Calling it insurance if a new El Paso ballpark is not completed in 2014, MountainStar Sports Group has extended the lease for Kino Stadium with Tucson for next season. MountainStar Sports Group purchased the Tucson Padres (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) and plans to move the team to El Paso next season. Now, no one […]
Archive | Minor-League Baseball
Astros, Angels dominating MiLB postseason
Normally we don’t cover MiLB games, but this is worth noting: the Houston Astros have six affiliates playing in the postseason, while the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Washington Nationals have four. It’s not unheard-of for a MLB team to put six teams in the MiLB postseason, but it’s not a frequent occurrence, […]
C-Tigers set attendance records
More changes in the record books: the Connecticut Tigers (short season A; New York-Penn League) set season and individual game attendance records in 2013. The Tigers saw an 18 percent increase in total attendance and 15 percent increase in average attendance during the regular season. On Aug. 30, 6,008 fans packed Dodd Stadium to see […]
Ennui in Syracuse
With the Syracuse Chiefs (Class AAA; International League) posting a losing record and failing to attract large crowds to NBT Bank Stadium, there’s some dissatisfaction with baseball in the city. Post-Standard columnist Bud Poliquin lays out an indictment of how the Chiefs are run. Some of his complaints, having to do with the quality of […]
More records fall, this time toppled by Bradenton Marauders
Another attendance record in the books: Helped by a $10-million renovation of McKechnie Field, the Bradenton Marauders (High Class A; Florida State League) set franchise records for overall attendance and average attendance. At the end of the day, 109,845 fans attended Marauders games this season, an average of 1,772 per game in the fourth season […]
Scrappers record highest attendance since 2008
Another good attendance story: the Mahoning Valley Scrappers (short season A; New York-Penn League) recorded the biggest increase in per-game attendance in team history. The Scrappers had an increase of 317 fans per game over the 2012 season (36 games total), with 4,642 more fans attending Scrappers games at Eastwood Field during the 2013 season […]
SWB RailRiders tally best attendance since 2008
The power of a basically new ballpark: The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Class AAA; International League) drew 435,839 fans to PNC Field this season, the best year at the gate since 2008. In addition to the baseball attendance, a franchise-record 61 special events beyond baseball boosted the season-long attendance figure to 462,052. With the ability to host […]
Silver Hawks double attendance since 2011
Another attendance milestone: the South Bend Silver Hawks (Low Class A; Midwest League) recorded total attendance of 237,448 this season, twice the 2011 total of 112,795. Total attendance for 2013 is up 25 percent from 2012’s total attendance of 189,575. The 2013 season is the second-highest regular-season attendance in Silver Hawks’ franchise history. The highest, […]
Charleston, Greensboro pace 2013 South Atlantic League awards
The best in Low Class A South Atlantic League front offices were honored in the 2013 South Atlantic League Outstanding Achievement Awards, as announced by President Eric Krupa. All 14 teams, along with the field managers and umpires, participated in the voting for these awards. Club Merit Award: The Greensboro Grasshoppers have been selected as […]
Aeros notch best attendance since 2009
New ownership makes a difference: the Akron Aeros (Class AA; Eastern League) finished the 2013 home schedule with 295,459 fans in 70 openings — the first attendance increase since 2011 and the most fans at Canal Park since the total of 316,836 in 2009. The Aeros ended up with a per-game average of 4,220. “The […]
Flying Squirrels claim Eastern League attendance title
Full-season leagues wrapped up their seasons yesterday. In the Double-A Eastern League, the Richmond Flying Squirrels claimed the circuit’s attendance title for the first time since 2010. The MiLB regular season isn’t done yet — the Pioneer League ends next weekend — but the full-season leagues are entering the playoffs. In Richmond, where the postseason […]
Final home game tonight for Tucson Padres
Tucson’s latest run at Triple-A baseball ends tonight, as the Tucson Padres (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) play their final game at Kino Stadium before a departure to El Paso. This time the departure is a little different; the T-Padres were always a short-term plant at Kino Stadium, so while there was hope the team […]
What could have been: Cereal City Krunch
Almost every team has an unused alt logo or alternative team name. Here’s a fascinating one: the unused logo for the Cereal City Krunch, which would have been adopted if the Southwest Michigan Devil Rays (Low Class A; Midwest League) had stayed in the Cereal City. You probably don’t know the backstory. Back in the […]