Morning Wrap: New Double A Baseball Team Named after Oysters

((ht: cbssports.com))

Wait, what? The headline says this story is about Oysters? Or does it?

One of the great things about Minor League Baseball is you often get some crazy team names and some wacky promotions.

The latest: A new Southern League (Double A) team in Biloxi, Mississippi. The team is an affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers.

And Monday night, they debuted their new name....

Ladies and Gentlemen… Your Biloxi Shuckers! pic.twitter.com/6YH2PXmcAb
— Biloxi Shuckers (@BiloxiShuckers) November 25, 2014

Yes...the Shuckers...feel free to come up with your own jokes...

Check out our four cap logos! pic.twitter.com/ClUJAULiKw
— Biloxi Shuckers (@BiloxiShuckers) November 25, 2014

Yes, your eyes do not deceive you, they have a "B.S" cap logo. Or at least they are planning on having one.

Personally, we think they should have a jersey featuring hot sauce, saltine crackers and beer, but that just may be us...

You might want to add biscuits to, especially on June 15th when the Shuckers travel to Montgomery, Alabama to play the Biscuits.

I'm getting hungry just thinking about that game.

You Haven't Seen A Display Like This In A While...

((HT: York Revolution their own selves))

The Atlantic League playoffs are going full bore and York needed some offensive help to square their game.

Sean Smith obliged, but something went wrong along the way.
What followed was an act of dedication the HQ hasn't seen in a long time...


The Revs won 2-1 in extras and Smith was due for surgery on his torn ACL before Game 4 Saturday night...

Amazing display and we hope he gets better soon...

A Very Special First MLB Hit In Arlington

((HT: MLB.com))

A lot of folks get their first major league hit in circumstances a lot less lengthy than the Texas Rangers' Guilder Rodriguez...

It took the September call-up of the 31-year-old to get in the line-up after almost 1,100 minor league games- the equivalent of almost 7 seasons eventhough he has spent 14 actual seasons in the minors.

But he finally got it with his family in attendance...


The Rangers have seen Rodriguez be a mentor to two other infielders in the system- Rougned Odor and Luis Sardinas. Interim manager Tim Bogar wanted to throw Rodriguez a solid for all he has done.

His career looks like one of those roadmaps you would think with stops that included Helena, Beloit, Huntsville, West Virginia, Brevard County, the Arizona League, OKC, Frisco, and Round Rock. He's a career .256 hitter in the minors, so three cheers to the Rangers for seeing what the guy has done as a lifer.

Another Minor League Manager Nutty

((HT: MiLB.com))

This was not the time to get an ejection... top nine in a tie game at home.
But it happened and Winston-Salem manager Tommy Thompson made it count.

He leaves his shoes and cap on home plate after being ejected in the eventual loss to Carolina
Evidence below...

A Subtle Protest As A Pitcher Is Out The Door...

((HT: MiLB.com))

Kanekoa Texeira was on his way out the door after giving up a bases-loaded walk that made a tight game between Gwinnett and Charlotte a little tighter...

But that didn't stop KT from dropping some of his gear along the way...

The HQ figures he didn't like the balls and strikes calls that were made against him while he was on the mound...


No word yet on whether or not Texeira got a fine from the league or his bosses over the jettisoning of his gear...

How Do You Score This One In The Book...???

((HT: Clinton Lumber Kings their own selves))

Okay...

Here's the situation...

Runners at first and second, two outs, 5-5 score, and the pop-up gets lost up the elevator...

How would you score this one...???

Post by Clinton LumberKings Baseball Club.

The HQ thinks it's a double and a two-base throwing error...

Here's the official word, thanks to Mike Weisman and the Lumber Kings:

Tyler O'Neill popped up just in front of the plate. The ball landed on the dirt, no more than two feet in fair territory in between the entire Wisconsin infield. As Barbosa crossed the plate, Matos fielded the ball, and in an attempt to throw out O'Neill at second base, threw it into centerfield, as O'Neill and Thomas both scored. The third baseman was charged with two errors on the plate, as Clinton let 8-5 after four innings.

