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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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...

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...

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...

For the 2018, an legend was reborn as the Tampa Yankees were re-branded as the Tampa Tarpons. The New York Yankees decided to resurrect the nostalgic name for their Advanced-A Florida State League affiliate in honor of the professional baseball team that played in Tampa from 1957-1988. The original Tarpons played for three organizations during their existence the Chicago White Sox (1988), the Cincinnati Reds (1961-1987) and Philadelphia Phillies (1957-1960). The team was sold in 1988 and relocated to Sarasota leaving Tampa without a team until 1994 when the Yankees started a franchise. (Photo: April 22, 2018)

Stone Crabs manager Brady Williams argues his point with a Florida State League umpire during a minor league baseball game in 2013.  Williams was the skipper for the Rays Advanced-A affiliate that season and is now currently coaching the Double-A Montgomery Biscuits.  (Photo: July 27, 2013)

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...

Fort Myers, Florida: After being rained out a night ago, the Fort Myers Miracle hosted the visiting St Lucie Mets to a doubleheader of baseball under the bright Florida sunshine at Hammond Stadium. The visiting Mets took the first game of the twin bill with the Miracle picking up a win in game two. In game one, the Mets used four run fifth inning to lead them to a 5-4 win in the opening game. The Mets broke the scoreless tie by scoring in the second inning. An RBI double by Michael Paez scored Wuilmer Becerra to give them a 1-0 lead. The Miracle tied the game in the bottom of the fourth. Tanner English singled home Kevin Garcia to tie the game. But it would not remain tied long as a the Mets struck big in the fifth. JC Rodriguez, John Mora and Anthony Dimino each singled to load the bases. Then Peter Alonso went deep to left for a grand slam to give the Mets a 5-1 lead. The Miracle picked up a run in the bottom of the fifth. Zander Wiel drove home Max Murphy to make it...

Fort Myers, Florida: Our quest to watch baseball games is as many minor league ballparks continued with a trip to Fort Myers and beautiful Hammond Stadium and a Saturday night matchup between the Fort Myers Miracle and St Lucie Mets. Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow was promoted to St Lucie and was expected to play and it was David Ortiz bobblehead night, so there was no better time to head south and catch a game. However, Mother Nature had other plans. Shortly after the players took the field to begin warm-ups, the radar and lightning detection got active. The players headed back to the clubhouse and the tarp was pulled to protect the infield. After about an hour of nothing happening, the skies opened up. The front office staff eventually postponed the contest and rescheduled it as part of a doubleheader on Sunday. Click on the photo above to view my Miracle/Mets photo gallery.

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)