The Wandering Disciple

Bradenton, Florida: LECOM Park had a certain major league feel as the mini-Pirates took the field with two of the big Pirates on Monday night as the Bradenton Marauders hosted the Lakeland Flying Tigers. The Marauders had both Sean Rodriguez playing shortstop and Clay Holmes on the mound as they were putting final touches on their rehab assignments trying to get back to the Pirates roster. Bradenton took the lead in the second inning. Bligh Madris singled on a line drive to left that was misplayed by the left fielder combined with a throwing error by the shortstop allowing Albert Baur to score and Madris to move to third, giving the Marauders a 1-0 lead. The Flying Tigers countered to tie the game in the fourth inning. Danny Pinero drove home Isaac Paredes with an RBI double to tie the game 1-1. The game remained tied until the top of the eighth when the Flying Tigers offense struck for three runs. Pinero reached on an error allowing Paredes to score to break the tie. The...

The Florida State League has a saying;  "Where the Stars of Tomorrow Play Today" which could be no farther than the truth.  At this stage of the minor league ladder, this is where they begin to separate the contenders for major league roster spots.  Pictured here is Phil Irwin while pitching for the Bradenton Marauders.  Irwin would eventually make his major league debut for the Pirates in April 2013.  (Photo: June 1, 2011)

While much has changed over the course of the years, the game of baseball has remained pretty much the same.  The stadiums have gotten newer and fancier, but there is one spring training site that still feels like the old days.  Built in 1923, McKechnie Field is the oldest spring training field still in operation and while much of the part has been upgraded, it still maintains the old feel.  (Photo: May 24, 2010)

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Stone Crabs could not overcome a seven run defecit early as they fell to the Bradenton Marauders 10-3 on Sunday afternoon at Charlotte Sports Park. Bradenton jumped all over Stone Crabs starter German Marquez, scoring four runs in the second and three more in the third to take a commanding seven run lead. The Stone Crabs finally reached the scoreboard in the sixth inning.  Yoel Araujo reached on an error followed by a single by Andrew Velazquez.  Both runners would score on a single by Maxx Tissenbaum to make it 7-2. The Marauders would post three more runs in the ninth courtesy of the three run homer by Harold Ramirez to extend the lead to 10-2. The Stone Crabs added a run for good measure in the bottom of the ninth.  Tissenbaum scored on a ground ball by Pat Blair.  But it was too little, too late as the Stone Crabs fell 10-3. Click on the photo above to view by Stone Crabs/Maraudersphoto gallery .

The Bradenton Marauders All-Star outfielder Josh Bell rounds second on the way to third after hitting a solo homer in the sixth inning of a game against the Palm Beach Cardinals at McKechnie Field. (Photo: June 12, 2014)

Bradenton, Florida: After a brief rain delay caused by the Floridian liquid sunshine, Thursday’s game between the Bradenton Marauders and Tampa Yankees got underway just 45 minutes behind schedule. When play started, it would be the Marauders who would walk away with a 4-0 shut-out win before the home crowd. The Marauders broke the scoreless tie in the fourth inning. Jonathan Schwind doubled home Walker Gourley for a 1-0 lead. The Marauders sent seven men to the plate in the seventh, scoring three more runs to give them a 4-0 win over the Yankees. Chad Kuhl picked up the win and Jhondaniel Medina notched the save for Bradenton. Chaz Hebert was the losing pitcher for Tampa. Click on the photo above to view my Marauders/Yankees photo gallery.

Bradenton Marauders infielder Alen Hansen turns two over a sliding Brandon Macias as the Marauders hosted the Brevard County Manatees at historic McKechnie Field.  (Photo: April 30, 2013)

Bradenton, Florida: The Bradenton Marauders hosted the Daytona Cubs on Tuesday night in a Florida State League regular season match-up at historic McKechnie Field. The fans were treated to a great pitching/defensive duel which saw the Cubs earning a hard fought 1-0 win. The game remained scoreless until the top of the sixth inning when the Cubs pushed across the games lone run. Click on the photo to view my Marauders/Cubs photo gallery .

Bradenton, Florida: The Bradenton Marauders hosted the Brevard County Manatees for a Florida State League matchup on Tuesday night at historic McKechnie Field in Bradenton. The home team Marauders used their homefield advantage to work up an early lead. But the Manatees battled back to tie the game before play was suspended due to heavy rain. Click on the photo to view the rest of the photos from the Marauders/Manatees game .

