minor-league Page 20 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
The New Best Place For A Home Run Derby: An Aircraft Carrier
This morning I lamented that our country is falling woefully behind in the "playing sports where sports aren't meant to be played" arms race. Several readers were quick to point out that I was wrong, and America continues to rock faces. Yesterday, the Class A South Atlantic League held the first r...
Heavy Wind Nearly Propels Grounds Crew Worker Into Orbit
Keep your eye on back row of grounds crew workers in the video above, specifically the fourth person from the left. Even if you can't find him right away, you certainly will by the six-second mark, when the wind launches him several feet off the ground. That's Kyle Smith, the general manager of th...
Minor League Home Run Derby To Be Held On Flight Deck Of Old Aircraft Carrier
The Naval aircraft carrier USS Yorktown participated in Pacific Theater battle campaigns during both World War II and the Vietnam War. Next month, the old battleship will serve as a launching pad of a different kind....
Down And Out In Baseball's Indie Leagues; Or, What Made Tommy John Want To Rake The Infield?
A dispatch from our correspondent with the Bridgeport Bluefish, an unaffiliated team in the Atlantic League....
Wally Backman Says "Fuck" 35 Times In Postgame Speech That Lasts Less Than Two Minutes
When last we left minor league manager Wally Backman, he was swearing at umpires, swearing at his own team, and swearing at umpires some more. So, yeah, this latest clip of Wally working his motivational charms is decidedly NSFW....
The D Train Is Off The Rails: Dontrelle Willis Goes AWOL From Orioles' AAA Team
Look at that tall left-handed man up there. Does he look happy to you? Or does he look like an irritated guest of that cartoon bird?...
Man Charged With "Felony Secret Peeping" For Hiding Camera In Minor League Locker Room
The Carolina Mudcats are the Indians' single-A affiliate, and as a single-A baseball team may not have much in the way of locker room security. But staff members noticed an unfamiliar face poking around the visitors' locker room during a game Tuesday night—a man claiming to be a cleaning employee....
Minor League Baseball: The Last Bastion Of Acceptable Exploitation In Professional Sports (Not Counting The NCAA)
For every top-flight prospect apprenticing in the minors after receiving a multi-million dollar signing bonus, hundreds of players are drafted every year and get $1,000, tops. Salaries start at $1,100 a month, and the checks only come for half a year. As Lily Rothman says over at Slate, most of thes...
AHL Player Turns Into Crazy Person, Decides To Fight Everybody And Their Goalie
Steve MacIntyre is one of those guys who's always up and down from the NHL, and garners more penalty minutes than scoring chances. So, even with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, he's exactly the sort you'd expect to completely lose his mind and challenge the entire opposing team to a fight. All...
Minor Leaguer Suspended For Refusing Drug Test Says Testers Went To The Wrong Address: "I'm 28 Years Old. I Don't Live With My Mom!"
Yesterday, MLB announced that minor leaguer Justin Dowdy is suspended for 50 games for refusing to take a drug test. Dowdy, a former White Sox pick who spent most of last season with the Giants' AAA Fresno Grizzlies, signed last month with the independent Grand Prairie (Texas) AirHogs and so will ha...
Here's How You Get A 50-Game Suspension Without Failing A Drug Test
Refuse to take one! Deceptively simple. Via Hardball Talk:...
Goalies Fight In Minor League Hockey Brawl, Announcers Herald "Mass Hysteria"
Half the fun of this brawl between the Bakersfield Condors and the Ontario Reign last night is, obviously, the brawl itself—which included the goalies. The other half is the announcers' slow descent into giddy madness, including tossing out quotes from Ghostbusters. One of the goalies shamefully k...
Ladies And Gentlemen, The Cubs Of Tomorrow
The Idaho Cubs, presented without comment, but with "Party Rock Anthem." [via Big League Stew]...
Watch A Canadian Junior Hockey Team Humiliate Team And Country With A Bieber Christmas Song
Ladies and germs, the Edmonton Oil Kings with "All I Want For Christmas" featuring Mariah Carey, Justin Bieber and bunch of fellows who want to grow up and be the next Tomas Vincour....
Meet The Minor Leaguer And Scam Artist Who Sold A Pittsburgh Pirate To Australia
Surely it was a surprising development when Pirates outfielder Xavier Paul agreed to sign with the Brisbane Bandits of the Australian Baseball League this season. But his agent dotted the I's and crossed the T's, and Brisbane rolled out the red carpet for Paul to make his debut last week....
Scenes From The Arizona Fall League: Lizards Go Down Easier With Mountain Dew
Baseball is boring. Being a pitcher is worse. Being a reliever on an Arizona Fall League team with a 20-man bullpen leaves you with so much free time, you're probably insane if you don't spend your afternoons swallowing geckos....
Waitress Says Minor Leaguer Groped Her, Actually Said "Do You Know Who I Am? I Play For The ValleyCats"
Right, maybe we have glorified athletes too much in this country when a Short-Season A ballplayer feels empowered enough to pull the old "Do you know who am?" That's what one member of the Tri-City ValleyCats (a Houston Astros affiliate) allegedly told a waitress after grabbing her chest and behind ...
The Tobacco Farmer With The "Ol' Soupbone" And The Baseball Achievement That Will Last Forever
SI's Chris Ballard and Kotaku's Owen Good have teamed up to tell the story of minor-league pitcher Jack Swift, whose last-chance season and remarkable feats from 60 years ago are only now becoming known. You should go read it. [Sports Illustrated]...
Somebody Stole A Minor-League Baseball Mascot's Head And That Makes People Sad
"'Stomper' the bear disappeared from All Pro Freight Stadium in Avon [Ohio] sometime last month. With eight games left to go in the season, fans immediately took notice. 'He's a little overweight and that keeps him warm in the winters. He's fun-loving and loves to dance,' said Crushers V.P. Dan He...
The Newark Bears Will Celebrate Jim Leyritz Night With A $2,000 M.A.D.D. Donation And A Beer Pong Tournament
Even without mixed drinks, it sends mixed signals. A year ago, Leyritz was found innocent of felony manslaughter, but guilty of DUI in a 2007 crash....