((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...
Showing posts with label independent leagues. Show all posts
Showing posts with label independent leagues. Show all posts
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Thursday, July 17, 2014
McGrady Retires From Baseball After Strike Out
((HT: Sugar Land Skeeters/ESPN))
Tracy McGrady wanted to see if he could be a professional pitcher...
The Atlantic League's Sugar Land Skeeters gave him a shot of figuring out how to do it on the fly. He started four games on pitch counts and even made it to the Atlantic League All-Star Game.
His stats really didn't matter- an ERA of almost 7 in limited innings, but he got his first career strike out...
And promptly retired...
For the record, the trivia question is: Bryan Pounds
Tracy McGrady wanted to see if he could be a professional pitcher...
The Atlantic League's Sugar Land Skeeters gave him a shot of figuring out how to do it on the fly. He started four games on pitch counts and even made it to the Atlantic League All-Star Game.
His stats really didn't matter- an ERA of almost 7 in limited innings, but he got his first career strike out...
And promptly retired...
For the record, the trivia question is: Bryan Pounds
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Pete Rose Manages In Bridgeport
((HT: WTNH/SportsEdge.com))
For the first time in 25 years, Pete Rose was a manager- but it was in the Atlantic League. Which means, in the rules of baseball, it was fine since the Atlantic League isn't affiliated with Major League Baseball.
He returned to the dugout- although he wasn't in full uniform.
Stephanie Simoni was part of the circus
But Jeff Jacobs in the Hartford Courant makes the normal point where Rose is concerned:
Pete Rose is tone deaf. Just when you think he is in the right place, he says something, or does something that makes you realize he will never really learn. He admits to betting, although he insisted to ESPN he hasn't bet on baseball for a long time. But if he really wanted to show baseball how serious he was about his remorse, why would he live in Las Vegas? Why would he make a deal with a fantasy league called SportsBeep? Pete's about the money.
For the first time in 25 years, Pete Rose was a manager- but it was in the Atlantic League. Which means, in the rules of baseball, it was fine since the Atlantic League isn't affiliated with Major League Baseball.
He returned to the dugout- although he wasn't in full uniform.
Stephanie Simoni was part of the circus
But Jeff Jacobs in the Hartford Courant makes the normal point where Rose is concerned:
Pete Rose is tone deaf. Just when you think he is in the right place, he says something, or does something that makes you realize he will never really learn. He admits to betting, although he insisted to ESPN he hasn't bet on baseball for a long time. But if he really wanted to show baseball how serious he was about his remorse, why would he live in Las Vegas? Why would he make a deal with a fantasy league called SportsBeep? Pete's about the money.
Saturday, June 7, 2014
Coming Soon: Pete Rose Manages For A Day
((HT: Bridgeport Bluefish their own selves))
Pete Rose is returning to managing...
It's not like THAT!!!
The Atlantic League is having him take over for Willie Upshaw for a game June 16th.
He can do that since the Atlantic League isn't affiliated with MLB
Here's the announcement
The HQ doesn't know how to feel about this...
Train wreck...??? Sad...???
Somewhere in between...
Pete Rose is returning to managing...
It's not like THAT!!!
The Atlantic League is having him take over for Willie Upshaw for a game June 16th.
He can do that since the Atlantic League isn't affiliated with MLB
Here's the announcement
The HQ doesn't know how to feel about this...
Train wreck...??? Sad...???
Somewhere in between...
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Julio Franco Hits At Age 55
((HT: WFAA-TV))
Yes, that Julio Franco
He's 55 and he's playing in the independent leagues...
And he looks like he's in a lot better shape than a lot of us...
How cool is that...???
Yes, that Julio Franco
He's 55 and he's playing in the independent leagues...
And he looks like he's in a lot better shape than a lot of us...
How cool is that...???
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
McGrady Makes Skeeters Roster As Pitcher
((HT: MyFoxHouston))
Tracy McGrady has made the next step in his second career... making the Opening Day roster of the Atlantic League's Sugar Land Skeeters roster...
He had one official appearance in the exhibition season against Alvin (TX) Community College going 1 inning and giving up a run on three hits...
"It's an honor to be a part of this club," McGrady said in a statement. "To be a part of the team means everything to me and it's a dream come true. I look forward to coming to the ballpark not only to play the game, but to be in the clubhouse building camaraderie with these guys. I am excited to start the journey we're going to take this season."
Here's his first workout with the club...
((HT: KBME Radio))
"We are excited about our team this season and having Tracy McGrady as a part of it," Skeeters manager Gary Gaetti said. "We're also excited to see what unique opportunities this could present for us in putting a good product on the field and we look forward to Tracy helping us win some ball games."
