The Wandering Disciple

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: The Charlotte Stone Crabs hosted their southern rival, the Fort Myers Miracle on Friday night at Charlotte Sport Park. The Miracle got a strong outing from starter Keaton Steele who held the Stone Crabs scoreless on the night. Fort Myers broke the scoreless tie by scoring a pair of runs in the fourth inning. Trey Varva pushes across a run with a single that scored Chris Paul. Then a sac fly by Alex Swim gave the Miracle a 2-0 lead. The Miracle added two more runs in the seventh. Kevin Garcia drove home two runs with a single to right that made it 4-0. Fort Myers added one more run in the seventh on a solo home run by Logan Wade to give them the 5-0 margin of victory. Click on the photo above to view my Stone Crabs/Miracle photo gallery  or enjoy the slideshow of photos below.

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Stone Crabs opened the series against the Fort Myers Miracle with a 5-1 loss on Sunday afternoon at Charlotte Sports Park. Fort Myers jumped out to a three run lead in the second inning and never looked back.  An RBI single by Tanner Vavra and a two run single by Engelb Vielma gave the Miracle a 3-0 lead. The Miracle extended their lead in the fifth on a two run triple by Jason Kanzler to make it 5-0. The Stone Crabs avoided a shut-out by scoring in the seventh.  Mike Marjama led off the inning with a solo home run.  But it wasn’t enough to overcome the early deficit as the Stone Crabs fell 5-1. Click on the photo to view my Stone Crabs/Miracle game gallery .

Port Charlotte, Florida: For the second straight home game, the Stone Crabs used a great pitching performance to earn a victory against their neighbor to the south. This time it was Jacob Faria who provided the ammo in the form of six shut-out innings and seven strikeout to lift the Stone Crabs to a 4-0 win in the series finale against the Fort Myers Miracle. The Stone Crabs broke the scoreless tie in the second inning. Maxx Tissenbaum led off the inning with a single to center. He would later score on a ground ball by Braxton Lee to put the Stone Crabs out in front 1-0. The Stone Crabs added to their lead in the bottom of the fifth. Mike Marjama singled up the middle to lead off the inning. He later scored on a line drive by Juniel Querecuto to increase the lead to 2-0.  The shut-out was in threatened in the top the sixth when the Miracle moved a runner to third with one out. But a timely fly ball that doubled off the runner at third ended the inning with the shut-out in ...

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Stone Crabs went into Saturday, hoping to play a doubleheader. But Mother Nature had a different schedule in mind, dropping heavy rain over the area just prior to game time. But after a 2 hour rain delay, the twin bill was nixed in lieu of a single nine inning game. Albert Suarez made his highly anticipated debut as the Stone Crabs beat the Fort Myers Miracle 6-2. The Stone Crabs took the lead in the second inning. Matt Hall doubled to center with one out to put a runner in scoring position. Omar Luna doubled home Hall with an RBI double to left that gave the Stone Crabs a 1-0 lead. The Stone Crabs added to their lead in third inning. Brett Nommensen reached on a single to put a runner on the bases. Then Mark Thomas struck his twelfth homer of the season, tying Henry Wrigley for the franchise lead in home runs and giving the Stone Crabs a 3-0 lead. The Stone Crabs offense continued to roll as they scored three more runs in the fourth inning. Luna ...

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Stone Crabs fell to the Fort Myers Miracle 5-3 on Sunday afternoon at Charlotte Sports Park. Despite jumping out to a three run lead in the first inning, the Stone Crabs went scoreless the remaining eight frames to drop the contest. It was a season high four errors and eighth walks that helped put the Stone Crabs in a hole that they could not climb out of. The Stone Crabs took the lead in the first inning. Hak-Ju Lee doubled to left to lead off the inning, extending his hitting steak to fourteen games. Matt Hall was then hit by a pitch on a bunt attempt to put a second runner aboard the bases. Anthony Scelfo moved the runners ahead a spot with a sac bunt. Greg Sexton drove home the first run of the game with a single to left. Then Brett Nommensen drove home Hall with a sac fly. Sexton later scored on an RBI triple by Mark Thomas to give the Stone Crabs a 3-0 lead. Fort Myers pulled to within a run of the lead in the third. Aaron Hicks walked with one out. ...

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Charlotte Stone Crabs recorded a franchise high eighth win in a row by defeating the Fort Myers Miracle 4-2 on Saturday night at Charlotte Sports Park. With the win, the Stone Crabs swept the series, earning them their second consecutive series sweep. The Stone Crabs capitalized on Shooter Hunt's inability to find the strikezone in the second inning. Hunt walked Michael Sheridan, Anthony Scelfo and Matt Spring to load the bases. Then Matt Hall drew a bases loaded walk that scored Sheridan. Reid Fronk was then hit by a pitch to drive home Scelfo. Then yet another walk this time to Tim Beckham scored Spring to give the Stone Crabs a 3-0 lead. Fort Myers pulled to within a run of the lead in the seventh inning. Brian Dozier singled to left with one out to get things started. Chris Herrmann followed with an RBI triple to score Dozier. Herrmann would then score on a double by Evan Bigley to move the Miracle to within a run of the lead 3-2. The St...

