Like Apprenticeship Programs or Artistic Pursuits: Minor League Baseball reporting 2017

i wouldn't put it past some teams, but this one seems to legitimately have no sense of humor (or understanding of twitter)

https://deadspin.com/an-interview-with-the-man-who-enraged-a-minor-league-ba-1835915356

the real question is when will some other team take advantage by doing a chubs night

does Bald Knob, AR have an mlb affiliate?

no, but

http://www.khop.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/1137/2016/04/Modesto-Nuts-300.jpg

attended my first Vancouver Canadians (short season A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays playing in the Northwest League) game of the season last night and left at the 7th inning stretch, missing all 5 of the Canadians runs - I had seen all 6 of the Hillsboro Hops' runs at least.

the dodgers have two teams in the arizona rookie league this summer: Team Mota and Team Lasorda

it’s a metsaphor

The fireworks for the St. Lucie Mets did not go well tonight at First Data Field. They set a fire outside the stadium.

Photos from Shannon Cullen pic.twitter.com/KaALifPeki

— Michael Mayer (@mikemayerMMO) July 5, 2019

ablazin'

gavin lux is a 21yo shortstop in the dodgers system; he was promoted to triple-a oklahoma city three weeks ago. these are the results of his first 15 games:

3-for-4, 2B
1-for-2, 2B
4-for-6, HR, 2 2B, 2 RBI
1-for-5, 2B, RBI
1-for-3
4-for-6, RBI
1-for-3, 3B
2-for-4, 2B, 4 RBI
2-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI
1-for-3, 3B
2-for-4, HR, RBI
1-for-3, HR, RBI
4-for-5, HR, 2 RBI
2-for-4, 2 HR, 5 RBI
4-for-5, HR, 2 2B, 2 RBI

33-for-62 (.524), 7 HR, 2 3B, 9 2B, 21 RBI, 24 R, 12 K, 7 BB

i mean yes the ball is juiced and the PCL is a hitters league, but jfc

sweet name, too

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D_2l7zjWsAACL7M.jpg

i, i...

ayiyi

Because of travel difficulties, the Nats have all but abandoned Fresno as a legitimate place to keep fringe major league players whom they could need on short notice https://t.co/smoGYO8Z3B

— Dan Steinberg (@dcsportsbog) August 6, 2019

lol, no shit...?

sadly, these guys aren't available either:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaii_Islanders

!!!

Major league affiliations
Previous

...

Washington Senators (1965–1967)

...

i don't know if being in double-a when they should otherwise be in triple-a affects players' salaries. maybe if they're on the 40-man it doesn't matter?

https://i.imgur.com/WOANMjF.jpg

what is even the point

Fan dies during taco-eating contest at Fresno Grizzlies baseball game https://t.co/7G1GqkkYfN

— L.A. Times Sports (@latimessports) August 14, 2019

i guess he died doing what he loved

still a grisly end

if you're going to die in a taco-eating contest, it would be nice to at least do it in the privacy of one's own bathtub

Harvey in Vegas

https://nypost.com/2019/08/18/matt-harvey-was-really-nervous-for-his-minor-league-start/

https://i.imgur.com/MgdHshb.jpg

morbs might need one of these jerseys

we have a Game 141 today: scranton/wilkes-barre (NYY) and syracuse (NYM) are playing a one-game tiebreaker for the international league north title

mets are up 6-0 in the third with ervin santana on the mound

https://i.imgur.com/JM5LfgO.png

pretty crazy game tbh

#fuckthemercyrule

scranton won, 14-13. erstwhile brewers playoff hero erik kratz delivered the go-ahead two-run double in the eighth

wow awesome.

Brooklyn Cyclones one win away from NY Penn League flag, and i am pondering whether to invest in $5 tickets tonight or (if nec) tom'w

Travis Sawchik: are minor leagues necessary?

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/do-we-even-need-minor-league-baseball/

from a certain standpoint this is otm. certainly juan soto and casey mize don't need minor league baseball. and triple-a has never really been necessary -- it's more of a holding pen for the older replacement-level guys you need when someone gets hurt. the sheer number of transactions shifting players where they're needed seems to be rising all the time.

but i doubt that decreasing the footprint of the game is likely to have a good impact on its popularity. fewer (public) teams would present fewer opportunities, probably fewer draft rounds, and less of a reason for people to even try playing pro baseball. future kyler murrays aren't going to be any more attracted by spending development time in eternal spring training than they are by spending it in the minors.

also, minor league baseball draws 40m people a year; for reference, the nba and nhl draw in the low 20s. obviously the revenues are much smaller, but there's still money to be made as long as you can pay the players nothing and con municipalities into building ballparks.

