The Wandering Disciple

Thanks to a horrible decision by Major League Baseball to destroy the culture of Minor League Baseball, small towns across the country saw professional baseball in their communities disappear almost overnight.  At the direction of MLB, over forty teams were eliminated from the minors.  This restructure hit home as the Charlotte Stone Crabs were one of the teams effected by the restructuring.  A Tampa Bay Rays affiliate since 2009, the four time division champion and 2015 league champion will no longer be affiliated with Tampa Bay as the Rays moved their Advanced-A affiliate to Charleston for the 2021 season.  (Photo: September 9, 2015)

Braves minor league outfielder Izzy Wilson rounds second and digs for more during a 2018 Florida State League game. Wilson was a part of the Florida Fire Frogs during the 2018 season, the Braves Advanced-A affiliate in the Florida State League. Signed as an international free agent from Saint Maarten in December 2014 by the Braves, he has spent his career in the minor league farm system of the Braves, Rays and now the Angels organizations. (Photo: July 31, 2018)

Stone Crabs catcher Brett Sullivan prepares to tag out Yankees baserunner Jeff Hendrix in a close call at home plate during a 2017 Florida State League contest between the Charlotte Stone Crabs and Tampa Yankees.  The Stone Crabs are the Advanced-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays and play in the south division of the FSL.  They entered the league in 2009 and have been a Rays affiliate since their inception and have won one league championship and four division titles. The Stone Crabs play their home games at Charlotte Sports Park, the spring training home of the Rays.  (Photo: July 18, 2017)

Minor League Baseball has a slogan of "Where the stars of tomorrow, play today." While this holds true most of the time, but it some instances it is where the stars of the game play too. Typically when a major league player goes on the disabled list for an extended period of time, they find themselves playing a few games in the minor leagues to prepare for their return to the big league club. Like this throwback to 2017 when Tampa Bay Rays reliever Brad Boxberger made an appearance with the Advanced-A Charlotte Stone Crabs of the Florida State League prior to being activated from the disabled list. (Photo: June 27, 2017)

Debuting with a new team after being promoted is always a big deal. But its made even better when you have a big day at the plate and help lift your club to victory. That’s exactly what Niko Hulsizer did during his Stone Crabs debut, going 3 for 4 in his first Florida State League game. (Photo: August 18, 2019)

Fifty years ago, a farm field in New York was turned into festival of peace and music for the Bethel Rock Festival, more famously known as Woodstock. While the world celebrated the anniversary of this historic event, the Charlotte Stone Crabs are paying tribute by becoming the Charlotte Harbor Hippies for the weekend for baseball, tie-dye and classic music. The Hippies will go into the record books undefeated as they went 3-0 on the weekend. (Photo: August 18, 2019)

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Charlotte Stone Crabs opened the week with a three game set against the Clearwater Threshers. The Stone Crabs fueled by a strong pitching effort and a powerful offensive attack blanked the visiting little Phillies 7-0 on Tuesday night at Charlotte Sports Complex. The Stone Crabs broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the third inning. Taylor Walls singled followed by walk issued to Rays rehabbing catcher Mike Zunino. A double by Thomas Milone scored Walls for the first run of the game. Then a two run single by Moises Gomez scored Zunino and Milone to give the Stone Crabs a 3-0 lead. The Stone Crabs added to their lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. Zunino and Ronaldo Hernandez singled followed by Jim Haley reaching after being hit by a pitch to load the bases. Carl Chester then drove home a run the hard way, getting struck by a pitch to score Zunino to increase the lead to 4-0.  Charlotte added a pair more in the sixth. Walls doubl...

Who says pitchers can't get air. Stone Crabs reliever Simon Rosenblum-Larson leaps for a ball during warm-ups between innings. (Photo: May 26, 2019)

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Charlotte Stone Crabs watched their late lead dissolve in the top of the ninth as they fell to the Palm Beach Cardinals 7-4 on Sunday afternoon at Charlotte Sports Park. The Stone Crabs jumped out to an early lead by scoring in the first inning. Moises Gomez doubled to center, scoring Ronaldo Hernandez and giving the Stone Crabs a 1-0 lead. The Cardinals tied the game an inning on a solo home run by Luken Baker, his fourth of the season. Palm Beach grabbed he lead an inning later on a bases loaded free pass to Julio Rodriguez to score Justin Toerner and give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead.  The Stone Crabs tied the game in the fifth. Thomas Milone delivered a soft single to left, scoring Jake Palomaki to tie the game. They then took the lead back in the seventh by pushing across a pair of runs in the frame. First came on an RBI single by Jim Haley and then a sac fly by Milone put the Stone Crabs out in front 4-2. But the Cardinals bounced bac...

Watch it fly and say good-bye.  Garret Whitley touches them all after crushing a home run in Tuesday's game against Fort Myers.  Whitley is a Top-30 prospect for the Tampa Bay Rays and First Round Draft Pick from 2015.  (Photo: May 7, 2019)

Charlotte Stone Crabs outfielder Moises Gomez tracks a fly ball under a sunny Floridian sky.  The Stone Crabs are the Advanced-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays and play in the Florida State League.  Advanced-A is roughly the midway point in the path to the majors which begins at rookie ball and leads all the way through Triple-A and then the pros.  (Photo: April 14, 2019)

Charlotte Stone Crabs Carl Chester slides safely into third. Chester went from first to third on a pick-off attempt that sailed into the outfield, providing some excitement during a tie ball game. While he would be stranded just 90 feet from home, the Stone Crabs still managed to win the game in extra innings. (Photo: April 7, 2019)

Port Charlotte, Florida: While cold winter weather has taken hold of a good chunk of the country, it was still baseball season in South Florida where the boys of summer faced off for a late fall exhibition match-up at Charlotte Sports Park. On Sunday evening it was the USA Baseball 18U National Team hosting the University of Florida Gators. The USA Baseball team is currently playing a series of exhibition games in Florida to evaluate their players and prepare themselves for upcoming tournament play. Tonight they put their unbeaten streak on the line against a tough Gators team. Click on the photo above to view photos from the USA Baseball/Gators photo gallery .

