With MLB slaughtering MiLB and many clubs going to independent leagues I didn't know if there would be interest in a thread or seperate place for it.
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With MLB slaughtering MiLB and many clubs going to independent leagues I didn't know if there would be interest in a thread or seperate place for it.
I don't remember which of the leagues are Draft Leagues. But I assume their will be interest in them leading up to the draft.
Actually I am quite excited about the new Appy league after I was originally skeptical. I live right in the heart of the league so I hope to take in several games. Kids are coming from all over the country to play in the league this year. This league is primarily for rising college sophomores and juniors. The best ones will either be drafted in the MLB draft after these two years of play in the Cape Cod league. I expect the level of plat will be higher than what it was in the old Appy.
Not to make the whole minor league contraction political, but I thought it was interesting to hear a politician weigh in. Anyways, say what you will about his politics, but he gets the stakes wrt MILB.
https://www.npr.org/2021/03/13/97669...lack-of-gop-voQuote:
I have to ask you this lastly, Senator, you were opposed to the plans of Major League Baseball to eliminate 40 minor league teams, including the Vermont Lake Monsters. You've called it greedy. I'm not sure any baseball owners would feel maligned to be called greedy. What about their argument, though, that the minor leagues are just an inefficient way to discover and develop talent these days?
You know, Scott, you're touching on a sore spot for me, because it's something I feel really strongly about. Look, I am not a baseball expert, so I don't know how you develop talent. But this is what I do know, is you go to a minor league game and kids get their hotdogs, and the ballplayers are often very nice and they'll sign autographs and kids, you get good seats for a couple of bucks. Minor league baseball is enormously important to dozens and dozens and dozens of communities all over this country. It is a beautiful thing. Baseball is not just, you know, paying $50 million for some great athlete, you know, who plays for the New York Yankees. And I am really outraged that at a profitable institution like Major League Baseball, these guys want to eliminate baseball in so many communities around this country. It really is awful to my mind.
My wifes family lives in Pulaski so we have supported them.
I wish they would fix home plate in their new logo.
https://roanoke.com/sports/local/woo...8f9b0.amp.html
One things for certain with the roster of the Power, you're seeing a better quality of player. It may not be as great as "first round picks" coming through but I hope its a good quality.
At noon on Saturday there will be a show about the teams and rosters of the Appy league. MLBTV
Way back in 2019, what seems like decades ago now, my wife and I attended a game in Pulaski. We drove up from Asheville, N.C. The Johnson City Cardinals were in town. I had been told that the best two parks in the league were Pulaski’s and Greenville’s. Pulaski was nice but we loved Greenville’s park. I love that league and am looking forward to getting back there for some games this year.Quote:
Originally Posted by sdwagers
Greeneville is a class organization. Their stadium is like a miniature MLB park. I plan to attend several games this year in different parks.
If you have Netflix, I highly recommend watching The Battered Bastards of Baseball. The core of it is how an independent ballclub can be way more fun than a minor league affiliate. I honestly think there's an opportunity for the places MLB has left behind to give local fans a better baseball product than being a pass-through league. There is something better, something more engaging than what people have been spoon-fed.
That's a fantastic, if hagiographic, piece on Bing Russell.Quote:
Originally Posted by M2
I thought I would bring this thread back up since the Appy season is almost to a close. I have been to several games and to put it mildly it has been a cluster f***. I had high hopes for this new league but now I just don't know. The quality of play wasn't anywhere as high as I thought it woukd be and it just didn't seem right not to be affiliated with a particular organization. I noticed that much of the "old guard" of fans who had always been there were no longer there.
The exciting news is that it was a drama show. The Kingsport Axmen (fitting name) had one player just lose it and threaten to come back and shoot everyone, including fans. Two games were cancelled and basically all of the players left. Managers scrambled around and found some players from somewhere and they were reincarnated as the Kingsport Travelers because I guess they were afraid there would be a shooting even though the former player was in jail. A month later they returned to Kingsport and took up the ax again.
The Johnson City Doughboys had a little drama when their coach refused to play because another teams player tested positive and was fired. Half the team decided to also leave. Once more there was a scramble and anyone with a glove and pulse could become a Doughboy. Other teams have lost players just because they quit and many wanted to get ready to go back to school.
I thought it was a disappointing season and I fear this may be the end of the Appy.