Florence Freedom 1st Pitch

My young friend Owen recently got to throw out a first pitch at a Florence Freedom game!

Cleveland Scene covers the Lake Erie Crushers

http://www.clevescene.com/cleveland/600-a-month-and-a-free-bed-the-minimum-wage-life-of-a-semi-pro-baseball-player/Content?oid=3637204

Hey!  Check out the link above!

As a former resident of Cleveland for almost a decade, I still like to keep up with stories from the area.  Clevescene.com does a great job of keeping me up to date on the area....  I used to pick up the free magazine they put out each week.  It is the best free news mag out there.  I wish other cities would set the bar as high as Cleveland Scene.

The link above is to their article on the Frontier League's Lake Erie Crushers.

This article does a great job of giving you an idea of the league, the team, the players, and how they have to deal with very tight budgets.

If you have read my blog before you know about my admiration for this league.  I tip my cap to Sam Allard for putting this together!

Lexington Legends at the Mall!

The Lexington Legends did an autograph signing at the mall in town recently! 

Actually, they do this every year, they sell their team sets (and uncut sheets) and they have the entire team there.  If you like getting the team sets signed, this is a great time to do it.

I would like to see more teams do this sort of thing! 

If you are not from Lexington, you could come to town, get your card sets, ball, photo, or whatever signed by the team, and then catch a game that evening!

Teamwork by Omri Amrany at Miller Park in Milwaukee

The Fur Circus

The Fur Circus is one of the newer minor league acts around this season.  I saw them earlier at a Smokies game and I had a great time.

You KNOW I love big, muppetty mascots and these guys were just that.

Seriously, I know a lot of baseball fans don't care for costumed acts but I (and the kids) love them.

Check out the Fur Circus' site:

http://www.furcircus.com/

Kory DeHaan- 2000 & 2002 Padres

Former MLB outfielder Kory DeHaan signed a custom card for me recently and sent a nice note.

I asked him about coaching in the independent leagues vs. affiliated baseball.

He says that he loved affiliated baseball because, as a coach, it is more of a team effort.  In indy baseball you have to get it done and produce or you're gone!

Eddie Butler

Eddie Butler, who is currently pitching in the Rockies system, signed a picture I took recently and let me know that he favorite team growing up was the Atlanta Braves.  He says he really enjoyed playing in Asheville.  The home team crowds were great and welcoming.