Augusta's professional sports are in the middle of a dramatic shift. The city's minor league teams, which earned Augusta a No. 21 ranking in the nation among "Best Minor League Markets" in 2007, were hit hard by troubling economic times in 2008.

Some, such as the Augusta GreenJackets minor league baseball team, thrived, while others, including the Augusta Lynx hockey team, Augusta Colts indoor football team and Aiken Foxhounds independent baseball team, failed.

The GreenJackets, the Class A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, displayed a shining example of how to offer low-cost, family-friendly entertainment and found success both on and off the field.

The club, owned by Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr., broke a franchise record by bringing in more than 200,000 fans through Lake Olmstead Stadium's gates for the first time in the 21 consecutive years of minor league baseball in Augusta.

On the field, first-year manager Andy Skeels led the GreenJackets to the best record in all of full-season Minor League Baseball with a 93-50 mark that was good enough to hand Augusta a South Atlantic League Championship. The team won the second-half SAL title, then swept through the SAL playoffs with five consecutive wins to claim the league crown. In October 2008, Minor League Baseball named the GreenJackets the Minor League Baseball Overall Team of the Year.

The pitching staff led the GreenJackets' memorable season.

Under the direction of veteran pitching coach Ross Grimsley, the team posted an SAL-best 2.95 earned run average.

Madison Bumgarner, an 18-year-old lefty who finished high school in 2007, dominated the 2008 season with the best ERA in all of full-season affiliated baseball. Bumgarner was named the Most Outstanding Pitcher of the Year by Minor League Baseball. He was 15-3 overall with a 1.46 earned run average and 164 strikeouts in 141.2 innings pitched.

Offensively, infielder Angel Villalona started the season as a 17-year-old prospect but blossomed into a power hitter who earned a spot in the Major League Baseball All-Star Futures Game at Yankee Stadium. He hit a team-high 17 home runs.

Augusta's other professional sports teams fell on hard times in 2008.

After more than 10 years of minor league hockey in Augusta, the Augusta Lynx folded in December because of financial problems. The team reached the first round of the 2007-08 Kelly Cup Playoffs under head coach Bob Ferguson, then underwent a major overhaul in the offseason that included new NHL and American Hockey League affiliations, a new coach in John Marks and new team colors.

The Lynx were 6-10-2 when the team shut down Dec. 2. They won their final game in a 2-1 shootout over the Charlotte Checkers.

The Augusta Colts began their inaugural season in 2008. After the team's predecessor, the Augusta Spartans, shut down in 2007, the Colts emerged as the city's indoor football team as a member of the American Indoor Football Association.

The Colts went 7-7 under head coach Bubba Diggs, but the team entered into a voluntary suspension after the season ended and announced it will not field a team for the 2009 season.

Colts owner John Sisson has pledged to put a team back on the field in 2010.

The Aiken Foxhounds, an independent baseball team, went under when the South Coast League decided to shut down for the 2008 season.

Other franchises have jumped into Augusta to fill the void.

Two minor league basketball teams, the Augusta Groove of the Premier Basketball League and the Augusta Raging River of the United States Basketball Association, announced their intentions to begin play in 2009.

The Groove made arrangements to play at Richmond Academy during a regular season that will run from January to March, while the Raging River plan to play at James Brown Arena in a regular season that will begin in April and run through June.