A gem of Florida ballparks, McKechnie Field represents an era of baseball stadiums that has been replaces by more modern ballparks. Opened in 1923, it is the second oldest stadium to host a major league baseball team. It is the spring training home of the Pittsburgh Pirates and the home of the Bradenton Marauders of the Florida State League. (Photo: June 23, 2010)

Bradenton, Florida: The Bradenton Marauders closed out the first half of the season by sweeping the Jupiter Hammerheads. The Marauders were winning side of a 5-4 home run fest on a sunny Wednesday afternoon for Camp Day at McKechnie Field. Both clubs combined for three home runs on the afternoon, two by Jupiter and one by Bradenton. The Marauders jumped out to an early lead in the second inning. All-Star MVP Aaron Baker went deep for his ninth home run of the season, a solo shot to put the Marauders ahead 1-0. The Hammerheads wasted no time in tying the game, striking for a run of their own in the third. This time it was Danny Pertusati going yard to tie the game 1-1. The Marauders regained the lead again in the bottom of the third. Kelson Brown led off the inning with a triple to center. Robbie Grossman then drew a walk to put runners on the corners. Jarek Cunningham drove home a run when he hit into a force out, losing Grossman at second but allowing Brown to sneak home o...

Bradenton, Florida: A packed crowd at McKechnie Field watched the home team win as the Bradenton Marauders defeated the Brevard County Manatees 6-5 on Wednesday night. The Marauders posted all six of their runs in the first inning as they sent all nine hitters to the plate in the inning. Robbie Grossman doubled to left followed by a single by Jarek Cunningham. Ramon Cabrera then drew a walk to load the bases. Another walk to Aaron Baker pushed across the first run of the game. Elevys Gonzalez then drove home two runs with a double to center. Baker then scored on a wild pitch. David Rubinstein was next to collect an RBI with a single to center. After a pitching change, Adalberto Santos tripled to right to give the Marauders a 6-0 lead. The Manatees finally reached the scoreboard in the fifth inning. Juan Sanchez doubled to center to lead off the inning. Kentrail Davis later cleared the bases with a home run to left that put them on the board. The Manatees added two more runs i...

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Stone Crabs gave up an early lead to lose 6-2 to the Bradenton Marauders on Sunday afternoon at Charlotte Sports Park. A couple of errors and a few bad hops kept the Stone Crabs from sweeping Bradenton. The Stone Crabs took the lead in the bottom of the first inning. Hak-Ju Lee tripled to right to lead off the inning. Lee then scored on a ground ball to give the Stone Crabs a 1-0 lead. The Stone Crabs extended their lead in the bottom of the second inning on a solo home run by Anthony Scelfo to put them out in front 2-0. But Bradenton bounced back to tied the game in the fourth. Robbie Grossman doubled to left to lead off the inning. Jarek Cunningham followed with a triple to right, scoring Grossman. Cunningham would later score on a grounder by Evan Chambers to tie the game 2-2. The Marauders took their first lead of the afternoon in the bottom of the sixth Cunningham and Chambers delivered back to back singles to lead off. Then both runners advanced when...

Port Charlotte, Florida: After getting blown out the night before, the Stone Crabs returned the favor by defeating the Bradenton Marauders 14-1 on Saturday night at Charlotte Sports Park. They pushed across a franchise high 14 runs on 15 hits and used a 9 run fourth inning to put the game out of reach. The Stone Crabs took the lead in the second inning. Mayo Acosta delivered a two out single to left to put a runner on the bases. Anthony Scelfo followed with a line drive to right that moved Acosta to third. Acosta would the score on a single by Matt Hall to put the Stone Crabs ahead 1-0. The Stone Crabs added three more runs an inning later in the third. Back to back to back singles by Brett Nommensen, Greg Sexton and Mike Sheridan loaded the bases for the Stone Crabs. Mark Thomas plated the first run with a sac fly. Then Scelfo drove home two with a line drive to right, increasing the lead to 4-0. Then came the wild fourth inning which saw the Stone Crabs push across a franchise high...

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Stone Crabs opened up the 2011 season in dramatic fashion by defeating the Bradenton Marauders 3-2 on Thursday night. A pack crowd and Stone Crabs owner Cal Ripken Jr were treated to a spectacular performance in which the Stone Crabs battled back to win in the bottom of the ninth inning. Bradenton jumped out to an early lead in the first inning. Robbie Grossman drew a walk to lead off the game. Grossman stole second and then advanced to third on a ground out by Jarek Cunningham. An RBI double by the MLB rehabbing catcher Chris Snyder scored Grossman to give the Marauders a 1-0 lead. The Stone Crabs battled back to tie the game in the home half of the first inning. The Stone Crabs first hit of the season came of the bat of Tyler Bortnick, a single up the middle. Bortnick then stole second and later scored on an RBI single by Greg Sexton to tie the game 1-1. The Marauders posted another run in the second inning to regain the lead. Cole White drew a walk to l...

