BigEd76 329 Posted February 4 Kane County will be joining the American Association partner league https://www.americanassociationbaseball.com/american-association-welcomes-kane-county-cougars/ 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DNAsports 6,111 Posted February 4 Hagerstown is back in baseball. Under conditional approval to join the Atlantic League 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TBGKon 2,681 Posted February 4 2 hours ago, DNAsports said: Hagerstown is back in baseball. Under conditional approval to join the Atlantic League Conditionally based upon the construction of a new ballpark. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DNAsports 6,111 Posted February 4 55 minutes ago, TBGKon said: Conditionally based upon the construction of a new ballpark. Supposedly the new ballpark was already in the plans for Hagerstown before the MiLB contraction 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dilbert 966 Posted February 4 2 hours ago, DNAsports said: Supposedly the new ballpark was already in the plans for Hagerstown before the MiLB contraction They have been trying for years to get a new stadium in Hagerstown with no luck. Maybe now is the time. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Red-Knight 8 Posted February 12 Rumor is MLB will be announcing new league names today. Appears they are scrapping all the old names for more generic geographic identifiers like "Triple-A East League" instead of the "International league." 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
buzzcut 281 Posted February 12 6 minutes ago, Red-Knight said: Rumor is MLB will be announcing new league names today. Appears they are scrapping all the old names for more generic geographic identifiers like "Triple-A East League" instead of the "International league." Bill the Cat, your thoughts? Exactly. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
buzzcut 281 Posted February 12 30 minutes ago, buzzcut said: Bill the Cat, your thoughts? Exactly. The full alignment. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TBGKon 2,681 Posted February 12 4 minutes ago, buzzcut said: The full alignment. JFC - The names are BS - Why a 20-team Triple A East? Break off the Southeast Division and toss in Louisville and you could've had a 12-8-10 split. -The uneven division breakdowns in High A East and Low A Southeast baffle me. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
raysox 2,568 Posted February 12 Better geographical alignment like Ashveille and Bowling Green in the same division as Brooklyn and Hudson Valley 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
QCS 2,802 Posted February 12 Looking at that alignment, it sucks for three reasons: 1) This whole realignment was completely unnecessary. 2) Losing classic names like the International League, South Atlantic League, and Texas League for garbage like Triple-A East sucks. 3) At least one rivalry is getting ruined - Hickory and Kannapolis, as part of the SAL, had a rivalry because of how close they were geographically, but now they won't even play each other. What a stupid way to ruin Minor League Baseball. I'm glad that the Knights remained at Triple-A and we didn't lose any NC teams, but it seriously sucks to see teams like San Antonio and Fresno screwed out of their Triple-A status. 9 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rams80 4,278 Posted February 12 Taunt the scouts at every game. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
raysox 2,568 Posted February 12 4 minutes ago, QCS said: What a stupid way to ruin Minor League Baseball. I'm glad that the Knights remained at Triple-A and we didn't lose any NC teams, but it seriously sucks to see teams like San Antonio and Fresno screwed out of their Triple-A status. The Baby Cakes moved to Wichita for the promise of a new AAA stadium, then got relegated to AA before they could play a game! 10 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sodboy13 5,761 Posted February 12 I would say that the carpet-bombing of league identities is a prelude to selling corporate naming rights to each league, and maybe it is. But I think MLB's true endgame here is abandoning the minors entirely, and replacing the whole system with taxi squads like we saw in 2020. Everything outside of that is something someone else can pay for. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nickp91 97 Posted February 12 I bet we'll see something like "Sony League" and the "Wendy's League" 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brian in Boston 2,825 Posted February 12 The first professional sporting event I ever attended was Game 5 of the 1973 Junior World Series at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. It was a Friday night game and I remember being thrilled that I not only got to spend the evening with my Grampa at the ballpark, but that I was being allowed to stay up late and travel all the way to Rhode Island... from 36 miles away in Massachusetts. The Paw Sox brought home the title that night, beating the Tulsa Oilers 5-2 and closing out a 4-1 series win. A rookie by the name of Jim Rice hit a 3-run, first-pitch homer in the third inning. Paw Sox games became a pretty regular part of my youth after that, so making my way to McCoy had become "old hat" by the time my friend Rob, his father, and I set out for the ballpark about six months shy of eight years later. It was Saturday, April 18, 1981 and there would be nothing ordinary about that trip to Pawtucket. Little did we know that the game's start would be delayed by a half-hour due to problems with the ballpark's lights... or, that once the game had gotten underway, it would take 33 innings and nearly 8-1/2 hours of play over three calendar days to determine a winner. Rob, his dad, and I were there for every minute of the longest professional baseball game ever played. As a kid, I'd always dreamed of making sports history one day; I never dreamed I'd do so as a spectator. Man, I had some explaining to do to my mother when I walked into my house at quarter-of-five on Easter morning of 1981. Early in my professional career, I covered MiLB teams including the Columbia Mets, the Williamsport Bills, and the Paw Sox. Though I moved onto pursuits outside of sports journalism, I maintain friendships that I made at those stops - and in the many MiLB communities where opponents of those teams played - to this very day. With all of that in mind... F*** Rob Manfred, f*** Major League Baseball, and f*** what the soulless automatons running the big leagues have done to Minor League Baseball. Nearly 120 years of history, longstanding community ties, and - in some cases - the livelihoods of team and league employees moved about like pieces on a game board... if not outright eliminated. I'm through with the sport. 6 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rams80 4,278 Posted February 12 I'm not through with the minor league edition of the sport, but I'm damn well gonna start yelling at the guys with the speed guns and note-taking devices the second I see a runner get thrown out on a pointless steal attempt or on the third consecutive pickoff attempt without a pitch or the intentional walk to set up a double play. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dilbert 966 Posted February 12 From what Ive seen the names may not be going away, that supposedly MLB hasnt decided on keeping the names or not but this is just the geographical alignment. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sc49erfan15 2,387 Posted February 13 23 hours ago, Dilbert said: From what Ive seen the names may not be going away, that supposedly MLB hasnt decided on keeping the names or not but this is just the geographical alignment. I sure hope this is true - taking the names away doesn't make a damned bit of sense. If for some reason they decide to continue with the generic names, I'd like to think they'd come to their senses and revert back in a year or two. ...but then again, this is MLB we're talking about here, so I'm probably wrong. 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
the admiral 29,042 Posted February 13 That one guy is mad about the fate of the Vermont Lake Monsters again. That may have been a tactical error on MLB's part. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
