The Spoils of Summer

Minor league baseball is just around the corner.

I intended to post a final report on my amazing baseball summer of 2021, but it took longer than I expected to sort things out, and baseball found itself on the back burner. Now, as the earth slowly turns its face away from the cold emptiness of winter’s dark night sky, I’m getting ready for the new season. Major League Baseball’s opening day has been cancelled, but AAA minor league teams are preparing for first pitch on April 5th and the rest of the minor leagues three days later.

I have an ambitious schedule in the works, but the details will depend on when Major League Baseball returns, if at all. One thing for sure, I’ll be visiting several new and historic stadiums on the Savannah Bananas Bananaball World Tour, with games in Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Kansas. I’ll also see a number of minor league teams along the way. Join me as we go back to the ballpark in 2022. 

1. The Final Tally For me, it was great just to be back in the ballparks in 2021. Little did I realize that I would see 65 baseball games in 20 states from coast to coast. That’s just over half the states that have minor league baseball teams. I’ve now been to 63 minor league ballparks, which is more than half of the 119 stadiums scattered across the land. I’ve also been to quite a few others that host other types of baseball, like spring training or college games, and several that were home to former minor league teams.

I was lucky to catch a AAA game at one such oddball, the stadium in Trenton, N.J. The Buffalo Bisons played some home games there as the Trenton Thunder while the stadium in Buffalo was on loan to the Toronto Blue Jays. I had hoped to see a major league game in Buffalo earlier in the season, but tickets were limited and sold out fast.

Bobbleheads, shirts, pins, etc.

By the end of the season I had made my first visit to 36 other stadiums, all home to affiliated minor league teams. In the process, I accumulated a lot of baseball gear and memorabilia, from T-shirts to jerseys and bobbleheads to baseballs. I added a lot of lapel pins to my collection from most, but not all, of the stadiums I visited. I picked up more baseball caps than I’ll ever need. There was so much stuff, it filled my dining room table and spilled over onto the chairs, and that didn’t include several items n Florida. A lot of the things were free giveaways, some were gifts, and most of the rest were discounted.

One big mystery remains. I snagged a foul ball at the Brooklyn Cyclones and I picked up a ball in the outfield during batting practice at the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders. But I seem to have a third minor league ball. Where did I get it? Does anyone have a clue?

I wonder how long the scoreboard outside the National Baseball Hall of Fame
will be stuck on the World Series results.

2. The Champions

I’d like to congratulate all the minor league champions from 2021. I was hoping to catch some minor league postseason action, but none of the teams near me qualified. I did get to see some good late-season games involved in various minor league pennant races.

The AAA leagues didn’t have post-season and championship games. Instead, the teams with the best records at the end of the regular season claimed bragging rights as AAA East and West Champions. All 30 teams participated in a two-week round-robin kind of tournament that was called the Final Stretch. Each team played five games at home against one opponent and five on the road against another. The team with the best record, the Durham Bulls (Tampa Bay), was declared the Final Stretch winner.

All the other minor league champions were decided in best-of-five series between the top two teams in each of the nine leagues.

AAA East and AAA overall — Durham Bulls (TB)

AAA West Tacoma — Rainiers (SEA)

AAA Final Stretch — Durham Bulls

AA Central

Northwest Arkansas Naturals (KC) 3-0 over Wichita Wind Surge (MIN)

AA Northeast

Akron Rubber Ducks (CLE) 3-0 over Bowie Baysox (BAL)

AA South

Mississippi Braves (ATL) 3-2 over Montgomery Biscuits (TB)

High-A

East Bowling Green Hot Rods (TB) 3-2 Greensboro Grasshoppers (PIT)

High-A

Central Cedar Rapids Kernels (MIN) 3-2 over Quad Cities River Bandits (KC)

High-A

West Eugene Emeralds (SF) 3-1 over Spokane Indians (COL)

Low-A East

Charleston Riverdogs (TB) 3-2 over Down East Wood Ducks (Tex)

Low-A

Southeast Bradenton Marauders (PIT) 3-0 over Tampa Tarpons (NYY)

Low-A

West San Jose Giants (SF) 3-0 over Fresno Grizzlies (COL)

It’s worth noting that the Tampa Bay Rays teams were represented in the postseason or championships at all levels from Major League Baseball to Low-A minor league. The Rays let me and their fans down by not making it all the way to World Series, but three of Tampa Bay’s four farm teams claimed their league championships. The Bulls dominated AAA, the Bowling Green Hot Bods defeated the Greensboro Grasshoppers (Pittsburgh) 3-2 in the High-A East championship and the Charleston Riverdogs defeated the Down East Wood Ducks (Texas) 3-2 in the Low-A East series. The Montgomery Biscuits came close, losing to the Mississippi Braves in game 5 of the AA championship.

3. Stars, One and All

I want to thank everyone who helped make my baseball summer so much fun: my All-Star team. I was able to catch up with so many friends and relatives as I made my way around the country. Some made it to games with me, others did not, but it was great to see so many in visits that were long overdue. Special thanks to all of you who opened your spare bedrooms to give me a break from all the one-night hotel stops along the way.