The Vermont Lake Monsters are a collegiate summer baseball team located in Burlington, Vermont. From 1994 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's New York–Penn League (NYPL). They play their home games at Centennial Field, one of the oldest minor league stadiums, on the campus of the University of Vermont. The team was previously located in Jamestown, New York, (as the Jamestown Expos) from 1977 to 1993. With Major League Baseball's reorganization of the minor leagues after the 2020 season, Vermont was not selected to continue in affiliated baseball. In 2021, the team joined the Futures Collegiate Baseball League. History Early teams The Vermont Lake Monsters were preceded in Burlington by a Burlington team in the Northeastern League (1887), a Burlington team in the Northern New York League (1903–1905), the Burlington Burlingtons of the Vermont State League/New Hampshire State League (1907) and Burlington A's of the Provincial League (baseball) (1955). After a gap in between hosting minor league teams, the Vermont Reds and Vermont Mariners of the Eastern League (1984-1988) directly preceded the Vermont Expos. Montreal Expos (1993–2004) In 1993, Burlington businessman Ray Pecor, Jr., the owner of Lake Champlain Transportation Company in Burlington since 1976, purchased the Jamestown Expos and moved the franchise to Burlington, retaining the Expos name. The Vermont Expos played their first game at Centennial Field on June 16, 1994. More than 5,000 people attended the home opener—a 6-5 loss to the Pittsfield Mets. Washington Nationals (2005–2010) The Montreal Expos announced on September 29, 2004, that they would move to Washington, D.C., after the 2004 season. They would rename themselves the Washington Nationals. Minor League Baseball gives clubs 60 days after the end of the season to change their names and logos. Vermont did not have enough time for an identity change and retained the Expos nickname for the 2005 season. During the 2005 season, the club announced its plan to change the nickname and solicited suggestions from its fans. The team received 30,000 fan suggestions for the new name via a name-the-team contest. The New York Times reported that the two leading contenders were "Green Mountain Boys" and "Lakemonsters". At the end of the contest, the winning name was "Champs", but as the team had not made the playoffs at that point since 1995, management did not think it was appropriate. They announced the new name, "Lake Monsters", and revealed the new team