This is becoming a very silly game.
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- Mar 2008
- 3353
- at the edge of the sea
- Plymouth Argyle, Plymouth Gladiators, Seattle Mariners
- cream crackers spread with nutella
With the Minor League season drawing to a close and the arse end of the playoffs over the weekend I thought I'd bore you with a list of which teams I've listened to on the play-by-play each night. With the proviso that first pitch is around midnight since April I've gone to sleep just about every night listening to commentary from:
Daytona (my preferred choce but if they've been rained off, having a rest day or just an early first pitch I've been to):
Albuquerque
El Paso
Fresno
Iowa Cubs
Nashville
New Orleans
Round Rock
San Antonio
Jackson
Jacksonville
Chatanooga
Lake Elsinore
Modesto
St Lucie
Fort Myers
Florida Fire Frogs
Jupiter
Clinton
Lexington
Batavia
Brooklyn
Staten Island
Williamsport
Eugene
Spokane
Elizabethton
Billings
Great Falls
Ogden
Orem
I'm sure there are others I've forgotten, and there are a couple I found too tedious I went elsewhere after a couple of innings.
I've had a couple of shout-outs from various announcers, mostly in surprise when the commentator at somewhere like Billings, Montana receives an email answering their question of the night from a night owl in the UK. Some voices are much more suited to radio than others, and baseball calling definitely follows a set pattern as it's all about the game and the stats and less about what's happening around it. Some do, most don't. I also often wonder if I'm the only person listening to them toom especially the ones that are internet only and not broadcast on a local network.
It's been a great voyage across America - next year there'll be a proper road trip and hopefully a couple of games.
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Very impressive list
There was a time when I could have told you the league, level and major league affiliation of every one of those clubs, but the recent volatility in all such things and the demise of the Sporting News has made that much harder than it was when I was an adolescent.
Just as an example, Daytona recently switched its affiliation from the Cubs to the Reds.
You do seem to favour games from the lower reaches of the system. Did that start with Daytona (full season Single A), or is there another reason for it?
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- Mar 2008
- 3353
- at the edge of the sea
- Plymouth Argyle, Plymouth Gladiators, Seattle Mariners
- cream crackers spread with nutella
Trying to get big league commentary is nigh on impossible, plus actually for the times I want to listen there's not much available anyway so the minor leagues serve my purpose better. The level doesn't matter so much as tunein radio working. I've tried to get State College games as HP is around there but it never connects.
My roots are Bermudian on my mothers side, my mum ended up in the UK while my aunt went to the States (both marrried to British partners but that's another story) and when my Grandma decided to leave in 1996 she ended up in Daytona where my aunt lives so it comes from there. Plus they play in green which is always good.
I'm slightly obsessed with small town America and though I know I'd hate to live in any of those sort of places just listening in on the action from some random baseball field while I'm dozing away always conquers up romantic, nostalgic images of cars and girls and a life so similar yet so different. It's the same as Test Match Specical when England are in Australia or New Zealand, but that only comes round every few years. This is guaranteed night after night.
This year was a funny one, Daytona were out of the race for the playoffs then went on a busting run that saw them half a game behind with four games left. Then because of Hurricane Dorian the last three games were cancelled, along with the playoffs and it just seemed so pointless, but that's kind of why I like it, the result doesn't really matter just the flow of the game. The last game was such an anti-climax, like an end of season football match, after all the build up of the previous few days.
I did make a comment that when Americans moan that test cricket can last five days without an outright winner, at least it's not 137 games and still no one wins.
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It may be worth pointing out that minor league baseball used to be more of a thing in itself and less a pure development system for the major leagues. In the 30s and 40s, the Pacific Coast League (which sometimes played 200+ games a season) paid some players more than they could make in the majors and had clubs that definitely would have been competitive at the higher level. During the Yankee dynasty of the 50s, their AAA clubs in Newark or Kansas City were clearly superior to some of their American League rivals. The "Little World Series" between the winners of the AAA International League and American Association garnered national attention.
MLB's expansion (which robbed the minors of its best markets) and the ubiquity of MLB television coverage killed that era, and the new success of MLB has been built on a rather different model, as your list of locations attests.
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- Mar 2008
- 3353
- at the edge of the sea
- Plymouth Argyle, Plymouth Gladiators, Seattle Mariners
- cream crackers spread with nutella
Interesting. I didn't know that. It certainly feels like some locations are more passionate, maybe even more independent of their parent club, even though they rely solely on them for their talent and can lose it at any time.
