The Wandering Disciple

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...

Port Charlotte, Florida: All eyes were on Charlotte Sports Park on Thursday for a couple of reasons, three major leaguers in rehab and a few organization debuts added to the club following moves at the trade line. Alex Cobb and Mikie Mahtook were on a rehab assignment while newcomer Matt Duffy was on a rehab assignment and making his Rays Organization debut. Joining Duffy making their debuts were Jonah Heim and Nathan Lukes. In addition to all the headlines, fans were also treated to a great ballgame that saw the home town team squeeze out a 2-1 win. Palm Beach took an early lead by scoring in the second inning. Oscar Mercado delivered a two out double to center to put a runner in scoring position. Mercado later scored on an RBI single by Dylan Tice to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. The Stone Crabs threatened a few times but didn’t reach the scoreboard until the seventh inning. Andrew Velazquez singled to lead off the inning. He moved to third following a single by Cristia...

Port Charlotte, Florida: After beginning the 2016 season on the road, the Charlotte Stone Crabs returned home to Charlotte Sports Park for their home opener on Saturday evening. Charlotte took to the field for their home opener wearing new home jersey provided by the Stone Crabs Booster Club. The Stone Crabs took an early lead by scoring in the second inning. Pat Blair scored on an RBI single by Alec Sole to put the Stone Crabs ahead 1-0. But that would be the only run the home team could muster as Palm Beach kept them off the board the remainder of the night. The Cardinals grabbed the lead in the fifth inning. Reynolds delivered an RBI single to right that scored Thompson to tie the game. Then Mercado knocked home the go-ahead run with a sac fly that scored Michael Pritchard. An RBI single by Grayson gave the Cardinals a 3-1 lead. Palm Beach added two more runs in the top of the ninth to hand the Stone Crabs their first home opener loss since 2009. Benton Moss was charged wit...

Tyler Norrick of the Palm Beach Cardinals delivers the pitch against the Sarasota Reds during a minor league game during the summer of 2007. (Photo: June 30, 2007)

Port Charlotte, Florida: With a 1-0 lead, the Charlotte Stone Crabs hosted the Palm Beach Cardinals for Game Two of the Florida State League Divisional Series. The Stone Crabs won game one 14-1 in Palm Beach and was looking to win the best-of-three series in front of their home crowd at Charlotte Sports Park. The Stone Crabs wasted no time taking the lead, scoring in the first inning. Braxton Lee opened the inning with a bunt single. He moved to third on a single by Steven Souza Jr, who was rehabbing with the Stone Crabs. A sac fly by Mike Marjama scored Lee and gave the Stone Crabs a 1-0 lead. The Stone Crabs added another run in the fourth inning. A solo homer by Casey Gillaspie increased the Stone Crabs lead to 2-0. Palm Beach tied the game in the top of the sixth inning. An RBI double by Luke Voit and an RBI single by Danny Diekroeger tied the game 2-2. The Stone Crabs regained the lead in the sixth, once again on the bat of Gillaspie. Lee singled to center and Ma...

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Stone Crabs came out swinging to avoid a sweep as they defeated the Palm Beach Cardinals 9-2 on Saturday night at Charlotte Sports Park. The Stone Crabs offense led by Mike Sheridan and Mark Thomas helped lead Jake Thompson to his first win of the season. Palm Beach jumped out to an early lead in the first inning. They loaded the bases with back to back singles to Adam Melker and Alan Ahmady followed by a walk to Xavier Scruggs. Rainel Rosario drove home the first run on a sac fly to score Melker. But the Stone Crabs worked out of the jam and limited the damage to just one run. The Cardinals continued the momentum into the second inning where they struck for another run. Luis Mateo struck a two-out double to center. But Mateo was injured on the play and was replaced by pinch runner Greg Garcia. Garcia scored on an RBI single by Melker to increase the lead to 2-0. The Stone Crabs battled back to take the lead in the third inning. Back to back walks by Reid ...

Port Charlotte, Florida: Under bright Florida sunshine, over two thousand fan were on hand to watch the Stone Crabs face the Palm Beach Cardinals in the franchise first day game at Charlotte Sports Park. Despite a hard fought game, an error in the ninth caused the Stone Crabs to fall 3-2. The loss extended the Stone Crabs losing streak to four games. The Stone Crabs struck first, scoring in the third inning. Dustin Biell singled to center to lead off the inning. Greg Sexton later drove home the run with a single to short that was misplayed in the bright sunshine, Biell scored on the play and the Stone Crabs had a 1-0 lead. The Stone Crabs threatened again in the fourth inning. With Mark Thomas on second and Chris Murrill on first, Hak-Ju Lee struck a single down the line. Thomas crossed the plate but Murrill was thrown out at third for the final out of the inning, canceling out the run. The Cardinals tied the game in the fifth inning. Travis Tartamella singled to center with one out t...

