-date=2024-12-20 | website=www.baseball-reference.com}}</ref>

The team joined the [[Frontier League]] in 2004. The Mountain Ducks rights to the club's spot in the CBL were sold in 2004 to the [[Pensacola Pelicans]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ccheadliner.com/stories/horn-chen-sells-ducks,86205|title=Horn Chen sells Ducks|first=Ron|last=Schott |website=Christian County Headliner News}}</ref> of the discontinued [[Southeastern League]].

The franchise's time in Ozark ended for good after only one season in the Frontier League once hotel magnate John Q. Hammons purchased the rights to the Double-A [[Texas League]]'s [[El Paso Diablos]], renamed them the [[Springfield Cardinals|Cardinals]] and moved them to downtown [[Springfield, Missouri|Springfield]]. The Ducks moved to Ohio/Indiana and were renamed the [[Ohio Valley Redcoats]]