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...

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Charlotte Stone Crabs lost an exciting game against the Fort Myers Miracle in game one of the Florida State League South Division Finals on Tuesday night at Charlotte Sports Park. Both clubs combined for fifteen runs and twenty-five hits in the game which saw the Miracle squeak by with a 8-7 win. Fort Myers scored first in the second inning. Mark Dolenc singled to center for the first hit of the game. Joe Benson followed with double to left, moving Dolenc to third. Then Deibinson Romero drove home the run with a ground ball to short, giving the Miracle a 1-0 lead. The Stone Crabs took the lead in the fourth inning. Greg Sexton singled to center then advanced to third on a double by Henry Wrigley. Shawn Williams drew a walk to load the bases. Drew Anderson drew a bases loaded walk to push across Sexton to tie the ball game. Then Matt Sweeney followed with a ground ball to first that scored Wrigley and gave the Stone Crabs a 2-1 lead. Fort Myers stru...

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Charlotte Stone dropped the series finale against the Fort Myers Miracle 5-3 on Sunday evening at Charlotte Sports Park. The Miracle scored first in the second inning. Chris Parmelee led off the inning with a walk. Deibinson Romero then hit an RBI triple to score Parmelee and give Fort Myers a 1-0 lead. The Stone Crabs wasted no time and tied the game in the bottom half of the inning. Reid Fronk hit a solo home run to right field that tied the game. Fort Myers regained the lead in the fifth inning with the assist from the umpire crew in the form of an errant call. Deibinson Romero led off the inning with a single to left. Nick Romero followed with a foul ball that was to the left of the pole in left field by a bad call by home umpire Eric Underwood ruled it a home run. Arguments from both Charlotte coaches fell on deaf ears (and obviously blind eyes) as the Miracle took a 3-1 lead. The Stone Crabs rallied back to tie the game again in the home half...

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Charlotte Stone Crabs lost to the Fort Myers Miracle 7-1 on Friday night at Charlotte Sports Park. The Miracle got started in the first inning as Ben Revere led off the game by drawing a walk. Revere then advanced to third on a single by Estarlin De Los Santos. Then Revere scored on a wild pitch to put the Miracle ahead 1-0. The Miracle increased their lead in the third. Jair Fernandez and Chris Cates led off the inning with back to back singles. Then Estarlin De Los Santos hit into a force out, leaving the Miracle with runners on the corners. Evan Bigley drove home the first run of the inning with an RBI single to score Fernandez. Then Chris Parmelee cleared the bases with a three run homer to increase the Miracle lead to 5-0. Fort Myers posted two more runs in the fifth inning. Chris Parmelee drew a walk and Joe Benson was hit by a pitch to put two runners on the bases for the Miracle. Then Mark Dolenc hit a two run double to give the Miracle a ...

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Charlotte Stone Crabs overcame a six run deficit to defeat the Fort Myers Miracle 7-6 in twelve innings on Wednesday night at Charlotte Sports Park. After waiting out an hour rain delay, both clubs engaged in the four and a half hour marathon that saw a combined twenty seven hits during the game that went into the early hours of Thursday morning. Fort Myers jumped all over Jake McGee in the first inning, striking for five runs without a single out being recorded. Ben Revere and Estarlin De Los Santos led off the game with back to back singles. Deibinson Romero then drew a walk to load the bases. Chris Parmelee followed with a two run double to score Revere and De Los Santos. Then Evan Bigley cleared the bases with a three run home run. The Stone Crabs then made a call to the pen for Darin Downs to take over the hill and try and quiet the Fort Myers offense. Marc Dolenc was the first batter to face Downs and struck for a solo home run to give the Mira...

Port Charlotte, Florida: The post game fireworks show was not the only thing exploding in front of the record crowd of 7,340 at Charlotte Sports Park, the explosive offense of the Charlotte Stone Crabs put nine runs on the scoreboard enroute to a 9-2 victory over the Fort Myers Miracle on Saturday night. The Stone Crabs celebrated Independence Day by wearing special edition red, white and blue uniforms and wasted no time getting things going by putting three runs on the board n the second inning. Ryan Royster got things started with a single to center and then advanced to second on a balk by Fort Myers pitcher Steve Hirschfeld. Reid Fronk drew a walk. Royster was eliminated on a force out at third on the following play as Ian Paxton grounded into a force out, but the Stone Crabs still had runners at first and second. Omar Luna followed with a single to right to score Fronk. Matt Hall singled home Luna and then later scored on an RBI single by Shawn O’Malley to give the Stone Cra...