The HQ is looking forward to checking in with T-Mac as his adventure continues...
Tracy McGrady has made the next step in his second career... making the Opening Day roster of the Atlantic League's Sugar Land Skeeters roster...
He had one official appearance in the exhibition season against Alvin (TX) Community College going 1 inning and giving up a run on three hits...
"It's an honor to be a part of this club," McGrady said in a statement. "To be a part of the team means everything to me and it's a dream come true. I look forward to coming to the ballpark not only to play the game, but to be in the clubhouse building camaraderie with these guys. I am excited to start the journey we're going to take this season."
Here's his first workout with the club...
((HT: KBME Radio))
"We are excited about our team this season and having Tracy McGrady as a part of it," Skeeters manager Gary Gaetti said. "We're also excited to see what unique opportunities this could present for us in putting a good product on the field and we look forward to Tracy helping us win some ball games."
The HQ is looking forward to checking in with T-Mac as his adventure continues...
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Tracy McGrady: Baseball Pitcher (video)
Well, if you ever wondered what 6-foot, 8 inch former NBA All-Star Tracy McGrady would look like throwing baseballs, here's your video.
McGrady, at age 38 is trying to re-invent himself as a baseball player. A pitcher to be exact. And he has signed a contract to pitch for the Texas Independent League Sugarland Skeeters.
McGrady had a workout Friday afternoon for the team, and yes, there's video. He appears to have an easy, smooth delivery, but it's hard to tell from the video just how hard he throws or if he'd actually be able to get out a professional hitter.
But we wish him luck and will check in to see his progress when we can.
Here's your video from KBME radio (yes, they shot video too) in Houston:
McGrady, at age 38 is trying to re-invent himself as a baseball player. A pitcher to be exact. And he has signed a contract to pitch for the Texas Independent League Sugarland Skeeters.
McGrady had a workout Friday afternoon for the team, and yes, there's video. He appears to have an easy, smooth delivery, but it's hard to tell from the video just how hard he throws or if he'd actually be able to get out a professional hitter.
But we wish him luck and will check in to see his progress when we can.
Here's your video from KBME radio (yes, they shot video too) in Houston:
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Tracy McGrady Ready For Live Pitching
((HT: MyFoxHouston))
And, no, the HQ doesn't mean that in some metaphorical sense...
The Sugar Land Skeeters of the independent baseball leagues have taken a flyer on Tracy McGrady as a pitcher for the upcoming season. He was pitching to an independent baseballer who was told just to stand there and not swing...
T-Mac was graded with a fastball in the high 80's without any real formal training...
But when you're 6-8, things look a little more intimidating than it really may be...
Here's the look at Day One of a new career...
Houston weather, traffic, news | FOX 26 | MyFoxHouston
Next up- dudes who will swing...
And, no, the HQ doesn't mean that in some metaphorical sense...
The Sugar Land Skeeters of the independent baseball leagues have taken a flyer on Tracy McGrady as a pitcher for the upcoming season. He was pitching to an independent baseballer who was told just to stand there and not swing...
T-Mac was graded with a fastball in the high 80's without any real formal training...
But when you're 6-8, things look a little more intimidating than it really may be...
Here's the look at Day One of a new career...
Houston weather, traffic, news | FOX 26 | MyFoxHouston
Next up- dudes who will swing...
Monday, July 8, 2013
Independent's Independence: Newark Bears
There are six independent leagues going at it these days- meaning the teams playing don't have any kind of direct affiliation with the Major League baseball farm teams. There might be some loose affiliations and relationships, but teams don't send players directly to and from...
The United, Can-Am, Atlantic, Frontier, American Association, and the 6th- the Diamond League- will start in 2014.
The homes for these teams are pretty far flung- everywhere from Winnipeg and Fargo-Moorhead to Houston and Edinburgh, Texas, Quebec City and the upper midwest near Chicago...
Some leagues have as few as five far-flung teams looking to expand with others locked into geography...
Dating back to 1999 (in it's newest incarnation), baseball has been back in Newark... hall of fame columnist Jerry Izenberg recalled it for the local papers in the Star-Ledger:
For almost a half a century now, the calendar has been a liar and a fraud and a cheat. It tried to sell us robin red-breasts and green-up time in Weequahic Park and cherry blossoms at Branch Brook.
That's okay for the garden club and the marathoners, But there is toughness to the soul of the city, no matter how many generations pass through it and no matter how its ethnic makeup may change, Collectively, it can spot a con job. Collectively, it has been waiting for something to call its own.
