Minor League Baseball

[ebk57]

I need a Toasty S'Mores bobblehead!  The question is, how much am I willing to pay for it... 

[xaxat]

MLB was already set to contract MiLB, but with the pandemic, I worry that even more teams will be gone next year.

[xaxat]

It's official. The MiLB season has been canceled. (Although I think some independent leagues are still going to try to have a season.)

The pandemic induced negotiating environment probably means that the 40 teams scheduled for contraction have lost what little leverage they had. And the fans won't even get to say goodbye 😥.

[Lantern7]

From ESPN: Reflecting on the aborted MiLB season

[Lantern7]

 MILB celebrates National Dog Day, spotlights canines of the Minors. Also: a few facts on some noteworthy doggos.

[Lantern7]

The Yankees have cut ties with Trenton and Staten Island. Here’s an article about the latter. I know that the borough doesn’t get much sympathy, but this is a bit of a blow. St. George was supposed to be a tourist attraction. What we got: ferry terminal, small ballpark not scheduled to host games, a retail outlet that’s probably been affected by the pandemic, and a version of the London Eye that never materialized.

[Lantern7]

Staten Island Yankees shut down, sue the New York Yankees for abandoning them.

I should check in to see if an indy team would move here.

[KWalkerInc]

My town is going to be affiliated with the Giants for the first time next year (if they can play).  This will be weird, because although I went to some games and rooted for the local team as a kid, I've mostly now just gone to a game every once in a while to see Giants prospects.  We had to go twice in 2018 because I wanted to see Joey Bart and of course he'd been played so many days in a row he was off the first time.  At least we were behind the visiting dugout the second time, although some of the home fans were being obnoxious and some guy kept yelling "Down in front!" at 6'11" pitcher Sean Hjelle repeatedly even though no one in the dugout reacted and few fans seemed to find it funny.  I do feel bad for Salem-Keizer, which was the short-season affiliate for 20+ years and doesn't really understand why MLB demanded they be dropped.  They have a nice-looking stadium that we would pass by on the freeway en route to my sister's and back.

ETA: I should have said this is the first time affiliated with the Giants since well before I was born.  A list with an article in today's paper mentioned 1959-62, which I should have known from seeing on the back of some baseball cards.

Edited December 10, 2020 by KWalkerInc
Correction.

[xaxat]

 

[Lantern7]

35 minutes ago, xaxat said:

 

Damn.

 I’m trying to keep up with the local minors situation. I think Staten Island will be getting an Atlantic League team next year.

[Lantern7]

Palm Beach Cardinals don’t take facing rehabbing Mets pitchers that well. Very funny stuff.

[xaxat]

I knew that MLB owners were screwing over minor leaguers, but had no idea it was this bad. 

MLB overhauled the minors this season. Some advocates say it hasn’t been enough.

There's a player advocacy group cited in the article and they tweeted this.

You would think ownership would want to put players in situations that can help then succeed, but. . . 

 

Edited July 16, 2021 by xaxat

[Lantern7]

From Deadspin: 9/11 and the end of the New York-Penn season in 2001.

Edited September 12, 2021 by Lantern7

[Lantern7]

Checking . . . would the minors run if the MLB lockout continues?

I forgot to post about Staten Island getting an Atlantic League team. The nickname: FerryHawks. I can live with that.

[KWalkerInc]

I found a few articles from when the lockout started.  It looks like the minor leagues would play, with the only difference that players who are on the MLB club's 40-man roster couldn't participate.

[DXD526]

During the last work stoppage, in August of '94, the minor leagues kept playing and finished out the season. I remember it very well, because the city where I was living at the time had a minor league team at the time (I'm no longer living there, and it no longer has a minor league baseball team), and though there was no MLB on TV, I did get to see live Double 'A' BB. So if there's still a lockout come April, I assume the minor leagues would start up. If things go like they did in '95, MLB teams would go shopping for replacement players. 

The spring of '95 was interesting for baseball fans, to say the least. Spring training began like usual, only with replacement players. My favorite story from the time was about a player asking his manager that once the season began, did he still have to practice every day, or did he just have to come to the games?

Good times. 

[mojoween]

Mookie Wilson is going to throw out the first pitch at the Syracuse Mets game next Tuesday and then sign autographs and I don’t care about the Mets but Mookie Wilson eeeeee!  I might faint, because I am on PTO and there is no way I am missing this.

[xaxat]

It would be extremely difficult, but the minor leaguers really need to unionize. It is amazing how many ways they are exploited.

Nationals return clubhouse dues to minor leaguers after public backlash

Quote

Advocates for Minor Leaguers, a group pushing for better treatment in baseball’s lower ranks, tweeted Thursday that the Nationals, Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox had been collecting dues despite Major League Baseball eliminating them in November 2020.

And of course, nobody knows anything about how it happened.

[mojoween]

Went to the Syracuse Mets game (wearing an Aaron Judge jersey, why not?) and got to meet Mookie!  The Syracuse Mets president is a horrific picture taker so unfortunately I do not have a picture of me with Mookie, but I now have an autographed picture of Mookie Wilson signed by Mookie Wilson.

