The Frederick Keys are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. The Keys are based in Frederick, Maryland. The franchise is named for "Star-Spangled Banner" writer Francis Scott Key, a native of Frederick County. A new team mascot "Frank Key", short for Francis Scott Key, joined the current mascot, a coyote named Keyote, at the beginning of the 2011 baseball season. The Keys were purchased from Maryland Baseball Holding, LLC by Attain Sports and Entertainment in January 2022. Home games are played at Harry Grove Stadium. Prior to Major League Baseball's reorganization of the minor leagues following the 2020 season, the Keys were a Minor League Baseball team that served as the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles from 1989 to 2020. Early professional baseball in Frederick Frederick was one of the founding members of the Blue Ridge League, which existed from 1915 to 1930. The team, which went by the names of Hustlers, Champs and Warriors, won league championships in 1915 and 1921. Games were played at the Frederick Fairgrounds until 1924 when McCurdy Field was built. With the collapse of the Blue Ridge League in 1931, it would be several decades before professional baseball returned to Frederick. Frederick players from this era who were major leaguers: Clyde Barnhart: 1915, 1916, 1917 Tom Connolly: 1915 Bill Lamar: 1915 Leo Meyer: 1916 Tom Crooke: 1917 Clarence Blethen: 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923 Ray Gardner: 1920, 1922, 1923, 1925 Ray Hartranft: 1920 Duke Sedgwick: 1922 Jim Keesey: 1923 Norm McNeil: 1923 Bobby Schang: 1923 Chick Fullis: 1924, 1925, 1926 Karl Kolseth: 1924 Bill Hohman: 1924 Rollie Hemsley: 1925, 1926, 1927 Larry Boerner:1926 Jimmie DeShong:1928 Joe Vosmik: 1929 Milt Galatzer: 1930 Bill Perrin: 1930 Debut The team was founded in 1989 when the Baltimore Orioles decided to move their Class A affiliate from Hagerstown, Maryland. The city of Frederick convinced the owners of the then-Hagerstown Suns to move the team to Frederick and promised a 4,000-seat stadium to be built for the 1990 season. For the 1989 season, the Keys played at McCurdy Field, a Babe Ruth League stadium, while waiting for the construction of the new stadium to be completed. The Keys opened by losing both ends of a doubleheader (including a seven-inning perfect game by Dennis Burlingame) against the Durham Bulls. Their first win came on April 11, 1989, with a 3–1 victory over the Kinston Indians