The Wandering Disciple

Sarasota, Florida: As the 2016 minor league baseball season gets closer, the teams are out on the backfields of Florida and Arizona preparing for the season with a schedule of spring training exhibition games. Today the Frederick Keys hosted the Charlotte Stone Crabs at the Buck O’Neil Baseball Complex in Sarasota. While the purpose of the games is player development and not winning or losing, these games provide a great opportunity to watch some great baseball in a close setting. There is still plenty of roster shake-up expected to occur before the end of camp, so the players seen with these clubs may not be the actual players on the team when the season opens in early April. Click on the photo above to view my Stone Crabs/Keys photo gallery .

Sarasota, Florida: Final preparations for the 2014 regular season are nearing completion as the Charlotte Stone Crabs traveled to Sarasota to play the Frederick Keys for the final time this spring.  As opening day draws nearer, the rosters are looking more and more in opening day form, drawing anticipation for the season to start. Click on the photo to view my Stone Crabs/Keys photo gallery .

Sarasota, Florida: Minor league spring training is in full swing as teams are wrapping up the second week of exhibition games. Friday's game featured the Charlotte Stone Crabs (Tampa Bay Rays) traveling to Twin Lakes Park in Sarasota to face the Frederick Keys (Baltimore Orioles). The Stone Crabs were met with stiff competition on the mound as the Orioles major league pitcher Jason Hammel was on the mound today for the Keys. Minor league spring training games are an exhibition format in which the focus is on development and not winning or losing. No scores or stats are recorded and some innings may go longer then three outs at the manager's discretion. These games occur on the practice fields at the complex in front of coaches, scouts and limited fans. Click on the photo above to view photos the Stone Crabs/Keys photo gallery .

Sarasota, Florida: The Charlotte Stone Crabs continued their spring exhibition schedule with a road trip to Sarasota to face the Frederick Keys. This is a rematch between these two teams who opposed each other the day before in Port Charlotte. Minor league spring takes week just a few weeks before the start of the minor league schedule. No official stats or scores are recorded as the emphasis is on player development. This early in the spring, players are scattered throughout the organization and the roster in no way reflect the opening day rosters. Click on the photo to view my Stone Crabs/Keys photo gallery .

Sarasota, Florida: Minor league spring training continues as the Rays A-ball teams traveled to Twin Lakes Park to face the Orioles. In the Advanced-A game, the Charlotte Stone Crabs faced the Frederick Keys. In the Class-A game it was the Bowling Green Hot Rods against the Delmarva Shorebirds. We are entering the midpoint of the spring training slate and players are getting closer to opening day ready. The trickle down effect is beginning to occur as players are being sent down from big league camp. With in the next week or so, the rosters will begin to shape up and start looking closer to the opening day roster. Click here for photos from the Stone Crabs/Keys game . Click here for photos from the Hot Rods/Shorebirds game.

Sarasota, Florida: Minor league spring training games kicked off today with the Charlotte Stone Crabs traveling to Sarasota to face the Frederick Keys. This marks the first game of a three week schedule of exhibition games as the players prepare for the upcoming season. The games are for training purposes only and no score or official stats are maintained. The rosters will change throughout the spring season as players move around in advance to opening day. Click on the photo above to view my Stone Crabs/Keys spring training gallery .

Sarasota, Florida: The Charlotte Stone Crabs traveled to Twin Lakes Park in Sarasota for their final road game of the spring. Here they faced the Frederick Keys in their second to last game of spring training. The roster shuffle is in full swing and the rosters are looking more and more like opening day. These two teams will face off tomorrow in Port Charlotte and that will conclude the exhibition schedule for the Stone Crabs. They will play in intrasquad scrimmages over the weekend and then begin workouts to prepare for opening day on April 7. Click on the photo above to view the Stone Crabs/Keys photo gallery.

Sarasota, Florida: As opening day fast approaches, the Charlotte Stone Crabs continued to prepare for the 2011 season as they faced the Frederick Keys on Thursday afternoon at Twin Lakes Park. Both clubs dueled in an nine inning exhibition game in which no score or official stats are recorded. The main purpose of the game is to prepare the players for the upcoming season. Click on the photo above to view the Stone Crabs/Keys photo gallery.

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Charlotte Stone Crabs took to the backfields of Charlotte Sports Park on a sunny Saturday afternoon to host the Frederick Keys in a spring training exhibition game. Today's game wrapped up the first week of spring training games as the minor leaguers prepare for the start of the 2011 season. No official stats are recorded at these spring training games as the focus of these contests are for training and not statistics. Click on the photo above to view the Stone Crabs/Keys photo gallery from Saturday.

Sarasota, Florida: Minor league spring training is underway as teams prepare for the 2011 season set to start in early April. The Charlotte Stone Crabs traveled to Sarasota to play the Frederick Keys at the Buck O'Neil Complex at Twin Lakes Park in the second spring game of the year. The clubs dueled under a cloudless sky, working to perfect those skills needed for a successful season. No official score or stats are kept during minor league spring training but here is a collection of photos from the game. Click on the photo above to view the Stone Crabs/Keys photo gallery.

Sarasota, Florida: With the end of spring training fast approaching, the Charlotte Stone Crabs were in Sarasota to face the Frederick Keys during the final week of exhibition games. Matt Moore was on the mound for Charlotte in what looks to be his final start before the regular season begins. Minor league spring traning ends on April 3 with opening day on April 8. For more photos from the game, visit my Stone Crabs/Keys photo gallery.

Sarasota, Florida: As the numbers of players on the major league roster dwindles down to opening day levels, the minor league rosters are beginning to shape up to opening day order as well. This was evident in the new faces in camp for the exhibition game between the Charlotte Stone Crabs and Frederick Keys at Twin Lakes Park in Sarasota. Matt Moore was on the mound for the Stone Crabs as they took on the Keys. There were no official stats but below is a collection of photos from the contest. For photos from the game, visit my Stone Crabs/Keys photo gallery.

Sarasota, Florida: In preparation for the 2010 season, the minor league affiliates of the Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles took to the fields in an exhibition game at Twin Lakes Park. The Charlotte Stone Crabs and Frederick Keys played a nine inning exhibition game Thursday afternoon under the Florida sunshine. Although no official stats were recorded below is a collection of images from the contest. For photos from the game, visit my Stone Crabs/Keys photo gallery.

Frederick, Maryland: The Frederick Keys are the Class-A Advanced affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. The Keys are members of the Carolina League’s Northern Division. The club was founded in 1989 when the club was moved to Frederick from Hagerstown. Since its inception, they have won three Carolina League titles (1990, 2005, 2007). The Keys play their games at Harry Grove Stadium. The stadium was not completed until 1990, so the Keys played their first season at McCurdy Field, a Babe Ruth baseball complex. The team name comes from a famous Maryland resident, Star Spangled Banner composer Francis Scott Key. For photos from spring training in Florida, visit my Frederick Keys photo gallery.