[xaxat]

Opinion: I’m a minor-league pitcher. Why can’t baseball pay a living wage?

Quote

Annual salaries for minor-league baseball players — there are about 7,000 of us — range between $4,800 at the rookie-ball levels to about $14,000 in Triple-A. We earn nothing during the offseason or in the grueling, seven-days-a-week spring training. In just the past week, we received our first paychecks since the end of the 2021 season. In 2019, the most recent season reported, Major League Baseball had $10.7 billion in revenue.

 

[xaxat]

Manfred has taken a lot of criticism for how he handled the lockout, but at least the players had a union to advocate on their behalf. 

What he did to the minor leagues was truly odious. MLB lobbied federal government to keep their right to pay sub-minimum wages under a law literally named "Save America's Pastime". Once it was passed MLB stripped dozens of minor leagues teams of their MLB affiliation. 

One thing I have wondered is why some maverick owner doesn't buck the system and actually invest in their minor league players. How much would it cost to provide them with nutrition experts/healthy training table options, safe and cheap housing etc. Kind of like how universities manage to. Unless you are fortunate enough to get a early round draft bonus, the minor leagues represent a step down in lifestyle for some after college.

[KWalkerInc]

I went to a minor league game tonight to see Marco Luciano, though I was afraid after his hot streak the past week that he would get moved up a level today.  (I had seen him last year, but he had just joined the team and was struggling at this level.)

One interesting but momentarily scary thing was when a foul ball was hit over the net toward the back of the stands--and landed in a baby carriage a few rows behind me.  Everyone was turned around and looking back with great concern.  The man there didn't seem concerned, but then realized everyone was looking and announced, "The baby isn't here."  I had kind of figured that since no one there was freaking out.  Then he took a picture of the ball in the carriage because he figured no one would believe him otherwise.

[Lantern7]

I went to see the FerryHawks on Memorial Day. Stands were not that full. I spent the first few innings entertaining myself by taking an ice cup from my soda cup, dropping it to the pavement, then seeing how fast it melted. "Pretty damn quickly" was the answer. I wound up bailing from my seat after about four innings.

It was a bit depressing. I thought the in-game music and other stuff was trying too hard. Game itself wasn't too eventful. I got to see the FerryHawks (managed by Mets legend Edgardo Alfonzo) see two batters go down . . . and the next guy bunted for a hit. And it worked. And then the next guy bunted. And the first guy scored on the subsequent throwing error.  FerryHawks wound up beating the High Point Rockers 7-3. Oh, and it turns out the local newspaper doesn't cover the games, so I couldn't clip out an article. I got photos, and I really need to get to sorting them out.

Meanwhile, one pitcher finds a novel way to lose a game. My question: why were the "Blue Wahoos" wearing red?

[xaxat]

Majority of minor league baseball players vote to support union, paving way for MLBPA membership

Good for them.

[shoregirl]

This has to be the one of the worst ways to lose a game. 

Here's how it happened

 

Edited April 9, 2023 by shoregirl

[Lantern7]

. . . and then the Trash Pandas gave up one hit in the second game. At least they won that one.

Giving up seven runs and no hits . . . there's precious little to compare that with, right? Even if the game is seven innings long . . . DAMN. You just know some of the equipment will be in Cooperstown eventually.

I've gotten a ticket to a Mets game. I haven't looked at the FerryHawks' schedule yet. I know their season starts in late April.

[KWalkerInc]

I know "Bark in the Park" events are not at all unusual now (there were some well-behaved dogs at a local game I attended last year), but the Sacramento River Cats are encouraging people to bring CATS to their game on Monday!  They said they have to be on leashes or in carriers and restricted to a hill beyond the outfield fence, but I don't know how well this is going to go.  Most cats are terrified to travel anywhere (thinking it will be the vet), and not necessarily thrilled to see each other up close.  I would be terrified of my cat escaping and never being seen again.  I will have to look to see if there are any details later about how many cats are in attendance or any photos.

[shoregirl]

The Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs had a "Saturday" game early in the season . People were allowed it bring their cats, I didn't hear anything bad so I'm assuming it went fine with them. They had special hats/jerseys that the signed and auctioned off for the Humane Society.

 

[KWalkerInc]

It looks like Jacksonville also had a cat event this season.  A newspaper posted some photos of people posing with their cats.  Some were holding kittens, while one featured a harnessed tiger-striped cat looking very content on its owner's lap in the lower seats.

I also found an article from a few years ago (the "Cut 4" section of mlb.com) where the writer pushed for more cat events at games and mentioned a couple from 2016 and '17.  There was a cat being held by a player who didn't look too happy (hissing), which made me laugh, but maybe that particular cat shouldn't have come out to the game.

https://www.mlb.com/cut4/cats-at-baseball-games

[Black Knight]

Cats vary wildly and I'm sure their humans know which ones can handle being at such events and which ones wouldn't enjoy it at all. A lot of the cats who were brought out probably participate in cat shows too (many have a household cat division). I go to a local cat show every year and the cats are very chill in their carriers and crates despite all the hubbub and people. Some people let you pet their cats, and there's a costume show at lunchtime.

[praeceptrix]

Any NY Boulders fans here?