The Wandering Disciple

Dunedin Blue Jays hitter Norberto Obeso loosens up before at at-bat during a Florida State League game against the St Lucie Mets. Dunedin is the Advanced-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays and marks roughly the midway point on the path to the pros. (Photo: May 4, 2019)

Port Charlotte, Florida: In the game of baseball, one unluckly hop can make or break a game and that was the storyline Tuesday night as the Charlotte Stone Crabs fell to the Dunedin Blue Jays 10-3 at Charlotte Sports Park. That one unlucky hop came on a two out ground ball that extended the inning for the Blue Jays, allowing them to push across six runs to take a commanding lead. The Blue Jays broke the scoreless tie by taking advantage of that critical Stone Crab error in the second inning. The Blue Jays loaded the bases with one out. Charlotte starter Michael Velasquez quickly recorded a strikeout for the second out of the inning. Then it look like he was about to get out of the inning with no harm, a ground ball to third took a bad hop resulting in the third baseman Kevin Padlo overthrowing first which allowed Juan Kelly and Lane Thomas to score. Cavan Biggio drew a walk to reload the bases before a grand slam by Max Pentecost would clear the bases and give the Blue Jays ...

Port Charlotte, Florida: With the All-Star Break fast approaching, the Charlotte Stone Crabs hosted the Dunedin Blue Jays for a morning finale to the first half of the season. A nice crowd of summer camps were on hand to watch the home town Stone Crabs beat the Blue Jays 4-2. The Stone Crabs took the lead in the second inning. Jace Conrad deliver a two out single to give the Stone Crabs a base runner. He stole second and later third to move just 90 feet away. Grant Kay drove home Conrad with an RBI single to put the Stone Crabs on the scoreboard. He would later score on a passed ball to give the Stone Crabs a 2-0 lead. The Blue Jays cut the lead in half by scoring in the fifth inning. Dickie Joe Thon scored on a field error to make it 2-1. The Stone Crabs got the run back by scoring in the sixth inning. An RBI double by Kay scored Bralin Jackson to extend the lead to 3-1. Both teams exchanged a run in the seventh. In the top of the inning it was a solo home by Gunnar H...

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Charlotte Stone Crabs used home field advantage to help defeat the Dunedin Blue Jays on Sunday afternoon in extra innings. A bottom of the ninth rally led to a tenth inning walk-off for the home team. The sunshine state has been anything but sunny this week and Sunday’s game was no different as the start time was delayed a little of an hour. But when play began, it was the Blue Jays jumping out to an early 1-0 lead. Anthony Alford drew a walk to lead off the game. He stole second base and later scored on a two out single by Matt Dean to put the Blue Jays in front 1-0. From that point on, all eyes were on the mound as both pitching staffs tossed gems. Not a single run would touch the scoreboard until the bottom of the ninth rally by the Stone Crabs. The rally started when Kean Wong crushed an offering from D-Jays closer Wil Browning. Wong legged out a triple and put the tying run just ninety feet away. A sac fly by Willy Adames scored Wong...

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Charlotte Stone Crabs found themselves in an early hole that they could not climb out of as they lost to the Dunedin Blue Jays 11-1 on Sunday evening at Charlotte Sports Park. Stone Crabs starter Braulio Lara struggled with control early, resulting in a 5-0 deficit by the time he was lifted in the third. The Blue Jays offense capitalized on walks in the first inning to push across a pair of runs. Lara issued back to back walks to Gabe Jacobo and Ryan Schimpf to lead off the inning. He then hit Kevin Nolan to load the bases. Jon Talley drove home two runs with a single down the third base line, scoring Jacobo and Shimpf to take a 2-0 lead. The Blue Jays struck again in the second, this time for three runs. Jack Murphy and Michael Crouse delivered back to back singles to open the inning. Kevin Nolan then cleared the bases with a three run homer to give the Blue Jays a 5-0 lead. The Stone Crabs scored their lone run in the bottom of the fourth w...

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Stone Crabs celebrated Christmas in July on Saturday night and the Stone Crabs go their gift in the form of a go-ahead triple by Brett Nommensen in the bottom of the eighth. This late game rally helped the Stone Crabs beat the Dunedin Blue Jays 3-2. The Stone Crabs took an early lead in the second inning. Mike Sheridan reached on a force out. Sheridan later scored on a single by Reid Fronk to give the Stone Crabs a 1-0 lead. The Blue Jays tied the game an inning later. Ivan Contreras singled to lead off the inning. He advanced to third on a ground out by AJ Jimenez and then later scored on a single by Kevin Ahrens to tie the game 1-1. The game would remain tied until the bottom of the eighth inning. Ty Morrison reached on a bunt single with two outs to get the rally started. Brett Nommensen then plated the go-ahead run with an RBI triple to right. Nommensen later scored on a single by Mark Thomas to give the Stone Crabs a 3-1 lead. Dunedin tried to mount a...

