If every edition of this newsletter represents a piano key, then we now have a fully working instrument. Welcome to the 88th installment of the Ben’s Biz Beat Newsletter, your email equivalent of a tuneful tickling of the ivories. Let’s talk about Minor League Baseball. |
2024 MINOR LEAGUE GOALS AND RESOLUTIONS
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In last week’s edition of this newsletter, we looked back. Now it’s time to pivot 180 degrees and gaze resolutely toward the great unknown.
What will the 2024 Minor League Baseball season bring? Who knows? But chance favors the prepared mind, so let’s start talking about what we would like to do, see and experience. Here are a few goals and resolutions submitted by readers like (or who may actually be) you. Let’s start with something that feels imminently obtainable:
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My goal this year is to get back to Reading, Pa., to see the Fightin Phils after two years, in the best ballpark I’ve ever seen, and eat the world’s greatest hot dogs that are grilled on a flat top! -- Mike Lanzalotti
As you can see from the above image, the Fightin Phils are serious about their frankfurters. Every Sunday last season, they suited up as the Reading Hot Dogs. Their celebrated “flat top” dogs are provided by the Reading-based Berks Packing Co.
Another possible goal for Mike -- and whomever else finds themselves in Reading this season -- is to obtain an item that looks like a hot dog but is most definitely not a hot dog.
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We’ll stay rooted in the Keystone State for this next one as well:
My goals/resolutions regarding the 2024 MiLB season are two-fold but related: I’d like to attend more games (got out to nine last year) and branch out to a couple sites I haven’t been able to visit yet as well. The nearest team for me geographically is the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Triple-A affiliate of my Phillies (getting to see Brandon Marsh on his rehab assignment at Coca-Cola Park last year was a highlight for sure!), but both the Double-A Fightin Phils in Reading and the High-A Jersey Shore BlueClaws are within a 90-minute drive for me. It would be really cool to see the future of the Phils in action at both of those levels, as well as explore the ballparks. -- Shaun Frank
Shaun’s email brings up a great point. If teams within your favorite MLB organization’s farm system are clustered together within reasonably short distances, then why not make a little road trip out of it? The Phillies’ triumvirate he lists is a good example. Here are five others, featuring three or more ballparks and driving distances of less than 150 miles between each stop.
Atlanta Braves: Rome Emperors to Gwinnett Stripers to Augusta GreenJackets
Baltimore Orioles: Aberdeen IronBirds to Bowie Baysox to Delmarva Shorebirds to Norfolk Tides (the entire system!)
Chicago White Sox: Winston-Salem Dash to Kannapolis Cannon Ballers to Charlotte Knights
Cleveland Guardians: Lake County Captains to Akron RubberDucks to Columbus Clippers
New York Yankees: Hudson Valley Renegades to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders to Somerset Patriots
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If you need assistance in planning a Minor League ballpark road trip, then you (hopefully) know what to do: Check out the Minor League Ballpark Guides home page and explore to your heart’s content.
Perhaps you’re ready to move on from casual jaunts in favor of epic expeditions? If so, take inspiration from the following:
My resolution is to try to make it to 20 different parks, between Major and Minor. I made it to 19 in 2023, including 11 in a 12-day span in an amazing trip that included games in Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan and Indiana.
I am planning a trip in the Carolinas, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia for this June which I am really looking forward to. It is a great opportunity to see a lot of sights and also some of the top prospects.
Last year, I saw Quinn Priester and Endy Rodríguez as the starting battery for Indianapolis at Louisville on July 1. Less than two weeks later, I was there at PNC Park when both made their MLB debut as the starting battery [for the Pirates]. -- Joseph Carmany
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For far more on Minor League Baseball-related 2024 goals and resolutions, check out last week’s episode of the “Show Before the Show” podcast (number 438, for those keeping score at home). Myself and co-hosts Tyler Maun and Sam Dykstra shared our goals, and further input was provided by a bevy of listeners as well as colleagues Kelsie Heneghan, Jim Callis and Rob Terranova.
LISTEN TO EPISODE 438 OF THE SHOW BEFORE THE SHOW PODCAST HERE
I feel like I’m forgetting to mention someone else who was involved in the above episode. Someone who is often annoying but ultimately endearing. I wonder who it could be.
Oh. Right.
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This is Josh Jackson, demanding your attention before you check out. You know me as host of Ghost of the Minors, the segment on The Show Before the Show podcast that asks you to spot the historical Minor League Baseball team or player hidden among two phonies.
Last time, we started fresh with the Pawtucket Slaters. This week, I ask you which of these players stayed grounded in the Minors of yesteryear:
A. Edward Wurm
B. Edward Edgehog
C. Edward Diggins
For the answer, check out the next Ghosts of the Minors on The Show Before the Show!
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HAPPY (BELATED) NATIONAL BOBBLEHEAD DAY |
As you are no doubt aware, this past Sunday (Jan. 7) was National Bobblehead Day. To celebrate, I put together an article featuring 10 standout bobbleheads from the 2023 Minor League Baseball season. Some will be familiar to readers of this newsletter. Others, perhaps not so much. Within, you’ll find players utilizing food-seasoning tools, beloved superfans, buoyant brine-soaked vegetables, derrick-nosed mascots and much, much more.
READ ABOUT THE BEST MINOR LEAGUE BOBBLEHEADS OF 2023
Speaking of bobbleheads, and indulge me if I’ve asked this question before: What is your favorite Minor League bobblehead, and why? Send your responses (and pictures!) to benjamin.hill@mlb.com. I’ll share some of my personal favorites as well. National Bobblehead Day is more than a date on the calendar. It’s a state of mind.
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SEE A MINOR LEAGUE GAME IN STYLE AT THESE SIX BALLPARKS |
Hey, here’s something from last month I’d like to share with you:
Looking for a respite from the sameness of the seat and the banality of the berm? Then consider visiting these six Minor League ballparks. You can watch the game from a unique and memorable location at each one.
If you’ve ever fantasized about viewing the action from a classic train car, a Ferris Wheel or a bizarro world version of the Green Monster, then this article is for you!
READ ABOUT GREAT PLACES TO WATCH A MINOR LEAGUE GAME HERE
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I’m sure I’ll have more on both of these significant developments over the coming months (and years), but two North Carolina-based Minor League teams are set for relocation.
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A new ballpark is being built in Spartanburg, S.C., which will host the team currently known as the Down East Wood Ducks. It’s scheduled to open in 2025. This means 2024 will be the last season at Grainger Stadium in Kinston, N.C. Grainger Stadium, the ninth-oldest ballpark in Minor League Baseball, opened in 1949.
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The Carolina Mudcats are slated to move from Zebulon, N.C. to Wilson, N.C., following a unanimous vote by city officials to provide funding for a new ballpark. The Mudcats have played in Zebulon since 1991. Wilson has long been home to the summer-collegiate Tobs, who play at historic Fleming Stadium. The new ballpark in Wilson is scheduled to open in 2026.
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