The Wandering Disciple

Sarasota, Florida: With the end of spring training fast approaching, the Charlotte Stone Crabs were in Sarasota to face the Frederick Keys during the final week of exhibition games. Matt Moore was on the mound for Charlotte in what looks to be his final start before the regular season begins. Minor league spring traning ends on April 3 with opening day on April 8. For more photos from the game, visit my Stone Crabs/Keys photo gallery.

Boca Grande, Florida: Located on the southern tip of the private island of Boca Grande, Gasparilla Island State Park is a state park located on the Gulf of Mexico at the entrance to Charlotte Harbor. Since the late 1800’s, the two lighthouses that are located within the park have provided navigation to ships that navigate the shallow waters here. The park is a popular spot for fishing and shelling as well as Florida water sports. Purchased by the State of Florida in 1983 and opened as a park in the park system, Gasparilla Island State Park contains miles of beachfront with several beach accesses. The clear warm Gulf of Mexico waters are a haven for sunbathers as well as wildlife. Many species of birds and animals call the park home including Osprey, Gulls, Terns, Iguanas, Tortoises and more. The waters are also home to a variety of sea life including dolphins, sharks and the popular sport fish Tarpon. Anchoring the park at the southern tip is the Port Boca Grande Lighthouse. T...

Sarasota, Florida: As the numbers of players on the major league roster dwindles down to opening day levels, the minor league rosters are beginning to shape up to opening day order as well. This was evident in the new faces in camp for the exhibition game between the Charlotte Stone Crabs and Frederick Keys at Twin Lakes Park in Sarasota. Matt Moore was on the mound for the Stone Crabs as they took on the Keys. There were no official stats but below is a collection of photos from the contest. For photos from the game, visit my Stone Crabs/Keys photo gallery.

Port Charlotte, Florida: With the Tampa Bay Rays taking on the Minnesota Twins in Charlotte Sports Park, the minor league affiliates of the Rays and the Boston Red Sox were battling it out on the back fields of the complex. The Charlotte Stone Crabs and Salem Red Sox were facing each other in an exhibition contest. As with other minor league training games, no official stats were recorded and below is a collections of images from the game. For photos from the game, visit my Stone Crabs/Red Sox photo gallery.

Salem, Virginia: The Salem Red Sox are the Class-A Advanced affiliates of the Boston Red Sox. The Salem Sox play in the South Division of the Carolina League. Minor league baseball has been a part of Salem history since 1957. Salem Red Sox franchise did not develop until the 2009 season when the player development contract with the Houston Astros expired following the 2008 season. Fenway Sports Group took over the club and a Boston Red Sox player development contract was quick to follow. The Red Sox play their home games in Lewis-Gale Field at Salem Memorial Ballpark. They play a 140 game schedule with 70 games played at home. The Salem Red Sox won the division title in their first season in 2009 but fell short in the league finals. For photos of the club during spring training in Florida, visit my Salem Red Sox photo gallery.

Sarasota, Florida: In preparation for the 2010 season, the minor league affiliates of the Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles took to the fields in an exhibition game at Twin Lakes Park. The Charlotte Stone Crabs and Frederick Keys played a nine inning exhibition game Thursday afternoon under the Florida sunshine. Although no official stats were recorded below is a collection of images from the contest. For photos from the game, visit my Stone Crabs/Keys photo gallery.

Frederick, Maryland: The Frederick Keys are the Class-A Advanced affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. The Keys are members of the Carolina League’s Northern Division. The club was founded in 1989 when the club was moved to Frederick from Hagerstown. Since its inception, they have won three Carolina League titles (1990, 2005, 2007). The Keys play their games at Harry Grove Stadium. The stadium was not completed until 1990, so the Keys played their first season at McCurdy Field, a Babe Ruth baseball complex. The team name comes from a famous Maryland resident, Star Spangled Banner composer Francis Scott Key. For photos from spring training in Florida, visit my Frederick Keys photo gallery.

Port Charlotte, Florida: After heavy rains washed away Friday’s slate of games, Snowbird Classic baseball returned to action under sunny skies Saturday at North Charlotte Regional Park in Port Charlotte. The first game on the schedule was a doubleheader between the Muskingum University Fighting Muskies and the Skidmore College Thoroughbreds. Game one of the doubleheader saw the Fighting Muskies take advantage of a few Skidmore miscues to win the game 8-1. Game two was a close contest with Skidmore squeaking away with a 5-4 win. Game one started off with Muskingum taking the lead early in the first inning and never looked back. Wes Carder led off the inning with a walk. Then Erik Spitzer was hit by a pitch to put another runner on the bases. Carder advanced to third on a fly out by Brock Whiteman. Spitzer moved into scoring position by stealing second. Jared Whittington drove home the first run of the game by grounding out to third, allowing Carder to score on the play and give...

Punta Gorda, Florida: While their home states were dealing with freezing temperatures and above average snowfall, the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights and Duquesne Dukes were in Charlotte County, Florida enjoying warm temperatures and Florida sunshine. Both clubs were participating in the Buckeye Invitational as part of the 2010 Snowbird Baseball Classic taking place at the South Regional Park in Punta Gorda. The game featured plenty of excitement with the Dukes walking away with the 12-10 victory. The Knights took to the field as the home team with sophomore Ray Courtney getting the start on the mound. Duquesne’s Andrew Heck delivered the first run of the game on a deep home run to right center. Following the home run, Courtney loaded the bases by hitting Rick Devereaux then walking Mark Tracy and Chris Kimmeth to load the bases. With his back to the wall and the bases loaded, Courtney failed to deliver strikes and walked Mike Ganley to score Devereaux and give the Dukes a 2-0 lead. ...

Punta Gorda, Florida: Clear skies over South Florida led to a great day for base­ball Sun­day as the Juni­ata Col­lege Eagles took on the John Car­roll Blue Streaks in a dou­ble header as part of the 2010 Snow­bird Clas­sic at South Regional Park in Punta Gorda, Florida. Both clubs split the dou­ble header, with Juni­ata win­ning Game One, 8–1, and John Car­roll tak­ing Game Two, 4–1. Game One saw Juni­ata Col­lege take a com­mand­ing lead early and never look back, strik­ing gold with all eight of its runs before John Car­roll scored a lone run in the sev­enth inning. Thanks to great pitch­ing and defense, the game remained a score­less tie until the fifth inning. At that point, Juni­ata earned three runs aided by two errors by John Carroll. Evan Pap­pas got things started in the fifth with a one out sin­gle, then advanced to sec­ond on a stolen base. Pap­pas later scored on an RBI sin­gle by Kyle Sax­man for the first run of the game. Andrew Kriss then drove home two runs on a l...

Sarasota, Florida: The Tampa Bay Rays opened up the 2010 spring training season with a 12-2 loss against the Baltimore Orioles at Ed Smith Stadium. A strong breeze out of the ball park aided in a combined seven home runs during the contest. Six of the home runs came from the bats of Baltimore as the wind blowing out to right aided the predominantly left handed lineup of the Orioles. The Orioles drew first blood with a solo home run by Josh Bell off Matt Garza in the third inning. They then posted two more runs in the fourth inning off Dale Thayer to increase the lead to 3-0. The Rays reached the scoreboard in the top of the fifth. Kelly Shoppach led off the inning with a single to short. Shoppach advanced to second on a ground out by Ryan Shealy then moved to third on a wild pitch. Reid Brignac struck an RBI single that scored Shoppach and pulled the Rays to within two runs of the lead. Baltimore matched the run in the bottom of the inning on a solo home run by Nick Markakis to give t...