However, Wisconsin came back to win 10-9

Not Quite Rodney McCray, But...

((HT: Birmingham Barons))

Michael Earley caught the ball to left, but almost caught a lot more...


"Catch of the Year" candidate fer sure, but the Barons need to check on the catch on the outfield door...

How About A Minor League Triple Play...???

((HT: MiLB.com))

Tulsa and Frisco... and, to be honest, the Drillers needed a bit of good news last night since they were trailing 8-2 at the time of this grounder to third...


5-4-3 is NOT the easiest triple play to turn, but Tulsa pulled it off.

It was an 8-2 final score and the Drillers are back at .500 with the loss at 61-61
Frisco is at 71-52 with the win

Pete Rose to Finally Get Jersey Retired

So...did the headline suck you in?

Yes, Pete Rose really is going to have his jersey retired. But not by the Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies or any other Major League Baseball team....yet.

No, the 73-year old Rose will see his #14 Jersey retired by none other than the Florence Freedom on September 2nd.

Yes, the Florence Freedom of the Frontier League. (Single A--Independant)

Did we mention he'll be the 1st base coach for the game too?

Or that for $114 you can get an hour long meet and greet, 10 minutes of Pete speaking, a photo op and signed Freedom gear?

Yeah...we're guessing the "Hit King" is in need of a few bucks....

And hey, if you are really a Pete fan (and lots of Cincy folks are), the Freedom play just 20-minutes down south in Florence, Kentucky.

So why not, right?

Rookie League Scrum!!! Rookie League Scrum!!!

((HT: MiLB.com))

This one happened in the rookie leagues- Pioneer to be precise with Ogden and Idaho Falls.

The game itself went 16 innings with Idaho Falls winning 9-8, but this happened top 10th and the managers even got involved...

Oh, the Ogden manager is former White Sox pitcher Jack McDowell...


Yes, we know...

Some zooming in would have been nice...

Lake County Parodies "Major League" For Promo

((HT: Lake County Captains their own selves/Josh Porter))

It's the 25th anniversary of one of the HQ's favorite movies, so this minor league team took it upon themselves to riff off one of the best American Express ads in the history of movies...


In order, the players who got to read off cue cards:

Eric Haase
Matt Whitehouse
Dace Kime
Nellie Rodriguez
Paul Hendrix
Mark Budzinski
Clint Frazier

And here's the original from MovieClips

Reno And Albuquerque Raise Jacksonville And Birmingham's Bench Clearing Brawlness

((HT: KRNV-TV))

Yesterday, the HQ showed you what happens when two teams play each other for a week solid.

Jacksonville and Birmingham go after each other for 17 MINUTES SOLID!

Tonight, it was triple-A's turn at the brawling as Reno and the Isotopes went at it

Post by KRNV News 4.

KOLO-TV's Ben Ross has the overhead


According to Larry Brown Sports, there were ten ejections including Reno manager Phil Nevin- and this was in the second inning of the game. And this is the first time in a while that the HQ has seen anything drift in to the stands like that.

Here's the long version
((HT: MiLB.com))

Minor League Scrum!!! Minor League Scrum!!!

((HT: MiLB.com))

You'd think these two teams would be really tired of each other...

Jacksonville and Birmingham have been playing each other all week in Jacksonville. And when you play each other... and when you see each other in the same confined space all week- then, sooner or later, something was going to happen.

Strangely enough, it was a fairly innocuous single that added to a lead in the ninth inning that lead to this...
17 MINUTES OF THIS!!!!


Six ejections the HQ expects Southern League president Lori Webb views the above video...

Minor League GM Gets Prostate Exam In Game

((HT: WJBF-TV))

FOSG Chris Kane gave us the heads-up on this one...

And the HQ really can't describe it other than to say it's both functional and gross...