Port Charlotte, Florida: Each year at the conclusion of the minor league baseball season, a group of prospects assemble throughout camps in Florida and Arizona for the fall instructional league.  This three week camp gives rising stars an additional opportunity to improve their game in front of the watchful eyes of their clubs player development staff.  While much of the camp is dedicated to skills development, these players get an opportunity to showcase their skill in a few exhibition game. Thursday afternoon, the Rays hosted the Red Sox for an exhibition game.  While these games are regulation nine inning contests, the emphasis is placed on working on fundamentals rather than winning or losing.  Each team will play a handful of games before camp breaks and players head into the off-season. You can catch the boys of summer playing a little fall ball for a few more days before camp ends. Check out your favorite teams website to see a list of players in camp as...

Charlotte Sports Park: The first place Charlotte Stone Crabs returned to the field at Charlotte Sports Park to host the St Lucie Mets for game two of a four game series on Tuesday night. It wasn’t the night for the Stone Crabs as they struggled to counter the mound domination by Mets starter Joe Cavallaro is his FSL debut as they fell 5-1. The Mets broke the scoreless tie in the top of the third. Andres Gimenez single to center, scoring Ian Strom to put the Mets ahead 1-0. The Mets added to their lead in the sixth inning. Jeremy Vasquez doubled to center which drove home Michael Paez to increase the lead to 2-0. The Stone Crabs avoided the shut-out by scoring their lone run in the bottom of the seventh. Jermaine Palacious delivered an RBI single that scored Rene Pinto to make it 2-1. The Mets distanced themselves in the final two frames, pushing two runs in the eighth and another in the ninth. TJ Rivera had an RBI single followed by an RBI single by Gene Cone in the eig...

Port Charlotte, Florida: With temperatures heating up in the Sunshine State to start July, the action on the field is getting just as hot as the boys of summer head into the Independence Day week with a Sunday afternoon game at Charlotte Sports Park. After splitting the first two games of the series the Charlotte Stone Crabs hosted the Tampa Tarpons in the rubber match of the three game set. The Tarpons jumped out to an early lead by scoring in the second inning.   They loaded the bases following a walk to Brandon Wagner, a single by Dom Thompson-Williams and a walk to Steven Sensley.   A bases loaded passed ball allowed Wagner to score and give Tampa a 1-0 lead. Tampa added to their lead in the fifth.   Angel Aguilar tripled to right and later scored on a RBI single by Kyle Holder to make it 2-0 Tarpons. The Stone Crabs wasted no time to tie the game, pushing across a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth. Following a lead off single by David Olemedo-Barr...

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Charlotte Stone Crabs kept their postseason chances alive by delivering a thrilling walk-off win in the series opener against the Clearwater Threshers on Friday night at Charlotte Sports Park. The Stone Crabs left an early lead disappear in the late inning but thanks to ninth inning heroics by the home team, the Stone Crabs sent fans home with a 3-2 victory. Things got scary for Rays fans in the top of the first inning. Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Matt Andriese got the start for the Stone Crabs on an MLB rehab assignment. However the rehab didn’t last long as he took a line drive to the leg on the second pitch of the night prompting his removal from the game and further testing. The Stone Crabs broke the scoreless tie by scoring a pair of runs in the second frame. They put runners on first and second following back to back singles by Riley Unroe and Thomas Milone. Unroe then scored on a single by Jonah Heim and Milone later scored on a single by Luci...

Port Charlotte, Florida: After being closed for a few days due to a damaged backstop net, Charlotte Sports Park returned to action on Tuesday nights as the Charlotte Stone Crabs welcomed the Daytona Tortugas to town. The game started out with both team throwing a pair of runs on the scoreboard, but afterwards the Tortugas took control, handing the home team a 7-2 loss. Despite Charlotte having Rays reliever Tommy Hunter on the mound, Daytona struck first in the opening frame. They led off the inning with back to back singles by Alfredo Rodriguez and Shed Long. Rodriguez scored on a ground out by Nick Senzel. Long later scored on a wild pitch to give Daytona a 2-0 lead. The Stone Crabs bounced back to tie the game in the second inning. Brett Sullivan led off the inning with a double to center. Sullivan then scored following a throwing error on a Ryan Boldt bunt single. Boldt later scored on an RBI single by Jake Fraley to tie the game. Daytona regained the lead in the thi...

Munchie tries to feed his hunger by gobbling up a fan at Charlotte Sports Park during the 2012 Florida State League All-Star Game.  As a member of the Inflatamaniacs, Munchie joins three other comedians as they travel the country performing at sport events throughout the year.  (Photo: June 16, 2012)

Avisail Garcia goes yard during the 2012 Florida State League All-Star Home Run Derby.  A member of the Lakeland Flying Tigers at the time, Garcia won the 2012 home run derby.  Today Garcia is making headlines in the majors as a member of the Chicago White Sox.  (Photo: June 16, 2012)