The New York Yankees are exiting the Minor League Baseball world this offseason, according to several sources, as the team is in the process of selling the Staten Island Yankees (short season A; NY-Penn League) and its share of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (Class AAA; International League). The sale of the SWB Yankees was expected; the Yankees […]
Archive | Minor-League Baseball
Whitecaps extend naming-rights deal, will renovate ballpark
The home of the West Michigan Whitecaps (Low Class A; Midwest League) will continue to be called Fifth Third Ballpark after a 10-year naming-rights extension; meanwhile, the ballpark will receive a much-needed facelift. The agreement extends the original deal, which began in 1994 (as Old Kent Bank) when the ballpark opened and continued when Fifth […]
Keys, Frederick on verge of 10-year Harry Grove Stadium lease
If there’s been a worse procedure for a city to negotiate a ballpark lease than what’s been going on with the City of Frederick and the Frederick Keys (High Class A; Carolina League), we’ve not seen it. But there’s finally some light at the end of the tunnel, and a 10-year lease is expected to […]
K-Tribe season lingers on
The last season for the Kinston Indians (High Class A; Carolina League) — this iteration, at least — will linger on through the weekend, as the team is competing in the league’s Mills Cup Championship Series. The team was sold in the last offseason to Steve Bryant and crew, who will move the franchise to […]
Cordaro named PCL Executive of the Year
It’s been a good year for Omaha Storm Chasers Vice President/General Manager Martie Cordaro: besides opening Werner Park and revamping the franchise, he was also named the Pacific Coast League’s Executive of the Year. This is Cordaro’s second honor of 2011, after previously being named with President Alan Stein as Ballpark Digest’s Co-Executives of the […]
Burke, Vickers cited by Southern League
Frank Burke, President/GM of the Chattanooga Lookouts, and Marla Terranova Vickers, GM of the Montgomery Biscuits, were honored today by the Southern League for their 2011 accomplishments. Vickers was named the league’s Woman of Excellence, as voted upon by the league’s general managers. Burke was named Jimmy Bragan Executive of the Year, as voted upon […]
Goodman leaving River Bandits
Kirk Goodman, the energetic vice president/general manager of the Quad Cities River Bandits (Low Class A; Midwest League), is leaving the team before the end of the calendar year to pursue other interests; he’ll be replaced by Stefanie Brown. The team has scheduled a 3 p.m. press conference to discuss the departure. We hear his […]
Sky Sox set season attendance record
Another record broken: The Colorado Springs Sky Sox (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) shattered the team season-attendance mark set last year, drawing 339,009 fans to Security Service Field this season. The Sky Sox broke the record Saturday night when 7,863 fans descended on Security Service Field. The previous record was 328,003 fans, set last season […]
South Atlantic League announces year-end awards
Eric Krupa, president of the Low Class A South Atlantic League, announced the year-end awards for the 2011 season. Some pretty impressive names are on this list, attesting to the talent in the circuit. Club Merit Award: The Delmarva Shorebirds have been selected as the winner of this prestigious award, which is awarded for outstanding […]
Modesto Nuts set another season-attendance record
The Modesto Nuts (High Class A; California League) set a season attendance record for the fifth consecutive year, drawing 180,785 fans to John Thurman Field. The team broke the record on the last game of the season, when Patrick Watkins of Modesto walked through the turnstiles and became the 180,345th fan of the 2011 season. […]
Williams, Tanis win turf-manager awards
Mike Williams of the Charleston RiverDogs (Low Class A; Sally League) and Doug Tanis of the Winston-Salem Dash (High Class A; Carolina League) won turf-manager awards in their respective leagues, with Riley Park named Best Playing Field in the South Atlantic League. This is the second time in three years Williams, a former New York […]
Vegas sports complex moves forward — but baseball now on the back burner
A proposed sports complex in the Las Vegas area was green-lighted for future design studies and land negotiation by the Henderson City Council, but a new ballpark is now a secondary part of the project and not slated to be part of the initial construction. When developer Chris Milam announced a purchase of the Las […]
Rawhide set third consecutive attendance mark
We’ll be seeing a lot of stories like this the next few days, so let’s get rolling: the Visalia Rawhide (High Class A; California League) set a franchise attendance record for the third consecutive season in 2011. Visalia’s paid attendance of 118,065 for the season surpassed last year’s previous record of 108,681, and represents a […]