The Wandering Disciple

Clearwater, Florida: The Sarasota Reds dropped a close contest against the Clearwater Threshers 3-2 on Saturday night at Bright House Field in Clearwater. Both clubs took a 2-2 tie into the bottom of the ninth where the home team Threshers knocked home a run to earn the walk-off win. The Threshers jumped out to the lead in the fourth inning. Jake Blalock broke the scoreless tie with a solo home run to left field. Gus Milner followed by drawing a walk. Then Jay Miller drove him home with a triple to right, giving the Threshers a 2-0 lead. The Reds battled back to tie the game an inning later. Chris Heisey drew a one out walk to get things going. Then Jason Louwsma cleared the bases with a two run homer to tie the game 2-2. The game would remain tied until the bottom of the ninth when Reds pitcher Logan Ondrusek got into a jam. John Urick led off the inning with a double to left. Milner then drew a walk and Miller was hit by a pitch to load the bases for the Threshers. Ondruse...

Clearwater, Florida: Bright House Field in Clearwater is the home to the Florida operations of the Philadelphia Phillies organization. The stadium is the spring training home of the Philadelphia Phillies and the regular season home of the Clearwater Threshers of the Florida State League. The stadium also host numerous high school, collegiate and amateur games as well. Bright House Field hosted the 44th annual Florida State League All-Star Game in 2005. Opened in 2004, Bright House Field is often considered the innovator in spring training ballpark design. The stadium features a boardwalk, berm seating, upper deck seats, air-conditioned suites, team store, tiki bar, kids play area and much more amenities for the whole family to enjoy. The stadium can has 7,000 fixed seat but the berm and boardwalk areas can help push the attendance even higher. The single game attendance record is 10,724 set on March 22, 2010 when the Phillies hosted the New York Yankees. The stadium cost $28 mil...

Sarasota, Florida: The Sarasota Reds rode the dominating arm of starting pitcher Jordan Smith to a 5-1 victory over the Daytona Cubs on Saturday night at Ed Smith Stadium. Smith pitched eight scoreless frames before allowing his only run of the night in the ninth inning. The game remained tied 0-0 until the home half of the fourth inning when the Reds pushed across their first run of the evening. Chris Heisey led off the inning with a line drive double to left field. Heisey would advance to third on a ground out by Jason Louwsma. Eddy Rodriguez drove home the run with an RBI single to center to give the Reds a 1-0 lead. The Reds posted two more runs in the fifth inning as they delivered back to back to back triples to push across the runs. Justin Turner got the hit parade started with a double to center. Todd Frazier followed with an RBI double to score Turner. Then Frazier crossed the plate on an RBI double by Juan Francisco to give the Reds a 3-0 lead. The Reds would further ...

Daytona Beach, Florida: The Daytona Cubs are the Class A-Advanced affiliates of the Chicago Cubs. They play in the North Division of the Florida State League and are four time league champions. Minor league baseball in Daytona Beach dates back to 1920 but the Cubs affiliate began in 1993. Many major league stars got their start in Daytona, including some Hall of Famers from the early affiliates. The Cubs play their home schedule at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. The Jack is located on the waterfront in downtown Daytona Beach and can accommodate 5,100 fans. The ballpark opened 1914 and features the feel of the vintage ballparks of years gone by. The Cubs are four time league champions. They won the title in 1995, 2000, 2004 and 2008. Click on the photo above to view my Daytona Cubs photo gallery. Here you will find game and player picture galleries from Cubs games. Updated January 23, 2011

Dunedin, Florida: It took thirteen innings to determine a winner but when it was all said and done, the Sarasota Reds fell to the Dunedin Blue Jays 3-2 on Sunday afternoon at Knology Park. Like the night before, the Reds jumped out to an early lead. Chris Valaika delivered a two out single to right to put a runner on the bases. Juan Francisco drove home the runner with an RBI double to left to give the Reds a 1-0 lead. The Reds would get another run in the top of the third to increase their lead. Justin Turner drew a walk to get things going. Valaika then singled to left, advancing Turner to third base. Francisco would pick up his second RBI of the afternoon by driving home Turner with a ground out to first, increasing the Sarasota lead to 2-0. The Blue Jays cut the lead in half during the bottom of the fourth inning. Sean Shoffit was hit by a pitch to put a runner on first. Shoffit stole second and then later scored on an RBI double by Brian Dopirak to cut the lead in half 2...

Dunedin, Florida: The Sarasota Reds held off a late inning charge by the Dunedin Blue Jays to walk away with a 6-4 on Saturday night at Knology Park. The Reds took the lead first and never relinquished the lead to earn the road win. The Reds broke the scoreless tie in the top of the fourth inning. Drew Stubbs led off the inning with a triple to right field. Carson Kainer plated the run with a ground out to third, scoring Stubbs. Jason Louwsma would then follow with a double to center. Louwsma would move to third on ground out by Justin Tordi and then later score on an RBI single by Anthony Esquer to give the Reds a 2-0 lead. The Reds would add another run to their total in the top of the sixth inning. The inning once again got started with an extra base hit by Stubbs, this time a double to left. Stubbs would steal third and then score on an RBI single by Louwsma to increase the lead to 3-0. The Blue Jays picked up their first run in the bottom of the sixth inning. David Smith do...

Dunedin, Florida: Florida Auto Exchange Stadium in Dunedin is the home to Florida operations of the Toronto Blue Jays. The stadium is the spring training home to the Toronto Blue Jays as well as the regular season home to the Dunedin Blue Jays of the Florida State League and the Dunedin High School baseball program. Built in 1990 on the site of the former Grant Field, Florida Auto Exchange Stadium is one of the top five facilities to catch a spring training game according to Sports Illustrated. The stadium has 5,510 seats and has three picnic areas along with air-conditioned skyboxes. The stadium has been the Florida home of the Blue Jays since its construction. In fact, the Blue Jays have held spring training in Dunedin ever since their inaugural season in 1977. They came close to holding regular season games here in 1995 during the Major League Baseball strike. When the league proposed using replacement players, the Blue Jays looked to move their games to Dunedin due to an Ontar...