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Charlotte Stone Crabs finished the 2010 regular season in winning fashion by defeating the Bradenton Marauders 4-1 on Sunday afternoon at Charlotte Sports Park. The Stone Crabs led by a fantastic outing on the mound my Jake Thompson, took the lead in the third inning and never looked back. The Stone Crabs took the zero off the board in the bottom of the third inning. Isaias Velasquez and Reid Fronk delivered back to back singles to put runners on the bases. Velasquez would later score on a force out by Tim Beckham to give the Stone Crabs a 1-0 lead. The Stone Crabs added to their lead in the fourth inning. Michael Sheridan singled followed by a double by Matt Hall to put two runners in scoring position. Velasquez then drove home both runners with a single to left, increasing the lead to 3-0. Bradenton picked up their only run of the game in the eighth inning. Adam Davis singled to center then advanced to second after Jordan Newton was walked. Greg P...

Port Charlotte, Florida: Over 6,000 fans packed Charlotte Sports Park to watch a preview of the first round of the playoffs as the Charlotte Stone Crabs faced their neighbor to the north Bradenton Marauders. Both clubs dueled toe to toe but when the dust settled and the game was over, the Stone Crabs fell 4-2. The Stone Crabs jumped out to an early lead in the first inning. Stephen Vogt drew a walk with two outs to put a runner on the bases. Vogt moved to second on a wild pitch. Then Greg Sexton hit a fly ball into shallow right that fell in the middle of the three Bradenton defenders, the hang time on the ball was enough to allow Vogt to score from second and give the Stone Crabs a 1-0 lead. Bradenton tied the game an inning later. Eric Fryer singled to left to get things going. Then things took an odd turn. Calvin Anderson connected on a check swing and dropped the ball right in front of home plate. What appeared to be a dead ball, home plate umpire ruled a live ball and An...

Bradenton, Florida: It took eleven innings to determine the winner, but when the dust settled, the Bradenton Marauders fell to the St. Lucie Mets by the score of 3-2 on Wednesday afternoon at McKechnie Field. The Marauders took the lead in the first inning. Eric Fryer struck a two run homer to left field to put the home team ahead 2-0. The Mets then cut the lead in half in the third inning. Hector Pellot singled to left with two outs to put a runner aboard. Jordany Valdespin then drove home the run with a triple to right to bring the Mets within a run of the lead. The Mets tied the game in the top of the sixth inning. Stefan Welch singled to center to lead off the inning. Welch stole second then scored on a double by Joey August to tie the game 2-2. It wasn't until the top of the eleventh inning until the tie was broken. Juan Torres plated the winning run with an RBI single to center, scoring Welch and giving the Mets a 3-2 extra innings victory. Jimmy Johnson picked up t...

Bradenton, Florida: The Bradenton Marauders rode the momentum of a five run third inning to help defeat the Tampa Yankees 8-1 on Friday night at McKechnie Field in Bradenton. Adenson Chourio made his first start as a Marauder by going 2 for 4 with a run scored. Tony Sanchez and Quincy Latimore also recorded multiple hits with Sanchez getting three hits and Latimore 2 hits with 3 RBI’s/ The Marauders broke the scoreless tie in the third inning with their huge five run performance. Austin McClune and Chourio led off the inning with back to back singles. Then Brock Holt singled to left field to score McClune for the first run of the game. Both runners advanced into scoring position thanks to a sac bunt by Robbie Grossman. Latimore then drove home two runs with a double to left field. Latimore would later score on a ground ball by Jeremy Farrell. Eric Fryer plated the final run with a single to left that scored Sanchez and gave the Marauders a 5-0 lead. The Yankees scored their o...

singles in the first inning of Monday's game."id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475518786150855778" /> Bradenton, Florida: The Bradenton Marauders were not able to keep the Fort Myers Miracle offense down as they fell 12-3 on Monday night at McKechnie Field. The Marauders took an early lead in the first inning. Brock Holt drew a lead off walk then later scored on a sac fly by Tony Sanchez to take a 1-0 lead. Fort Myers battled back to tie the game in the second inning. Daniel Rohfling singled to left then moved to third on a single by Jair Fernandez. With runners on the corners, Nick Romero singled to short, scoring Rohfling and tying the game 1-1. The Miracle took their first lead of the game in the third inning. Brian Dozier drew a walk to get things started. Deibinson Romero moved the runner to third on a single to right. Evan Bigley knocked home the run with a sac fly to give the Miracle a 2-1 lead. But it wouldn't take long for the Marauders to tie the ga...