The Wandering Disciple

 The Tampa Bay Rays look to make another run at the postseason and keep the Champa Bay spirit alive as they defend their American League championship and look to add a World Series trophy to the trophy case this season.  The team is in camp in Port Charlotte prepping for the 2021 season which kicks off April 1st on the road in Miami.  (Photo: February 19, 2019)

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)

Braves minor league outfielder Izzy Wilson rounds second and digs for more during a 2018 Florida State League game. Wilson was a part of the Florida Fire Frogs during the 2018 season, the Braves Advanced-A affiliate in the Florida State League. Signed as an international free agent from Saint Maarten in December 2014 by the Braves, he has spent his career in the minor league farm system of the Braves, Rays and now the Angels organizations. (Photo: July 31, 2018)

Stone Crabs catcher Brett Sullivan prepares to tag out Yankees baserunner Jeff Hendrix in a close call at home plate during a 2017 Florida State League contest between the Charlotte Stone Crabs and Tampa Yankees.  The Stone Crabs are the Advanced-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays and play in the south division of the FSL.  They entered the league in 2009 and have been a Rays affiliate since their inception and have won one league championship and four division titles. The Stone Crabs play their home games at Charlotte Sports Park, the spring training home of the Rays.  (Photo: July 18, 2017)

Minor League Baseball has a slogan of "Where the stars of tomorrow, play today." While this holds true most of the time, but it some instances it is where the stars of the game play too. Typically when a major league player goes on the disabled list for an extended period of time, they find themselves playing a few games in the minor leagues to prepare for their return to the big league club. Like this throwback to 2017 when Tampa Bay Rays reliever Brad Boxberger made an appearance with the Advanced-A Charlotte Stone Crabs of the Florida State League prior to being activated from the disabled list. (Photo: June 27, 2017)

Spring is in the air and the boys of summer are back out on the field. The crack of the bat fills the air as major league clubs open up spring training in Florida and Arizona. For the next month, players will use the spring sunshine to help tune their skills in advance of the 2020 regular season as each team pushes for the postseason. (Photo: February 27, 2016)

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)

Fifty years ago, a farm field in New York was turned into festival of peace and music for the Bethel Rock Festival, more famously known as Woodstock. While the world celebrated the anniversary of this historic event, the Charlotte Stone Crabs are paying tribute by becoming the Charlotte Harbor Hippies for the weekend for baseball, tie-dye and classic music. The Hippies will go into the record books undefeated as they went 3-0 on the weekend. (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)

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)

Rays minor league outfielder Beau Brundage makes the catch of a fly ball during a minor league spring training game.   These spring training games are good opportunity for players to work on fundamentals and impress the coaching staffs before camp breaks in a couple weeks.   (Photo: March 15, 2019)

The Boys of Summer are back on the field as minor league spring training games kicked off this week.   The minor leaguers will spend the next couple weeks playing scrimmage games to prepare for their regular season.   Unlike the major leaguers who get all the attention, the minor league players grind it out every day in the shadows of the stadiums as they chase their dreams of playing in the majors.   (Photo: March 13, 2019)

A clown entertains the crowd during a performance of Circus Hollywood. Clowns have been a long standing tradition with the circus used to entertain the crowds during changes in props between acts. The origin of the modern circus clown dates back to the 19th century and European circuses. Today the clowns are a favorite or a fear to many people worldwide. Some love them for they side stitching comedy routines, others fear them for their creepy looks or because of cult classics like the movie IT. (Photo: May 29, 2011)

Port Charlotte, Florida: While cold winter weather has taken hold of a good chunk of the country, it was still baseball season in South Florida where the boys of summer faced off for a late fall exhibition match-up at Charlotte Sports Park. On Sunday evening it was the USA Baseball 18U National Team hosting the University of Florida Gators. The USA Baseball team is currently playing a series of exhibition games in Florida to evaluate their players and prepare themselves for upcoming tournament play. Tonight they put their unbeaten streak on the line against a tough Gators team. Click on the photo above to view photos from the USA Baseball/Gators photo gallery .

Port Charlotte, Florida: Each year at the conclusion of the minor league baseball season, a group of prospects assemble throughout camps in Florida and Arizona for the fall instructional league.  This three week camp gives rising stars an additional opportunity to improve their game in front of the watchful eyes of their clubs player development staff.  While much of the camp is dedicated to skills development, these players get an opportunity to showcase their skill in a few exhibition game. Thursday afternoon, the Rays hosted the Red Sox for an exhibition game.  While these games are regulation nine inning contests, the emphasis is placed on working on fundamentals rather than winning or losing.  Each team will play a handful of games before camp breaks and players head into the off-season. You can catch the boys of summer playing a little fall ball for a few more days before camp ends. Check out your favorite teams website to see a list of players in camp as...

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...