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Charlotte Stone Crabs were shut-out by the Palm Beach Cardinals 3-0 on Sunday evening at Charlotte Sports Park. The offense struggled to get anything going, only managing three hits of which none of the baserunners even made it into scoring position. Palm Beach scored in the first inning. Thomas Pham led off the game with a double to right field. Jarred Bogany drove home the runner with a line drive to left, giving the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. The Cardinal added to their lead in the fifth inning. Colt Sedbrook singled to right to lead off the inning. Sedbrook stole second then advanced to third on a wild pitch. Jermaine Curtis singled to right to score Sedbrook to give them a 2-0 lead. Palm Beach added one more insurance run in the ninth inning. Jarred Bogany drew a walk. Bogany would later score on a sac fly by Oliver Marmol to give the Cardinals the 3-0 margin of victory. Matt Moore suffered the loss despite a solid performance on the mound. Moore allowed 2...

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Charlotte Stone Crabs improved to 2-0 on the season by defeating the Palm Beach Cardinals 6-3 on Friday night at Charlotte Sports Park. A dominating performance from Nick Barnese combined with long balls from Matt Sweeney and Reid Fronk help lead the Stone Crabs to victory. The Stone Crabs took the lead in the second inning. Matt Sweeney drew a walk to lead off the inning. Jake Jefferies singled to right to move Sweeney to second. Reid Fronk then cleared the bases with a three run homer to right field, giving the Stone Crabs a 3-0 lead. The Stone Crabs increased their lead in the third inning by going deep again. Henry Wrigley singled to left to put a runner on base for Charlotte. Then Matt Sweeney belted a two run home run, his second of the season, to put the Stone Crabs ahead 5-0. Charlotte picked up their sixth and final run of the contest in the fifth inning. Isaias Velasquez singled to center leading off the inning. Velasquez later scored an RBI doub...

Port Charlotte, Florida: With a packed house and owner Cal Ripken in attendance, the Charlotte Stone Crabs began their title defense in winning fashion by defeating the Palm Beach Cardinals 4-2 on Opening Day at Charlotte Sports Park. The Stone Crabs took the lead early in the second inning on a solo home run by Matt Sweeney to give the Stone Crabs a 1-0 lead. Palm Beach tied the game in the third inning. Chris Swauger doubled to right field. Tony Cruz then singled to left, scoring Swauger to tie the game 1-1. The game would remain tied until the bottom of the fourth when the Stone Crabs struck for two runs. Matt Sweeney led off the inning with a walk, then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Jake Jefferies singled to right, moving Sweeney to third and giving the Stone Crabs runners on the corners. Michael Sheridan drove home the go ahead run with a double to right that scored Sweeney. Jefferies later scored on sac fly by Reid Fronk to give the Stone Crabs a 3-1 lead. The Cardinals pu...

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Charlotte Stone Crabs swept Sunday’s double header against the Palm Beach Cardinals with a 3-2 walk off win in game two at Charlotte Sports Park. Palm Beach broke the scoreless tie with two solo home runs in the fourth inning. Alex Castellanos went deep to left followed by Thomas Pham and the Cardinals now had a 2-0 lead. The Stone Crabs battled back to tie the game in the sixth inning. John Matulia singled on a but to start the inning. Shawn O’Malley followed with another bunt for a single advancing Matulia to third. Then Drew Anderson hit a single to left field, scoring Matulia for the first run of the inning and both O’Malley and Anderson advanced an extra base on the throw. Ryan Royster plated the second run of the inning on a ground ball to left that scored O’Malley and tied the game. Charlotte then scored the game winning run in the bottom of the seventh. Nevin Ashley was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Ashley advanced to second on a...

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Charlotte Stone Crabs defeated the Palm Beach Cardinals 3-2 in game one of Sunday’s doubleheader at Charlotte Sports Park. The game was delayed for a brief time in the first inning as home plate umpire Matt Cunningham was injured after a pitch from Jake McGee sailed wild and hit him in the arm. AJ Johnson moved behind the plate and Stephen Vogt, who is currently in the DL, worked the bases. The Stone Crabs scored first in the home half of the first inning. Shawn O’Malley was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Ryan Royster followed with a single to right, advancing O’Malley to third. John Matulia then delivered a two run triple to right, giving the Stone Crabs a 2-0 lead. Palm Beach cut the lead in half in the second inning. Alex Castellanos doubled to center to get things started for the Cardinals. Francisco Rivera then singled home Castellanos to move the Cardinals to within one run. The Stone Crabs added an insurance run in the third. Shawn O’...

