The Wandering Disciple

Lakeland, Florida: The Sarasota Reds defeated the Lakeland Flying Tigers 8-2 as they hosted their annual Kids Camp Day on Wednesday afternoon at Ed Smith Stadium. Kids from area summer camps packed the stadium to watch the Reds post a big eighth inning to secure the win despite major league baseball star Gary Sheffield being in the Flying Tigers lineup. The Reds jumped out to an early lead in the second inning on a solo home run by Juan Francisco to put them ahead 1-0. The Flying Tigers then countered with two runs of their own in the fifth inning to take the lead. Jeramy Laster singled to left to lead off the inning. Michael Bertram followed with an RBI double to right, scoring Laster. Bertram would later score on an RBI single by Shawn Roof to give the Flying Tigers a 2-1 lead. Sarasota regained the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning. Drew Stubbs led off the inning with a line drive single to center. Carson Kainer then reached on an interference call to put runners on f...

Lakeland, Florida: The Lakeland Flying Tigers are the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. The Flying Tigers play in the North Division of the Florida State League. The club was founded as the Lakeland Tigers in 1963 and was later renamed the Flying Tigers in 2006 to honor the World War II pilots known as the Flying Tigers who trained at nearby Lakeland School of Aeronautics. The affiliation with the Detroit Tigers is one of the longest affiliations still in existence. The Flying Tigers are three time Florida State League champions. They won the league championship in 1976, 1977 and 1992. The Flying Tigers play their home games in Joker Marchant Stadium. The 8,500 seat stadium built in 1966 is also the spring training home of the Detroit Tigers as well as the home of the GCL Tigers during the summer. Click on the photo above to visit my Lakeland Flying Tigers photo page. Here you will find galleries containing game and player pictures.

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...