Angels casually threaten move during lease negotiations
It was a little unexpected: a rep for Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim owner Arte Moreno said the team has the resources to move to another city, as the Anaheim City Council debate changes to the Angel Stadium lease. Charles Black was pretty blunt about the prospect of the Angels looking for a new home. […]
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 […]
Boomers named FL Organization of the Year
Nice honor for the folks working out of Boomers Stadium: the Schaumburg Boomers have been named Organization of the Year in the independent Frontier League. “For the Boomers, being named Organization of the Year is about as good as it gets, and we’re extremely humbled to be recognized this way by the 13 other outstanding […]
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 […]
Brown leaving River Bandits, Modern Woodmen Park
A sad goodbye to one of our favorite people in baseball: Executive Director of Modern Woodmen Park Stefanie Brown is leaving the Quad Cities River Bandits (Low Class A; Midwest League). Following her 10th season in Minor League Baseball — including each of the first six years of the new River Bandits under the ownership […]
A reminder: It’s time for 2013 Ballpark Digest Award nominations
A gentle reminder: We want to see your nominations for the 2013 Ballpark Digest Awards, to be announced in September. Each year we honor accomplishments in the baseball-business world, with honorees coming from the MLB, MiLB, independent, summer-collegiate and college ranks. Here are the categories: Promotion of the Year. Promotions are the heart and soul […]
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, […]
Another attendance record to note: Futures Collegiate Baseball League
Another in today’s parade of attendance records to note: the summer-collegiate Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL) saw 186,410 fans walk through the gates for an average of 871 fans per night, an increase of more than 10,000 fans over 2012. For the second straight year four FCBL teams averaged over 1,000 fans per night. The […]
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 […]