most of that money goes to the minor league team owners, though, only a few of which are the MLB teams, and there's nothing MLB owners hate more than money they don't get a cut of. anyway the current Professional Baseball Agreement between MLB and the minors runs through 2020; could be interesting to see what happens then

https://deadspin.com/maybe-you-just-like-watching-baseball-games-1838013774

i think there's a difference between "they're not necessary" and "it's a good idea to have them in some form"

Sometimes baseball provides its own soundtrack. Here is the final out of the 2019 NYPL Championship Series, as heard if you were with us in park. Speakers on.... pic.twitter.com/7LxKtwSkR0

— Brooklyn Cyclones (@BKCyclones) September 11, 2019

ever wanted to be a league president?

https://www.teamworkonline.com/baseball-jobs/northwestleague/northwest-league/administration-general-management/northwest-league-president-1964379

5 balls, 2 strikes, walls are made of glue, 460 feet away except for one HR circle (also covered with glue) that's in the middle of center field, only weird or funny players allowed, no water or refreshments allowed for anyone in the stadium

oh, and anyone who plays in the league gets a MLB contract with the yankees stipulating that they must appear in at least five games

Two of Independent Professional Baseball’s oldest and most established Leagues are pleased to announce that they will join forces. Beginning with the 2020 season, five former members of the Can-Am League will merge into the Frontier League.

Members of the Frontier League and the new teams from the Can-Am League will make up the 14-team circuit. The New Jersey Jackals, Quebec Capitales, Rockland Boulders, Sussex County Miners and Trois-Rivieres Aigles will play in the Can-Am Division. The Washington Wild Things and Lake Erie Crushers will join the Division as well. The seven remaining teams, the Evansville Otters, Florence Freedom, Gateway Grizzlies, Joliet Slammers, Schaumburg Boomers, Southern Illinois Miners and the Windy City ThunderBolts, will compete in the Midwestern Division.

http://frontierleague.com/2019/10/16/frontier-league-can-am-league-to-join-forces

wau. this would completely change minor league baseball, which has been in a reasonably steady state for 60 years

An MLB proposal to Minor League Baseball would eliminate 42 minor league teams, reorganize the minors geographically and move the draft back to August@jjcoop36 has the full story https://t.co/2m2EbccoXS

— Kyle Glaser (@KyleAGlaser) October 18, 2019

http://www.fieldofschemes.com/2019/11/18/15466/mlbs-minor-league-hit-list-would-kill-42-teams-that-cities-spent-hundreds-of-millions-on-stadiums-for

nice little antitrust exemption you got there

In a response to MLB's MiLB proposal, 105 US Representatives sent a letter today to Commissioner Rob Manfred and all 30 MLB teams. pic.twitter.com/GSStK8NTwg

— JJ Cooper (@jjcoop36) November 19, 2019

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EJ2IBmkWwAAhE2b?format=jpg&name=small

we can all be legends

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EKQiDFIWoAEYa2X?format=jpg&name=small

apparently the most notable thing about worcester, massachusetts is that the smiley face was designed there

fact: the smiley face was invented when forrest gump washed mud off his face on a blank t-shirt while he was running across america because he didn't know how else to confront the pain of losing jenny once again

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EK4GPcDXsAACkCM?format=jpg&name=small

Get your tickets now to see Cole's inevitable rehab appearance with the @TrentonThunder in the 2020 Eastern League Playoffs 😂 https://t.co/NVLAwxWw4P

— New Hampshire Fisher Cats (@FisherCats) December 11, 2019

fuckin ouch

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-12-12/skelton-bernie-sanders-minor-league-baseball-california

...Sanders, who grew up a Dodgers fan in Brooklyn before the team moved to Los Angeles, was the mayor of Burlington, Vt., in 1984 when the town landed the Vermont Lake Monsters. Now they’re on the MLB strike list. The senator is on a crusade about it and has more than 100 members of Congress with him, including Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield), the House minority leader.

That’s a unique political alliance between a self-described democratic socialist and an unwavering supporter of President Trump.

In Burlington, Sanders told Shaikin, “What I saw with my own eyes is what minor league baseball does to a community. It is especially gratifying to see kids go out to the ballgames, families able to afford the relatively low price of tickets, and kids get autographs from players. There’s just a huge amount of excitement and community spirit….

“Major league owners have got to understand that this is not just a profit-making business. This is something that millions and millions of people, and kids, think about, pay attention to and feel strongly about.”

saw someone claiming that the dodgers leaving brooklyn was the foundational event of bernie's politics lol

meanwhile, #beef

MLB deputy commish Halem offers detailed look — photos, internal MiLB email — into MLB’s beef with minors. Says 42-team hit list is inaccurate.
The owners: ‘The problem with them, there is what they say publicly, and what they say privately is different.’https://t.co/Yrc1ofcihM

— Michael Silverman (@MikeSilvermanBB) December 11, 2019