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Charlotte Stone Crabs suffered a tough loss to the Dunedin Blue Jays 10-4 on Sunday evening at Charlotte Sports Park. Stone Crabs starter Frank De Los Santos was hit hard in the loss, allowing 8 runs on 11 hits in the game. The Stone Crabs jumped out to an early lead in the first inning. Reid Fronk led off the inning with a triple to right field. Tim Beckham drove home Fronk with a ground ball to second, giving the Stone Crabs a 1-0 lead. Dunedin battled back to take the lead in the top of the second inning. Mark Sobolewski led off the inning with a solo home run to left that tied the game. Later in the inning, Justin McClanahan drove home a run with an RBI single to center that scored Yan Gomes and gave the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead. Dunedin added to their lead with another two run inning in the fourth inning. Ryan Goins scored the first run of the inning on a throwing error by Tim Beckham. Then Brian Van Kirk drove home Anthony Gose for the second ru...

Port Charlotte, Florida: A franchise high five errors and a lack of offense support led to the Charlotte Stone Crabs being shut out by the Dunedin Blue Jays 11-0 Saturday night at Charlotte Sports Park. The Blue Jays offense wasted no time getting started as Darin Mastroianni led off with a single to right and then later advanced two second on a throwing error by Jose Mejias on a pick-off attempt. Eric Thames cleared the bases with a home run to give the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead. Dunedin stuck again the top of the third. Once again it was Darin Mastroianni getting things going by hitting a routine fly ball to right…well routine on any other night as Reid Fronk committed the second error of the night and the out was easily turned into a triple. John Tolisano followed with a RBI double to center and the Blue Jays took a 3-0 lead. It was the fourth inning when things went from bad to worse as the Blue Jays struck for six runs in the inning. The Stone Crabs assist Dunedin by committing ...

Port Charlotte, Florida: Despite Ian Paxton going deep twice, the Charlotte Stone Crabs lost to the Dunedin Blue Jays 7-4 Friday night at Charlotte Sports Park. Dunedin opened the game up with back to back singles by Darin Mastroianni and Scott Campbell. Mastroianni later scored thanks in part by a fielding error by Matt Hall and the Blue Jays took a 1-0 lead. The Stone Crabs tied the game in the bottom of the third on a solo home run by Ian Paxton. Dunedin answered back and retook the lead off a home run by Jesus Gonzalez to put the Blue Jays ahead 2-1. Charlotte battled back to tie the game in the fourth when John Matulia reached base after being hit by a pitch and later scored on an RBI double by Cody Cipriano. The Stone Crabs took the lead for the first time in the fifth as Ryan Royster led the inning off with a walk and Ian Paxton followed with a two run homer, his second homer of the night, to give the Stone Crabs a 4-2 lead. But the Blue Jays offense wasn’t finished as they...

Sarasota, Florida: The Sarasota Reds were swept by the Dunedin Blue Jays following a 3-0 loss on Sunday afternoon to wrap up the 2008 season. Dunedin wasted no time taking the lead, striking for a run in the top of the first. Brad Wilkerson doubled to right to lead off the inning. Wilkerson scored on a double by Anthony Hatch to take a 1-0 lead. The Blue Jays added to their lead in the sixth inning. David Corrente doubled to left to lead off the inning. Luis Sanchez reached on an error followed by a walk to Wilkerson to load the bases. Marcos Cabral drew a bases loaded walk to push across the first run of the inning. A second run came on a wild pitch by Terrell Young to give the Blue Jays a 3-0 win. Click on the photo above to view the Reds/Blue Jays gallery.

Sarasota, Florida: The Sarasota Reds suffered a 7-1 loss to the Dunedin Blue Jays on Saturday night at Ed Smith Stadium. Dunedin jumped out to an early lead in the first inning. Brad Wilkerson went deep with a solo home run to lead off the game. Then the rain came and the tarp was pulled with the Jays leading 1-0 in the first. Play resumed after a 25 minute delay and the Blue Jays offense continued right where they left off. In the top of the third Wilkerson led off the inning with a double to center. He later scored on a double by David Cooper to increase the lead to 2-0. The Reds pushed across their only run in the bottom of the third. The inning got started with single by Jake Long, Jose Castro and Carson Kainer to load the bases. Yonder Alonso plated a run with a single to right. But the Reds left the bases load as they cut the lead in half 2-1. The Blue Jays got a solo run in the fourth and another in the firth to help extend the lead. Then in the sixth they pushed acros...