Port Charlotte, Florida: The rain returned to Charlotte Sports Park but this time they managed to get to enough baseball in before the game was called. The Charlotte Stone Crabs held a 3-2 lead in the sixth inning when the game was called due to heavy rain. Palm Beach scored first off a solo home run by Matthew Arburr. They added a second run in the fourth inning as Matthew Arburr was driven home by Chris Swauger to put the Cardinals ahead 2-0. The Stone Crabs battled back in the bottom of the fifth inning. Cody Cipriano led off the innings with a line drive single. Greg Sexton followed with an RBI triple to score Cipriano. Reid Fronk delivered a sac fly to left field that scored Sexton. Matt Hall reached first on an error and then advanced to second on a single by Emeel Salem. Pedro Powell singled to left scoring Matt Hall. The Stone Crabs took the lead 3-2 and the victory as heavy rain began to fall and the game was called official by the umpire crew. David Newmann was the w...

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Charlotte Stone Crabs dropped the game and the series by losing to the Palm Beach Cardinals 6-5 at Charlotte Sports Park. The Cardinals got on the scoreboard in the first inning as Jermaine Curtis and Curt Smith had back to back singles. Thomas Pham followed with a two run triple to center. Pham was brought home by the very next batter as Francisco Rivera hit an RBI single to center putting Palm Beach ahead 3-0. Charlotte answered in the bottom of the inning. Shawn O’Malley led off the game with a double to right and later advanced to third on a wild pitch by David Kopp. Cody Cipriano hit a sacrifice fly to deep center that scored O’Malley. The Stone Crabs got another run in the bottom of the second when Reid Fronk led off the inning with a solo home run bringing the Stone Crabs within 1. Palm Beach put up three runs to distance themselves from the Stone Crabs in the fifth inning. Curt Smith had a solo home run to right. Francisco Rivera and Domnit...

Port Charlotte, Florida: One night after scoring the most runs in franchise history, the Charlotte Stone Crabs offense went missing. The Stone Crabs managed only two hits in a 5-0 loss last night to the Palm Beach Cardinals at Charlotte Sports Park. The loss snapped the Stone Crabs four game winning streak and dropped them to second place in the FSL South Division, one game behind Fort Myers. The Cardinals got on the board early in the first as Jermaine Curtis doubled to left and then was later brought home by Curt Smith. Palm Beach added two more runs in the fourth inning as Shane Peterson led of the inning with a walk and Thomas Pham delivered a two run homer to put Palm Beach ahead 3-0. Shane Peterson tripled to start the sixth inning and was driven home by a sacrifice fly by Curt Smith on the very next play. The Cardinals got their final run of the night in the seventh inning when Jermaine Curtis hit a sac fly to right that scored Nick Derba. David Newmann was the losing pitch...

Sarasota, Florida: The Sarasota Reds dominated Saturday’s doubleheader against the Palm Beach Cardinals. After the rainout on Friday, both clubs met under sunny skies for the twilight doubleheader. The Florida heat wasn’t the only thing hot in the first game, the Reds offense was on fire as they walked away with a huge 17-5 win. Game two was just the opposite as the Reds held off to win a 1-0 pitcher duel in the conclusion of the doubleheaders. Click on the photo above for the Reds/Cardinals photo gallery.

Jupiter, Florida: The Palm Beach Cardinals are the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals are in the South Division of the Florida State League. They have been a minor league affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinal since 2003. During this time, many players have passed through Palm Beach on the path to the pros. Chris Duncan, Jaime Garcia, Jason Motte, Anthony Reyes and Brendan Ryan are a few of the former Palm Beach Cardinals that have made the big leagues. The Cardinals play their home games at Roger Dean Stadium. This world class stadium is shared between the Cardinals and the Jupiter Hammerheads for the minor league regular season. The Cardinals have one league championship in their trophy case. This came in 2005 when the Cardinals defeated the Lakeland Tigers in the best of five championship series to win their first and only FSL trophy. Click on the photo above to view my Palm Beach Cardinals photo gallery. Here you can see game and player phot...