2015 Best Marketing Campaign: Dayton Dragons, “Heaties”
The Dayton Dragons are certainly one of the top Minor League Baseball teams, and a big reason for that success is a commitment to customer service. A clear example of this is how the team treats season-ticket holders – making 2015’s “Heaties” initiative the best marketing campaign in this year’s Ballpark Digest Annual Awards. (more…)
AutoZone Park to host 2016 Triple-A Championship Game
AutoZone Park, home of the Memphis Redbirds, will host the 2016 Gildan Triple-A National Championship Game between Pacific Coast League and International League champs on Tuesday, September 20. (more…)
Harrisburg to mark 30 years of Senators
The Harrisburg Senators (Class AA; Eastern League) are marking 30 years as the Senators with a commemorative logo and a return of an old favorite, Uncle Slam. (more…)
Barons, White Sox extend affiliation deal
The Birmingham Barons (Class AA; Southern League) and parent Chicago White Sox have extended their player-development contract (PDC) through the 2020 season. (more…)
New for 2016: Winnipesaukee Muskrats
This name sounds like it should be in a song lyric, as the NECBL’s Laconia Muskrats are taking a more regional approach with a new moniker: the Winnipesaukee Muskrats. (more…)
2015 Best Ballpark Improvements: West Michigan Whitecaps
It was not an auspicious New Year for the West Michigan Whitecaps in 2014, when team management and ownership saw fire take out part of Fifth Third Ballpark on January 3. The resulting rebuilding of the ballpark over a two-year period earned the West Michigan Whitecaps Ballpark Digest’s Best Ballpark Improvements Award for 2015. (more…)
Big night for Chasers: charity, unis, PDC extension
Lots of news last night from the Omaha Storm Chasers (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) at the 5th Fest event: a PDC extension with the Kansas City Royals, new uniforms reflecting that relationship, and a rebranding of the team’s charitable organization. (more…)
Fisher Cats pitch ballpark improvements, lease extension
The New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Class AA; Eastern League) are offering to extend their Northeast Delta Dental Stadium lease through 2035 if the city agrees to spend money on what both sides agree are needed improvements. (more…)
New for 2016: BB&T Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field
We have another BB&T Ballpark in the baseball fold, as the acquisition of Susquehanna Bank means the banking giant has naming rights to the home of the Williamsport Crosscutters (short season A; NY-Penn League). (more…)
Bravehearts to host 2016 Futures League All-Star Game
The Worcester Bravehearts are hosting the 2016 Futures League All-Star Game at Hanover Insurance Park at Fitton Field as part of a two-day extravaganza. (more…)
New Savannah team unveils all-inclusive ballpark for 2016
We’re still waiting for the name of a new summer-collegiate Coastal Plain League team in Savannah’s Grayson Stadium, but we do know owner Fans First Entertainment will present an interesting twist: most of the game attendees will have an all-inclusive food and drink ticket. (more…)
Personnel news in Biloxi, Albuquerque
Front-office changes for two Ken Young teams: Buck Rogers steps down as GM of the Biloxi Shuckers (Class AA; Southern League), while the Albuquerque Isotopes (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) welcome new staffers. (more…)
Logomania in the offseason
The Midwest League’s Kane County Cougars remade their look for their 26th season. The new logo features evening-shadowed evergreen trees of the western Chicago suburb behind a menacing anthropomorphic cougar, and the team nickname written in in a furry white cursive in the foreground, all of it framed by a park ranger’s badge. (more…)