minorleaguebaseball Page 16 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Red Sox Pitcher Clocked At 111 MPH (While Driving Drunk)
That would be Sidd Finch territory, if it was the speed of his fastball and not the speed of his pickup truck....
Straight From 1984, Here's The Disco Version Of "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" That Never Quite Caught On
A reader named Brian, presumably going through his old VHS tapes, has been uploading a number of old Virginia news broadcasts. He sent along this one, a 1984 broadcast from Hampton Roads station WAVY-10, about the Tidewater Tides (then the Mets AAA affiliate) and a local band trying to update the ...
Who Is The Blurry Guy In This Photo, And Why Did Manny Ramirez Steal His Pants? The Long Baseball Life Of "The Machete"
After Roger Clemens's first start in the Atlantic League, the Associated Press sent across the wires a photo of him in the middle of his lumpy follow-through, pitching to an out-of-focus batter at the plate. The Hall of Famer, of course, had dropped in to pitch for the Sugar Land Skeeters; his oppon...
Red Sox Farmhand Flips Over Wall To Wall To Make Grand Slam-Denying Catch
Jason Repko has spent the bulk of his 13-year career in professional baseball in the minor leagues, and he's logged much of that time in Triple-A, most of it with the Dodgers organization. He played in more than 50 games for the Twins in both 2010 and 2011 before signing a free-agent deal with the R...
Minor Leaguer Plays All Nine Positions In Nine-Inning Game
After he played every position in the field in a single game over the weekend, you could say Indians farmhand Justin Toole is a nine-toole player, but only if you want to get punched in the kidney....
Phillies Prospect Makes Home-Run Robbing Catch
That's Derrick Mitchell of the Triple-A Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs reaching above the wall to take away a home run from Toledo Mud Hens catcher Brad Davis in the eighth inning last night. The Express-Times of Easton (Pa.) said it was one of two outstanding catches Mitchell made during the game. We're...
The Mariners' Double-A Team, Including Felix Hernandez's Brother, Went Nutso When Felix Finished His Perfect Game
Batting practice for the Jackson (Tenn.) Generals ground to a halt yesterday afternoon, as Felix Hernandez closed in on his first career perfecto. The end of the game was played on the scoreboard, and the Mariners' AA affiliate gathered in left field to watch the final few pitches. When Sean Rodri...
Carlton Banks Makes Appearance At Iowa Minor League Park, Reads "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" From His Phone
Poor Carlton Banks. He went to Princeton, backed by a large family fortune, but that wasn't enough for him. Somewhere along the line he fell on hard times—2008 felled so many titans—and had to resort to doing personal appearances at single-A baseball games in Iowa....
Visual Confirmation That Mario Seneca Is The Most Sensitive Umpire In Baseball History
Last night, we told you about minor league umpire Mario Seneca, who ejected the music guy/college intern working for the high-A Daytona Cubs for playing "Three Blind Mice" after a questionable call. Today, video of the incident has surfaced (thanks to the Daytona Cubs themselves) and it confirms o...
Minor League Umpire Ejects Ballpark Music Guy For Playing "Three Blind Mice"
If there's one thing umpires love more than ejecting players, it's ejecting non-players. That goes for managers but also fans, mascots, and other ballpark patrons. Tommy Lasorda once complained to umpire Bob Davidson that Youppi!, the Montreal Expos mascot, was jumping up and down on his dugout. (Da...
Shaq Thompson Returns To Football After The Worst Minor League Career Imaginable
There is something unique about hitting a baseball: the assumption of failure. A batter can fail at his job two out of three times, and do it for 15 years, and he'll make the Hall of Fame. Baseball is a sport designed for only occasional success, even for its most skilled practitioners....
Minor Independent League Baseball Is Just The Weirdest
The New Jersey Jackals hosted the Gary South Shore Railcats for a double header yesterday that was suspended due to fireworks. Every Saturday is fireworks night at the Railcats ballpark and it was put into serious jeopardy because of the doubleheader and a local noise ordinance. Rather than run the...
Shaq Thompson Update: Shaq Has An At-Bat Where He Doesn't Strike Out!
Red Sox prospect and UW football recruit Shaq Thompson is putting together one of the all-time great stat sheets. Coming into today, Thompson was 0-for-37, with 36 strikeouts in his short career. (He'll start at safety for the Huskies in the fall.) We're committed to providing you the latest Shaq Th...
Shaq Thompson Update: Strikes Out Five Times, Is Now 0-For-37 With 36 Ks
We told you yesterday about Shaq Thompson, the UW football recruit who is giving baseball a go in the Red Sox system. His career stats, since being drafted by Boston in the 18th round, are incredible: Not a single hit, and all but one of his outs have been strikeouts. (To be totally fair, he has sev...
A Red Sox Prospect Is Putting Together The Most Amazing Season Ever
This afternoon, the Gulf Coast League Red Sox took on the GCL Rays. The Sox' starting center fielder, Shaq Green-Thompson, had a rough day, going 0-for-5 with five strikeouts. Yesterday, Green-Thompson pinch hit, and struck out in his only appearance. Back on July 13, Green Thompson went 0-for-2 wit...
Minor League Mascot Eats It In ATV Crash
Rip Tide, blue fursuited embodiment of the Triple A Norfolk Tides, was out for his usual four-wheeler cruise around the stadium when he took the right field turn a little too sharp. Rip Tide was unharmed but embarrassed (especially when he couldn't get his ATV running again), and I think The Oriol...
Minor League Team To Hold "Atheist Night"
We've got a whole tagpage of oddball promotions by the independent St. Paul Saints, but this is probably the first one that runs the risk of excommunication. It's not called Atheist Night—it's actually called "A Night of Unbelievable Fun"—but when the Amarillo Sox come to town next month, the home t...
Baseball Player Who Said He'd Never Live In Racist South Carolina Assigned To South Carolina Team
Outfielder Robert Refsnyder, who was born in South Korea, took some heckling from South Carolina fans at the College World Series last month when his Arizona Wildcats beat the Gamecocks. Refsnyder ran to Twitter and declared he "will never live in South Carolina because they can't accept Asians play...
![The World's Craziest Home Run Derby Was A Rousing Success [UPDATE]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/17sfwc5jdgdesjpg.jpg)
The World's Craziest Home Run Derby Was A Rousing Success [UPDATE]
We gave you fair warning about the world's weirdest Home Run Derby a few days ago, the one with the on-field party, live entertainment, and trampoline in left field, among other attractions. Well, lest you think that was all just bluster and hype, here's a photo of Ryan Petzar of 97.3 ESPN Radio try...
A Dispatch From "Williamsburg Night" At The Brooklyn Cyclones Game
Last week, we treated you to a lovely photo essay from the Brooklyn Cyclones' "Williamsburg Night."...