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Charlotte Stone Crabs were swept by the division leading Fort Myers Miracle losing 3-2 Sunday at Charlotte Sports Park. The Miracle jumped out to an early lead in the first inning on a two run homer by Rene Leveret to put the Miracle on top 2-0. The Stone Crabs battled back in the bottom of the first as Emeel Salem got aboard after being hit by a pitch. Salem stole second and then advance to third on a throwing error by Fort Myer’s catcher Allan de San Miguel. Pedro Powel drove Salem home to bring the Stone Crabs within a run of Fort Myers. Both clubs exchanged runs in the sixth. First it was Fort Myers off an RBI single by Deibinson Romero to score Rene Leveret. Then Charlotte matched runs when Reid Fronk hit an RBI double to left that scored Matt Fields. Charlotte was unable to get another run and Fort Myers held on for a 3-2 win. Darin Downs suffered the loss pitching 5 1/3 innings giving up 3 runs on 7 hits while walking and striking out 1. Paul...

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Charlotte Stone Crabs took over first place by defeating the Fort Myers Miracle 5-2 at Charlotte Sports Park. Fort Myers took the lead in the first as Steve Singleton doubled to center and was drove home on an RBI single by Chris Parmelee. The Stone Crabs came back to tie the game in the third when Ryan Royster drew a walk to lead of the inning and was came home on an RBI single by Shawn O’Malley to tie the game at 1-1. Fort Myers put another run on the board in the top of the fourth. Alex Cobb issued walks to Rene Leveret and Jair Fernandez. Chris Cates followed with an RBI single to center to score Leveret and put Fort Myers back on top at 2-1. The Stone Crabs answered in the bottom of the sixth inning as Reid Fronk hits a sacrifice fly to right to score Greg Sexton and tie the game again 2-2. The Stone Crabs took the lead by scoring three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Matt Fields started the rally with a two out single to right. Reid ...

Port Charlotte, Florida: Charlotte was unable to keep the Fort Myers offense grounded as they lost their third game in a row by the score of 11-6. Fort Myers jumped all over the Stone Crabs starter David Newmann, scoring 7 runs in the second. Joe Benson and Deibinson Romero contributed to the big inning both picking up 2-RBI’s a piece with double. Fort Myers added to their lead by picking up another run in the third, taking a commanding 8-0 lead. Charlotte got on the board in the bottom of the fourth as Ryan Royster drove in Matt Fields. Then picked up two more runs in the fifth as Emeel Salem and Gregory Sexton pick up RBI’s and narrow the margin, 8-3. BJ Upton blazed the bases, picking up 2 steals and crossed the plate for one of the runs. Fort Myers didn’t sit quietly as they added two more runs of their own in the sixth inning. Ben Revere went deep against Craig James and Deibinson Romero drove in the second run. Fort Myers still held the lead, 10-3. Charlotte kept digging,...

Port Charlotte, Florida: The inaugural season of the Charlotte Stone Crabs got off to a rough start as they lose the home opener to Fort Myers at Charlotte Sports Park. Fort Myers got on the board first in the top of the second with an RBI double by Rene Leveret scoring Yangervis Solarte. Charlotte battled back with a big inning in the bottom of the second. The offensive attack was lead by a solo home run by Matthew Fields, a triple by Ryan Royster, RBI single by Omar Luna, a sac fly by Shawn O’Malley and four walks given up by Tyler Robertson giving Charlotte the lead 4-1. Fort Myers comes back with three runs in the sixth inning to tie the game 4-4 courtesy of two doubles (Steven Singleton and Deibinson Romero) and a two run home run by Chris Parmalee. Charlotte’s bullpen fell apart in the eighth inning as Craig James surrenders 5 runs to put the Miracle up to stay. Four singles, two walks, an error and a hit batter lead to the runs. The Miracle never looked back and cruised o...

Sarasota, Florida: The Sarasota Reds held on to win a close one run game against the Fort Myers Miracle on Saturday night at Ed Smith Stadium. Great pitching from the Reds Jordan Smith helped secure the 2-1 victory. The Reds jumped out to an early lead in the first inning. Justin Turner singled to left to put a runner on the bases. Chris Valaika followed with an RBI double to right, scoring Turner and gave the Reds a 1-0 lead. The Reds pushed across another run in the second inning. Drew Stubbs doubled to center to lead off the inning. Jason Louwsma reached first after being hit by a pitch to give the Reds runners on first and second. Reds manager Joe Ayrault called a double steal to put both runners in scoring position for Anthony Gressick. Gressick knocked in the runner with sac fly to right, scoring Stubbs and increasing the lead 2-0. The Miracle would strike for a run to cut the lead in half in the top of the third inning. Brian Dinkelman and Rene Tosoni delivered back to ...

Fort Myers, Florida: The Fort Myers Miracle are the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. The Miracle are in the Southern Division of the Florida State League. The Miracle are five time Florida State League Champions. The history of the Fort Myers franchise actually begins in 1926 when the Fort Myers Palms were organized. The club was moved to Miami the next year and operated a as the Miami Hustlers. The Hustlers were deactivated in 1928 and remained deactivated until 1962 when they became the Class D affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies and renamed the Miami Marlins. Then in 1963, the league changed class status and became an Advanced A league. The club changed affiliations to the Baltimore Orioles in 1966 and were renamed the Miami Orioles. They remained with the Orioles until the end of the 1981 season. They could not land another affiliate for 1982 so they played as an independent franchise for 1982 and reverted back to the Miami Marlins team name. The team ...