I've been to Lexington these last couple of evenings and apart from being almost unique in having a female announcer, the excellent Emma Tiedemann, they've also had decent crowds for their playoff games, something many other clubs have not. They come across a part of the Royals yet fiercely proud to be Kentucky too. Meanwhile the AAA clubs have been getting low thousands compared to their usual gates. Not that they made the end-of-season but I could taste the apathy in New Orlenas knowing their season was petering out and the team off to Wichita.
The Tortugas also promote their Reds-ness alongside being their own unique Floridian appeal. Being the only team not to play in a Spring Training facility and having something like the fourth oldest active ballpark only pushes that further.
Generally the lower the league it seems the less likely a player will make it to the bigs, so although those guys are just passing through, for some it's as good as it'll get and I get the sense the fans and the clubs know that too so it's a celebration of the sport. They win and lose together, each night is a celebration of the here and now and tomorrow doesn't matter. I kinda like that.
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The recent renaissance of the minor leagues has been grounded in part in that kind of independence.
One can see it in the rise of names that don't mimic the MLB affiliate, which in turn boost merchandise sales and help local identification, but it also goes to how clubs are financed, with entrepreneurs having discovered that one can actually make money with a well run minor league team in a relatively affluent area. Unique identities also help clubs maintain interest when affiliations change or stars are promoted away from the club. And in relatively new exurbs like Round Rock, a club can play a key role in building local identity.
A number of these lessons were first demonstrated by successful clubs in the "independent" leagues, where clubs don't have major league affiliations and have to contract for their own players. Those leagues still have a role, as illustrated by the Atlantic League's deal with MLB to trial rule innovations like robot umps.
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Great stuff.
One thing, though...
Originally posted by Greenlander View Post
I'm slightly obsessed with small town America and though I know I'd hate to live in any of those sort of places ...
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- Mar 2008
- 3353
- at the edge of the sea
- Plymouth Argyle, Plymouth Gladiators, Seattle Mariners
- cream crackers spread with nutella
Originally posted by San Bernardhinault View PostGreat stuff.
One thing, though...
I wouldn't be sure that this is true. Some parts of Small Town America are great places to live. There are places on your list that are not particularly small town - say, El Paso or Jacksonville. And there are places I wouldn't want to live - say El Paso or Jacksonville.. also Modesto (despite the Ursus connection) or Fort Myers. On the other hand, if I didn't live here I'd be very happy in Eugene or Spokane or Billings or Great Falls or Orem or Ogden. Chattanooga, too. And probably a whole bunch of other towns out east that I don't know.
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- Mar 2008
- 7495
- Off the purple line
- I'm slutty: Roma (on haitus until Jose is fired), Liverpool, and Dortmund
- Del Taco
I have listed to some Tampa Yankees games through this site. I don't know if it will work in the UK next season, but a VPN can help if you get geoblocked:
https://tunein.com/radio/Minor-League-Baseball-c492045/
Good to see Ryu get back to form, although he had no help from the offense. He needs to be Cy-caliber for the Dodgers to do what they should do in the playoffs.
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- Mar 2008
- 7495
- Off the purple line
- I'm slutty: Roma (on haitus until Jose is fired), Liverpool, and Dortmund
- Del Taco
The quantity of teams with wins that are extremely impressive should be at an all-time high this year (the best I understand the reporting) and on the flipside the quantity of teams that are horrible should be near an all-time high. Given that I wonder if there has ever been a series that is as bad on paper as the Orioles-Tigers. I have to believe the interest in this one is about on par with high school baseball. Even the curiosity surrounding which team ends up with the top draft pick wouldn't lead me to watch these games.
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- Mar 2008
- 7495
- Off the purple line
- I'm slutty: Roma (on haitus until Jose is fired), Liverpool, and Dortmund
- Del Taco
On the day the Yankees clinch the AL East Domingo German is put on leave while MLB investigates domestic violence. I think MLB has made good moves on this front (although I'm sure they could do better) and German's suspension/leave, if it extends into the playoffs, mean the Astros should be set for the WS. The Yankees reportedly were prepping to use the Astros' tandem starter model but without German that approach will be less effective and that incredible bullpen will likely start to get tired given how much they will be needed. (Also adding in Betances returning with two up, two down and the out for 60 days with a knee injury).
Meanwhile Jansen gets used multiple days in a row by Roberts during tie games for some unknown reason and show more cracks. He's just not that dominant anymore.
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I was going to post something quite similar.
There is a familiarity about such a comprehensive collapse even it had been 97 years since we were last swept by them in a four game series at Wrigley.
It also means that guys can let their injuries heal and that the Madden separation will not be as traumatic as it may have been.
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