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans challenged their VP/GM Andy Milovich to receive an in-game prostate exam while singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the team's Prostate Cancer Awareness Night.

WJBF-TV ABC 6 Augusta-Aiken News, Weather, Sports

The full story can be picked up hyah from Augusta

That is, definitely, a 7th Inning stretch...

Lowell Spinners Retire Westmoreland's #25

((HT: MiLB.com))

Ryan Westmoreland was regarded as a five-tool player when the Boston Red Sox drafted him in 2008.

He worked his way through the minor league system and was listed as a team Top 25 prospect in 2010. But he started to experience numbness in his body. Doctors found a cavernous malformation and removed it from his brain stem. The surgery was a success and he attempted a comeback in the 2012 season.

It wasn't to be.

He had to retire in the 2013 season and, currently, suffers from double vision, partial facial paralysis and numbness in the entire right side of his body. He has always been a part of the Red Sox family and the single-A franchise in Lowell, the Spinners, decided Westmoreland would be the first number retired by the franchise.

Here's their tribute video before the retiring ceremony

Frenchy's Revenge: Chihuahuas Prank Jeff Francoeur Again as He Gets Call Back to Padres

((ht: deadspin.com))

Former Atlanta Brave, New York Met, Kansas City Royal and San Francisco Padre Jeff Francoeur can now add another Major League Baseball team to his ever-growing resume--the San Diego Padres.

Francoeur on Wednesday got a call up from the Padres Triple-A team in El Paso.

But not before his friends and teammates on the Chihuahuas got one last practical joke in....

Check out what happened to our hero when he tried to use the coaches bathroom this past weekend before a home game.

His teammates/friends decided there'd be no getting out for one of the goofiest, easy-going guys in the game.

The put together quite the mousetrap to keep him locked in.

But alas, Frenchy eventually made his escape through the roof.

And tried to crawl back up there after his friends found him.

Luckily nobody was hurt other than Francoeur's dry-fit, plenty of players have gone on the DL for less.

Your video courtesy teammate/filmmaker Cody Decker:

Don't Mess With Texas: Volume Four-Billion Eight

((HT: KZTV))

Blow outs in minor league baseball have a tendency to get out of hand a lot faster than major league baseball on the field and players aren't afraid to go after each other to enforce The Code...

Fans, however, are a different story in the minors...
((HT: Jeremy Barfield))


35-year-old Nikolas Swope didn't like his Hooks players getting plunked, so he was the one who charged the mound. He was charged with criminal trespassing and is also accused of threatening assault.

Shocking no one, police say Swope was under the influence of alcohol.

Yet Another Bird Disintegrates From A Pitch

((HT: TinCaps Productions))

The HQ would really know the odds on something like this...

We remember the physics of Force = Mass (x) Acceleration and all those SAT problems about trains leaving stations and finding out what time they pass from each other if they leave opposing train stations and all that stuff...

The HQ always missed those math problems...

In single-A, Fort Wayne was taking on West Michigan when Jon Maciel of the Whitecaps did this...

Here's the pitch and the aftermath


And, no, the HQ doesn't think the bird was okay...

Welcome Back, ManRam!

((HT: MiLB.com))

There's all this talk that Manny Ramirez is just down on the farm to help the young kids and get them ready for the big-league Cubs while he's down in Iowa...

But, after this stroke, the HQ isn't so sure...


September...??? Call-ups...???
40-Man roster...???

Yeah, the HQ thinks it'll go down...

When Mother Nature Doesn't Care About Your Baseball Game

((HT: KCRG-TV))

The line of storms that has put a lot of the upper Midwest under water the last two days caused some serious issues in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at the Kernels Midwest League game Monday against the Clinton Lumber Kings.

Members of the Kernels staff were injured when 80-mile-per-hour winds blew the tarp over them as they tried to pull it over the infield. The injuries included three concussions and assistant General Manager Scott Wilson dislocated his left shoulder.

Here's the video of when the storm showed up 10 minutes early...