Tonight, it reclaims a long-gone spring. Tonight, they take down a 50-year-old "No Game Tonight" sign.
Tonight baseball- in a brand-new ballpark, hard by the Passaic River- returns to the city that once appreciated it with a semi-religious devotion.
And for its fourteenth season, the Bears are still trying to be an integral part of the Three Newarks that are around these days.
"You have the older generations who were born and raised here. You have the ones who have been here since the hard times of the 1970's and '80s. And you have the younger generations who are the new life around here these days," Bears Assistant GM Larry Josephs told the HQ recently.
And you can see how the three sections are flexing their muscles on a daily basis. It's an easy twenty minute train ride from Hoboken to downtown seeing the first one Josephs talks about. When you get off the platform to walk the block to the ballpark, you see the second version where office buildings are being converted to apartments and condos for the third group to be ready to understand that when you say "Newark, New Jersey" you think more of the reinvention and rebirth than the grey film you associate with the city in its down turn and the grimy behavior from that popular television show from HBO...
You remember it, don't you...???
And Josephs knows it's a simple reference point... but if you dig a little deeper than the stereotypes, you'll see a lot is under that surface...
"What a lot of people don't realize is that downtown Newark has a lot going on for it now," Josephs continues. "We have Rutgers Business School and NJIT downtown for schools and we have some of the best medical facilities around all in this area. We have the Prudential Center for the Devils home and other events that can be hosted there. There's a lot to see for it as a hub for a lot of activity- and the city is shedding all that reputation of the past."
And as the Bears take time in the Atlantic and, now the Can-Am league, the last time the HQ was around the team it was a last-chance motel for major leaguers, hanger-ons, and wanna-bes. Not much has changed from the days the Bears had the Canseco brothers, Lance Johnson, Jack Armstrong, and Jamie Navarro around on one roster. Managers are looking for a way into the show. Players are looking for a way in or back into it.
The Bears were trying to find a way to be different this season, and one of those ideas was to have first pitches at 10:30 in the morning. One problem with that this year- Sandy...
"School was supposed to be already out and we were hoping to attract a lot of campers to the ballpark," Josephs admits. "But Sandy pushed school back a few weeks and they just got out for the year. You can see the end result of that today."
The great idea to attract younger generations to the park resulted in an attendance of, maybe, 100 people- most of them rooting for the visiting Fargo-Moorhead squad who was on a New Jersey road trip.
It's all about community and the Bears want to keep being a part of it in as many ways as possible- all the minor league attractions and ideas are there- fireworks, discounts, giveaways, all that stuff...
We caught up with the Bears in the middle of their twelve-game losing streak and the arms that had to be used for two double-headers in a week caught up with the Bears in a game that was 6-0 Fargo after three, 7-1 after 4-and-a-half, an 11-4 final.
There were a lot of instances where it looked like there was a profound lack of effort... it could have been the 95-degree morning and matching humidity... could have been the "95-degree" strike zone as the guys in the press box called it- very apropos...
But the Bears were dealing with having their ace on the 30-day inactive list since they snafu'd his injury and their interpretation of the rule of putting him on the shelf...
Newark Bears manager Garry Templeton told us what it's like being a manager in these frontiers...
But you're also dealing with developing rivals which the Bears are doing with the New Jersey Jackals and the Somerset Patriots. And that's coming along nicely, thanks...
You could also tell Templeton wasn't mincing words when he said he was "frustrated as hell" in the post-game scrum. But he made a point to his guys:
"You think you've got it bad...? Let me take you over to the Children's Hospital... The measure of a good athlete is how you handle situations like this. Some can't. They'll bicker and get after one another. You find out who really wants to win.
Especially on bus rides that take you from Fargo to Laredo, El Paso, and back to Fargo when you're done...
Templeton told the HQ what it's like in the Independent Leagues as a skipper for some of his better (and printable) travel stories...
But when you talk to Josephs, it's all about becoming the fabric and being something that generations- and all three Newarks- can talk about as a part of the conversation as they all work forward...
And you see that as he makes a point to see that everyone who walks through the door is taken care of and treated with the respect they deserve as a fan- even if you're in Fargo-Moorhead red...
The United, Can-Am, Atlantic, Frontier, American Association, and the 6th- the Diamond League- will start in 2014.
The homes for these teams are pretty far flung- everywhere from Winnipeg and Fargo-Moorhead to Houston and Edinburgh, Texas, Quebec City and the upper midwest near Chicago...
Some leagues have as few as five far-flung teams looking to expand with others locked into geography...