Sarasota, Florida: The Sarasota Reds rallied late but were unable to defeat the Dunedin Blue Jays, losing 4-3 on Friday evening. The Reds took the lead in the first inning. Logan Parker struck an RBI double to center that scored Todd Frazier to give the Reds a 1-0 lead. But Dunedin bounced back to take the lead in the fifth inning. Chris Emanuele hit a triple to left to lead off the inning. Then Anthony Hatch cleared the bases with a two run homer to give the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead. The Blue Jays added to their lead in the seventh inning. Brad Wilkerson doubled to right with two outs to put a runner in scoring position. Wilkerson then scored on a single by Marcos Cabral to increase the lead to 3-1. The Frazier/Parker connection struck again in the eighth for the Reds. Frazier drew a walk and later advanced to second on a wild pitch. Parker drove him home with a line drive to right to pull the Reds within a run of the lead 3-2. But Dunedin posted an insurance run an inning later....

Dunedin, Florida: It took thirteen innings to determine a winner but when it was all said and done, the Sarasota Reds fell to the Dunedin Blue Jays 3-2 on Sunday afternoon at Knology Park. Like the night before, the Reds jumped out to an early lead. Chris Valaika delivered a two out single to right to put a runner on the bases. Juan Francisco drove home the runner with an RBI double to left to give the Reds a 1-0 lead. The Reds would get another run in the top of the third to increase their lead. Justin Turner drew a walk to get things going. Valaika then singled to left, advancing Turner to third base. Francisco would pick up his second RBI of the afternoon by driving home Turner with a ground out to first, increasing the Sarasota lead to 2-0. The Blue Jays cut the lead in half during the bottom of the fourth inning. Sean Shoffit was hit by a pitch to put a runner on first. Shoffit stole second and then later scored on an RBI double by Brian Dopirak to cut the lead in half 2...

Dunedin, Florida: The Sarasota Reds held off a late inning charge by the Dunedin Blue Jays to walk away with a 6-4 on Saturday night at Knology Park. The Reds took the lead first and never relinquished the lead to earn the road win. The Reds broke the scoreless tie in the top of the fourth inning. Drew Stubbs led off the inning with a triple to right field. Carson Kainer plated the run with a ground out to third, scoring Stubbs. Jason Louwsma would then follow with a double to center. Louwsma would move to third on ground out by Justin Tordi and then later score on an RBI single by Anthony Esquer to give the Reds a 2-0 lead. The Reds would add another run to their total in the top of the sixth inning. The inning once again got started with an extra base hit by Stubbs, this time a double to left. Stubbs would steal third and then score on an RBI single by Louwsma to increase the lead to 3-0. The Blue Jays picked up their first run in the bottom of the sixth inning. David Smith do...

Sarasota, Florida: The Sarasota and Dunedin Blue Jays combined for 18 runs and 22 hits during Saturday nights game at Ed Smith Stadium. In the end, the Reds held off a late inning surge from the visiting Blue Jays to win the game 10-8. The Blue Jays took an early lead in the first inning, striking for two runs out of the box. But the Reds battled back in the home half of the first, picking up three of their own to take the lead. The Reds then added an insurance run to their total in the third inning. But then the Blue Jays struck again, adding two runs in the top of the fourth to tie the game. The Reds grabbed the lead back in the bottom of the fourth but did not last long as the Blue Jays tied the game again in the top of the fifth. It was the bottom of the fifth when the Reds got some separation from their opponent. The Reds pushed across two runs in the bottom of the fifth and three more in the bottom of the sixth to hold a 10-5 lead. The Blue Jays rallied in the eighth innin...

Dunedin, Florida: The Dunedin Blue Jays are the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays are currently in the Northern Division of the Florida State League. Organized in 1985, the Blue Jays are the second oldest team in the Florida State League. Many major league stars have gotten their start with Dunedin, the list of players includes Roy Halladay, Adam Lind, Travis Snider, Vernon Wells and many more. Dunedin Stadium, formerly known as Knology Field, is the home of the Dunedin Blue Jays. This 5,000 plus seat stadium hosts the Blue Jays for their 70 game home schedule. The Blue Jays have yet to record a League Championship, but they have two Division Titles in their possession. They were the division champs during the 2006 and 2008 seasons. Click on the photo above to view my Dunedin Blue Jays photo gallery. The page contains game photos, player photos and photos of Dunedin Stadium. Updated November 26, 2010