Dating back to 1999 (in it's newest incarnation), baseball has been back in Newark... hall of fame columnist Jerry Izenberg recalled it for the local papers in the Star-Ledger:
For almost a half a century now, the calendar has been a liar and a fraud and a cheat. It tried to sell us robin red-breasts and green-up time in Weequahic Park and cherry blossoms at Branch Brook.
That's okay for the garden club and the marathoners, But there is toughness to the soul of the city, no matter how many generations pass through it and no matter how its ethnic makeup may change, Collectively, it can spot a con job. Collectively, it has been waiting for something to call its own.
Tonight, it reclaims a long-gone spring. Tonight, they take down a 50-year-old "No Game Tonight" sign.
Tonight baseball- in a brand-new ballpark, hard by the Passaic River- returns to the city that once appreciated it with a semi-religious devotion.
And for its fourteenth season, the Bears are still trying to be an integral part of the Three Newarks that are around these days.
"You have the older generations who were born and raised here. You have the ones who have been here since the hard times of the 1970's and '80s. And you have the younger generations who are the new life around here these days," Bears Assistant GM Larry Josephs told the HQ recently.
And you can see how the three sections are flexing their muscles on a daily basis. It's an easy twenty minute train ride from Hoboken to downtown seeing the first one Josephs talks about. When you get off the platform to walk the block to the ballpark, you see the second version where office buildings are being converted to apartments and condos for the third group to be ready to understand that when you say "Newark, New Jersey" you think more of the reinvention and rebirth than the grey film you associate with the city in its down turn and the grimy behavior from that popular television show from HBO...
You remember it, don't you...???
And Josephs knows it's a simple reference point... but if you dig a little deeper than the stereotypes, you'll see a lot is under that surface...
"What a lot of people don't realize is that downtown Newark has a lot going on for it now," Josephs continues. "We have Rutgers Business School and NJIT downtown for schools and we have some of the best medical facilities around all in this area. We have the Prudential Center for the Devils home and other events that can be hosted there. There's a lot to see for it as a hub for a lot of activity- and the city is shedding all that reputation of the past."
And as the Bears take time in the Atlantic and, now the Can-Am league, the last time the HQ was around the team it was a last-chance motel for major leaguers, hanger-ons, and wanna-bes. Not much has changed from the days the Bears had the Canseco brothers, Lance Johnson, Jack Armstrong, and Jamie Navarro around on one roster. Managers are looking for a way into the show. Players are looking for a way in or back into it.
The Bears were trying to find a way to be different this season, and one of those ideas was to have first pitches at 10:30 in the morning. One problem with that this year- Sandy...
"School was supposed to be already out and we were hoping to attract a lot of campers to the ballpark," Josephs admits. "But Sandy pushed school back a few weeks and they just got out for the year. You can see the end result of that today."
The great idea to attract younger generations to the park resulted in an attendance of, maybe, 100 people- most of them rooting for the visiting Fargo-Moorhead squad who was on a New Jersey road trip.
It's all about community and the Bears want to keep being a part of it in as many ways as possible- all the minor league attractions and ideas are there- fireworks, discounts, giveaways, all that stuff...
We caught up with the Bears in the middle of their twelve-game losing streak and the arms that had to be used for two double-headers in a week caught up with the Bears in a game that was 6-0 Fargo after three, 7-1 after 4-and-a-half, an 11-4 final.
There were a lot of instances where it looked like there was a profound lack of effort... it could have been the 95-degree morning and matching humidity... could have been the "95-degree" strike zone as the guys in the press box called it- very apropos...
But the Bears were dealing with having their ace on the 30-day inactive list since they snafu'd his injury and their interpretation of the rule of putting him on the shelf...
Newark Bears manager Garry Templeton told us what it's like being a manager in these frontiers...
But you're also dealing with developing rivals which the Bears are doing with the New Jersey Jackals and the Somerset Patriots. And that's coming along nicely, thanks...
You could also tell Templeton wasn't mincing words when he said he was "frustrated as hell" in the post-game scrum. But he made a point to his guys:
"You think you've got it bad...? Let me take you over to the Children's Hospital... The measure of a good athlete is how you handle situations like this. Some can't. They'll bicker and get after one another. You find out who really wants to win.
Especially on bus rides that take you from Fargo to Laredo, El Paso, and back to Fargo when you're done...
Templeton told the HQ what it's like in the Independent Leagues as a skipper for some of his better (and printable) travel stories...
But when you talk to Josephs, it's all about becoming the fabric and being something that generations- and all three Newarks- can talk about as a part of the conversation as they all work forward...
And you see that as he makes a point to see that everyone who walks through the door is taken care of and treated with the respect they deserve as a fan- even if you're in Fargo-Moorhead red...
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